Christmas Day – 1976

My childhood was filled with spectacular events and wonderful memories, but as the song goes “Into every life a little rain must fall.”  This is one of those “rainy day” events.  At my age it is hard to carry a grudge, so for the sake of this story we will call the villain “Lyle.”

It was 7:00 on Christmas morning and like many Christmases in resort communities it was rarely a day off.  On this day I was off to teach ski school at Buttermilk.  I had a little time before I had to be there and I was asked if I could deliver a few gifts on my way.  At the time I was driving our International Scout which had a hydraulic snowplow attached to the front.  I loved driving that car!  It was built like a tank, could take anything you threw at it and most importantly I was one of only two kids in my class with a driver’s license.  We all know what that means, dates!

Back to my story.  I made a few deliveries in our neighborhood and the last planned stop was at the Hickory House.  My parents always gave out Enstrom’s Toffee in boxes of all sizes each Christmas and none of them ever went to waste.  After the gift giving and taking a few minutes to visit I was off to work. 

Like most days, the parking in front of the Hickory House was full as was the side and rear lots.  I ended up parking across Main Street with the Scout pointing east.  I jumped in, looked both ways and headed out onto the street which by the way had no visible traffic.  Out of nowhere suddenly there was a Subaru stuck between the fender and the back of the plow.  Where did he come from?  Had I not looked well enough before proceeding?  We both got out and it was at that point I made my first mistake; I apologized for getting in his way.  Yes, I took the blame for the accident and Lyle, the driver of the other Subaru, graciously accepted my apologies.  Lyle went into great detail to explain that I must not have looked very well as he was coming around the curve on Main Street from the west.

A few minutes later a police officer showed up.  After a brief conversation I was issued a careless driving ticket and we were all on our way.  As for my Christmas it was not going to set the record as the “best ever.”

Later that day I received a call at the Buttermilk Ticket Office where my Mom worked.  It was from the Aspen Police who needed to get some additional details regarding my accident.  The officer who wrote my ticket informed me that the ticket was being “thrown out” and I was not at fault for the accident.

Sitting at the big table in the Hickory House was a group of people who witnessed it all.  As soon as I had left but before the police officer could escape the scene they flagged him down.  Led by Harold “Puppy” Smith and a number of other witnesses, they informed the officer that Lyle had not come around on Main Street as he had claimed.  He had actually pulled a u-turn in the middle of the block across two pairs of double yellow lines and collided with me.  With that information the ticket was “thrown out” and a new citation was issued to Lyle.  As far as I was concerned that was the end of the ordeal and my Christmas was looking up after all! 

Not so fast…

Two months later we received a call from our insurance agent.  Lyle had filed a lawsuit against me and my insurance company.  He was seeking all damages be repaired and a small amount of punitive damages as well.  He was also requesting a civil trial by jury.  At the age of 16 I had never been sued before or even stepped foot into a courtroom.  Now, two weeks before my 17th birthday a court date was set and I was petrified.  My insurance company provided an attorney and they got detailed statements from me as well as the witnesses from the Hickory House.

In a pre-trial motion my attorney petitioned the court for a trial before a judge, allowing the judge to render a verdict after hearing all of the evidence.  The motion was accepted and the trial date was set.  We would be going before Judge Tam Scott in two weeks.

On the day of the trial we all assembled in the court room.  In all we had about 15 witnesses, an attorney from the insurance company, the police officer and my family.  Lyle showed up with a large display board and no one else.  He was going to defend himself.  The look on his face was priceless.

As the trial convened Lyle was asked to go first and make his case.  After about five minutes of him explaining in detail, complete with a map of the area, how he had come from the West around the curve only to have me enter the lane without any notice or indication he rested his case.

My attorney made a brief statement contradicting Lyle’s information and then Puppy Smith was called to make a statement.  As soon as Puppy stated that Lyle had actually pulled a U-turn, having just left the Hickory House himself, Judge Scott stopped the proceedings.  He asked Lyle to stand up and it began…

Over a span of five to ten minutes, the Judge explained to Lyle that he had not only broken numerous laws by his actions, he had put a cloud over a Christmas holiday for me, had wasted the time and money of many people including the court and worst of all he had perjured himself.  The verdict was complete.  Lyle got nothing, had to pay some court costs and was required to apologize to me on the record.

Years later I still run into Lyle on occasion.  He still remembers our encounter and no words are ever exchanged.