The Automobile Thread

He helped me climb through the window of my car.

 

Dude it’s amazing you are still alive. Way to think fast and use the skills you have obviously learned in life.

 

Glad you're mostly ok.

That's a gnarly accident, be sure to get a good lawyer. You may have concerns pop up months later.

 

That zone got crumpled!!!

Hope you're doing okay mentally and physically! And that their insurance buys you a nice new replacement!
Don't sign anything from their insurance till you are totally done with PT, chiropractor, etc... we got hosed on that a little bit a few years ago.

 

WOOF!!!!!!

Glad it wasn't worse.

 

WOW!!! I had a driver run into me from behind in a residential area. I had my bike rack mounted and boy, did it screw up her car. I ended up with a destroyed bike rack and a bent bumper that was pushed into the rear of my truck a little bit. Her car, which still had dealer plates on it, was absolutely not brand new anymore.

I've been hit from behind exactly how you described it, as well. The guy was drunk and hit more going 65 when I was at a stand still in sudden gridlock. His van pushed my work van into 3 cars in front of me. They had to use two tow trucks to pull our vans apart. I've had back issues ever since that day.

 

Seriously. That is gnarly. Probably a good thing nobody was in the back seat too.

 

I was in a similar situation while stopped waiting for traffic making a legal left hand turn. Lady rear-ended me at about 40mph. Both cars were totaled. First words out of her mouth were "Will you take cash?" I should have taken some but I was driving was a company car with company insurance. She ended up hiring an attorney making up a story saying I came out of nowhere and cut her off. The BIG company I was working for figured it would be easier to just settle out of court. Be careful out there, in more ways than one.

Hope you're okay @Sidewalk and glad your bike wasn't on that rack.

 

I got rear ended on the freeway about three or four years ago by an 18 year old girl. I was slowing for traffic ahead and she apparently did not. I had my previous bike in the back of my car and it was undamaged, but my car took $11,500 in damage.

First words out of my mouth were "Do you have insurance?" LOL. I was expecting a no, but her parents did, so it was all good. I had a mild concussion from my head either bouncing off the headrest or the roof of my car. It was so violent even while I was still moving forward, that I have always wondered how bad it would have been had I been at a dead stop.

Well, the important thing is @Sidewalk is OK. Cars can be replaced.

 

My wife had a similar accident on Feb. 11, 1994 at 4:30 in the afternoon... she was the 4th car in line stopped for two cops directing traffic on a perfectly flat, straight road. Lights flashing...

The young lady with no insurance who was changing her radio station never looked up, and hit my wife first at 55 mph, pushing her into the 3 cars in front of her- accordion style. The impact was enough to push all 4 cars off the road- almost hitting one of the cops.

Several surgeries... But the Three crushed discs was the worst, and she’s lived with it every day since...

Get thoroughly checked out. Don’t sign anything...

 

One thing I saw that I'll never forget was back long ago when I was in high school. Was walking down the street and at the corner of Berkeley and Lemon, near the Floop courthouse parking lot, witnessed a caravan of five brand new Volkswagen Beetles. The lead car stopped at the yellow light. Bam bam bam bam all five sandwiched together.

 

Already started with a lawyer. Though technically haven't agreed to anything with him, it's a start. I'm not in a rush to settle, but not exactly trying to chase money either. Just be fair. And I'm pretty sure I can't get fair out of them without help.

I'm pretty lucky to be alive when you see the condition of the car. And yes, it does look worse in person.

I took the brunt of it. Since I had my foot firmly in the brakes, and he hit me at a slight angle, I didn't do seriously damage to the car ahead, that lady was able to drive off. I was pushed two lanes over after pushing her out of my way.

My car even auto dialed 911 for me. I was surprised when I heard the phone ringing over the speakers, then an operator answer. I then remembered that system and let the operator know I was hit before it cut out (not sure why, but my phone was smashed pretty bad).

I sat in the car for a good 20-30 seconds in case it ended up being a multi car situation, then tried to open the door. When it didn't open I looked at the passenger side but decided I didn't want to try and get out that way unless I had to, it was a mess in the cabin. I thought about breaking out the window, but I hit the power window button and was amazed that it worked, telling me that the car did its job. A good Samaritan and the driver helped me crawl out the window. I stumbled to the side of the road in front of the car and a paramedic walked up to me, he said they were passing by for a transport. I declined a ride to the ER. After getting evaluated by the responding fire department, a few people who witnessed the collision (including the person I hit) said I should get checked, they said the wreck was that bad from their perspective. I gave it thought and decided it was a good idea,but the CHP on scene strongly urged me to NOT go to the ER, he said "I've been there lately with Covid. You are going to sit around for hours around a lot of sick people. You do t want to do that unless you have to", so I decided to get a ride from my GF.

It was pretty spectacular, in a bad way. But a combination of luck, planning, fitness and...more luck, the injuries appear minor. Still lots of pain, but I'm hoping that is temporary.

