Car Accident

Well friends...it happened. Dan's very first car accident since we've been married. Thankfully, everyone was okay and no one was seriously injured. Unfortunately, our car was in pretty bad shape.

Yeah...it was bad. So here's what happened:

Dan left for work about 7:45 am on Tuesday, June 25th. He was driving down 400 South in Springville heading towards the freeway. There's only one stop light from the freeway to Main street (a good 3-4 miles away). In the mornings, the traffic can get pretty backed up at that one light and if you're not paying attention, accidents happen that you can in no way avoid. Such was this lovely Tuesday morning. 

I was sitting at home, Dan had just left, and I was cleaning up from making his lunch. I was probably checking out instagram or something, and I got a phone call from Dan (5 minutes after he had left). I thought it was to read scriptures together.

D: I just got into a car accident 

A: No you didn't. Are you serious?

D: Yes...

A: *Slight panic* Umm okay, well are you okay?

D: Yeah I'm okay.

A: Alright, call the police and I will be right there!

Seriously, how sad is that that I thought my husband was joking when he told me he was in a car accident? Bad wife right there. But he literally had JUST left, and he sounded so calm on the phone that I didn't think anything had happened. Poor guy was probably in shock. I called my mom and I can feel my adrenaline kicking in and my heart is racing and I'm frantically searching for some basketball shorts and a t shirt to throw on. I felt so bad for waking her up (it was 6:45 AZ time) but she was awesome! I was trying to calm myself down but it was hard. I took off down the street and it felt like twice as long to get to where the accident was. I could see the police lights up the street and the traffic backing up. When I came up over the hill and I saw the damage to the lady that hit Dan's car, my heart just sank. The entire front end of her car was smashed. Then I saw our car. I've never been so anxious to see Dan in my entire life. There were 2 more cars ahead of Dan that got hit as well,  so I had to park a few feet ahead of the accident. It's kind of a surreal moment because you see all the wreckage, but your mind can't take it all in. I had a one track mind at the time...just get to Dan.

That's probably way more dramatic than anyone cares to read, but it really was how I was feeling. I knew in my heart he was okay (and he had told me) but I just needed to see him and get that reassurance that everything really was okay.

Here's how Dan described the accident (in my words): Traffic was pretty far backed up, almost to the top of the hill, not unusual for a Tuesday morning. He looked down to call me so we could read scriptures, and he heard screeching and then he got hit. He doesn't remember actually getting hit (thank goodness), but he said that his first thought, as soon as he got the car out of the way of traffic, was to make sure everyone was okay. 

And since diagrams are always helpful, here's two. One before the accident, and another for after the accident.

Basically, what happened was this: the lady who caused the accident was going down the road (probably 45-50 mph-the speed limit) and Dan was backed up with the traffic to almost the top of the hill. This is one of those hills that you can't see what's on the other side at all until you're on the very top of it. So you have no clue what color the light is until you're on the other side. Unfortunately for her, Dan was right there. She slammed on her brakes, and slammed into Dan. She hit Dan so hard, that he slammed into car #1 and car #1 hit car #2 (okay more like love tapped-car #2 barely had a dent in the bumper). 

 Our back bumper was barely hanging on, and the front wasn't hanging on too well either. Even looking at these pictures, it makes me so sad. We've only had that car for 6 months. 

 This is the damage to car #1 from Dan hitting it. 

This is the car that hit Dan. Her car was JACKED UP. Dan said that there was smoke coming from her engine for a few minutes after the accident. Thankfully, she was okay.

So after an hour or so getting the accident cleaned up, and getting the preliminary copy of the police report, we went home. In all honesty, we probably should not have driven our car home, but we did. The steering column was totally wacked, and the back two tired looked like they could buckle in any minute. It was the longest 2 mile drive back home ever. To add insult to injury, we had to go like 25 mph the entire way. 

Duke's of Hazard style...so ghetto. Love it.

So we spent the rest of Tuesday dealing with car insurance companies, claims, x-rays, and the chiropractor. And over the last few weeks, more calls from the insurance company and claims and chiropractor. We found out yesterday that the car is totaled. I went over to the body shop and cleaned everything out of the car. I probably could have cried had I been in a more emotional state. Thankfully I wasn't, but it really was sad. It got take away from the body shop today. No more taters to speak of.

All through this experience, I've honestly felt so blessed. The mechanic told us, after having one look at the car, that we were so lucky to have an old car. The old cars have steel bumpers, and that basically saved Dan from A LOT more serious injuries. Then we also found out yesterday too that we are getting more money for the car than we had originally thought. That was a huge relief because car shopping with not so much mulah is really quite depressing. Oh and one more HUGE blessing, the car insurance company called yesterday and they need the title in order to send us the check for the money from the totaled car. Well...we couldn't find it last night. Looked everywhere and could not find it. I was super frustrated to say the least. When I got home from work this afternoon, I started searching, and low and behold I found it!! Hallelujah!! Last blessing, our awesome upstairs neighbors have an extra car that they don't use over the summer and they have been so kind to let us borrow it until we get a new car! Thank you has never been so inadequate. They truly are gems. Thank you Jenkins!!

In summary, car accidents suck. But we have felt extremely watched over and blessed through the entire trial, despite the major set back of being down to one car again. I've been so assured again and again that my Heavenly Father is so aware of us and knows what we're going through right now. I have never been more sure that my Savior knows me.