On Sunday, Dominic and Brett were going to lead worship for Andy at a church in Claremore. Andy was preaching the message because the head pastor was on vacation. The boys went to Claremore early to set up and practice and I came later, leaving our house around 9:55. I arrived in Claremore via I-44, paid my toll at the toll both, and came to the intersection of I-44 and SH-20, filled with construction, barrels, signs, etc. SH-20 is a 4 lane highway with a median, but due to the construction, the east bound lanes (the lanes traffic exiting I-44 came to first) were closed off with road closed signs and barrels. There were 2 stop signs, one at the edge of the exit ramp (before any of the SH-20 lanes) and one after the first east bound lane (so there were still two lanes after the second stop sign -- the second east bound lane and the median). Traffic was not very heavy as it was about 10:20 Sunday morning; no cars passed in front of my on SH-20 while I was approaching the intersection.
So, I stopped at both stops signs, looked up to see a One Way sign pointing West (the direction I needed to turn), looked right to see no cars in my path, and pulled out into the intersection. Once into my turn, I was shocked to see a car headed toward me in the other lane. I attempted to speed up to move out of the way, but didn't succeed. The other car, a Kia, hit my rear driver side door.
All SH-20 traffic, east and west, is on these farthest two lanes (the west bound when there's no construction), however, there are no good signs to tell drivers this is the case ... and to make matters worse, the one way sign has not been taken down or blocked while the construction is ongoing. Needless to say, in my opinion, the city of Claremore (or DOT) needs to do something about this confusing and dangerous intersection.
Thankfully, no one was hurt. The woman in the other car had three children in the back seat, but all were ok. She was on her way to see her old home town (she was visiting from Texas). I have two bruised knees and a very sore neck, but am just relieved that the baby and me are ok. My neck will heal; it's just hard to be patient ... not to mention the pain being a constant reminder of my driving mishap.
The Lexus was drivable, but the door is completely ruined. I have no idea how much it costs to get a new door + labor + paint + etc. My mom hit my family's mailbox a few weeks ago and they got estimates of around $1000 for that very minor damage, so there's no telling.
And as for me, I got a ticket for "failure to yield at a stop sign" for $206.50. It's not exactly how I would describe the incident (maybe woman tricked at poorly marked intersection), but I guess the law is the law. I'm trying to remain positive and thankful, keeping it all in perspective. After all, it's just a car, and it's just money (most of my Christmas bonus to be exact!).
Pics of the damage:
No comments:
Post a Comment