Summary

The author narrowly escaped injury when a construction bolt crashed through the roof of their new car, leading to a casual response from the construction company and a subsequent reflection on the incident's seriousness.

Abstract

The author recounts a harrowing experience where a steel bolt from a nearby construction site pierced the roof of their recently purchased Subaru, barely missing them. Despite the potential lethality of the incident, the construction company's superintendent appeared nonchalant, offering a routine solution involving a body shop and a luxury car rental. The author, initially stunned, accepts the situation and the temporary Mercedes, which impresses their teenager son. Later, while discussing the incident with a lawyer friend, the author contemplates legal action but seems more concerned with the casual attitude towards the near-fatal accident than the potential for a lawsuit.

Opinions

The author feels that the construction company's response to the near-fatal incident was inadequate and too casual, given the potential consequences.
There is a sense of disbelief and shock at how close the author came to being killed by the falling bolt.
The author's son's reaction to the luxury rental car suggests a perception that the danger was offset by the upgrade in vehicle quality.
The author seems to place a higher value on personal safety and the gravity of the situation than on the material compensation offered by the construction company.
The author's consideration of legal action indicates a belief that the construction company might be negligent, yet they do not seem overly eager to pursue this route.

Almost Killed and Nobody Cared

There was a loud thud; not a bang, not a crash, not a boom — but a thud.

I turned to my right and saw it embedded in the console of my new car.

I could have been killed.

Probably two or three inches to the left and it would have been over for me.

There was a line waiting to pull into the indoor parking lot next to the office building housing the investment firm for which I worked.

I took my place in the cue as commuters poked arms out of the driver’s side windows to take the ticket spit out of the yellow machine.

There were five or six cars ahead of me so my recently purchased Subaru and I sat patiently; partially blocking the street adding to the jam courtesy of the skyscraper being built next door.

A bolt from the blue:

It happened so quickly, there was time for me to emotionally react. I heard a thud. I looked up to see a hole in the roof of my car; I looked down and saw an eight inch steel structural bolt stuck in the console of the Subaru. It was piercing the cup holder like a destructive fat swizzle stick.

Mercifully, it missed the gear shift.

Hey wait! MERCIFULLY, IT MISSED ME!

I pulled the car onto the sidewalk and pried the bolt out of the smashed cup holder. I burst into the construction trailer stationed on the sidewalk about half a block away. There were four or five men inside going over architect’s renderings.

They seemed surprised to see me but not particularly concerned to have an excited interloper enter their inner sanctum. I tossed the bolt on top of the blueprints.

“THIS CRASHED THROUGH THE ROOF OF MY CAR JUST NOW!” I exclaimed.

“Oh, that’s ok,” the man who must have been the superintendent soothingly stated,” it happens all the time”.

“We’ve got a deal with a body shop who’ll take care of it for you, we’ll foot the bill,” he said magnanimously.

“We’ll even rent you a luxury car when yours is in the shop,” he threw in as if he was giving me a present.

Still somewhat in shock, I took in what he said and didn’t protest.

I drove the car the short distance to the address of the fancy body shop the super gave me.

“Ha! Ha! Ha! How the fuck did you get the hole in your roof?” said the mechanic who inspected the damage to my car.

I told him what happened.

He replied, “ Yeah, we get quite a few construction casualties from those guys building that skyscraper.”

He set me up in a loner car (a Mercedes) and told me he’d call when the work on my car was done. Should be by the end of the week.

I was back in the office by noon.

That night:

“Hey Dad! How come you got another new car?” my teenage son said enthusiastically, “It’s a Benz, nicer than the Subaru. I like the color!”

I told him of the circumstances, the bolt, the construction, the hole in the roof of my car.

“Cool!” he said. Still admiring “my” new car.

Epilogue:

It took them the rest of the week to fix the roof and the console of my Subaru.

Even though I had the use of a luxury car, I was happy to get my old car back.

I’m not a litigious guy but that Friday, after work, while out for a beer with a friend of mine who’s a negligence attorney, I explained my experience and asked him if I had a case.

His answer was a question, “ They gave you a loner Mercedes for a Subaru?”

We went on to discuss what the Eagles chances were of winning the NFC East.

This story was self-published 1/6/23