My First Ride in a Cop Car

No, didn’t get busted for drugs.  Didn’t get caught workin’ the corner.  Wasn’t even caught for smuggling illegal immigrants.  Wait…I got it Trebek: “What is…the vehicle you may end up in if you rush downtown at 11:30 pm on a Saturday night looking at your GPS while switching lanes?”  That is correct.  Let’s add some context now.

So coming back from an hour-long drive from Corona, CA on Saturday night, I decide that I’ll rush home to TRY and make it on time for the On Broadway guest list that ends at 11 pm.  It’s 10:45 pm.  Throw on some party clothes, grab only the necessities and out the door I go.  Enter destination in the trusty Garmin. GO!  Drive drive drive drive (at the speed limit of course 😉 ) on the highway and wait…what did you say, Garmin?  Continue on 163-S for another 1 mile?  NOOOO…the highway is splitting and going to the 5.  SH*T.  Must switch lanes or will REAAAAAAALLY miss guest list.  Left signal is on, lane is clear, move towards left lane.  BOOM BAM BOOM BAM #$!^% SWERVE SWERVE SWERVE BOOOOOOOOOOOM.  Car stops.  Car is banked on the brick median at a 45 degree angle.  Yeah, that concrete median….they just put that there yesterday.  🙂

Me being the impatient and not-so-observant driver at night that I was at the time, did NOT see this triangular median that split the highway in half.  Aren’t there normally just painted lines and maybe some bushes?  Hence, why I could get away with that “slick” James Bond move all the other times!  Boy was I wrong!  And I’m certainly paying for it.

I got out of my car shaking like a leaf but still collected enough to check for exterior damages to the car.  Both passenger tires are flat with the front passenger hub cap completely sitting on the brick.  Lovely.  All I could think of was how my parents are going to kill me if they found out.  GOOD THING I’M ON MY OWN INSURANCE!  In the meantime, an extremely kind man had pulled over on the 5, leaving his wife and two kids in the car.  He called CHP and made sure I was “good” as in HAD NOT BEEN DRINKING, which I had not a drop to drink.  I’m sure it didn’t look that way though as I was dressed in my heels and minimal clothing standing in the light of my headlights on the raised median.  I’m sure people made their assumptions as they passed this ASIAN GIRL’s car banked up on the side of the road.  We’ll keep those to ourselves now won’t we?  🙂

Thankfully, CHP didn’t take too long…I could still make it to the club and enjoy two hours maybe.  (Gosh, I’m awful for thinking that at such a scary time.)   After asking if I was ok, I was given the “follow my finger” sobriety test…my first ever…right there on the side of the road.  With no shame, I obliged and passed.  The two cops were pretty laid back and actually started to get a good conversation going with me as we waited for my tow.  They asked the usual — where I’m from, what I do for a living, how I like it out here, yadda yadda.  Officer even almost guessed my ethnicity correctly!  What I found interesting was that while they had a tough guy aura, they seemed to lighten up a bit after hearing that I actually did something fairly respectable for a career.  Guess that kind of relieved how dumb I felt for crossing the median.  Somewhat.

I wasn’t going to let that get in the way of my night though.  Enter: the party girl in me that still wants to head downtown.  IN STYLE.  That’s right, dropped off in a cop car!  Figured I didn’t need to spend any money on a cab after hearing that my tow was $250.  Thankfully, Geico insurance has covered that and so much more.  Full coverage or no coverage is now my motto.  😉

So what’s the lesson learned, kids?  Well there could be plenty.

A) $25 cover is not worth rushing downtown for and getting into an accident.

B) Don’t become too reliant on your GPS.

C) Snap decisions on a freeway are never a good idea, even when you think you’re SuperWoman and “it worked every other time.”

D) The one everyone loves to hate…ALL OF THE ABOVE.

…and that’s my story of my first ride in a cop car (by choice).  Now I can link to this when people ask, “How are things going in California?”

Update to follow on damage report.  *crosses fingers that car is not totaled*  In the meantime…any Integra mechanics out there who won’t rip me off?