collisions

On the way home from the airport this morning, my car spun out of control and collided with another car on the freeway. I was lucky that I had already turned almost completely around, so that he hit my passenger side, crushing in the door and a lot of the frame on that side. I was momentarily stunned, then realized I was still parked in the middle of the freeway at an awkward angle, so I slowly drove onto the shoulder.

After I had gotten the car to a somewhat safe position, I ran back to see the other guy. He had also pulled off the road, right in front of an exit sign, and was talking on his cell phone. It was around 5:30 am, so traffic on Dearfoot Trail was just starting to get heavy -- the snow had dumped in around 4, accompanied with some blustery freezing winds, which had created the nasty road conditions.

We sat down in his car while he made another phone call, trying to get a replacement at work. Just then, another car hit us -- this time, on the rear driver's side, and spun his car into the exit lane. Luckily, by this time a fire truck had pulled up and they quickly set up some cones to block off the area. We spent another hour waiting for police and tow trucks, and in the meantime two other minor collisions happened right behind us, thankfully also without injuries.

I just got home on a slow but uneventful bus ride, still reeling from all of this. My car, I'm pretty sure, is totaled -- and maybe my bank account too, after the insurance gets sorted out! The side of my car was so deeply impacted that I couldn't pry the glove compartment open, so I've only just been able to call my insurance company now to report it.

Luckily though, no one was hurt. I just have a couple bruises, and the driver who hit me bumped his head in the second collision, but not seriously. It was not a good morning to be on the freeway going south, apparently.