Bullseye!

There must be a huge bullseye on my car. This is my fourth car accident in which someone has decided to run right into me. Many of you know about the previous three, which led to a wonderful 18-month lawsuit. Luckily, I'm done and over with that crap. Luckily, no one was in the car with me. And luckily, HAD Joe been in the car with me, he wouldn't be suing me.

I was just leaving my office and headed to see a client. (Thank God I didn't take a State car. It was Friday, so there were plenty available, but I was just too lazy to deal with that.) I had a green arrow to turn left onto southbound Bangerter Hwy from westbound Parkway Blvd . This kid was FLYING up northbound Bangerter and ran his red light. Said he "didn't see it". As I was making my left turn, I saw him coming at me, so I hit the gas to avoid the impact. I didn't quite make it out of his way -- he hit my driver's side rear tire. But thank GOD I saw him, because if I hadn't sped up, the impact probably would have been right on the driver's side door! My car spun around 180 degrees right in the middle of that busy intersection. Thank God no one ELSE hit me!

So who do you think I called first?
a. 911
b. Joe
c. my mom
d. my client who I was headed to see

And the answer is...d! What an idiot, right? I called her, CRYING, to tell her I couldn't make it. I was so embarrassed, but I was already running 5 minutes late, and I didn't want her to think I stood her up. Then I tried to call 911, but Joe was calling ME at that exact moment, so he got to hear what happened before the dispatcher. The cops were almost there by the time I called 911!

The kid who hit me admitted he ran the light, and he got a ticket. Plus, a witness stopped to tell the cop what happened (I'll remember to stop next time I see an accident because that was really nice of her.) The poor kid was really scared, and his girlfriend was crying and yelling at him. I said to Joe, "I feel bad for him," and Joe said, "Me, too." This is why I love Joe. (For those of you who know about the previously-mentioned-person-who-sued-me's-reaction-to-car-accidents, you know what I'm talking about.

My car was certainly not drive-able. I could barely drive it out of the intersection to the side of the road. The tow truck bent my axle when he put it on the tow bed, so we'll see if it's totaled or not. Part of me would like to buy a new car right now, but the other part of me says, "No way! Your car is paid off and it's sooo nice not to have a car payment! Plus you have a wedding to pay for!" So we'll see what happens, but in the meantime, I have a nice Pontiac G6 rental car.

Rear driver's side tire (and the culprit's car in the background)

My back seat. This stuff was MOSTLY in a nice stack before I got hit. Notice the orange and yellow box -- the lid got knocked off and pictures flew everywhere.