We went to the tow yard later in the day to get what I could out if it. Pretty crazy to look at it and realize I was in there just a few hours before.

 

AFTER the crash...

 

Holy hell, dude. That is horrific. Thoughts and prayers for a speedy and COMPLETE recovery for you, and no such well wishes for the douchebag who hit you.

 

Ohhh, ohhh, ohhh, I can play this game, too! I was rear-ended waiting at a light. Watched the other driver barrel into me as she was stuffing her face with breakfast. Totaled her car, I drove away without a bumper cover. #lucky

That car sure did what it was built for. Modern cars are really amazing!!! I love the crash tests between old cars and modern ones:

 

I think it was before the crash @herzalot. Sidewalk cut the ride short because fate decided he needed to have a rendezvous with a guy driving 65mph into a stopped Ford Fiesta on the freeway.

 

Yes. I assumed that was the case. My quip was a nod to what a badass biker @Sidewalk is... he probably could survive a crash like that and go set PRs right after.

 

Yikes. This discussion has me pricing out full size pickups. I want 6000 lb of steel and an 8 foot bed between me and the person instagramming behind me.

 

Damn, @Sidewalk , that's beyond gnarly. Glad you're seemingly "ok". I often wonder how I'd react in the seconds leading up to a crash that I could see coming but couldn't avoid. What a terrible feeling that must have been.

 

Right!? With your little girl in the back seat!?

 

Oddly, death and injuries never crossed my mind. Just, I was going to get hit.

I had just ordered some custom parts from a machine shop, the owner races a modified Focus. He said the same thing happened to him years ago and he walked away too.

Really ups my confidence in small cars.

No PR's for me though. I was actually in the beginning stages of a training plan because my fitness is so off. That's on hold now.

 

I shudder to think.

 

30 years ago I got advice to not buy a car that weighed under 2000 lb. today’s small cars really aren’t that small.

 

How are you feeling?

I thought about your accident a lot today. I turned on my emergency flashers anytime the traffic was slowed or stopped unexpectedly. Checked my rear-view. Ready to put head against headrest to prevent whiplash. Gave space ahead of me.

Part of my drive today - not the part I was overly concerned about:

 

Compared to the past, definitely. My car was about 2500 pounds, which is small for modern standards. Especially when my ambulance is 9000

Habits I have been in for a long time, and they kinda paid off! Your odds of ever being in an accident like this are pretty damn small, but why not be prepared when it doesn't hurt you to do so?

My leg is better, hoping the doctor clears me to train after my appointment. I want to get back on my bike, running will be a few weeks. My ribs are the worst right now, but that'll fade with time.

 

As an ex Ford product development worker I've seen my fair share of smashed up Fords in my time, some intentional and some due to drivers running out of talent. I have to say that one looks pretty damn impressive! Does remind me of a similar one that happened to one of our powertrain engineers. He had a semi (18 wheeler) truck go into the back of him on the motorway when he was at a stand still. He was driving a little Ford KA (its a size down from a Fiesta) the front bumper of the truck was higher than the rear wheels so none of the rear subframe absorbed the impact. The truck crushed the whole back of the car right up to the back of the front seats but everything underneath was left were it should be. Looking at the front of the car you'd be hard pressed to know it had even been in a shunt. He walked away with no injuries.
The boys in the garage did ponder putting a tray on the back of it and using it for a run around out at the test track but we drained all the fluids put a brick on the accelerator and placed bets on how long it'd last before grenading the engine instead. After seeing that though I've always been very impressed with small cars abilities to absorb big impacts (and the engineers that design the crash structures that go into them)
I know the commonly held belief is you'll be better of in a bigger car but a lot of people kind of forget basic physics. Bigger cars have more energy when moving, when big cars crash into big cars the energy of the impact is much higher (when both are moving). Todays cars are designed to crumple and absorb energy, they always look much worse than the old stuff where the occupant was basically the energy absorbing crash structure.
Glad to hear you are relatively unscathed!

 

https://www.audiusa.com/us/web/en/models/e-tron-gt/e-tron-gt-family.html

What a stunner. Interior is simply to die for. Yeah, it's expensive, but when compared to the Taycan that it shares its underpinnings with it's a relative bargain. These high end EVs almost fly in the face of the spirit of the EV, but hopefully these torch bearers will help inspire some legitimately cool performance oriented EVs at lower price points. Word on the streets is that the Mustang Mach-E is a pretty stellar car as well.

 

I disagree that they aren’t in the spirit of EV. Who cares about using up electricity? I’ll make more in the morning when the sun comes up.

I’m not in the market for a six figure sedan, but if I was—dang.

 

First a P-car, then Auto Union... I hope they next come out with a VW version for $35k with a single motor and slower. No, not an ID4 blah-mobile, maybe the Vizzion depending on how it emerges from the cocoon. And look at that dash... buttons and knobs!!!! I'd buy this just for the manual interface!!!

 

Audis suck. And they're ugly.