A Successful Test of Toyota's Safety Engineering
As you may know, my beloved van Cyrano wore out, and at the end of May I traded it for a 2002 Toyota Echo sedan. It's new enough that it hasn't acquired a name yet.
Last Friday evening, my car lost a game of chicken with a Ford Explorer. The driver strayed across the yellow line and I had just a second to see him (or her) coming straight at me. I swerved, so he caught me on the left rear quarter-panel, and rear door, rather than head-on. I spun around until my car was pointed west in my northbound lane. He continued on down the road.
Kindly bystanders instantly called police.
I took an ambulance ride to Provena Mercy and got checked out, but I apparently had nothing worse than bruises. Don't know whether the Echo is officially totaled or not, but it's smashed up pretty badly. One of its springs wound up on the pavement.
Here's a picture of it in the yard of a towing company.
Police found the offending vehicle pretty quickly, parked a few blocks away, but there's not yet word on who was driving.
I spent the weekend without transportation, but I have a rental car now, and the insurance wheels are turning. I will probably have to start the car-shopping process over again.
Last Friday evening, my car lost a game of chicken with a Ford Explorer. The driver strayed across the yellow line and I had just a second to see him (or her) coming straight at me. I swerved, so he caught me on the left rear quarter-panel, and rear door, rather than head-on. I spun around until my car was pointed west in my northbound lane. He continued on down the road.
Kindly bystanders instantly called police.
I took an ambulance ride to Provena Mercy and got checked out, but I apparently had nothing worse than bruises. Don't know whether the Echo is officially totaled or not, but it's smashed up pretty badly. One of its springs wound up on the pavement.
Here's a picture of it in the yard of a towing company.
Police found the offending vehicle pretty quickly, parked a few blocks away, but there's not yet word on who was driving.
I spent the weekend without transportation, but I have a rental car now, and the insurance wheels are turning. I will probably have to start the car-shopping process over again.