I’ve seen a red pickup breeze through a T-intersection and onto a multi-use trail* at night. After the shock wore off, at which time the truck’s taillights had disappeared down the trail, I pulled out my cell and called 911 to report a likely drunk driver.
*ISTR the trail having a much wider entrance then.
No urban legend, I assure you.
An interesting thing was that the car was drivable after the accident, and all the lights worked. However, only the driver’s door could be opened, and the body had been shortened several inches, enough so the guy who repaired it had to go the a junkyard, get an old body, and replace the damaged one.
My passenger had his glasses knocked off, and spent at least five minutes trying to find them before he could crawl over the driver’s seat to exit the car.
Drove the car for at least five years after that, and finally sold it to a co-worker for around $900. He was quite happy with it.
This was over 3 or 4 phone calls and emails over the course of about a week. The first phone call I figured she’d just made an error, misdialed the phone or something, so I could just correct her and be done with it. When she insisted that this non-accident happened, I figured I had to deal with it since her insane clients filed a claim (I don’t remember if they filed a police report). Plus if they HAD hit me and the damage was significant enough for a claim, I did want to run downstairs and see if I needed to file a claim myself, since the photos only showed the other people’s car (it wasn’t and I didn’t). I also worried they’d try to drag me into legal/insurance trouble regardless how shaky their claim was, since they were, after all, filing a claim for damage that didn’t exist. Apparently they were basing their claim of damage (to THEIR car) on the fact that MY car was old with dings in my bumper because I’m a city dweller who parks on the street and over the course of 5-6 years people tap my bumpers when parking and scratches accumulate (which as far as I’m concerned is what bumpers are for, and plastic bumpers don’t rust so what do I care?). I think in actuality it was mostly a classism thing, my car was old, their car was brand new, how dare I park on the street where they might have to park next to me. (A problem they could have solved by renting private garage parking if parking next to the proles on the street was so offensive.)
So after a few volleys of politely pointing out her mistake, figuring that would be enough for her to connect the dots, I lost patience and pulled out “WHOSE fault do you think this is? Really?”
It had also crossed my mind that the accident could have happened if someone had stolen my car. It was parked on a side street which I didn’t regularly pass on my way two and from home, so while I hadn’t moved it, until I ran down to see if it was still there, I supposed it was not beyond the realm of possibility that someone had.
I was driving through an intersection (I had a green light) at about 25 MPH (it was a narrow side street) one evening (not completely dark yet) a few blocks from my home (on the east coast - which is important for the next bit) when a 17-year-old kid with a California learner’s permit (so, passenger car only, daytime only, California only, requires licensed driver in the vehicle) runs a red light in his tractor trailer rig and totals my car. I managed to make it through the intersection to the side of the road and called 911.
Cops arrive and take no notice of multiple violations by teenager with 18-wheeler. Teenager claims he had the green light and I ran a red. Cops look confused.
Local miscreants hanging out on the steps of the church on the corner wander over and go “Officer, we saw the whole thing - the truck ran the red light.” Cops respond “Well, Mr. Kennedy lives only a few blocks from here. Perhaps you’re just saying this because you know him”. Miscreant #1 says “No, we don’t like him.” Miscreant #2 continues “Cause when we smoke the weed on his porch, he chases us.” Miscreant #1 finishes with “So, the truck ran the red light.”
Cops are halfway between bemused and baffled, and after collecting more info, handing out cards, etc. depart. I manage to nurse the car home and leave it in my garage in a pool of fluids and broken glass.
It took nearly a year, but insurance did pay for my totalled car. Got the first check from my insurance company pretty rapidly, but much later I got second check for both the deductible and additional value due to the insurance companies deciding the other driver was 100% at fault.
I don’t think I’ve posted this here previously, so…
Many years ago (mid 1960’s): My parents and I had recently moved to the boonies and they were still decorating our (much larger) house. We drove down to the “local” Army/Navy store (15 miles away) which at the time still had surplus stuff as well as the usual assortment of denim workwear.
There wasn’t a lot that was interesting, but my Dad did find a WWII-era practice bomb (that would be filled with sand and used to train bombardiers for accurate targeting). He decided to buy it to hang over his workbench in the basement. Bomb acquired, we got back into the family Fiat (which had seen better days) after putting the bomb in the trunk and started driving home.
At the traffic light (yup - the only traffic light for miles), we were rear-ended by some guy in a big American car (I don’t remember the model). We both pulled over so the cars could be inspected for damage. There was no noticeable (new) damage to the Fiat, and as I recall the other guy’s car was undamaged as well. After deciding there was no need to exchange insurance info, the men were about to get back into their cars, when my Mom calls out the passenger window: “Honey, is the bomb OK?” My Dad yells back “I don’t know, I’ll check!” and opens the trunk to see if the bomb got scratched up or dented from the accident.
The other driver comes over to look, and upon seeing this 3-foot-plus long bomb in the trunk, faints dead away in the road…
Alas, both my parents are gone now, but I still have the bomb. [Picture]
I was driving down the highway when the car ahead of me blew a tire. The wheel did not fly off. However, the car flipped over and ended up top down in the ditch. I pulled over and walked back to the car, but when I got there, everyone had crawled out and was apparently uninjured.
It was the second car I had seen blow a tire on that stretch of highway that week (the first one just drove off into the trees )
I was headed south on a 5 lane highway (2 in each direction and a center turn lane) that runs through the center of town. I was driving my grandfather in his land yacht of a vehicle when we decided to stop at a gas station. The nearest station was on the left side of the road so I got into the center lane, blinker flashing, and waited for north bound traffic to clear. Once it cleared I began my turn, still looking in the direction of oncoming traffic to make sure no one came flying around the curve when I heard a “BANG” and felt the driver door push into my side. Seems that the last north bound car to pass me decided that she, too, needed gas and proceded to stop her car, put it in reverse and back up on the highway, t-boning me with her trunk. It’s very surreal to be looking toward oncoming traffic and get hit from the opposite side. Fortunately, there were several witnesses at the gas station because the woman’s first words to the cop were “He hit me!”. It looked for all the world like I turned short into the back of her vehicle…
Reminds me of a story my dad used to tell. Back in the mid 60s, he was driving a van, and one day managed to drive it into the back of another car. The impact knocked his glasses off. The windshield was in one piece, so they had to be somewhere in the van, but he couldn’t find them anywhere. He was shocked when he found them, on the pavement, ten feet in front of the car he’d rear-ended. Which made no sense - how had they flown that far through an unbroken windshield?
When he got the van home and started working on repairs, he figured it out. When he hit the other car, the bottom of the windshield’s seal broke, but the top held, so the window swung up like it was on a hinge. His glasses flew through the open space, and then the windshield swung back down into place, from all appearances still completely intact.
Were the glasses intact?
