[99V8SHO]

Yesterday at about 1:30 pm, coming home from the University of Maryland, travelling on a 40mph road right at 40mph, I was coming up towards and intersection, and out of the blue a Corsica turns left in front of me. I slam on the brakes and veer to the left to try to avoid the collision, but it doesnt happen. BAM!! I slam into her right rear fender, just south of the wheel. I don't feel like explaining the damage, so I will let you see it for yourself.

As you can see, my whole front end needs to be replaced and I need a new right fron quarter panel, new headlight housing and turn signal, new hood and radiator support. It is driveable, no engine or suspension damage that I could feel driving it home. I also can't open my passenger door.
I hit a 96 Corsica. The woman driving it must have been 80. I took her rear bumper and support clean off, and tore a hole in her gastank. I would estimate about $1500 worth of damage to my car, possibly more to hers.
I am angry right now that it happened but relieved that I am ok. I am shaken, but not hurt.
Sorry for such the long post.

 

[firespirit]

Oh s***... Looks like mine did...

That sucks a lot... So what are you gunna do about it? Insurance gunna back you up?

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[99V8SHO]

I am hoping that her insurance covers it.
There is a chance that they will deny it but I will not go down without a fight.

 

[firespirit]

Yeah, thats a good attitude... So if the ins. doesnt cover it - whats gunna be up with that?

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[TrueBlue]

Once again, older people should have to take a physical or a check-up evry six months or a year if they would like to keep their privledge of driving. What a shame, although it definetly looks repairable.

 

[Guest]

Very repairable. It doesn't look like the frame rails are bent, since the hood is still lined up with the bumper cover. Looks like it's all replaceable sheetmetal/plastic. Still sucks though...

 

[99V8SHO]

I have no doubt that this thing can be repaired. Everything feels fine. I have driven about 100 miles since the accident and no steering wheel vibrations or shimmies and it still drives as straight as it did before the accident. So I am fairly certain everything is fine as far as the suspension goes. I am also pretty sure the frame is not bent. When the shop fixes the damage I will have them address my camber up front from the lowering springs.
What? You have never heard of getting a bunch of negative camber from a collision?

 

[wysinwyg]

Originally posted by TrueBlue@Mar 11 2004, 06:46 PM
Once again, older people should have to take a physical or a check-up evry six months or a year if they would like to keep their privledge of driving. What a shame, although it definetly looks repairable.

Yes, exactly.. I have been saying this for at least 5 years. At age 65, the standard age for full retirement, the elderly must go take a road course test every year. At 70+ it must be taken every 6 months.

My 94 GL had major driver side damage when an elderly woman didn't see me (with my headlights on mind you and in sunny, clear conditions) and pulled out from a stop sign right into me...

My 2001 SES Had rear bumper damage when an elderly man who was leaving a liquor store... Just drove his car straight back into my parked car while I was sitting there trying to back out of my parking space.. He claimed he could not hear me laying on my horn as I watched him do it in my rearview....

Yesterday, on my way home, in a pack of cars, an old man two in front of me slams his breaks on in the middle of an intersection while we were all going about 30 miles an hour.

I mashed the brake pedal down and pulled hard left and JUST missed the bumper of the guy in front of me avoiding my third accident in my third Taurus (another 2001 SES).

Old people more than the youth of america are the problem on the roads... The laws will likely never change because all those old people are in government.

 

[Capital Punishment]

Hey 99, what road was that on?

 

[99V8SHO]

This was near the intersection of Maryland Route 108 and Maryland Route 97 in Olney, Maryland. You live nearby?
I completely agree with wysinwyg.

Another thing that irks me is a fellow Taurus owner ditched me! This guy was turning right onto the road that I was travelling in the same direction I was. He saw the whole thing. I asked him if he could be a witness for me. He said "Sure, let me go turn around." I never saw him again. If I find out it is somebody here...

 

[slider5634]

Ouch. Well, It could have been much worse. Nothing a little super glue and duct tape can't fix. J/K. Glad to hear your Ok. Best of luck with the insurance. From recent experiece I can tell you that insurance companies can be a real pain in the a** to deal with.

BTW, Was the old lady hurt???

 

[Guest]

That sucks man! Sorry to hear it. At least nobody was hurt and it's all repairable.

btw... I hate Corsica's

 

[Matthew Ebel]

99, you've done the world a great service by helping to rid it of one more Chevy. Next time, though, try to make sure the Chevy's unoccupied.

(Yeah, that sucks, btw. I'd feel bad enough with any Taurus, but yours looks to be a beautiful piece of hardware. I hope everything fleshy is unharmed, though.)

Pax,
Matthew

 

[spifdaddytaurus01]

bob can fix it

 

[99V8SHO]

(un)Fortunately the old lady and her equally old husband were ok. Though I have the urge to hunt her down and beat her with her cane.
I am pretty sure their car is totalled. Rear bumper and support torn clean off, hole in gastank, damaged quarter panel and door, and most likely suspension damage. I would say that it is totalled. I could drive away, their car had to be towed.

