1996 The Crash of Vivian



Hopefully this'll be the last in the series. Vivian e'er I knew her, did own a Honda Civic. On a summer's morning, wearing nought but a flannel nightie, she did venture forth on a mission. Betwixt the summer cottage and the local corner store, an 85 year-old driver(male) pulled out of a side road and ran into her car and totalled it. He peered at her and son Jay (16) commented that "You two young men are too young to hold driver's licenses and are in big trouble." She couldn't get out because of her lack of clothing. Jay was dispatched to get his aunt Teresa to come to the rescue.

The apparently under-age, male Vivian was obliged to lease a new car - the white Ford 'Aspire'.

The RCMP constable assured Vivian that the elderly driver wouldn't be allowed to repeat the offense.

199? The Crash of Glennys


Writing about my 'ex' always seems a little strange but then, she's as much parent and grandparent as I am to my sons and grandchildren. This 'blog' is supposedly for them. So ....

The car was a Toyota "Tercel" it was light blue. Odd that, all three Hutton car crashes were in blue vehicles .... perhaps we should avoid owning blue cars henceforth.

The place, Highway 102 just where it starts its downhill slope into Truro. Winter and in the dark of evening and, it seems, there were icy patches. I think the car skidded and while going sideways it hit dry pavement. It rolled, a remarkable five times. Incredibly she got no more than bruising and a thorough shake-up and was home again before bedtime. Says a lot for seatbelts.

The car was a write off. I don't think was an undented panel on it. It's replacement was another Tercel, blue again, dark ... but this one survived us.

1978? The Crash of Cliff.

A new Mini, in a delightful, dark blue, had been bought, following the Datsun's near-death experience at the hands of Mitch. The Mustang had thankfully gone. I was again a Mini-owner.

I was homeward bound for Enfield off a midnight shift at Halifax airport. There'd been freezing rain but the Highways Department had been busy salting so the trip home promised to be OK, if I was careful.

At the bottom of the airport hill I turned off the 102 Highway at the Enfield exit. This had been salted too, as had the road into Enfield - "Great!" thought I and then noticed the salt truck had turned right, just past where the Irving station stands today. There it must have turned round and headed back the way it had come. That left the rest of the road into Enfield unsalted.

Seconds later the Mini decided to go its own way. With exquisite slowness it began to spin. It slowed as it slid to the side of the road and soon I was facing the way I had come. And, of course, there was a car following me. The poor Mini took the hit on its front right corner.

I was discussing things with the driver of the other car when a second car arrived, more or less out of control and slammed into the left front corner sending the poor Mini down, over the bank that slopes down to Benere Brook.

She was later retrieved by a tow truck and taken to Truro; it was declared a write-off.

In fact it was restored by the replavcement of the entire front end with a fibre-glass unit, but by then I'd used the insurance money to buy a white Mini ... sigh!

1976 The Crash of Mitchell

Mid December: 'Tis said he'd had his license but five days. He was returning home to Enfield, from Milford in my pale blue Datsun 510. The roads were icy that night. Was our hero proceeding with due caution? We shall never know.

He lost control and the fiendish Japanese motor car proceeded rapidly, backwards, into a ditch. Only his pride was hurt. His seat broke bacwards and the damage to the rear of the car rendered it essentially undriveable, being a hatchback the back door wouldn't close and much the back-end was a funny shape.

Needless to say we weren't well pleased, although, hopefully, we were glad that he was unharmed.

As it was our only transport, a replacement had to be found. I bought an aged Ford Mustang from Eric Carpenter at work. What a disaster that proved to be! It was replaced by a new Mini (of which more shortly).

In time, the Datsun was repaired ($510) and it soldiered on for another while.

1959? The Crash of Cliff

This very much mirrors Mitch's mishap - alliteration can be fun? If memory serves, I was ferrying my bicycle from home in Southend-on-Sea to R.A.F. Kirkham where I was doing my mechanic's course. The scene is London, not far from King's Cross station. I was pedalling along in traffic probably more dense than I'd ever seen. I was following a trolleybus.

.................. Trolleybuses? Six wheeled, double-decker buses. London Transport used them extensively - sadly now extinct. They ran like ordinary buses on rubber tyres but collected electric current from wires hung above the road using two poles. Being electrically driven they could slow or stop or accelerate very quickly ..............

This one slowed very quickly at a bad moment. Unable to match the bus's deceleration I was on the point of crashing into the back of it. So I opted to swerve around.

Unfortunately a lorry (truck) was passing the trolleybus and I became the meat in the sandwich.

Next thing I knew, I was sitting on a low wall, a very shaken up Cliff with a gashed ankle and an unrideable bike.

A number of scenes follow - ambulance - hospital ER for first aid - locating lost and bloodied shoe - collecting a badly bent bike from King's Cross police station - journey on a train to Kirkham. I must have been a sad sight - hobbling, tired and shocked, dragging/carrying my bike half the length of Britain.

The bike and I healed. It was probably as potentially a fatal cycling accident as Mitchell's but that's life. Fate smiles or frowns.

1976? The Crash of Mitchell.

(First post of the New Year 2008)
I found a little write up in a photo album yesterday and felt drawn to scribble a few blog entries listing family crashes - well, why single out Mitchell, when there are several others? Here it is exactly as writ:

March 23rd.
Mitchell very nearly killed himself .
Mitchell, third in a line of four cyclists, decided to cross to the other side of the road. Penny Doreen Ross, who was driving Roger Dale Ross' 1975 Cougar, had not anticipated this very original move and ploughed straight into the back of him.
Mitchell suffered a lost tooth, two other teeth loosened, a cut lip, a suspected broken leg, considerable shock, damage to pride and hopefully, gained a very good lesson at relatively low cost.
Bike suffered a buckled wheel (scrapped), bent rear frame (repaired) and other damage.
Total cost: $475 + gas.
Place: Between Lantz and Elmsdale, (Nova Scotia) travelling south.
Car license: 39-09-79.
Insurance: Royal/BPA # A8401435.
RCMP: Constable Castonguay.