Thankful for inconvenience, instead of tragedy

There was a freezing rain advisory until 4 AM Tuesday morning and by the time Clarence left for work around 6, it was still slick.

This fall, the road commission paved about a mile of road between our road and the highway.  We've been enjoying the smooth ride and a little less mud on our commutes.  We have had concerns about how it would differ from years past once the weather changed, so Clarence was taking it slow and cautious as he headed for the highway yesterday.

As he approached the highway, he realized there was no way he would be able to get the car stopped in time, though the anti-lock brakes were working overtime, and he could see a semi truck headed for his intersection.  The braking system allowed him to maintain good control over his steering so he quickly made the decision to aim the car for the shoulder of the highway, heading south on the northbound shoulder.  There was nowhere for the trucker to go, as there was traffic from the opposite direction as well, and he hit the passenger side of our poor little Vibe.


The airbags deployed (so glad we got the driver's side one fixed this summer!) but Clarence had closed his eyes, waiting for the impact, so he didn't see that happen.  He says the airbag didn't hit him, either, since he was almost stopped by then and he sits so far back due to his height.

It seems, to me, an incredibly small amount of visible damage for being hit by a semi.  We're pretty sure it's too old for fixing it to be a viable option, though the insurance adjuster hasn't seen it yet.  We decided to see if we could find a replacement, just in case, especially since we've talked about adding another car to our fleet for several months.

We were pretty excited to find another Vibe, three years newer than ours, though our old one has nicer options than this one.  We'll miss power windows and door locks (hard to remember having a car without those "basics" or a clicker to lock and unlock it-how spoiled we are!).

It made for a busy day, trying to decide between new or used, and looking at what was available.  Even though it was a hassle, I was so thankful it was only an inconvenience when it could have easily been a tragedy.  We feel so, so blessed.