Well, I left work today just before 5:00 ( Bayer Corp near Settlers Cabin Park ) in my dirty but pretty well-kept and low-mileage 1995 Taurus SHO 5 spd and was heading toward Imperial to pick up my 2 year old Lilly.
Coming down the on ramp onto 22-30 the sun is blazing right at me. Lots of traffic on the highway, so I slow down and come to the end of the ramp and stop behind a 1990 F150 also waiting to merge. I left several ( 5-6 ) carlengths between me and the truck thinking I could get a better run when it was my turn to merge. Also, the truck was way at the end of the ramp,and I don't like to leave myself hanging out there that far.
Anyway, I look in the rear-view ( you know what's coming... ) and see a car barrelling down the on-ramp. He doesn't appear to be slowing down. Nope - definately not slowing down. I inch forward and toward the guardrail a bit, thinking this guy is gonna need every inch to slow down or swerve to avoid hitting me. When I realize he isn't slowing down, I stood on the brakes and braced for the inevitable. Well, he never really hit the brakes and slammed into my back-end at 35-40 mph. Quite a wallop to say the least. He and his P.O.S. flat black Geo Metro with temporary plates pushed me the remaining 4+ carlengths into the F150.
Turns out the driver is a 76 year old guy - and a clueless one at that. Not once did he say he was sorry or ask if I was ok, even though I hurried to his car, which had skidded past mine and into traffic, trying to get him out of the car before someone barrelled into him.
I decided not to interact with him and let the Trooper ( who arrived almost an hour later ) handle everything. Before the Trooper left I asked him if he thought this was an open & shut case and that everything was the old man's fault, and he said that was the case.
2 hours later AAA drops my car off at a local shop, where they will certainly decide in a few days that the car is a total loss. Rear bumper, trunk, taillight panel, both quarter panels, front bumper - all toast. No airbags deployed, which surprised me. Maybe they weren't working - I don't know. Also - all 4 doors still open and shut perfectly. I'm really impressed with how well the car took the impact.
I felt ok earlier, but now I've got a bit of a kink in my neck and a little soreness on one side of the lap belt line. Looks like I'll be making a trip to the doc to get checked out tomorrow or Monday.
This sucks......but I'm so happy that the accident didn't happen after I picked up my daughter. It was quite a jolt and I really think she would have been seriously hurt, even being strapped in. She's 2, but tiny like my wife, and weighs only 25 pounds.
I probably won't get much for the car, which is a shame because I could have gotten 10 more years out of it, as I only drive it like 8000-9000 miles a year. Time for some car shopping I guess. If any of you know of something fun and cheap with relatively low miles - like a Mk VII, Marauder, pre-96 SHO, etc - let me know.
I'll try to post pics tomorrow after my trip to the shop - it's at Airport Auto Body on Stoops Ferry Drive in Moon.
Ok - time for me to try to get some sleep...
Reply With Quote
Glad to hear your alright. I bet if it was domestic disturbance they would have been hittin' a 150 shot to get there.
Bookmarks