Came The Dawn

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Sometimes car accidents can be...well, not too bad. Sometimes they can be shrugged off with no cops, no insurance, no injuries, no nothin'. I learned this around 5:30 in the morning on the Hutchinson River Parkway when I was 18 or 19, and I've never forgotten the lesson. Not everything that goes badly needs to be catastrophic.

Three of us had done an all-nighter in Manhattan, wandering around the streets on mescaline, the usual West Village-East Village walk-around, not much cash, soaking up the energy. We drove back to Connecticut around 5 am, the light starting to break. And somewhere around Rye, or right before the Connecticut border, we came around a curve and there was this beige Volkswagen Beetle lying on its side, the owner standing nearby, looking more or less unruffled and going "hmmm."

We immediately pulled over, put on the flashers, got out and ran over and helped the guy right it. One, two, three...done. Quick thanks, hand shake, the bug (which had no serious marks or dents) started right up and he took off. Then we did the same. It was semi-dangerous standing around near a curve, of course. The whole deal took maybe 90 seconds...okay, two minutes. My friends and I hardly spoke of it later, that morning or during the weeks and months that followed.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on October 5, 2008 at 12:15 PM

comment #1

arch451 says ...

Once I wanted to change lanes because I was about to miss a driveway I wanted to turn into. I slowed way down and signaled. I actually was starting to turn into the lane when I check my blindspot and saw a car, speeding, coming up behind me fast. He saw me starting to enter his lane and he slammed on his breaks. I stopped just short of cutting him off but his skidding caused him to slide into the side of my car. Minor damage to both cars.

We pulled over and in a conversation that lasted about 60 seconds we agreed to shake hands and leave it be. We both felt that we contributed to the accident and we didn't want the headache of reporting it.

My car still has the dents to remind me to drive carefully.

Posted by arch451 at October 5, 2008 2:06 PM

comment #2

gruver1 says ...

Wells to arch451: That's a good one.

Posted by gruver1 at October 5, 2008 2:21 PM

comment #3

frankbooth says ...

I've been in accidents in which the car got totaled, but no one was really hurt. Makes you aware how much of the impact all that metal wrapped around you takes. Also makes you realize how dangerous motorcycles are.

Years ago, while Iiving in a cold part of the country, I was heading down the highway with my girlfriend. Total blizzard, like that scene in The Shining. She's driving, and we're putzing along, playing it safe, doing 30 or 40.

Some guy passes us on the right, doing 55 or 60, driving as if conditions are normal. He gets ahead of us and then SPINS OUT, gliding right into our path as he does so. The girlfriend is pumping the brakes, I'm hanging on...my memory is probably exaggerating this, but it felt like he missed us by a couple of yardsticks.

He's now on the left of us as he comes to a stop by the side of the road. Since he hasn't hit anything, we don't stop. We just wanna get away from this fool. So what happens? A few minutes later, he passes us AGAIN.

Must've really been in a hurry. I still wonder if he made it.

Posted by frankbooth at October 5, 2008 3:37 PM

comment #4