My mailbox was once a strong, manly, fertile obelisk of rock-hard limestone.  It was so large that it was somewhat conspicuous in front of my modest South Austin home.  Then what I will only refer to as "the event which shall not be named" occurred.  In an act of utter disregard for all that is solid and supple, some guy that was obviously under the influence of something rammed my mailbox at what must have been at least 55 mph.  Oh, yeah, forgot to mention my coworker, Aaron, had parked his innocent and unsuspecting 92 Camry in front of my mailbox.  It never had a chance...

We were about 10 minutes into a workout in my garage and there was a long screech (the guy losing control) and some huge bangs. We didn't see it because the garage door was closed. I thought somebody hit the cars in my driveway at first; that's how loud it was. We opened the garage door and I ran to the guys car. He just slumped over to the side. I thought he was dead.  I don't think he was wearing his seatbelt. He would have  died for sure if not for the airbags. It looked like he hit his head on the windshield enough to dent it out and cut his head pretty badly. He was semi-conscious for a while. I didn't see any major bleeding so I didn't want to mess with him. I got worried because both cars started smoking a bit so I got out my extinguisher just in case but it never ignited. The whole neighborhood came out, then the fire trucks and ambulance. They showed up pretty fast which was a relief. I thought the guys legs must be badly broken because the floor board was completely smashed in, but as far as I know he just had a concussion. The cops told me that when he came  too in the ambulance he fessed up that he was on some meds. According to the cops, they were legal but looks like he was abusing them a bit. That might have actually helped him since he was totally relaxed on the impact.

So Aaron's car was in front of my mailbox pointing north (with the flow of traffic). The guy skidded all the way over from the opposite lane, hit Aaron's car head on, and I believe basically launched it. I think Aaron's car spun around after the initial hit and actually took out my mailbox, based on how the debris was scattered, but hard to say. The mailbox picture was taken after we had moved the debris from the street. Aaron's car landed perpendicular and then the guys momentum carried him into the side of Aaron's car. So he somehow managed to hit it twice. The second impact was much less severe. You can see the front end of both cars are completely smashed. He moved Aaron's parked car about 30 feet or so. It even tore up the cement access hole for my water main, but luckily the pipe was OK.  The cop said he must have been going at least 55, but I think that's a conservative guess.

I sure hope his insurance doesn't try to screw me over...but I imagine they will do their best!