Crash

Unfortunately, this post is not about finally getting around to seeing this year's Best Picture winner. 

Last night, on the way to dinner, the Cooper was involved in an accident.

It happened in that always precarious situation where you are stuck in the middle of an intersection trying to make a left turn onto another street... the cars from the other direction had stopped (my big fear is always a car running a yellow or red light at high speed)... so I made my turn...

But as I got through the intersection... a car on the same road but opposite direction made a right turn and hit me... not once, but twice.  On the passenger side, I was hit on the front ... and then probably due to some fishtailing was hit again on the back end.  The other car had damage on the front driver's side.  The crunches hit into the tires of the Cooper, thus making it undriveable... the police coordinated the towing... so, right now, it is sitting in a lot somewhere in West Phoenix waiting for my insurance adjuster to look at it.  I don't have any pictures of the damage... and truthfully I am not sure when I will get a chance to even see it.

The "good" news... no one was injured... the police report found me not responsible/at fault in any way for the accident... amazingly, despite the front and back damage, the passenger side of my car seems fine... and we do have a back-up vehicle here so I won't be without a car for however long it takes.

Needless to say, I am devastated that my Cooper is not sitting in the garage (after dinner, we took a cab home).  I just passed 2 months of ownership, the car had yet to reach its "break-in" period of 1,250 miles (just a mere 850 miles on it) and was just about ready for my 3rd ever trip to the gas station... likewise, my first/only vehicle-to-vehicle accident in the 16 years I have lived in Arizona. 

Surprisingly enough, I was fairly calm at the accident scene (again I think I was just in shock)... the 18-year girl who hit me (with a recently purchased 2004 car) was pretty much hysterical most of the time.  She called her mother... who arrived shortly... but, likewise, I am thankful that everyone stayed relatively calm and there were no shouting, accusations, or ugly scenes... and the police were very nice, respectful, and helpful.

I am sure that the damage on the Cooper is easily in the thousands of dollars.  I can only imagine that it will take awhile to get it back... since Coopers are not all that common, I am sure body and replacement parts are not terribly easy to come by either. 

I managed only a couple of hours of sleep last night.  Mentally, I know that things are out of my hands/control... but I had a difficult time trying to convince myself of that.  With the weekend upon us, I am frustrated that there is really nothing I can do until Monday... and there is added time pressure that we leave for Hawaii on Friday morning.  I hope the process can get rolling enough that I don't have to interrupt the vacation with phone calls... or that there is anything that will need my physical presence.

And likewise, my brain tells me that there is no way to rewind time and change things... but my mind raced all night with "woulda coulda shoulda's"... and the mind-boggling number of variables that got us to that very time and place... deciding to go to that particular restaurant, missing/not missing a traffic light along the way, maybe thinking about stopping to fill up on gas first, not getting that left-turn arrow, etc., etc.

Heck, my mind even stretched so far as to blame all my blog posts leading up to getting the Cooper... was karma just giving me a kick in the ass... or is it a dose of schadenfreude for the folks who wished I would have just shut up about the darn car.

So that's it... all will be fine in the long run... its a piece of property... and someone else is paying to fix it...  but it all just really sucks big time right now.

Comments

[Jeff]

Ohh, I'm sorry to hear about the accident! But you're right, at least you're okay, and everything will be taken care of eventually. Hang in there!

[Gil]

Oh man, sorry to hear it. Are your going to be adding some pics to the MINI Chronicles?

[Kyle]

Very sorry to read about your accident. The Mini did it's job and no one was hurt (physically). I sure hope "EZ2PARK" is back on the road soon!

[DeAnn]

Oh my god! I am so sorry. We definitely need pictures, so that we can mourn appropriately.

[Scott C]

So sorry that Mr. Coop has a boo-boo. I am glad the hear that you and Todd were not physically injured.

[Beth]

The most important thing is you and Todd are okay. Cars, even ole Mr Mini, can be replaced but people can't.

[Kim Turow]

I checked in today because you have helped me get through a long wait for my Mini and helped calm me with daily fixes of tracking my ship and such...and today's the day mine docks in Port Hueneme. I'm heartsick at what you must feel. I have had a very similar accident and I have the same love/lust for my Mini as you do. The most amazing thing in life to me is the flow and movement of people and things in space... I'm fascinated by Chaos Theory/Butterfly Effect and I relate to analyzing when things go wrong. But for whatever reason, this was meant to happen. Perhaps further down the road there was a far worse hazard that you were meant to miss! One never knows. But have faith and this too shall pass. While you're away, Mini will be getting attention and he'll be back to you in no time. But I am sorry for what's happened to you. :) xo, kim in L.A.

[Jen]

I just got into a accident with my brand new Mini. Mine was days over 2 months old and only had 1,139 miles. I though was hysterical at the scene. Your post is helping me know though. I hope my little bulldog pulls through ok.