A collision, a settlement ... and no more car

     To begin, we -- especially Beatrice -- are blessed to be walking around mostly healthy. But ...

     Youngest grandson Eli, as sympathetic and bewildered as a nearly 4-year-old can be, observes that "Granny and Opa are carless."

     He is correct. We are carless.

     Eli adds: "You bumped into somebody."

     Well, not quite. Somebody bumped into us -- but it was more than a bump. It was a collision. 

     We no longer have the silver 2010 Toyota Camry we bought brand-new eight years ago. It is gone to the salvage yard.  
     The last day we drove it was ... Friday the 13th. It was a bad-luck day for us, but not entirely. The good luck was that we walked away from a T-bone collision.
     No one ever said I am a good driver, but this accident was not our fault. 
     Driving to our senior-resident facility from a morning yoga/stretch class at the Fort Worth Central YMCA (downtown), three blocks from home, another driver crashed his car into the right side (passenger side, Bea's side) of our vehicle.
     The young man ran a red light at Henderson and 10th Street. A few moments -- and two wrecked cars -- later, he immediately took responsibility. 

The crushing blow:  Our 2010 Toyota Camry -- gone to the salvage yard

     No one was badly hurt, thank goodness.
     Bea's back and spine have been stiff for a couple of weeks afterward, but she has not needed medical treatment. Gentle exercises and a couple of hot-tub visits have helped.
     The airbags on Bea's side of the car deployed, for the most part, saving her from more severe injuries. The young man had a burned area on his right arm from his airbag. Only issue I had was a small bruise on my right wrist, presumably from gripping the steering wheel tightly as I twisted it to the left hoping to avoid his car.
     No chance.
     I had come from a red-light stop on 10th, slowly starting across the intersection because there is a dip in the road there. Saw the black car flash on my right ... tried, but no way to avoid it.
     Pardon me: Damn!
     First reaction, after pulling the car to the curb, was to look over at Bea. She was shaken, but seemed OK. 
     Next thought: So much for giving this car -- close to 108,000 miles -- to our daughter this fall.
     I got out, looked for the other car and driver. Not there. Where did he/she go? But one of the license plates was in the road, so in case of a hit-and-run ... 
     I walked around to the right side of our car (Bea was still inside), and it was crushed. Yuk. Wondered why our windows were so darned fogged up? Duh, that was the airbags.
     Next: Who was going to call the police? We did not have our phones with us (no need for them at the YMCA). 
     A break: There were witnesses. Two young women in the car behind the other driver pulled up behind us; they had seen the collision happen. They already had called 911 and reported the accident. They were concerned about us and the other driver, and they told us they could stay until the police showed up.
     They also told me that the other car had run the red light. I was pretty certain of that, but not sure what the other driver would say.
     A polite, neat-looking young man emerged from behind the nearby pizza place where he had managed to drive his car. He immediately said, "It's my fault; I ran the red light."
     He explained that he was thinking about having to make a left turn into the Walgreen's that was a block ahead on his  left, and he completely forgot to look at the traffic light. My estimate is that he was going about 30-35 miles per hour.
     He quickly added: "I called my father. ... This is my sister's car. I am not looking forward to having the conversation with her."
     Honestly, we felt badly for him. And when we walked around to look at his car, the front end was a total mess.
     A young policeman was on the scene within three minutes, and he could not have handled it better. He was very concerned about our physical conditions.
     His only confusion was that he saw Bea emerge from our driver's side door, so he questioned who was driving our car. Bea told him she had to climb out that side; the passenger side door was inoperable. 
     The damage was as bad on the inside of our car -- seats torn, glove compartment stuck -- as the outside. 
     The young man's car was going to have to be towed. We could drive our car the remaining distance home, but the policeman followed us to be sure we got there safely.
      Parked it in our large parking lot, so it could be easily accessed -- and that was the last time we were in it. 
---
     We have had some mishaps with cars over the years -- a mattress dropping off a truck as we followed, and the mattress stuck under our front right tire in heavy early evening Houston freeway traffic. Near Tyler, a tire off the back of a car bouncing all the way across I-20 to the other side and sailing over our roof. A few minor bumps here and there. The right side on this car previously smashed in while Bea was at a grocery store (so this was our second right-side); extensive hail damage (our mistake for leaving it outside) a couple of years ago.
     Never had anything this jarring happen before. But this was also a good-luck accident for us. 
     One friend's car was T-boned a few years back, leaving her with extensive injuries and a long rehab. Another friend, with two of his young children in the car, drove into a driver who ran a stop sign; fortunately, no one hurt.         
     So we count our blessings.
     Among those, a smooth insurance-settlement process. Maybe others have experienced insurance issues. Not in this case. Took a few phone calls and online exchanges, but it went as well as one could hope.
     Our insurance company -- thankfully -- declared it a total loss, and arranged for its salvage dealer to haul it off from our parking lot exactly one week after the accident (and take our signed title in the process).
     It also arranged for us to use a rental car for a week, and we needed that for a couple of planned trips out of Fort Worth and one or two short journeys here.
     Now what?       
     We had planned to give up our car in the fall. We think we can do it. The timetable just moved up.
     Don't like  driving anymore -- the roads are crowded, and so many other drivers are just wild -- and we figure to save money without paying for insurance, maintenance ... and gasoline. 
     We are provided transportation in several fashions by our living facility, we have the option of Lyft or Uber, or the city buses, and if we need to rent a car for a trip -- say, to see the kids in Tennessee or even Prosper -- there are three rental places within a mile radius.
     We loved our baby Toyota Camry, though. Bought it new, paid it off before the original due date, and maintained it as well as any vehicle we have ever had.   
     On the last day we drove it, we were happy to walk away from it. We are "carless," but grateful.