Car Accident in Toronto

I was not so recently involved in a car accident near the downtown Toronto area, and thought I might share the experience.

I was coming off the Don Valley Parkway at Bloor street (1997 Ford Escort LX), and rounding Castle Frank when a woman driving on an intersecting road (2006 Acura TSX) pops up in front of me, not giving me enough time to stop, causing a collision (T-Bone).

The woman who was driving the other vehicle, had started creeping through the first two lanes, because traffic had bottled up and allowed her room. However, instead of being careful and creeping into the third lane, or spotting incoming traffic, she tried zooming through, or assumed there were no vehicles coming, and made her attempt at a quick pass… fail.

On impact, her car kept traveling in the same direction, and while mine had come to a complete stop upon collision in my direction, I was dragged along a little bit in because the two cars were lodged together. The majority (if not all) of the damage that my car sustained was to the front grill. As soon as I turned the car off, and put a foot on the ground, I knew my car was done. A massive amount of engine coolant was all over the street, without even seconds to spare. Upon closer inspection, it seemed like the front foot or two of my car was completely destroyed.

Her vehicle sustained damage to the front-passenger side; body and maybe some mechanical damage to her front passenger door, and some semi-serious body damage to the front, bumper, and hood of her vehicle. Immediately, we started arguing with each other. I told her she “ran” the stop sign, to which she replied “You didn’t see me! You didn’t see me! Why didn’t you stop?”. I explained to her that I had the right of way, and that it wasn’t my responsibility to stop for her. We went back and forth for another 20 minutes before the police showed up, and gave her a ticket for failing to yield. We both got towed on our merry way.

A week or so after, my insurance company got in touch with me letting me know that my car was being deemed a total loss. The damage to the vehicle ($5,540) outweighed the market value of my vehicle in good condition ($1400-$1800) and as such I was being written a check, and not having to deal with getting another car on my own.

I re-think what happened that day, and appreciate the fact that had I been a couple seconds faster, or had she been a couple seconds slower, she would have hit me directly on the driver-side door, and quite possibly injured me badly. The lesson here? Pay attention when you’re driving, it’s one thing to lose control of your car or slide around in the snow; it’s another to be stupid, careless, and selfish when you’re on the road.

A view of both cars post-collision.

For those who are curious, the other driver of the vehicle was a female, in her late 50s, who was just driving home from her mechanic, 5 minutes away.