Karen's story
Few people can say that their car saved their life but I CAN! Last October, I was on my way to work about 4:00 am, driving about 60 to 65 mph, southbound, on a freeway, when my beautiful blue smart fortwo, which was only 6 months old, smashed head-on into the middle of a "parked" truck that was facing westbound across two lanes. The truck had been involved in a prior accident. This truck had rear-ended another truck and then spun around across two freeway lanes. Neither of these trucks had any lights on. No interior or hazard lights... nothing. No warning for me as I came speeding across a hill and into what I thought at the time was a wall because of how hard the impact was. When I tried to open the door, I looked down and saw that my left wrist was broken (due to how I had been holding the steering wheel). I reached over with my right hand and opened my door with no problems. As I crossed the freeway, I saw my hazard lights were flashing away. They were the only lights anyone could see. This ensured that no one else was going to be blindsided. The police officer that came to the emergency room of the hospital to give me the accident report said, "I've never seen a small car like yours hold up so well. Most people don't walk away from a head-on collision like yours even in a regular sized car. We usually pry people out cars your size but your little car did not collapse in on you. Amazing, since you hit a parked vehicle on the freeway!" I told him that I specifically checked out the accident ratings on the smart car before I purchased it but little did I know that I was going to be the "dummy" that you see in accident experiments in horrific crashes. The entire front end of my car was gone to the doors. From the doors back, you would never know that I was in a crash. Even the roof had no damage.
I couldn't wait to buy another smart fortwo using the insurance funds. Luckily, I was able to buy another smart fortwo in the same color as the one I lost and I didn't have to wait another year! But...I would have!
Karen Spahn