July 19th, A day full of suprises

Today, as I drove to work I was involved in a car accident. I was going through a stoplight that I go through at least once a week when I was stopped by a blue Chevy truck attempting to make a left turn.

I will try to explain the events leading up to the crash with as much detail as I can. I was heading south on Summerfield Rd. approaching the intersection of Hwy 150. The speed limit in this area is 35 and though I cannot tell you my exact speed at the time I do know that I had just slowed down for both the school and a yard sale sign. I would estimate under 35 though.

As I approached the intersection I noticed a blue truck with it’s left ticker on, looked at the light , it was green, and continued. At this time the truck appeared to be stationary. About 1/8-1/4 through the intersection I notice the truck lurch foreword and I slammed my brakes.

I remember skidding and realizing I was about to hit. I also remember the front of the Suburu wrinkling like you see in a movie. I do not remember my airbag deploying but my next thought was “what is this in my face?” It was, of course, the airbag, I pushed it away releasing only what I can describe as nasty smelling baby powder into the air. Couphing from the powder, I exited my vehicle. The other driver was already out of his truck. I proceeded to ask him if he was alright to which he replied “this is your fault isn’t it?” I told him not to worry and asked again if he was alright. A truck passing asked if he needed to call the police and I gestured for him to do so. I asked the other driver again if he was alright and this time he responded saying his chest hurt a little. I pointed to the truck and asked him if he needed an ambulance, he said no.

Things started to calm down for me and then the other drive said “boy if I’d a known you was coming through I sure would have stayed were I was.” to which I replied “boy if I’d a known you where going to turn I sure would a stopped.” We said this to each other about 5 times throughout our conversation. The guy in the truck that called the police said that he had done so, I asked if he saw anything to which he replied “By the time I got here everything was said and done. The Fire Dept. was first on scene and asked everyone if they where alright. The wife of the other driver had also showed up.
I asked her if she had a cellphone which she did not. I then looked around for other people and everybody seemed to be too busy trying to get around the accident to care.

One woman who knew the other driver did stop and let me use her cell phone to call my grandmother. She was all exited and she is what the military would call the communications center of the family. I knew calling her would spread the word of my accident to the rest of the family including my wife who was at the doctors office getting her checkup for the baby. Luckily my Uncle was at my mother/grandmother’s house while his wife (Dovey) watched my nephew. My grandmother dispatched him to come and pick me up with directions that would have led him about 3-4 miles in the wrong direction, thankfully he knew the area and was able to come.

The police arrived shortly after the fire dept. and proceeded to make sure everybody was accounted for and that we where alright. He then started investigating the scene, marking the tires, measuring the distance of my skid marks, and so forth. I asked if it was alright to remove my computer and other electronics that I carry with me, he said that would be fine and then informed me that my car was not drivable and asked if I had a preference of a towing company I said that it didn’t matter but that Donnells’ Towing was probably the closest.

I removed my computer, switch, and PDA and put them in my uncle’s car. I also had my mom’s digital camera that I had borrowed for an event later in the day so I took several pictures of the accident they are below. The police officer asked me to come sit in his car and questioned me about the event, I told him everything I knew and then he asked me to make a written statement. I feel sorry for whoever has to read that thing as my hands where a bit shaky from the event. I even got my address wrong the first time I told him.

In the end I was ok save a sore knee and my family was a bit shook up. The other driver was found at fault and I was ready to call it a day.

But wait there’s more.

The reason I had my mom’s digital camera is that today was my wife’s second ultra sound and my first! I could not make out much from the picture she brought home from the last ultra-sound and I wanted to make sure we got some good ones this time. The appointment was at 2:45 and we got there at around 2:15. We did not have to wait long to be seen and the Ultra-sound was going good (I’ll repost some video later) until the operator said “Are you sure that the last technician said it was a girl?” we replied yes and she said “we’ll you see that? You are having a boy!” We where both shocked and yes we saw the wee-wee. So now the babies name will be Daniel Lynn Bates and he will no longer be miss-diagnosed as a girl, I will make sure of that

So you see what I mean by a day full of surprises, I thought you would agree.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures
David Bates

Upclose of the crunch	View from old store
Other side	The other driver is standing next to the old store.
Tail view of truck	That is not smoke. It is the drying powder the guy is throwing down.
View from back of my car. Almost made it