Disclosure: I have partnered with YMC and OnStar and have received compensation for this post. All opinions are, of course, my own.
I have to tell you guys a little story today.
First things first, you should know we spend a lot of time in our car.
Our extended family is spread out across Ontario and our weekends (in all four seasons) are spent driving through the country. Usually that means myself, my hubby, our 2.5 year old, our 9 month old, and our dog are all packed in the car for anywhere from 2-4 hours… each way. And I should mention that I grew up in the country, so driving across dirt roads and through wide open spaces doesn’t bother me at all. In fact, I used to prefer it.
But then we had kids… which I’m well aware, tends to change everything. And road trips are no different. They look and sound different with kids in the car. But not only that, I started to notice how road trips FEEL different. I suddenly felt vulnerable. The fact is, when we were on isolated roads in the middle of the night, with a car full of babies and a dying cell phone battery, we are vulnerable in a way we’ve never been before.
So, now fast forward to present day. We have two kids, we’re travelling on weekends, I’m already starting to feel a bit more concerned with our general safety on the roads when we’re driving…
… and then The Bear, The Deer, and The Van happened.
(I’m going to go ahead and redact the names of the drivers involved in each of these incidents (because they might actually kill me if I don’t), but these incidents legitimately happened to family members of mine, all within the last 12 months and luckily all had relatively safe outcomes.)
Incident #1: THE BEAR
This first incident happened when the driver was driving down a remote country road by themselves, listening to music, and cruising through a section of roadway with spotty cell reception. When all of a sudden, out of the woods comes The Bear. Running at full pace towards the road, headed for their path, while they’re driving at 80 kmph. The timing was impeccable and the bear ran right into the side of the vehicle. I kid you not. Directly into the side door.
Once the driver was able to safely slow down, they realized that not only was it not safe to get out of the car (was the bear still alive and dangerous? Were more bears travelling with it that would soon be on the scene?), but there was significant damage to the car making it barely driveable and there was no way to get a cell phone call to anyone to respond.
Ugh.
Incident #2: THE DEER
This second incident was a tale every ‘country driver’ knows well. It’s dusk, the driver is travelling down a country road and out of nowhere several deer dart out in front of them! They did their best to slow down, but couldn’t swerve (because it’s not safe, but also because there are too many deer and you can’t predict where they’ll go). Inevitably the driver hits one of the deer while still driving at a significant speed and the entire front end of the car is damaged.
Ughh.
Incident #3: THE VAN
The third incident (keep in mind it’s been less than a year since The Bear, and less than six months since The Deer at this point) involves what you’d think is a relatively safe drive back down the cottage road towards home. The driver turns off of the highway onto a dirt road, comes up the hill around a corner, and BAM an oncoming van has veered over into their lane, and sideswiped their car. Literally avoiding a head-on collision by mere feet and damaging the entire side of the vehicle in the process.
Ughhhhh.
So here’s the thing. The stories above are absolutely (and unfortunately in our case) true, and I’m sharing them because we’ve learned a couple things from them that are worth sharing:
- We’re lucky. Any one of these incidents could have been much, MUCH worse.
- Stay alert when you’re driving. It’s easy to get distracted (especially with kids in the car), but had the drivers been distracted for even a second when these incidents happened, we’d be telling very different stories right now.
- Peace of mind and quick response are everything in the moments following a crash. You’re probably shocked, dazed and possibly injured… the last thing you want to worry about is ‘what do I do next’ or ‘how do I keep my family safe’. Which is why a service like OnStar is so valuable. OnStar is available on any Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac vehicle and uses vehicle sensors (and a magical red button) to automatically connect an OnStar Advisor to your vehicle with your location through GPS. And the advisors are all trained to deal with emergency situations (to the same level as 911 operators). If there’s anything we’ve learned, it’s that the unexpected WILL happen at some point, and a cell phone isn’t always good enough.
And I can tell you, we won’t be forgetting the year of The Bear, The Deer and The Van anytime soon.
