Nuria - Part 2

Yesterday's post was about my domestic partner, Nuria. Today's post is about Nuria, too. But mostly it's about her Toyota Camry.

Nuria bought her 2009 Camry in July. It was the first vehicle she had owned in years. She was so proud of that car, even though it was used—or, as they say on the TV adverts, "pre-owned." She would go out in the mornings and wipe the dew off the Camry's windows. She would clean the dust off the roof of the car.

This morning, Nuria told me she was going to the library to make some copies. Ironically, I recently bought her a copier/printer because she had been going to the library so often, in order to print and make copies of immigration documents. But she had to print 21 pages and she didn't want to use up all the ink in the printer, so she drove to the library. And that's where this story should have ended. But—

The library was closed. On Saturdays it opens at 10AM and she had arrived at about 9:30. So she decided to drive to Walmart and pick up a couple items. She made it to Walmart and had stopped on the road, waiting for traffic to clear so that she could make a left turn into Walmart's parking lot. She was in the left turn lane with her left turn flasher blinking. In the rear-view mirror, she saw a car approaching fast from behind her, but she assumed it was in the adjacent lane and would pass her Camry on the right. 

Suddenly, Nuria felt a terrible jolt and her car spun around in the middle of the road. The approaching car had rammed the back of her Camry. Her beloved Camry appears to be "totaled." Meaning: un-fixable, too badly damaged to repair. The rear of the vehicle was caved in, and the chassis was warped enough that Nuria couldn't get the driver's door to open.

People immediately stopped to help her. Nuria wasn't hurt, but an elderly man who had been driving the other car that hit her car had blood on his shirt and pants. Bystanders called 911. Within five minutes, police and an ambulance were on-scene. Nuria called me and told me she had been in an accident. I told her to be sure to get the other driver's insurance information.

After I got there, which took about ten minutes, an officer gave Nuria a card with the case number for the accident. The police will collect the necessary information about the drivers and what had happened. One man volunteered that he was a witness to the accident and he talked to the police. 

An officer gave Nuria his ID card with the case number written on it. When we left the scene, men were still sweeping glass off the street and the two cars had yet to be towed away. 

I took one photo of the Camry. The scene was busy with police, ambulance, maybe a fire truck. I was more concerned with making sure Nuria was alright and that we had all the information we would need.

Nuria is worried about her personal items that had to be left behind in her car. I think they'll be okay. The car should be locked, wherever it's taken. We've reported the accident to Nuria's insurance company and gave them the case number, and they'll handle the rest (I hope). I don't know if Nuria will have to go to court, but the courthouse is at the end of my street—easy to get to.

Now Nuria will have to start searching again for a good used car. That may take weeks. But there is no rush to get it done. 

So that was my and Nuria's Saturday morning. How was yours?