Thursday, February 01, 2007

The Subaru was supposed to last a little longer

Laura and i had been back in Utah for 16 days. Except for the week that we had in Utah in December for our Bountiful wedding reception and to find an apartment, I'd been with Laura in Canada since the second week of November.

We got back to Provo and were on our way to getting settled into that stage of life. Laura went back to work for Dr. Donaldson, and I was looking for work before I headed back to school in September. Laura had quit her job in Cardston towards the end of November so we could get married and because of all of the interruptions we'd have due to the holidays and moving back to Provo. We knew we weren't going to be rich, but we didn't' have any debt and we both could work. My Subaru was long paid off, and with help from friends and family we made it through a December with neither of us working.

In that third week of January two of Laura's old roommates, Cindy and Megan, were volunteers up at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, and they had invited us to come up and stay over night and to see a film or two while we were there. Neither Cindy or Megan were living in Utah anymore. We had seen Megan for only a short time the day of our wedding, but we hadn't seen Cindy in a long time. Cindy couldn't get off enough work to make it worth while to come up to Canada from Colorado. Laura and i were looking forward to seeing both of them and the chance to play in Park City.
Of course i was being cautious and a safe driver. We were in no hurry to get to Park City. Even though it was Dark, it was barely 7:00pm and we had plenty of time to get to the Festival and find Megan and Cindy. i moved out of the fast lane once we got started up the canyon, so i could drive at a safe speed in the dark without being tailgated by the cars that wanted to go faster. The canyon was full of traffic, and i wanted a cushion of space around the car. Being married has made me a lot more worried about traffic safety, not that i've been a very aggressive driver in the past.

We were barely on our way up Provo Canyon and suddenly there was a car turning left across our lane to turn up Squaw Peak Road. Laur saw the car first and shouted for me to watch out. As soon as i saw the car moving, i knew there was no way out of a collision. There was so much traffic around us that i was worried that i'd get plowed into from behind if i slammed the brake pedal into the floor. I did have most of my weight into the pedal, but we still hit the trespassing car just behind the rear axle.

i wish i knew what that other driver was thinking. there was so much traffic, there was no clear way to get across the street. the wreck was a series of instances:
Laur shouted.
i saw the car coming into our lane.
i jumped onto the break pedal.
!!!CRASH!!!
All was dark in the car as Laur and i choked in the dust of the expended airbags.
i barely remember half a moment where i had some limited control of the car as it drifted in darkness to the edge of the road.
Cars were pulled over in front of us and behind us and coming up to our car to see if we were okay.
i apologized to Laura for getting in the accident.
We checked ourselves over to make sure we were okay and we got out of the car to survey the damage.
It was dark, but i could tell that the Subaru was done in.

Apparently there was a Ward activity up the canyon, so a lot of people stopped to make sure it wasn't any of their friends in the accident. i was a little bothered at how quickly they wanted to leave when we weren't in their Ward, but we did have some people stay to make sure the police got a witness report to the accident.

Laur and i had a small moment alone together where we just hugged each other and just let go of a little emotion. neither of us really knew what to do. That wasn't the way the weekend was supposed to go. i kept thinking about how we just inherited a car payment.

The other driver was in small Volkswagen Passat, and the collision gave him a solid sideways jolt. He was still in his car when i went back to see what we hit. I saw some people open the door of the other car and say, "He's not responding." The other driver took a few moments, but got out of the car just in time to walk to the ambulance and that was as much as i saw of the other driver.

We made our police report and borrowed the police officer's cellfone to call my old roommate Randall for a ride home. It was a weird night.

The Final Resolution:
Our Subaru was totaled - it lasted three and a half years for me.
The other driver only had a minor concussion, but we never found out why he decided to pull out in front of traffic. (He said he didn't really mean to. ¿?)
The rental company gave us a crappy car. i will never buy a Ford Focus - or rent one either.
We made it up to Park City the next weekend, but we saw a stupid film.
Laura and i are fans of airbags.
Laur's bruises were minimal; a miracle in its own right.
We ended up with a Kia Sportage - i think it was in part for the fact that there are three more air-bags in the Kia than in our Subaru.