Airbags Good; Slick Roads Bad
Oct. 18th, 2006 01:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
willow_redThe short version of the story: I'm okay, but my car is not.
I left work early today due to the first nasty storm of the season because I wanted to get home before the sun went down and the snow started sticking. I debated between taking the normal route up 93 and my alternate "bad weather" route up Wads, and opted for 93 since the roads were just wet, not snowy. Yeah...
Things were going along fine, despite poor visibility and the idiots on the road who think doing 70 in the snow is reasonable. Then I got to the ramp from C-470 to 6th, hit an icy patch, and WHEEEE -- Honda Civic Hockey Puck. Luckily, my seat belt and airbags did what they were designed to do, and after bouncing off of barriers at least twice (really wasn't concentrating on counting at that point) before coming to rest with the back of the car up against the barrier on the right side of the road. The front end was sticking out into the right lane a little, but that was a two-lane area, so I wasn't blocking traffic.
After coming to a stop, I pulled my head wrap off of my eyes (it had fallen down at some point) and saw smoke coming out of the vents. I then jumped out of the car and called 911. Somewhere along the line, I figured out that the smoke was just stuff from the airbag, but it didn't seem like the best stuff to be breathing at the moment. The 911 lady was very nice and said she'd be sending a cop out there soon. Next step: call parents. While on the phone with them, multiple people stopped off to make sure I was okay and to report the accident. Coloradans can be really good people sometimes. Anyway, a couple of CDOT trucks showed up and helped me move my car all the way onto the area in front of the barrier. The guy said that JeffCo was on accident alert, so I called AAA to get a tow truck. It showed up ~30 minutes later with a nice driver named James who loaded up my car onto the flatbed and gave me a ride up to Boulder. (Also, he was nice enough to stop at a gas station so I could wash up and get some of that airbag powder off of my mildy burnt hands that were stinging like a mofo.)
Between the weather and other accidents along the way, it took about an hour and a half to get to Boulder. Unfortunately, by then, the shop was closed, so I put the key in the drop box and got a ride home from the tow truck driver.
Total damage to me: couple of mild burns on both hands, stiff thumbs, a bump on the knee, and a bop on the nose that had gotten better by the time the tow truck arrived.
Total damage to car: rear bumper, front smashed in (mostly on the right side) all the way to the tow bar, both airbags deployed.
Overall, though, I'm happy and thankful. It could have been a whole lot worse.
I left work early today due to the first nasty storm of the season because I wanted to get home before the sun went down and the snow started sticking. I debated between taking the normal route up 93 and my alternate "bad weather" route up Wads, and opted for 93 since the roads were just wet, not snowy. Yeah...
Things were going along fine, despite poor visibility and the idiots on the road who think doing 70 in the snow is reasonable. Then I got to the ramp from C-470 to 6th, hit an icy patch, and WHEEEE -- Honda Civic Hockey Puck. Luckily, my seat belt and airbags did what they were designed to do, and after bouncing off of barriers at least twice (really wasn't concentrating on counting at that point) before coming to rest with the back of the car up against the barrier on the right side of the road. The front end was sticking out into the right lane a little, but that was a two-lane area, so I wasn't blocking traffic.
After coming to a stop, I pulled my head wrap off of my eyes (it had fallen down at some point) and saw smoke coming out of the vents. I then jumped out of the car and called 911. Somewhere along the line, I figured out that the smoke was just stuff from the airbag, but it didn't seem like the best stuff to be breathing at the moment. The 911 lady was very nice and said she'd be sending a cop out there soon. Next step: call parents. While on the phone with them, multiple people stopped off to make sure I was okay and to report the accident. Coloradans can be really good people sometimes. Anyway, a couple of CDOT trucks showed up and helped me move my car all the way onto the area in front of the barrier. The guy said that JeffCo was on accident alert, so I called AAA to get a tow truck. It showed up ~30 minutes later with a nice driver named James who loaded up my car onto the flatbed and gave me a ride up to Boulder. (Also, he was nice enough to stop at a gas station so I could wash up and get some of that airbag powder off of my mildy burnt hands that were stinging like a mofo.)
Between the weather and other accidents along the way, it took about an hour and a half to get to Boulder. Unfortunately, by then, the shop was closed, so I put the key in the drop box and got a ride home from the tow truck driver.
Total damage to me: couple of mild burns on both hands, stiff thumbs, a bump on the knee, and a bop on the nose that had gotten better by the time the tow truck arrived.
Total damage to car: rear bumper, front smashed in (mostly on the right side) all the way to the tow bar, both airbags deployed.
Overall, though, I'm happy and thankful. It could have been a whole lot worse.
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Ouch.
Date: 2006-10-18 02:18 am (UTC)Sorry to hear about the accident, glad you're okay; hope the car lives to tell the tale as well.
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Date: 2006-10-18 02:37 am (UTC)-J
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Date: 2006-10-18 02:47 am (UTC)Here's hoping that whatever needs to be fixed happens quickly and well for ya!
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Date: 2006-10-18 03:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-18 03:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-18 07:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-18 02:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-18 02:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-22 01:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-18 02:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-18 03:24 pm (UTC)Sorry to hear about the crash
Date: 2006-10-18 04:18 pm (UTC)I know getting banged up like that and losing your car can feel really crappy, but it happens to almost everyone at one time or another in Colorado it seems. You'll get through it okay.
All my love and best wishes!
(yes, I'm still alive... Don't look so surprised... ;)
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Date: 2006-10-18 06:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-18 06:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-19 12:23 am (UTC)Oh Sandy!!!
Date: 2006-10-19 10:00 pm (UTC)