RIP Lexus ES300 1993-2008

Saturday night, Evan was fiddling with his cell phone when he should have been driving, and he took out a fire hydrant. When I arrived, the street looked like a scene of major carnage, with two fire trucks, a fire department paramedics ambulance, half a dozen police cars (all with lights flashing), the gutter flowing six feet deep in water, and a lot of people standing around. The police had the area cordoned off, so I had to park over a block away; the police officer guarding the line of flares would make no exception even for a frantic mother who had come to take her son to the hospital.

I found the remains of the Lexus easily enough, and I was glad I had already been prepared to see it totalled. It had completely laid out the fire hydrant, and even though Evan had been going east at the time, his car came to a stop facing southwest. I think his right front wheel locked up and caused him to skid, and then when he hit the hydrant, the front of the car stopped and the rear rotated. One of the police officers pointed out to me how lucky Evan had been - the hydrant is located between a lamp post and a power pole, either of which would have been much worse to hit than a hydrant. Evan and I took a tape measure along with the camera today and discovered that the two poles are only twelve feet apart. My kid must have one of the best guardian angels in the business. (Charlotte, if you'd offer a prayer of thanksgiving at your church, I'd be obliged.)

When Evan first crashed, the left side of his face went numb, which rightly concerned him (could be a sign of nerve damage). The numbness passed off pretty quickly, though, which was why he decided he could wait for me to take him to the hospital instad of use the ambulance. I found him inside the house just behind the hydrant, but I didn't have a chance to speak to him before a police officer brought him out to the entry walk and asked him if he'd had anything to drink. I immediately jumped in with both feet and said he couldn't pass a field sobriety test because he'd had a brain tumor as a child. The officer rather brusquely asked me to wait down by the curb, so I went, but Evan later told me he didn't administer the test. The officer also later apologized for his brusqueness, saying that he was an expert in DUI, and the nystagmus from brain damage is different from that of alcohol use, which he could see. Also, Evan had the disabled parking paperwork from the DMV (which I scanned and reduced to wallet size so he caould carry it with his driver's license after his previous experience). For my part, I explained that I had been so forward because Evan had spent the night in jail last February due to an officer who considered himself an expert on drug use, and I was very glad that the LAPD seemed to be better trained than the CHP.

At any rate, a tow truck driver hauled off the Lexus, explaining that I could probably cut some kind of deal with his boss where I could trade the pink slip for the cost of storage. Yeah, right. Even totaled, a Lexus is worth more than a couple of days worth of storage, and AAA paid for the tow. I told him I'd talk to my mechanic on Monday. Even if the car was totaled (and I was pretty sure not even Jerry could save this one), I wanted him to have the first crack at it for parts, or at least hook me up with a salvage yard that would give me fair value. Further, I needed to find out if he had an old clunker of a Corolla that Evan could use to get to school.

Turns out, Jerry does want to buy the Lexus for parts, and he has an old clunker of a Camry available. This car is old enough to vote, but it Runs Good and handles okay. It's also not the same color as Evan's Grandma's old Camry, which is a good thing, since it otherwise looks very similar. We may end up being out less than two thousand dollars on this deal, even including replacing Evan's brand new Treo, which got soaked.

After all the insurance and police issues were taken care of Saturday night, I took Evan to the emergency room, and we had been there for some time before it occurred to me I ought to go home and get him some dry clothes. I had him wrapped in a fleece blanket I always carry in my car, so he wasn't shivering anymore, but he was soaked. By the time I returned with a whole new outfit, the doctor had just gotten to him. Evan's left eyelid was slightly split, but the doctor didn't think there was any damage to the cheek bone. He ordered a tetanus shot and told us to watch for various neurological signs before he went on to the next patient.

Perhaps the Lexus will be this year's fatality, and none of my friends or family will die this year. Wouldn't that be nice?