Not My Fault - Car Crashes - Part 4

Not My Fault

​September 1993 - I thought that it was a good idea to take the kids to school and drop the wife off to work but a few other people had a different idea about how I should spend my day.

​Funny how one thinks that the car you fall in love with at first site will always be your one and only. I guess that guys are fickle that way (at least when it comes to cars). This dazzling maroon 1993 Honda Civic LX was all that I had wanted in a car. Besides power windows, it didn't have anything special but it looked smooth, ran great and that's all that mattered.

​We were following our usual route and were now on the stretch of Baychester Avenue, which would lead us to Wilder Avenue, where we would pick up my niece. Poor thing was going to be left out. My dear niece (photo on top, cutie on the left) was not able to participate in the fun we were about to have.
 
I was in the pilot's seat and Wen (the co-pilot) was sitting next to me. (For those who are curious, that's a picture of Wen, on the right, next to the chariot). The wife had made it a habit of backseat driving from the front seat but I guess that's the job of the co-pilot. Regardless, you can only make comments on another person's driving, when there is time too. This particular occasion, all judgment calls were on me.
 
I could see the yellow Dodge Shadow approaching and there was nothing unusual to see. That is, until the white Acura, parked in the opposing lane, decided that he was coming out of his parking space. He did this regardless of who was already in the flow of traffic and had the right of way. The yellow Dodge honked but it was too late to slow down. He was forced to swerve to his left in order to avoid the white car, which he successfully did. But to accomplish this, he also had to cross the double line and move into my lane. I quickly moved to the right to avoid a head-on collision and I was relieved for a second when this didn't happen. Unfortunately, it seemed more important for the Dodge not to hit the Acura than to maybe hit me. The front of his car rammed the rear left side of mine, causing us to spin a bit. I was able to straighten the car out but for reasons that I couldn't understand, I seemed to no longer have control of the car. The front right side of my Accord struck/scraped the nearby Plymouth causing a lot of damage and the only reason we came to a stop was because we then smashed into the an older model Civic. This video should make clear the events that I just described.

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​Just before I turned around to see if everyone was okay (which they all were), I glanced in my left side view mirror. I could see the Dodge sitting at an angle, across both lanes. I felt relieved that me and my family were alright and then sorry for the guy in the Dodge who had done his best to avoid all this. My emotions then turned to anger because also in my mirror, much further away, I could see the white Acura. He had driven away from the accident that he had caused and he hadn't sustained a scratch. I watched as he moved onto the highway entrance and away from the scene.
 
When I finally got out and walked around the car, I found that the front right and left rear tires were both totally flat. Wow! No wonder I finally lost control of the steering.  Thank God the accident wasn't much worst. My two girls and the wife were not uninjured so I couldn't complain.

In the long run, the not so stream-lined Honda Civic LX was damaged beyond repair so it was considered totaled. It was replaced with a bigger, safer car because by this time it had become obvious that no matter how expert a driver I am, we all needed protection from the crazies out there.  

​Happy and safe driving, everyone.