4/17/2011

Sad news in Hamilton, Montana (click here for more info)

After 2 years and 10 months on the road, after 70,000 miles, after 48 states and 2 foreign countries (Canada and Mexico) .... Bella had her first accident today.

I was leaving Hamilton and heading south to Darby, where I had an appointment to see a Frank Lloyd Wright building.

As I approached the town's main street and stopped at the corner, Mr. H in the car behind me thought I was turning left. But I turned right (south to Darby) and there he was, between me and the curb.

I heard the loud crash and had no idea what the noise could possibly be. I immediately pulled over in the right lane and got out but I couldn't find anything. Then this Mercury Grand Marquis stopped behind me. Mr. H got out and informed me I had hit him. I had no clue how it could have happened, until he explained that he thought I was turning the opposite way.

We exchanged our info and called the police. They were there in no time, talked to both of us, and took pictures. Now we have to wait for the report and then the insurance companies will take it from there.

Mr. H is a well known senior citizen of Hamilton as I could tell from all the people that saw the accident and stopped to talk to him. Mr. H was on his way home from church and wearing a suit, most of his friends were too.

No one was hurt. Mr. H's car had quite a bit of damage to the driver's side headlight (see first pic below) and Bella has some long scrapes on the passenger side, and quite a bit of plastic parts torn and broken around the storage compartments and the rear tire. The 'house' door doesn't open or close properly now.







4 comments:

  1. Brian Many WheelsApril 17, 2011 at 11:49 PM

    Wow Mar...I am so sorry to read this...good to read that your kitty is going to be alright....
    Yikes girl...you made it a long time and a long way before this sort of thing happened...at least it wasn't in Mexico..;^)
    Hugs

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  2. MarApril 18, 2011 at 2:15 AM

    True that, Bro Bri. It has been a wonderful and uneventful trip ... until today ...

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  3. AnonymousApril 21, 2011 at 5:55 PM

    Not that it matters now, but why would he have snuck up beside you on the right? Were you in a dedicated left turn lane? Was there room for 2 vehicles at the same stop? Sounds like he did a dumb thing and you both paid for it, and that sucks. Maybe things will get better and life will once again be rosy. Best wishes.

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  4. MarApril 21, 2011 at 11:38 PM

    The intersection was a "T", with a stop sign. I came to a full stop, looked left and right, and then proceeded to turn right. It was s a two lane street, so there's only one lane in each direction. There's only room for one car at a time. You can only turn right of left. He thought I was going left, but I wasn't.

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