Dawes Family in New Zealand

The End Of An Era

We’ve driven down State Highway 2 on a morning and been stuck in some really bad traffic.  Most of the time we get straight through, rush hour isn’t really a rush, more an amble. We have seen some pretty bad smashes over the last few years, cars shunted against the median barrier, cars over turned and the odd cyclist some distance from their bike.

On those occasions, we looked out at the swarm of red and blue flashing lights as we pass the emergency services tending to those involved and firstly cringe at the pain they must be feeling and then think “you know, I’d hate to be the ones holding up traffic in rush hour, everyone cursing that their late for work and it would be our fault!”

Well, that partly came true, we did hold up rush hour traffic, but we had the satisfaction (if that’s actually possible) of knowing the fault wasn’t with us…

Around 8:56am on Tuesday, we’d done the school run and were heading into Wellington for another day in the office. The traffic slowed to a stop before Lower Hutt, the lights were red we were in the outside lane.  Just as we came to a stop, the driver who’d been behind us was busy reading a map, not looking at the road ahead.  At the point they realised there was a wall of traffic ahead and they were hurtling towards it – it was too late.  The driver of the car swerved to avoid us but had no chance of turning at around that speed.  Doing around 70km/hr they smashed into the back of our car, the catalyst for the above mentioned scenario we’d always hoped to avoid.

The police were on the scene within a minute as there was a patrol car in the inside lane a bit further down, they radioed for another unit and a couple of ambulances.  It only took 10 minutes for the tow trucks to follow and the clean up process began.  Meanwhile Marrisa was bundled into an ambulance and strapped down and fitted with a neck brace.  Whilst I’d had the excitement of seeing the car come flying in towards us is in the rear view mirror and in slow motion, she’d been reaching for a water bottle at that point and the impact meant that head met dashboard rather suddenly and with some force.

After spending what felt like an eternity but was probably close to 6 hours in the A&E department of the Hutt Valley Hospital, we made it out – and without broken bones, I escaped with painful whiplash.  Marrisa had spent the best part of those 6 hours taped to the bed with the neck brace, unable to move as the doctors initially suspected some spinal damage.  Fortunately for all those involved this wasn’t the case, just some ripped neck liagments and concussion…it could have been worse.

A friend of mine from work came to collect us and we headed off to collect our possessions from the wrecked Subaru, not knowing that would be the last time we’d get to see it.  It was hard seeing the car sitting there in the compound.  From the front it looked like it always had, a few paint chips here and there but the same old reliable car.  From the back however, it told a different story.  The doors on the right weren’t able to close fully, the doors on the left wouldn’t open – the chassis bent beyond repair.

You don’t get emotionally attached to every car, but this one has been on some road trips, its been through the bad times with the full engine rebuild, and the good times shared with family who’ve visited.  It was a part of the family and will be missed.  At least when you sell a car, you make a conscious choice to let it go, this wasn’t our choice and Bethany didn’t even get to say goodbye.

If there’s any consolation, it’s that the driver of the vehicle that hit us will be charged with careless driving and will face the courts in a few weeks. I guess further consolation is that Bethany wasnt in the car, or of course the dogs weren’t in their usual spot in the boot at the time, the damage could have been infinitely worse.   At least we don’t have to attend the hearing to describe what happened, the photos speak for themselves…