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grayman · 08-07-2003, 06:57 AM

My wife had an appointment at the hospital in Iowa City and we were running late, so I was speeding. It was about 7:45 am. It had rained hard that morning and the grass and shoulder were wet, but the road was fairly dry. We were driving in the left lane on a divided highway and there was this stupid bug flying around my head, driving me crazy. I took my eyes off the road for a split second to swat it, and when I looked up, I was on the shoulder. When I tried to get back on the road, we spun. We were approaching a divided bridge over a small river with a wishbone shaped guardrail to keep people from going between the two bridges. We bounced off the guardrail and continued to spin across the median and the two lanes of oncoming traffic. This is all I remember. Other drivers who saw us said that we flipped the car and went up and over a fence. All I know is that we landed less than 10 feet from the river, right side up, which is why I thought we just spun. My wife was not wearing her seatbelt and smacked her head very hard on the side window. I was wearing my seatbelt and I was okay. I got out of the car to check on the damage and my wife, but the people who stopped to help us said I should get back in the car until the ambulance arrived. Unfortunately, because I was in the car when they arrived, they had to take me out on a backboard. My wife and I both checked out just fine and the hospital, but my wife was not pleased when they cut her clothes off of her. I had borrowed a cell phone from one of the people who stopped and called my in-laws to let them know we had an accident. This was before I knew we flipped and I just told them we ran off the road. When they drove by on their way to the hospital, they didn't think that the car on the complete opposite side of the highway could possibly have been ours, but it was. I guess that as the tow truck was pulling the car out of the grass, the water from the river had risen enough to cover the tires on the car. The car was totaled, but we were still very lucky. My wife and I were fine and the backseat was crushed, so if our daughters had been with us, they would have been killed. The best part of the story is that it was a rental car, and for the first time ever, I had not gotten their insurance. Saving that extra $35 on the rental cost me thousands in deductibles and higher premiums.

P.S. If you live near Iowa City, you can still see the dent we left in the guardrail. Northbound lane of 218 just as you approach Riverside, which is coincidentally where James T. Kirk was/will be born.

08-07-2003, 06:57 AM	#9 (permalink)
grayman you can't see me Location: Illinois	My wife had an appointment at the hospital in Iowa City and we were running late, so I was speeding. It was about 7:45 am. It had rained hard that morning and the grass and shoulder were wet, but the road was fairly dry. We were driving in the left lane on a divided highway and there was this stupid bug flying around my head, driving me crazy. I took my eyes off the road for a split second to swat it, and when I looked up, I was on the shoulder. When I tried to get back on the road, we spun. We were approaching a divided bridge over a small river with a wishbone shaped guardrail to keep people from going between the two bridges. We bounced off the guardrail and continued to spin across the median and the two lanes of oncoming traffic. This is all I remember. Other drivers who saw us said that we flipped the car and went up and over a fence. All I know is that we landed less than 10 feet from the river, right side up, which is why I thought we just spun. My wife was not wearing her seatbelt and smacked her head very hard on the side window. I was wearing my seatbelt and I was okay. I got out of the car to check on the damage and my wife, but the people who stopped to help us said I should get back in the car until the ambulance arrived. Unfortunately, because I was in the car when they arrived, they had to take me out on a backboard. My wife and I both checked out just fine and the hospital, but my wife was not pleased when they cut her clothes off of her. I had borrowed a cell phone from one of the people who stopped and called my in-laws to let them know we had an accident. This was before I knew we flipped and I just told them we ran off the road. When they drove by on their way to the hospital, they didn't think that the car on the complete opposite side of the highway could possibly have been ours, but it was. I guess that as the tow truck was pulling the car out of the grass, the water from the river had risen enough to cover the tires on the car. The car was totaled, but we were still very lucky. My wife and I were fine and the backseat was crushed, so if our daughters had been with us, they would have been killed. The best part of the story is that it was a rental car, and for the first time ever, I had not gotten their insurance. Saving that extra $35 on the rental cost me thousands in deductibles and higher premiums. P.S. If you live near Iowa City, you can still see the dent we left in the guardrail. Northbound lane of 218 just as you approach Riverside, which is coincidentally where James T. Kirk was/will be born. __________________ That's right - I'm a guy in a suit eating a Blizzard. F U. Last edited by grayman; 08-07-2003 at 07:02 AM..