With just 54 miles on her Toyota’s odometer, the 36-year-old Electric Power Board employee watched in complete horror as a Chevrolet Trailblazer – completely airborne - was being hurled directly at the front of her brand-new car with unbelievable force.
“There are no words to describe it,” she said yesterday, “but there is no doubt the car saved my life.
”Another driver was approaching a busy intersection on Sand Mountain early last Wednesday night and apparently fell asleep, running through the stop sign at Highway 301, just up the mountain from Trenton, Ga. When his van plummeted through the intersection, he hit the 3,000-pound Chevrolet SUV broadside and the force of the impact literally launched the second car high into the air.
“Oh, gosh, I was shocked! I was completely stopped, wearing my seat belt,” Kim said. “I heard the first wreck but then the second car came right at me through the air, landing right on the front of the Camry’s hood. It was like a big explosion.
”The instant Kim’s car was struck, all 10 airbags deployed – those located at knee level keeping her legs from being crushed – and, when she finally opened her front door, she got out of her badly-mangled but still brand-new Toyota without so much as a scratch.
This isn’t an advertisement for the newest generation of Camry that Toyota has just unveiled but Lord knows it should be. In a day when too many of us take air bags and safety features for granted, Kim Smith is a walking testament to the fact the 2012 Camry, which was just redesigned with safety as the foremost concern, did exactly what it was made to do at the huge plant in Georgetown, Ky.
“Oh yes, the highway patrolman and the sheriff’s officer both told me if I had been driving my 4-Runner, which I had just traded in, I would have been in bad shape. Thank goodness the other two drivers weren’t badly hurt but all of us are still bruised up. The airbag that saved my legs left my ankle pretty blue.”
Asked if she was getting another Camry, the Henagar, Ala., native laughed and said, “Are you kidding? Only this time I am getting a silver Camry instead of red. I don’t have anything against red but I’d rather not be reminded of what just happened.
“When the Trailblazer hit my car, it kind of bounced off to the side but part of its luggage rack came through the windshield on the passenger side. I was by myself but I don’t think if anybody had been sitting in the seat they would have gotten hurt. The windshield was shattered but there wasn’t any glass inside the car at all.
”How about the airbags?
“When (salesman) Alfred Odister sold me the car, I’m sure he told me about all the safety features – he was great - but, honestly, there was so much to absorb I can’t remember about the air bags. The firemen who were at the wreck told me they counted 14 that went off but some come in sets, I was told,” the personable woman explained.
“I got one of the very first 2012 models so I am waiting for Capital Toyota to get a silver one. When I left the dealership the car had 24 miles on the odometer so I just got to drive it about 30 miles but I really liked it,” she laughed.
“I’m just thankful I was driving it instead of my 4-Runner and that no one was badly hurt."
Ed Emerson, the sales manager at Capital Toyota, said Toyota executives are working to expedite a new replacement Camry for the unfortunate buyer.
“We have been told this new generation Camry is the first to ever earn a five-star safety rating but this proves it. I think we were as shocked as Kim was when we heard what happened. The safety features are really awesome but, please, they don’t need to be tried out!”
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