Thanks for asking, Blast. I was alone in my car. The young woman in the other car had her 18-month-old strapped properly in a car seat, and both of them are fine.

Long story short, she was ahead of me, talking on her cell phone, and she swung wide to the left to make a one-handed turn into her driveway to the right (without any signal that I saw). I was moving past her on the right, on the assumption (I know, I know) that she was getting into the left turn lane. When she swung in front of me, I cut the wheel and braked, but my left front fender hit her right front. That accelerated my turning motion, with the result that she came to a stop on the road with minor damage, and I came to a stop with a telephone pole embedded about 18" into my front end.

The car (1999 Subaru Forester) kept me safe, First, the shoulder belt reeled me in. Second, the crumple zones kept the passenger compartment intact. The air bag didn't deploy, though.

Most of my loose stuff was in the cargo area behind the rear seat, with the cover over it. All that stayed put. The stuff I found and mentioned in my first post appears to have been hiding under seats or behind seat cushions. The impact was slow enough (around 25-30 mph) that there were no lethal projectiles in the vehicle.

I had no trouble exiting the vehicle. I checked on the lady and her baby, who were shaken but otherwise OK, and then called 9-1-1 on my cell phone. Out of caution, I asked for an ambulance to check out the baby. No bumps, no bruises. Thank goodness.

In a rare show of compassion, the police decided that neither party's driving was all that hot, but that citations would not be issued.

Live and learn...

Frank2135