We had an interesting dinner last Saturday. Andrea and I were meeting two other couples, Dave and Betty Martin and Bob and Kathy Summers, for dinner in Cary. We were running late as usual, so I called Bob to let him know. He and Kathy were just leaving the grocery store for the restaurant.

Just before we arrived he called me back. They were going to be a little late. The reason? They had just witnessed a car accident.

At dinner we heard the details. A young woman in a Durango (SUV) was traveling at a high rate of speed when she decided she wanted to make a right turn into the store parking lot. Bob and Kathy were waiting to exit the parking lot. The Dodge locked up and pretty much was riding on two wheels (I saw the tire tracks) as it careened toward the parking lot entrance.

Bob, always the quick thinker, eased his car out slowly into the main road, and she hit the car behind them.

While this ended the story at the table, they hinted that there was more to it, and we found out what when we got up to leave. Bob was driving a new car, one he had only had for three days, a Toyota Prius. He had waited for five months for it to arrive, and just barely avoided having it smashed up.

I’ve been thinking about getting one of these for some time. I am hesitating because this is the first year of the new model and they are hard to get, but also because we still live down quite a bit of dirt road. They are working on paving it, so if I can hold out a little longer the car I do eventually buy might last longer.

Bob was nice and let me drive it. It’s roomy and surprisingly quick from, say, 0-20 mph. Even fully loaded it’s not too expensive, but it appeals more to the geek in me than the car enthusiast.

While I want one, I’ll wait until something comes out that will make Bob jealous. (grin)