Well shit.
Just what we need.
The Cavalier is written off. Martino might be found at fault, meaning he'd be responsible for not only our own insurance, but for covering the other vehicle as well.
I got a call from him at 6:00pm saying that he'd been in an accident, at what corner and to come with the truck to pick him up and unload anything in the car. He didn't give me a chance to say anything, didn't say if he was hurt, just the bare bones and hung up.
I figured he couldn't be hurt that bad, but still, I felt obligated to worry. My first thought was "gee, I hope he's okay," and my second thought was "fuck! I bet that goddamned muck fork in the back seat that I just dropped 25 freaking bucks on is broken!"
It was -30c outside and the truck wasn't plugged in so I went out to see if it would even start. I got in and would barely turn the key in the ignition. The panel didn't even light up. I figured he must have been frozen solid. Damn. Oh well, nothing a simply boost couldn't fix. As I got out of the truck my hand automatically went to the lights and pushed on the button - an unconscious habit that's ingrained into my vehicular rituals - and to my surprise the button depressed. When Martino drove the truck the day before he had left it with the lights on. Brilliant.
Booster cables. I later found out that Martino - the good Samaritan that he is - habitually leaves our booster cables behind whenever he helps someone out, so the only set that we still have is the set in the trunk of the car. Not that it matters, no one was around with a vehicle big enough to boost the truck anyway.
I called Marge, the old lady next door, and asked to borrow her car. No go. They tried to use her car the day before and it wouldn't start in the cold (she never drives anywhere so it doesn't get much use).
The second time I talked to Martino it warranted a little more concern. He didn't sound very good, the police still hadn't arrived, I found out the airbags were deployed and he was in pain. That's all he said before hanging up again. He wasn't incoherent, but he said something about the battery dying in his phone and so he didn't even leave it on long enough to actually relay relevent information to me. He hung up, and I was left feeling slightly more concerned than before.
I had one of those Eliminator car starters, though it hadn't been charged since last year. Hoping that it would still have a charge I plugged it in. 15 of the longest minutes of my life later - still dead. As I was getting out of the truck the people across the street pulled up. They also had a big truck. Yes! I ran over. Got booster cables? Nope.
Fuck. Fortunately, the guy offered to drive me (though not to stick around and give us a lift home...) so I just jumped in the truck with him and got dropped off at the accident.
Tino was no longer in the car, and there was no ambulance on site, which was a relief. The front end of the car was mashed up pretty good, having been outmatched by a Dodge Durango. I couldn't even open the passenger side door.
I found Martino hiding out in one of the cop cars, talked to him briefly, then went back to the car to grab by bridle and miscellaneous other shit that I didn't want to leave behind. I was unreasonably delighted that despite my 10,000$ car being demolished my 25$ muck fork was intact. I left it with the car though, because there's only so much a person can carry and I didn't want to look like a complete moron possessively clutching my shiny new neon yellow muck fork on the corner of a busy intersection.
As I was gathering my shit I heard someone yell "look out!" I backed out of the car and spun awkwardly to see the Durango come loose from the tow chain and roll off the towtruck, inches from the mangled front of the car. Oops. I grabbed my shit and backed out of the way, even though I had more to grab in the vehicle. Tino was nowhere to be found so I retreated to the street corner until the Durango was secured.
Tino was back in the cop car, so I went back over. Seems he didn't want to ask the cops for a bloody ride home, he expected me to do it, I guess. Well, none of the cops were around, I was cranky, Martino was being a weirdo, so I went back to the car, grabbed the emergency 20$ out of the console and left to call a cab. We hung out in the nearby Dairy Queen (yep, ours are open year-round!) until the cab showed, at which point I got the story.
Martino was driving through the intersection as the light turned yellow. The driver of the Durango was on the same road and made a left turn right in front of Martino. He couldn't stop in time. The cop seemed to think that Martino was at fault, but if he gets a ticket we'll probably contest it. Even if he went through on the solid yellow turning red, he still had the right of way over the left turning vehicle. He figures that she commited herself to the intersection, and when the light turned yellow she just went, assuming without looking that oncoming traffic would immediately stop.
