accident ‹ Joey Day

It’s been a while since I mentioned my car accident, so here’s a little update about how all the loose ends got tied up. My car was declared totalled about a week and a half after the accident (there are pictures). I’d been driving a cute little 2007 Volkswagen Jetta rental in the meantime, but of course they made me give that back.

We got a nice-sized check for the value of my car, but I’ve decided to rough it for a while rather than buy another vehicle. Janene didn’t have much left to go on her car loan, so we put some of the money toward finally owning her car, which is nice. The rest went into savings. When the weather gets a little warmer I plan to use some of it to overhaul my bike—new tires, fenders, headlight, taillight, etc.

I did end up buying the book I mentioned in my previous post, How to Live Well Without Owning a Car, and may give a full book review when I finish reading it. I’ve done pretty well so far and this is the coldest month of the year. I’ve got a deal with Janene that I get to buy me a truck when I finish school, so that’s the light at the end of the tunnel. But who knows, I may decide I like being car-free. It’s already saving us a ton of money (our insurance, gas, and auto maintenance budgets have been halved!) and I think it will be good for me to ride my bike more.

I was in two car accidents within the space of an hour on Sunday morning. Before you worry, everyone involved is okay. We were all very blessed.

It’s about 7:30 am Sunday morning. I’m cruising down the freeway on my way to a worship team rehearsal1. I’m not braking or turning—though the road is gently sloping to the left, so I suppose my wheels aren’t exactly straight—but I’m going too fast considering there are patches of snow and ice on the road. I hit a wet patch that sends me spinning. I strike the inside barrier probably four or five times before coming to a rest on the inside shoulder facing the wrong direction.

The first thing that comes to mind when the car stops is that I don’t have my phone on me—I had neglected to charge it the night before. I wait for a bit sitting in my car, but it’s too early on a Sunday morning for any other cars to be on the road. I put on my hazard lights and climb out of my car to see how bad it is. There’s extensive damage to both bumpers, a busted out headlight and a broken taillight, and I’m sure there’s frame damage. The damage is much worse than the last accident I was in, so it’s probably totalled. As luck would have it I had come to rest directly opposite a freeway exit, so I dash across the freeway intending to find a gas station where I can make some phone calls.

For those who don’t know, I play the drums in worship service every Sunday morning. We rehearse about an hour before first service. [↩]

accident

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