They were so lucky...

Tuesday night, my daughter rolled the van I had just given her.

It happened just outside of Elko, NV. They were about 20 miles outside of town, and hit a section of black ice. Before they knew it, they were spinning out of control on Interstate 80. When the van began to hit the median (dirt median between east and westbound lanes - no fencing), the tires on the left dug in. The tires were pulled off the rims, and they slid down the dirt median. They slid about 50 feet in the median, and came to rest facing westbound. The van landed on the left side.

Both Diana and Jon are fine. A couple of bruises, literally. But, after going out to the scene of the accident, it is clear that if this had happened 50 yards further or back, I don't think they would have survived. The topography of the area would have meant that they would have rolled end over end if it had happened anywhere else nearby. I am so thankful that they are ok.

The NHP officer who arrived at the accident started looking inside the van, with Jon and Diana outside the van by then. He finally asked them, "Where are the people that were in the van?". Jon and Diana replied that they were the ones in the van. The officer didn't believe them at first, then asked, "Why didn't you stay in the van?" They replied that they were afraid it would blow up (They smelled gasoline as they were getting out). "Are you ok?"... (Around this time, the dispatcher notified him that Diana was pregnant - I had let them know by calling Elko NHP dispatch, since I wasn't sure if there was an officer on the way or not).

The van, by the way, sustained a fair amount of damage on the left side. These pictures were taken after it was towed from the towyard to Les Schwab. The driver door is, well, screwed up. The window works with great effort only. The tie-rod may be bent, the tires went back on the rims without a problem. The front left panel is crushed in. The worst seems to be cosmetic (who cares...). The NHP officer that responded told Diana and Jon that if they had rolled it in the summer, that the damage would have been much worse. And, they might not be here to talk about it.

I am grateful for the NHP officer, the truckers that stopped to help (Thank you guys! I don't know who you are, but if you ever read this, email me.), and for the dispatcher who relayed information to me, and to the NHP officer, and to my daughter.

UPDATE: The van has been repaired enough to make it road-worthy. Cosmetically, it still looks horrid, but they can fix that later. We will head to SLC tomorrow.