This is why I freaking hate intersections, and probably why there are so many accidents at them. You can't win. My big crash in an intersection was because I *gasp* stopped for the light as it was turning instead of blowing through, and now Martino gets into a crash coasting through the light. I wasn't there, so I have no way of knowing how close he tried to beat the light. He maintains that he was already past the point where he could stop for it when she pulled right out in front of him.
There was a witness, but Martino didn't get their information, only the cops did. Which is too bad, because it would be nice to know what their statement was, especially if he has to go to court to fight it. I'm not the kind of person that thinks my husband can do no wrong, not by a long shot, but whether he was paying attention or not I'm sure the rules of the road are pretty clear on right-of-way and left turns...
This is why my dad's advice is the best I've ever heard. He always said "drive like everyone's out to get you." What he meant by that is to be aware of where other vehicles are and be ready to react to them accordingly. In other words, when you see a vehicle commited to the intersection waiting to turn, expect it to turn out in front of you. When someone slows down at a stop sign, expect them to fly through it in front of you. 9 times out of 10 it really works. I rarely get caught by surprise by idiot drivers because I expect them to be idiots. Pessimistic, yes, but effective.
We got home and figured that we should still call CAA to have the truck boosted. Martino was giving me a hard time for not calling them sooner, maintaining that they would have been here by then, but when I called them they quoted me a 3 hour wait. Martino called CAA back at 11:00pm when they were still a no-show, and was told that wait times were extended to 7 or 8 hours. I waited up until midnight then went to bed.
Apparently CAA showed up at the house at 8:15 this morning, a full 13 hours after I had called. I mean, I realize that a vehicle broke down in front of your own house is pretty low on the priority scale, especially when there are people stranded in parking lots, roadsides and other inconvenient and in this weather potentially dangerous places. Martino's pretty choked about it, but I just can't get mad over it. They're probably flooded with hundreds of calls and have to sort out which ones are most important, and they just don't have time to contact every person at the bottom and tell them that their wait has been extended again. Sucks, honestly no one can do anything about it.
So the good news is that the auto industry is tanking so we can probably score a new car for dirt cheap. As Martino says, worst case scenario is that they decide to fix the Cavalier instead!
The Cavalier is written off. Martino might be found at fault, meaning he'd be responsible for not only our own insurance, but for covering the other vehicle as well.
I got a call from him at 6:00pm saying that he'd been in an accident, at what corner and to come with the truck to pick him up and unload anything in the car. He didn't give me a chance to say anything, didn't say if he was hurt, just the bare bones and hung up.
I figured he couldn't be hurt that bad, but still, I felt obligated to worry. My first thought was "gee, I hope he's okay," and my second thought was "fuck! I bet that goddamned muck fork in the back seat that I just dropped 25 freaking bucks on is broken!"
It was -30c outside and the truck wasn't plugged in so I went out to see if it would even start. I got in and would barely turn the key in the ignition. The panel didn't even light up. I figured he must have been frozen solid. Damn. Oh well, nothing a simply boost couldn't fix. As I got out of the truck my hand automatically went to the lights and pushed on the button - an unconscious habit that's ingrained into my vehicular rituals - and to my surprise the button depressed. When Martino drove the truck the day before he had left it with the lights on. Brilliant.
Booster cables. I later found out that Martino - the good Samaritan that he is - habitually leaves our booster cables behind whenever he helps someone out, so the only set that we still have is the set in the trunk of the car. Not that it matters, no one was around with a vehicle big enough to boost the truck anyway.
I called Marge, the old lady next door, and asked to borrow her car. No go. They tried to use her car the day before and it wouldn't start in the cold (she never drives anywhere so it doesn't get much use).
The second time I talked to Martino it warranted a little more concern. He didn't sound very good, the police still hadn't arrived, I found out the airbags were deployed and he was in pain. That's all he said before hanging up again. He wasn't incoherent, but he said something about the battery dying in his phone and so he didn't even leave it on long enough to actually relay relevent information to me. He hung up, and I was left feeling slightly more concerned than before.
I had one of those Eliminator car starters, though it hadn't been charged since last year. Hoping that it would still have a charge I plugged it in. 15 of the longest minutes of my life later - still dead. As I was getting out of the truck the people across the street pulled up. They also had a big truck. Yes! I ran over. Got booster cables? Nope.
