I am WTV* - sob!

[Bill]

Don't know where to tell my sad story, so I'll dump it here.

As you know from my sig line, we tow our TM with a 2002 Ford Explorer - the first year of the resurrection of the old-fashioned big ones. We bought it as a tow vehicle, and it has been great - V8, 5-speed auto, 3.73 limited slip, factory tow package including a big steel Class 3/4 hitch receiver, and enough interior goodies to make my wife throw over her luxurious Turbo Saab and adopt it as HER CAR (hey, that wasn't part of the plan!)

Last week we took a couple houseguests out for a drive. They asked to stop at a shop on the other side of the road, so I signalled left, pulled to the left side of lane, and stopped, waiting for a break in oncoming traffic. The first car behind us saw our signal and pulled around - nice wide lane, plenty of room. The second car saw our signal and did the same. The third car was out in space somewhere, and plowed into us at something like 35 mph. WHAM!

So we had ambulances, fire trucks, police cruisers from two towns, the whole scene. They whisked my wife off to the hospital for some neck X-rays - she will be fine, but first she will be sore. The other three of us had nasty headaches from being whopped by the headrests, but we're OK, too.

Now I could tell you how the other driver was a nice looking 23-year old guy, and how he spoke only broken English, and how he presented the cops with a driver's license from Bulgaria, and how he was living with another kid from Bulgaria, who actually owned the car but wasn't quite up to date on his insurance. But that wouldn't be interesting. He was OK, by the way - fortunately strapped in really tight.

What was interesting, to me anyway, is that he was driving a 96 Hyundai. Now, when a 2000-pound Hyundai attacks a 4300-pound SUV, it is pretty easy to understand who is going to win. There was very little left of the Hyundai forward of the windshield. But on our Explorer, that big steel hitch receiver took most of the impact. Shoved it 6 inches straight forward, and twisted it a bit to the side. The bumper took the remainder of the impact. No sheet metal damage forward of the bumper.

There are other uninteresting details, too. Like the towing company that towed my vehicle off into the night, and for two days, no one could find it. Turns out they saw our out of state plates, figured they had a sucker, and "kidnapped" it, so they could levy storage charges. They now know, via the Police Department that called them, that I am local, and I don't put up with that kind of stuff.

But I learned several amazing (to me) things from the incident.
1. Despite the overwhelming advantage of my vehicle in the Hyundai-vs-Explorer contest, the impact REALLY HURT! If someone had asked me beforehand, I would have guessed it would be a lot less. I hate to think what it would have been like if the vehicles had been more evenly matched. Or if the rather moderate speed difference (35 mph) had been higher.
2. Modern vehicles are really pretty good at protecting their occupants. Sure, the headrests smacked the back of our heads pretty hard when the Explorer snapped forward from the impact - but our necks sure as heck didn't snap backward. And the kid in the Hyundai unbuckled his seatbelt and stepped out of his pile of bent sheet metal and steam, scared and bruised, but OK.
3. Insurance companies can be the good guys. The kid's friend's insurance rep described the specifics of "not quite up to date", but said not to worry, they would cover everything and sort it out later with the kid. And they have really made it quite easy. For example, they agreed with my choice of body shop for estimate and repair - even though it wasn't their choice. And since we were driving an SUV, they offered to provide us with an SUV for the duration. I would have accepted an econobox, but they insisted. When the local rental places didn't have an SUV, they brought us, right to our house, a humongous pickup truck - Ray, we can put your new Tundra in the back of this. Wouldn't have been my choice, but their heart was in the right place. And they also offered us a $400 "inconvenience package" if we would just sign some releases, which of course we declined to do - so far.
4. Women can get just as attached to a car as men can! Can you believe it?? My wife cries every day - her "poor baby" has been violated! She wants to go to the shop and comfort it! She is waiting like a new mother for the final diagnosis. I don't know if we'll get the vehicle back. Depends on how bad the frame was twisted, but judging from the sheet metal, I don't think it was too bad, so she and it will be reunited.

Moral of the story - at least one of them? You hear people say "SUVs should be outlawed. In an accident, they overwhelm the other guy", the implication being that the SUV caused the accident. But for me, I can now say "You betcha! And sometimes the other guy deserves to be overwhelmed. Let me tell you a story. It was a rainy night in Maine ..."

Bill