http://www.benandjenelle.com/?p=359
Our vacation up north was wonderful. We went fishing, played mini-golf, learned card games, ate homemade breakfasts, rode on bike trails, and did a whole lot more, all while taking time out to relax. I think Jenelle, Jamie, Janet, Mark, and Heather all had a great time. However, there was one little thing that happened that put a damper on things.
On Saturday evening, we were headed back from dinner at Monical’s Pizza, which was only half a mile away from our cabin. I stopped the Alero in the leftmost northbound lane of highway 51, my turn signal clicking away as I waited for oncoming traffic to clear. At about 5:15 p.m., I heard screeching tires followed by a loud and jolting SLAM.
A drunk driver rear-ended us. We estimate he skidded into us at about 35 miles per hour.
The great news is that none of the four people in my car were injured. We were able to get the car off the road and call the police. The other driver did not appear to be hurt, but he was definitely impaired. His car’s air bag had deployed and wouldn’t start. A bystander in a yellow shirt waved traffic around his vehicle so that no one inadvertently crashed into him.
After what seemed like forever, the police came and processed the scene. The drunk driver was taken into custody on a stretcher — more on him later.
As you can see from the photos, there were two bicycles on the back of our car at the time. After a visit to the bike shop on Sunday and the body shop on Monday, we learned that:
1) The bikes could be repaired, suprisingly, for less than their cost.
2) The Alero, though it could be driven to the body shop, was totaled because of damage to the rear of the vehicle and the exhaust system.
Another great lesson from all of this — when waiting to turn left, DO NOT TURN YOUR WHEELS until traffic has cleared. If you do this, you will be pushed into oncoming traffic if you are rear-ended, which could make a bad accident even worse.
Back to the drunk driver — as it turns out, this guy is wanted in Michigan for allegedly burning down his estranged wife’s home while his wife was away. This article and this one have some more information. Jenelle and I find it surprising that the articles do not mention how the Vilas County authorities were able to arrest the suspect. Basically, we got in his way!
So, no more Alero for us. Jenelle and I will miss it, but not too much. We’ve already replaced the vehicle, and we’re both doing just fine.
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