Fuck. Fortunately, the guy offered to drive me (though not to stick around and give us a lift home...) so I just jumped in the truck with him and got dropped off at the accident.
Tino was no longer in the car, and there was no ambulance on site, which was a relief. The front end of the car was mashed up pretty good, having been outmatched by a Dodge Durango. I couldn't even open the passenger side door.
I found Martino hiding out in one of the cop cars, talked to him briefly, then went back to the car to grab by bridle and miscellaneous other shit that I didn't want to leave behind. I was unreasonably delighted that despite my 10,000$ car being demolished my 25$ muck fork was intact. I left it with the car though, because there's only so much a person can carry and I didn't want to look like a complete moron possessively clutching my shiny new neon yellow muck fork on the corner of a busy intersection.
As I was gathering my shit I heard someone yell "look out!" I backed out of the car and spun awkwardly to see the Durango come loose from the tow chain and roll off the towtruck, inches from the mangled front of the car. Oops. I grabbed my shit and backed out of the way, even though I had more to grab in the vehicle. Tino was nowhere to be found so I retreated to the street corner until the Durango was secured.
Tino was back in the cop car, so I went back over. Seems he didn't want to ask the cops for a bloody ride home, he expected me to do it, I guess. Well, none of the cops were around, I was cranky, Martino was being a weirdo, so I went back to the car, grabbed the emergency 20$ out of the console and left to call a cab. We hung out in the nearby Dairy Queen (yep, ours are open year-round!) until the cab showed, at which point I got the story.
Martino was driving through the intersection as the light turned yellow. The driver of the Durango was on the same road and made a left turn right in front of Martino. He couldn't stop in time. The cop seemed to think that Martino was at fault, but if he gets a ticket we'll probably contest it. Even if he went through on the solid yellow turning red, he still had the right of way over the left turning vehicle. He figures that she commited herself to the intersection, and when the light turned yellow she just went, assuming without looking that oncoming traffic would immediately stop.
This is why I freaking hate intersections, and probably why there are so many accidents at them. You can't win. My big crash in an intersection was because I *gasp* stopped for the light as it was turning instead of blowing through, and now Martino gets into a crash coasting through the light. I wasn't there, so I have no way of knowing how close he tried to beat the light. He maintains that he was already past the point where he could stop for it when she pulled right out in front of him.
There was a witness, but Martino didn't get their information, only the cops did. Which is too bad, because it would be nice to know what their statement was, especially if he has to go to court to fight it. I'm not the kind of person that thinks my husband can do no wrong, not by a long shot, but whether he was paying attention or not I'm sure the rules of the road are pretty clear on right-of-way and left turns...
This is why my dad's advice is the best I've ever heard. He always said "drive like everyone's out to get you." What he meant by that is to be aware of where other vehicles are and be ready to react to them accordingly. In other words, when you see a vehicle commited to the intersection waiting to turn, expect it to turn out in front of you. When someone slows down at a stop sign, expect them to fly through it in front of you. 9 times out of 10 it really works. I rarely get caught by surprise by idiot drivers because I expect them to be idiots. Pessimistic, yes, but effective.
We got home and figured that we should still call CAA to have the truck boosted. Martino was giving me a hard time for not calling them sooner, maintaining that they would have been here by then, but when I called them they quoted me a 3 hour wait. Martino called CAA back at 11:00pm when they were still a no-show, and was told that wait times were extended to 7 or 8 hours. I waited up until midnight then went to bed.
Apparently CAA showed up at the house at 8:15 this morning, a full 13 hours after I had called. I mean, I realize that a vehicle broke down in front of your own house is pretty low on the priority scale, especially when there are people stranded in parking lots, roadsides and other inconvenient and in this weather potentially dangerous places. Martino's pretty choked about it, but I just can't get mad over it. They're probably flooded with hundreds of calls and have to sort out which ones are most important, and they just don't have time to contact every person at the bottom and tell them that their wait has been extended again. Sucks, honestly no one can do anything about it.
So the good news is that the auto industry is tanking so we can probably score a new car for dirt cheap. As Martino says, worst case scenario is that they decide to fix the Cavalier instead!