My plans for a summer photo trip to Southern Utah once again included several nights of "Prius Camping." Prius camping makes it easy for me to get close to remote locations for sunrise and sunset photo shoots without having to make long drives to and from the nearest town. It also provides me with great flexibility--as lodging reservations are never necessary. It's far more convenient than tent camping as well as I don't have any set up or take down--which is most convenient in bad weather.

Unfortunately, my plans for Prius camping for this upcoming trip are now in jeopardy. Fortunately, I am still alive to make the trip!

Last weekend, I was coaching my 13U travel baseball team at a sports complex in Naperville, Illinois. As I was leaving the park after the game, I was stopped at the light waiting for the signal to turn green so that I could turn right on Washington Street--a street with a speed limit of 45 mph and a lot of traffic flowing at 45-55 mph.

Suddenly, the driver of a car driving northbound on Washington Street (to my right), made a fast move into oncoming traffic as he entered the intersection. Witnesses later reported that this driver had been driving recklessly for the past mile or so. As he entered the intersection, witnesses say that he passed a car that was waiting to make a left into the park--and passed on the left of the car into oncoming traffic. As a result, the car was proceeding head on into a GMC Sierra truck as the truck was approaching the intersection.

All I saw was the blur of the car from my right moving into the intersection. My immediate thought was that he was making a left turn into the park going at nearly 50 mph! The truck driver then slammed on his brakes in an attempt to avoid a head on collision.

I heard the screeching of the brakes and sat there helplessly as this big truck was sliding toward me. I moved as far over to the passenger side of the car as possible and braced for impact. Due to the very fast reactions of the truck driver (who drives a semi truck for a living), he was able to slow the vehicle down from 45 mph to about 20-25 mph before slamming into the passenger side of my Prius. The Prius absorbed much of the impact while it was pushed up and over the curb and into the parkway.

Everything slowed down for me during those few seconds. It felt more like 5 minutes while I heard the screeching of the brakes, smelled the burning of the rubber of the tires, heard the air bags open up and felt the initial impact of the truck against my car. I expected the truck to keep moving all the way through my car--and was surprised to feel my car stop moving and find myself able to walk away from the accident. The paramedic on the scene told me that he didn't expect a good outcome for me when he saw the position of the vehicles while he was approaching the scene.

In any event, the situation turned from life threatening to just a major hassle. My car was towed away and is still sitting in a Naperville municipal lot (at $75 per day storage fees) until an insurance adjuster inspects the car. I'm being told that the car will most likely be totaled. In the meantime, I'm renting a car (another daily cost). And, I will probably purchase a new vehicle (a Prius, of course) in the next week or so.

The blue book value of my Prius is nowhere near the real value to me. Despite its 9 years and 175k miles, the car is in excellent condition and would easily last another 2-3 years and 75k miles. Yet, I'll probably be compensated only to the extent of about $3,500.

The good news is that the driver of the car that caused the accident will most likely be held accountable for all of the damages (to all three vehicles). There are at least four witnesses to his reckless driving and he was the only driver ticketed by police at the scene.

The best news is that I get to see, and photograph, more days!