Anatomy of an accident
By Nelson Daily Editor
Editor’s note: The following is a first-person account and witness of how dangerous our West Kootenay roads can be, at any time of the year, and how our unforgiving geography is matched by our accommodating culture.
By Glyn Humphries
The calming:
Tuesday, late afternoon, driving our Subaru Forester, just north of Salmo. Dusk descending. Weather unremarkable. Feeling comfortable, even blissful, on our last leg — half an hour to home.
The explosion:
This comfort created a problem: the journey became too relaxing, undemanding. Lost concentration. Life-changing moment. Devastation.
The flash:
I became the main actor in a single-vehicle accident — demolishing 52 years of safe driving — with dear wife, Olwen, as terrified witness.
The calming, part 2:
We had been enjoying a well deserved break from routines and responsibilities — taking in the ambience of Crescent Valley’s Frog Peak Café, admiring fall scenes along Pass Creek, strolling around Zuckerburg Island and along the link to the Millennium Walkway in Castlegar, and on to lunch and browsing in Rossland.
The explosion, part 2:
Olwen’s piercing screech enabled me to hard steer away from a power pole, swerving right we headed towards a fast approaching nearside ditch. Instinct still intact, I reeled the steering wheel left, back towards the road.
The nearside wheel dug into the soft earth of the shoulder; a fading battle with momentum, we lost control and rolled headlong into the ditch, creating an instant wreck. Five seconds of twilight changed our lives.
Suspended by our seat belts in stunned silence, we spoke in quiet tones, asking if each were OK.
A shocked Nelson woman who had been following behind us asked us if we were OK, offering help. A quick assessment of danger, and uninjured, we crawled back through a smashed tailgate.
We had now become ill-fated main actors in our own movie, using scripts so commonly repeated on TV and in the movies.
On reflection:
The incident gave way to an appreciation, a pride, about living in Canada:
1. The Nelson woman called the RCMP who arrived within 10 minutes and several drivers stopped by to help us.
2. The Salmo RCMP constable was fantastic in his handling of us and calling the salvage crew, proceeding to process the accident efficiently.
3. The Salmo King Rescue crew was unbelievably efficient in managing the traffic and rescue scene, even looking after us, until a friend picked us up to drive us home.
4. Subaru engineering — structure and shell — saved us from being harmed.
5. To experience how fortune can flip in a flash, is both shocking and heartwarming.
The aftermath:
1. The wreck is still yours until you sign it off after the ICBC “settlement.”
2. You can retrieve personal effects and “after market accessories,” but you can’t take insurance plates.
3. Insurance: Don’t go to your local ICBC office. ICBC Dial-a Claim toll free office deals with all claims.
4. Local insurance offices are not interested in you “as they only sell the product.”
5. The Dial-a Claim person was very efficient, explaining procedures clearly, including car rental, then passed the claim on to Trail ICBC that arranged for an insurance adjuster.
The final settlement phase was handled by the Nelson ICBC office, who then returns your plates to you, and was completed in a week.
The whole ICBC coordination was awesome, their manner, professional, yet empathetic. Also the Nelson office was very efficient and professional.
6. Injury and its cost is a critical component in the ICBC insurance process (but not a factor in our case).
In this day and age of widespread phone tree delays, poor communication, it is heartening to find an oasis such as the BC’s ICBC.
The reflection, part 2:
One lapse of concentration created a procession of heartening and reassuring events.
We peaked at “The End,” surviving potential catastrophe.
But above all, we witnessed, realized, respected and revered the profound meaning of how people come together when times are dire: the meaning of “priceless” writ large.
No kindness or gentleness was spared in my time of self-blame and guilt.
Like our own vital anatomy, it is essential to know the value of how interdependent we are on those around us.
Glyn Humphries is a Nelson resident. Before studying Art and Design in England at Swindon, Leicester, London, and at the University of Alberta, Canada, he trained as a mechanical engineer. Since 1968, he has worked on watercolour paintings, mixed media and photography; establishing a studio at Nelson in 1993.
