Another True Story…

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It was September 1999 (I think??) and Brian and I wanted to go on a trip somewhere.  Being footloose and childfree, we just did it on the spur of the moment.  We first were going to drive to Virgina and visit Washington DC and some battlefields and such.  A hurricane was expected to hit that area, so it would be rainy at the very least.  We decided to go a little south and head over to Charleston, SC. 

We had a fun time there looking at plantations and the historic downtown.  We then headed up to Myrtle Beach to check out that touristy town.  We met a fun guy and his son, who were there for a restauranteurs conference, and they told us to stop by their restaurant on the way home.  The next day we headed out, expecting to be eating well that night in the Smoky Mountains.

I was driving Brian’s 3 month old Acura CL coupe.  He was rather fond of his sporty black car.  We were going through Florence, SC, trying to find the highway.  I was looking for signs and not looking up.  You see, here up North we have side lights on both sides and they are on big poles.  Not so in that town…one light on a wire over the road.  You see where this is going don’t you??  I didn’t see the red light.

*CRASH!!!*

I actually hit the breaks at the last second, so the front of the car was pretty low when it hit the side of a Ranger pickup truck.  By the time we stopped the light was green, so he was rushing through a yellow or red light.  Just sayin’…I may not have been 100% at fault. 😉

Amazingly the car was still running, so I didn’t damage the motor.  We moved over to a parking lot on the side and waited for the cops and exchanged insurance.  We had the Acura all-star- extra-car-accident-stuff, so we called them and they got a tow truck over to get us.  There wasn’t an Acura dealership for a few hundred miles, so it was quite the tow!  At least we didn’t have to pay for it with that insurance.

As we were waiting for the tow truck, I smelled gas.  I asked the Ranger driver if I had hit his gas tank, which I didn’t think I did.  He said, “No, it was probably the pail of gasoline I had in the back of my truck”. 😯

Yeah…smart one that guy. No one flicks lit cigarettes out of their car or anything.

Anyways, we had the tow truck driver drop us off at Enterprise and we got a one way rental.  I think we followed him to the Acura dealership in Columbia, SC, who had him drop it off at a collision repair place they use.  It had Jaguars in the parking lot, so we figured Brian’s baby was in safe hands.

Then, we got a hotel room for the night and Brian bought a pack of cigarettes.  He had quit smoking.  As you can imagine…I didn’t say anything. 😉

The next day we drove straight home – 21 hours – since we were paying for that car by the day.  It took 9 weeks for his car to get fixed, so we were a one car family.  At least my work was on the way to his, and we didn’t have to do too much juggling.  He had my car for most of the time, since I worked downtown and my client was downtown. 

On Thanksgiving weekend, we drove straight through to get his car and drove straight back.  Brian drove most of the way there and I drove most of the way back…except for the first few hours.  He wanted to drive his car again.

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About 6 months or so later we got a call from our insurance agent.  The Ranger driver had filed a claim that I had injured him when I hit him.  I definitely could have, but since he was a self-employed electrician…it may have been a “deep pockets” kind of thing, too.  The funny thing was, the insurance agent from SC asked how the cops knew I hit him and was at fault.  Well, gosh, I told the truth!  Apparently that was quite the rarity LOL!

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Maybe I will write about my other “accidents”, too, someday. At least I’ve never gotten a speeding ticket…and have good insurance. 😉