Hi guys.
Yeah, so I was in an accident and the MSP is down .. and might be out for good. I just finally got home to Elizabethtown about a half hour ago. I'm fine, which in itself is a miracle considering what happened in the accident.
I was in the left lane of the PA Turnpike doing about 50mph. One of those massive Penndot snow plows was in the right lane up ahead of me. I was in the process of passing it when it started throwing out a TON of salt. I mean, I know they usually throw out a decent amount, but it was like the load in the bed shifted and it was simply GUSHING salt. It was throwing out SO much salt and such large chunks of it that my first honest thought was -- holy ****, my windshield is going to crack. And it was throwing salt chunks across the entire span of my car -- across the entire left lane because chunks of it were smashing right in front of my face.
I had been driving in the usual 'ruts' made in the lane through the snow, but when all that salt bombarded me, I couldn't see a thing. I must have drifted into the snow/slush areas though .. cause next thing I knew, the car yanked to the left faster than I could even comprehend what was happening. There wasn't even a chance for me to recover. The front driver's side headlight/fender area slammed into the median, and I rebounded and went spinning back across both lanes until I came to rest with the back driver's side end smashed into the guard rail.
I have absolutely no idea how I didn't hit anyone else .. and I have no idea how that snow plow didn't run me over. The guy who had been driving directly behind me (along with about four other people) stopped and came to make sure I was okay afterwards .. and the guy behind me said that when I first broke into the spin, the plow hit its brakes -- and immediately after that, when I rebounded and spun across the two lanes, he said the plow missed me by a foot. If that.
Here are the end results (and this pic was taken about an hour and a half after the accident, and by that point, they had the road clear -- go figure):
It looks awful and it is. However .. again, by some sort of miracle .. it's not AS bad as it looks. The rear driver's side bumper is dented and the rear lip is scuffed and the driver's side tail light is shattered. As for the front .. the only damage I got to the engine bay setup was a small scratch to the lower driver's side corner of the intercooler. The hardpipes weren't even touched. And that side of the engine bay where the headlight is crunched in -- nothing sits there. Not even the wheel/tire was touched. So up front .. the bumper, front lip, grill, hood, and fender are all shot. But be damned if the car didn't start right up and drive just fine when it was being put on the tow truck!
So now it's sitting and waiting for the adjuster to come and see if it's repairable .. or totaled. While I'm incredibly upset .. I'm also very thankful that I'm fine and that no one else was involved.
I'll keep everyone posted on how things go. I can't even really think about all this too much right now, I'm trying to block it all out until I know whether or not it can be fixed. I've been in tears since essentially 2:15pm today when the accident happened .. and I'm just exhausted by this point.