 

[ron porter]

Originally posted by 99V8SHO@Mar 11 2004, 05:53 PM
As you can see, my whole front end needs to be replaced and I need a new right fron quarter panel, new headlight housing and turn signal, new hood and radiator support. It is driveable, no engine or suspension damage that I could feel driving it home. I also can't open my passenger door.

I would estimate about $1500 worth of damage to my car

Sorry to hear about the accident, hopefully they will repair the car and not total it.....

"Total It??" Well, I have attached a picture of my '99 from the infamous "tree" incident" at the 2000 Indiana SHO Convention.

Look at the picture. In the summer of 2000, what you see is $1,610 of damage. What you DON'T see is the additional $1,000 of damage to the radiator & condenser (which I didn't have done, since they weren't leaking).

You will be north of $1,500, and with the passenger door also hit, the price will also jump.

Good Luck!!

 

[mikehawk]

Definitely more than $1500. Some guy hit me and the body shop wants $1300 to replace a rear bumper and realign the trunk. At least the old people that caused your accident have insurance, unlike the dead beat, ghetto, felon, hood rat, a****** that hit me.

BTW, what's the deal with those rims in the pics?

 

[ron porter]

Originally posted by wysinwyg+Mar 12 2004, 12:21 AM-->QUOTE (wysinwyg @ Mar 12 2004, 12:21 AM)

<!--QuoteBegin-TrueBlue

@Mar 11 2004, 06:46 PM
Once again, older people should have to take a physical or a check-up evry six months or a year if they would like to keep their privledge of driving. What a shame, although it definetly looks repairable.

Yes, exactly.. I have been saying this for at least 5 years. At age 65, the standard age for full retirement, the elderly must go take a road course test every year. At 70+ it must be taken every 6 months.



Old people more than the youth of america are the problem on the roads... The laws will likely never change because all those old people are in government. [/b]

Oh please!!

I don't want to get into this inane discussion, but I can't let this go.. And yes, I will be 54 in a couple of months, so I'm getting "up there".

Per all statistics for as long as I have been driving, older drivers have never been the "problem" on the roads. In virtually all categories (tickets, accidents, injuries, fatalities), drivers under 25, and especially teen drivers, are the worst on the road. Based on the the results, THESE are the drivers that should be tested every 6 months or a year!!

But basically, it won't ever happen for ANY age group. Drivers who are bad when they're young are still bad drivers when they are old. Up where I live, there are more young drivers than retirees, and frankly it's the kids that I have to watch out for......they drive like crap.....apparently have never heard about "turn signals" or "mirrors".

My dad is soon to be 87, and is still driving. He has limited his driving to his nearby surroundings (he's in Sun City West outside Phoenix), and he does fine. He, like any competent driver of any age, understands his limitations and drives within them.

Remember that Paul Newman is about 78 and is still racing in the GT classes (and had a high finish recently, IIRC). Mario Andretti will be 64 this year, and I believe that Jackie Stewart is somewhere in his 60s, also.

Yes, there are physical things that can affect people as they age, but many drivers have always sucked at their driving. They don't have 50 years of driving experience.....they have one year of driving experience repeated fifty times over!!

 

[deniz]

Hey Roman- what happened to your sho wheels?

 

[99V8SHO]

I still have the 99 wheels, they are sitting in my garage right now yelling at me because they are not being used. I am still riding on the snow tires and will continue to do so until my camber gets taken care of.

Ron, I see where you are coming from. I am in the under 25 age group (just turned 19) and I do agree that there are some crappy drivers at that age. I admit that at one time my driving probly wasnt great, but hey, who is great right out of the box? I do consider myself a good driver now. I obey the speed limit whenever possible and whenever it is not safe to speed. When I do speed I know how to control it. This is not saying that I do 100+ everyday. I have hit 100+ less times then I can count on one hand. And let me tell you I had a white knuckle grip on the wheel. Anyways, I know there some good elderly drivers. But the majority that I have seen around here, to put it blunty, suck at driving. For example, today alone I saw a few disturbing things. There was a an old woman in her Buick on the local freeway, in a 65mph zone, doing 40mph....IN THE LEFT LANE!! Again, off the freeway, I got caught behind some older woman who could barely see above the steering wheel of her SUV doing 30 in a 45 zone. On this same road, an older gentleman in his Cadillac merged into my lane without checking his blindspot, nearly sideswiping me off the road. I slammed on my brakes and layed on the horn. He did not even notice. And then of course the old woman who did not look before she turned left the other day that poked the SHO's right eye out.
Today I had no bad experiences with younger drivers. I don't want to get flamed for this, I do have respect for the elderly, I just think their driving priviledges need to be rethought. I would have no problem whatsoever submitting to a driving test once a year to make sure my driving skills are up to par. If it means the elderly are subject to the same tests, it is a sacrifice I am willing to make.