This is the story of how i totalled my '95 SVX, Ivan the Awesome. Its long, so grab a soda and a bag of chips.
It was a dark and stormy night.......well, it was dark anyway. I got off work at 2:00AM Friday morning and drove across town to Charleston Rd, which runs between Sierra Vista and Tomestone, to test out my new Bontrager anti-sway bar.
Well, the first part is pretty straight, till you get closer to the San Pedro River crossing, then it gets more interesting. I got over the bridge fine, and about 3 corners after that I pass a suv going the other way. well buzzed by him at about 80, I continue to accellerate for 20-30 seconds and the next corner I got a little loose, got off the throttle, and the tail starts coming around. got on the brakes a little and turned into the slide, but to no avail. I see the guard rail coming up really fast, " is this it?" I ask myself. i close my eyes and pray "please God let me live". well it went blank for a little bit, then I hear the impact and feel a pain in my chest. and was along for the ride at that point. Finally come to rest. " Oh God, Oh God" I say. then started calling myself a thousand fools for being so stupid. I hit the horn, its working? then I realize the engines still running! The gas tank is probably ruptured, so i shut it off. Everything goes dark. the battery came loose and the engine was running on alt. power. Great. Did I mention this is 2am? So I grope around trying to find my phone to no avil. So I climb out of the car and feel around for my phone. still nothing. then I thank God for saving my life. I feel around some more and find my watch. its only 2:25.
So I decide to climb up to the road and flag someone down. first car ignores me, "Thanks for stoppin!". I see another car coming, yay. He stops, and its a police officer from Tomestone. "You alright sir?" he asks " no, I just wrecked my car" He puts in the call for EMS. and about 5min. later a Border Patrol suv shows up. its the guy i buzzed by just seconds before wrecking. Well, about 20mins later the ambulance arrives. its from Wilcox. "i dont want to go all the way out there". So they say we'll go to Sierra Vista. They strap me to the gurney, load me up into the ambulance and we're off to the hospital. We get there, the nurses check me out, I have a hole in my right hand about a 1/2 inch wide and needs stitches. I have a pain in my left hip, and left shoulder from the seatbelt, and a pain in my back. so they take some xrays, and nothings broken. yay. Then I remember to ask if someone called my folks. I'm usually home by 2:30am, and by this time its almost 5:30. So talk to my mom, tell her I'm ok and how stupid I was. She sends my dad to pick me up. he gets there about a half hour later, we get the discharge papers and prescriptions and head for home.
The Deputy Sheriff who was taking the report came by Friday evening and says the tow company they called says its going to cost a bit to recover the car, and was concerned about payment. Well, I only had liability on my insurance, so towing isn't covered. I didn't know this at the time. So I tell him I'll call around on Sat. to see whos willing to do the job(see the pics and the end of the post to see how far off the road the car ended up)
So Sat. morning my Dad, older brother and I go down to look at the wreckage. It looks WAY worse in the daylight
I find my phone and mp3 player, but not my glasses.
We go back to town and stop by the insurance place, they tell me about the towing stuff, and, turns out the towing company that the Sheriff's office called contacted them already and says they need a backhoe, or helicopter to get it out
Umm.... that sounds expensive.
So we leave there, and go over to this other towing company that my dad suggested thats been in southern AZ for 30+ years and have a decent reputation. They say they can do it, so we arrange to meet at the wreck.
They get there and take a look see, find out they need the bigger truck, and are going to need to close down the road. So the boss man calls the Sheriff Dep. and the driver goes back to town for the other truck and a flatbed. They get back, and begin to prep the car while we wait for the SD. Sheriff gets there and they begin the recovery process. Less then an hour later and its back on the road, ready to be put on the flatbed.
We ended up having to take it home because the wrecking yard isn't open on Sat. So its sitting in the same spot in the driveway that it was when I brought it home in Oct 2010. Wrecking yard will be picking it up Monday.
Sorry for the long post, but thats my weekend in a (large) nutshell. i thank God that I'm alive and that no one else was hurt.
heres the links for pics:
http://s376.photobucket.com/albums/o...After%20Crash/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/4498207...7629304616708/
R.I.P. Ivan
