You crash your car in to a median on the interstate at approximately 100 kilometers per hour. You and your friends walk out of the crash without a scratch. Your car is totaled and you have to buy another car. You are set to leave for your home trip in just 4 days after the accident! Imagine that!

This is what exactly happened to me. I, Sesha and Hari were on our way to Gurnee, IL on Saturday, November 26th. It was a bright sunny day with clear skies. A prefect day to drive the car. We planned to stop at Chicago, have our lunch at an Indian restaurant and then go to mall at Gurnee. We had all the ingredients for a perfect drive – good weather, great company, music and coffee.

Saturday, November 26, 2005
11:50 am!
As we approached Chicago, the interstate became a three lane highway. The traffic was busy with people going back from their thanksgiving holiday. I was in the left most lane and doing a descent 70 miles an hour (speed limit is 65 miles). I was surprised when the van in front of my car suddenly swerves to the shoulder! The reason for the weird move becomes apparent when I see a wheel barrow and bunch of other debris in my lane. I decide to take a similar evasive action of going over the shoulder and swinging past the obstacle. But when I went over the shoulder, the car skids due to the gravel on the road and bham! Then every thing starts to happen in slow motion.

Quarter mile!
We crashed into the median wall at approximately 100 kilometers per hour. The left side of the front bumper made the first contact with the wall, deploying the air bags in an instant. The car jerked sideways due to the impact and caused the left side of the back bumper to hit the wall. The two impacts bent the left side wheels out of alignment. I braked hard and the ABS in my car jumped into action. I was able to steer the car and keep it from going back in to the drive lanes. I rolled down the windows to clear the car cabin which was full of smoke due to air bag deployment. I was not able to stop the car with normal braking and finally brought the car to a halt by engaging the hand brake. In the mean while we had traveled at least a quarter mile from the first impact to the final halt.

Go in a car, come back in bus!
Once the car had stopped, we checked ourselves for injuries and called the emergency services. We were very fortunate as in none of us had even a single scratch! The cop showed up in some 20 minutes and soon completed the paper work. The car was towed to a local tow lot and the cop gave us a ride to a near by restaurant. From the restaurant, I made calls to my insurance company and initiated the claim process. We ate our lunch there, took a cab to a near by bus station and took the bus home.

Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Hope!
The impaired car was towed to a local collision repair shop. I took a second look at the car to see the extent of the damage. I was amazed at what I saw. The inside of the car was intact and there was no sign of damage except for the air bags. I lifted the hood and the engine compartment was also intact. Parts of the front and back bumper were scrapped off at places and whole chunks missing. Surprisingly even the front head light was not broken! The left side wheels were completely misaligned. I could see the force from the impact had traveled through the entire chassis of the vehicle. The roof of the car was buckled up due to the impact. The repair shop guy told me that there is some hope that the car can be fixed but he would have to take closer look at the car.

Wednesday, November 30, 2005
No hope!
The repair shop guy informed me about the preliminary estimate to fix the car. The cost was about 75% of the value of the car. The car had sustained substantial damage to its underside, the transmission, and the axle.

Thursday, December 1, 2005
The car is totaled!
This was the day I was leaving for my vacation and the bus for the airport was at 11:30 am. At 8:30 am I go and meet my insurance agent to check on the status of my car. By 10:30 am the decision was made to scrap the car as it was not worth to fix the car and the claim was settled. So now I have no car! I lost my first car!! The car died for me and my friends. I think one’s first car is like one’s first love, there might be many more but none like the first!

Lessons Learned
1. Buy the safest car you can afford. You cannot afford a safe car don’t buy a car.
2. Wear the seat belt no matter where you are sitting in the car.

Car crash photos