My first car accident occurred at the ripe old age of 16, and fortunately nobody but myself and my car were involved. Actually, make that myself, my car, and a set of railroad tracks…yikes!
I was driving home from the drive-in movie theater, trying to hurry to make my curfew! This drive-in theater was on the absolute outskirts of town, located in an area I was very unfamiliar with.
This was well before the age of smart phones, back when getting lost meant actually getting lost. I knew I was driving in the wrong direction, so when I saw a road up ahead, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to turn around. Well, my night blindness was in full force, because this was not a cross street, but rather a rail road crossing. On either side of the road, the rail road ties were no longer level with the street, but actually a good two feet off the ground. Because I took the turn so quickly, I was halfway over the ties before I could react and reverse out. This was unfortunately much too late to save the underbelly (I’m clearly not auto savvy!) of my tiny little Toyota Celica.
I resumed my drive, and noticed that as I was pulling onto my street, the ride got very bumpy. I pull into my driveway, and notice that two of my tires are completely shredded. Thinking this was the extent of it, I went in and faced the parental fire. They were surprisingly understanding, but had said I would have to pay for new tires with my own money. So the next day I hunted down and purchased two tires and brought them home to put on the car. Once this was done, I got in my car for a test drive. As soon as I accelerated, it became apparent that there was much more wrong with my car than the tires. It wouldn’t accelerate past maybe 15mph, even when flooring it. This happened several times, until I gave up and went in to explain to my parents the tragedy.
Long story short, after we got the car to a auto body repair shop, it ended up being totaled. It was an awful experience at the time, but a laughable story 15 years hind site. Lesson learned: wear glasses at night, and don’t get lost!!
