I had a close call early this morning, driving through the city of Utica. Apparently, the city is removing some of the broken traffic lights (I read about this in a news story last week; sounds like there are a lot of broken ones) in the city, and replacing the intersection signs with STOP signs. I wonder how difficult this transition is for most drivers-- I was driving south on a main thoroughfare in the city (I had the right of way) and a DPW snowplow (HUGE truck) was heading west, into my intersection, at a very high rate of speed. I don't think he saw me, or perhaps he was still sleepy from getting up so early.... but he came "plowing" through the intersection right toward me. It was a close call. I managed to stop despite the slushy street and veer into the other lane (there was no other traffic at 4am). Either he didn't realize that the STOP signs were there, or he didn't care. At any rate, it is most uncomfortable to have one's heart in one's throat at 4am, before one's morning coffee. :|

Anyway, visions of collision bills danced in my mind. I have no collision insurance on my vehicle. And I think, if I recall correctly, that city of Utica DPW workers have complete immunity with traffic accidents. In other words, if there's an accident with a DPW vehicle-- even if the DPW driver is at fault-- the city is immune from liability, and the driver of the damaged vehicle incurs the entire cost. Yikes!

It pays to have a reliable collision repair shop in your phone book, that's for sure. What, you don't have one in your phone book?? Well, look online! That link will take you to a nationwide auto body search engine and information portal where you can search for experts in your area (search by zip code or city). It's the largest online network of auto collision repair experts-- this is a terrific site to bookmark! Andif you are a collision repair expert, you can get listed in the network. I think Utica will be needing more experts, judging by their traffic light problems and crazy DPW drivers...