One year ago, I drove through a falling tree
It was the last big storm of the year. We were driving home in our ‘03 Honda Civic when a tree fell into the road—landing on us.
My wife screamed. She had noticed a large tree falling into the road. I only had a split second to see the tree from the top of my windshield.
I slammed on the brakes but we were too close. The tree hit us square in the windshield and then scraped over the frame as we drove through it.
Nearby, neighbors reported hearing what sounded like an explosion. But, we didn’t hear anything from inside the car.
Moments after surviving the crash, I attempted to start the car so we could get off of the road, away from the dangling power and phone lines. But the engine was still running…my senses were just too stunned to realize it.
As we pulled onto a side road, we thanked God that we were uninjured. Even our four-month old daughter was unharmed.
Next we called the police and waited. Five hours later and after several games of phone tag, we filed a police report over the phone and had the car towed.
Three financial lessons we walked away with:
You can’t put a price on good neighbors. We were in the middle of building our home when we were tree-struck. Two of our neighbors happened upon the accident and offered to take my wife and four-month old daughter while I took care of the car. Later that evening, they treated us to dinner in their home.
Pinching pennies can backfire. When you only have one car, don’t try to save $5 by declining rental reimbursement. We could have lost a lot of money on rentals while we replaced our Civic. Fortunately, we only had to rent for one week because a friend from church loaned us a car. He didn’t need the car right away, so we were able to take our time replacing the Civic with a vehicle better suited for our new life in the woods.
Having a good insurance company is important. While there were some communication glitches on USAA’s end, they eventually totaled the vehicle. And because Hondas maintain their value, we suffered minimal depreciation. USAA’s pay-out also included sales tax compensation, which made replacing the vehicle even easier.
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Danny Tsang added:
March 12th, 2008
A tree hit a car here in San Francisco a few years back and the driver wasn’t as fortunate, so when I hear about trees falling on cars I fear the worst. I’m glad that you survived that crazy ordeal and was able to walk away.
Aaron Stroud added:
March 12th, 2008
Danny, it definitely could have been a tragedy. If a power line hit us, the tree was a little thicker, or if a branch pierced the windshield or roof, we might have lost a lot more than a reliable vehicle.
hank added:
March 13th, 2008
Ouch - I’ve never actually had any (knock on wood) serious car accidents like that; but it certainly makes sense to keep the renters insurance up for $5 more… Glad you’re ok!
Mohsin added:
March 14th, 2008
Terrible accident. And I’m glad you walked away without much harm.
Unfortunately, one of my relatives wasn’t as lucky as you. The poor guy rammed his car into an oncoming truck. The front of the car slammed into his chest and ribs and he passed away at the spot.
P.S. I don’t understand what you mean by “life in the woods”?
Aaron Stroud added:
March 14th, 2008
Mohsin, I’m sorry to hear about your relative. Car accidents can be extremely dangerous, even at low speeds.
“Life in the woods” refers to my rural location. 100+ years ago, my neighborhood was a booming lumber town. After the trees were cut, people moved on.
The past couple of decades, a lot of houses have been built but the area still has a rural feel because most houses are on 1-5 acres of land (5 acres = 2.02 hectare = 0.02 kilometer^2). For example, we have neighbors to our north and the east, but to our southern side is an undeveloped valley with a creek, and we have a pond and more forest to our western side.
Our house is surrounded by trees (although part of the land was clearcut before we bought it), and there is about ten miles of forest between us and the highway.
Although our area does feel remote (especially when the power is out), dsl is available and cable internet is available in some of the more densely populated areas like along the fjord.
Mrs. Micah added:
April 3rd, 2008
I grew up in fear that a tree about 1 foot from my house would fall through my bedroom some night. Never happened, but since them I’ve had a semi-rational fear of trees. However, I loved growing up in a wooded neighborhood and even now I love that there are lots of trees in our DC “suburb.”
Aaron Stroud added:
April 3rd, 2008
The trees around our house are more than a foot away, but they’re also 40-50′ tall.
If/when they fall, they’re going to hit the house so we’re going to take them down. We liked the idea of trees up close to the house, but that was before we spent a winter watching them sway in the stormy weather.
Chris added:
April 11th, 2008
Glad you and your family were ok after your accident. Really liked the way you linked in your experiences to financial lessons. You’re right, you can’t put a price on good neighbors and friends.
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