Well, So Much For That Car.

[This was on the 19th. I’ve been sick of dealing with the whole situation, so I haven’t made an effort to blog what happened.]

I’d just successfully tested for my Tae Soo Do red belt (just one more belt to go before black), and was on my way home on the beltline.  Jeremy and Christy were having a housewarming party, and I was looking forward to seeing them after a well-deserved and desperately-needed shower.

As I neared my exit, I noticed a long line of cop cars lining both sides of an on-ramp. I glanced back and forth between them and the road, wondering what would necessitate such an unusually large number of police–particularly because there didn’t seem to be anyone other than police there. There wasn’t a stopped civilian car in sight.

Just as I was about to pass the last of the police, the station wagon in front of me suddenly and inexplicably hit their brakes. I slammed on my own to avoid rear-ending it. As for the guy in the SUV behind me… well, he was still counting cop cars. He hit me with so much force that the weight of my body reclined my seatback all the way down. Since my headrest was now lying on the back seat and therefore unable to catch my head, my neck snapped as far back as it could go–which, as it turns out, is very nearly until the back of my head touches my spine. I was very briefly unconscious (probably a fraction of a second) and came to with my hands still clutched around the wheel. I maneuvered my car to the shoulder, paused for a moment to assess if I’d been injured but hadn’t yet noticed–I wasn’t–and got out to see how badly damaged my car was. The result:

Not pretty.

After inspecting the damage, I casually waved to a cop sitting in his cruiser. He had no doubt seen the entire accident, and pulled up about ten feet. He stayed in his car doing some sort of cop-thing as the driver of the SUV walked up, apologizing profusely. I nodded a few times, not really listening, then sat down on the guard rail to wait for the cop to emerge.

There was the usual statement to police officers and exchange of insurance information. I took a few pictures with my phone to document the damage. I tried calling Megan to see if she could pick me up, but got her voicemail instead. Not wanting to scare her with a message like “I got in a car accident and my car is totaled,” I left a vague message ending with “It’s important.”

The driver of the SUV and his wife weren’t hurt, and their vehicle only had minor damage to the front bumper.

The other driver was ticketed for something–probably inattentive driving–and after I’d stuffed as many of my belongings into my Tae Soo Do gear bag as it could hold, a Dane County sheriff gave me a ride home. As we drove, I got the full story on the phalanx of police vehicles that had indirectly caused my car’s demise:

A cop outside Stoughton (a smaller city about twenty miles southeast) had tried to pull over a woman for what the sheriff termed a “registration issue.” But she never stopped. From the way she acted–driving the speed limit, obeying all traffic laws and using her turn signals–it was as if she never noticed the increasing number of cop cars trying to get her off the road. The police thought she may have been having mental problems, so they decided to spike strip her before she could get on the busy beltline highway. The “chase” never made the local news, so I never found out if she was hauled off in handcuffs (resisting arrest) or an ambulance (psychiatric evaluation).

The sheriff dropped me off at home, and I found out about two weeks later that the other guy’s insurance company was going to total out my car. (Yes, two weeks. Fuck you, State Farm. My insurance company, Progressive, offered me a settlement in five days. I didn’t take it because I didn’t want to pay the deductible and wait to be reimbursed.) This left me riding the bus, hitching rides, and finally getting a rental until I could find a replacement.

I bought a 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse on Friday, but I won’t have it until Wednesday. I told the dealership I wouldn’t buy it unless they made a repair to the shifter, and they’re waiting on parts from Mitsubishi. It will be nice having a nicer, newer car with some more amenities. My Mirage had absolutely none, not even power steering.

Unfortunately, this screwed up my some of my financial plans. I’ve been wanting to open a savings account in Euros to offset the continually diminishing value of the U.S. dollar. The only bank in the country that offers savings accounts in other currencies requires a very steep initial balance, and I’d just reached it. That money’s gone. I’d also been seriously looking at finally getting an HDTV, and that’s definitely out, too.