Collision Magnet

Today I took my car into the dealership for its 30K mile servicing. While the guy at the service desk was writing me up, he asked if there were any problems the mechanic should look at.

"Could he take the curse off it?" I asked.

He responded with a screwed up smile indicating he supposed I was making a joke, but wasn't altogether sure.

As I explained to the counter guy, something about my car attracts inattentive drivers the way stale bread attracts carp. Less than a month after I bought it, someone rammed into the back end, then screeched away without so much as looking back--this while I was standing next to the car at a payphone. Last spring, the sister of one of my students scraped most of the front the drivers side while rounding a corner in a parking lot at U of T. I stopped a good thirty feet back from the corner when I saw her coming, but she didn't so much as slow down until she hit me. Only scratches on the body, but some serious damage to one wheel. Two weeks ago, I was in the driveway of my pharmacy waiting for traffic to clear, when I felt my car shake suddenly. In spite of my history, my first thought was that the engine was doing something funny. Then I looked behind me and saw a van backing up, the lady driving it looking sheepish. No damage that either of us could see, so I just let that go.

Those are only the direct hits. I've had too many near misses to count, some of which threatened serious damage to me and my car. Last week, I was approaching the left turn lane from Plymouth onto Dixboro Rd. I had the green arrow, so I didn't stop. But as I made the turn, a car heading eastbound on Plymouth dodged around another car stopped at the light and shot into the intersection at full speed, its grille pointing directly at the center of my car. I laid on the horn hard and gunned the accelerator, and I think the last action is the only thing that saved me. The other driver sailed right on through. Last night, while Kristine and I were driving to our meditation group at church, I was nearly creamed at the intersection in front of Zingerman's by someone who didn't feel four-way stops applied to her. I had stopped and saw the intersection was clear. As a pulled out to make a left turn onto Kingsley, another car approached from the west, slowed briefly as it approached the intersection, then resumed speed and attempted a left turn onto the street I'd just left. Again, the driver seemed utterly oblivious that there was a car directly in the path she wanted to take, despite my sounding an extended horn blast. Fortunately she did stop, though not until about a twinkie's width of daylight stood between our cars.

I could write an entry three feet long about my close calls. Those are only the most current ones. For the last year, I've asked myself over and over, WHY? Is it that the dark green exterior is hard to see? I've never really favored bright red cars, but I'm giving serious thought to getting one next time around. That might not be too long, either, as I wouldn't be surprised if this one was totaled before the end of the year. Hopefully if that happens, I won't be.