Just got back from a car crash...

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

So I was turning left out of the Borders parking lot after purchasing (I swear to God) Crash by J.G. Ballard. The leftmost lane of the street I was turning onto (a 2-lane road) was filled with cars making right turns. I checked to my right and nobody was coming. I checked to my left, but had difficulty seeing over the line of cars turning right. I craned my head as best I could to look, and although I wasn’t sure the coast was clear, I very stupidly turned anyway.

I heard the white Nissan Maxima before I saw it. I heard the screech of the brakes and then saw the front of the car coming towards me. In that split second, I thought, “that car’s going to come to a stop. It’ll be a very close call, and I’ll get a very nasty look from the driver, but that’ll be it.” Unfortunately, I was wrong. The Maxima struck my driver’s side rear - the impact was relatively minor, and I was mentally prepared for it. I thought, alright, little fender bender, big deal. It could be way worse. I started veering off to the side of the road to pull over.

BOOM! Another car hits me, smashing my rear right-hand side. This took me completely by surprise. (I was informed after the accident, by witnesses in a building next to where it happened, that this car was speeding.) This guy definitely had more time to slow down than the first person, and I’d say that him hitting me was much more his fault than the first driver, who had no way of knowing that I would pull out.

I pull into a parking lot to the right and am joined by the other two drivers. We acknowledge each other. Driver one - of the Maxima: a sexy little half-Japanese girl, probably 17 or 18. Driver two: a Korean-American National Guardsman, in full combat dress including beret. He was also driving a Nissan Maxima, this one green and newer than the first one.

Driver one is cold. I give her my waterproof leather Timberland jacket to keep her warm. Then I go to my car and get a bunch of those instant-heat hand warmer things and pass them around. Everyone accepts graciously, except for the National Guardsman who is way too tough for pansy-ass hand warmers.

I call cops. They take about 45 minutes to come. In the mean time, I see a police car drive by us (was he looking for us?) But it wasn’t until much later that the officer finally arrived.

We exchange information and insurance and fill out all the forms and everything. Nobody is hurt. Everyone is very courteous, and nobody seems all that resentful of me for stupidly pulling out and getting hit.

Damage to Car 1: slight dent in front bumper, and a small amount of paint from my car.

Damage to Car 2: driver’s side headlight broken.

Damage to My Car: Rear driver’s side wheel bent inwards. Rear axle possibly bent (I’ll find out tomorrow from the mechanic.) Rear passenger’s side door completely smashed in. Front passenger’s side door slightly dented and badly scratched.

I’m 21. I’ve been driving for 5 years (and driving with my dad for 2 additional years before that.) This is only the second accident I’ve been in (the first was when I first got my first car, and was a very minor fender bender with zero damage to either car.)

All told, I’m glad I’m OK, and I’m glad everyone else is. I’m also glad I was wearing my seatbelt. And I’m never going to pull out again without being 100% sure nobody is coming from the other direction.

Now…I’m going to read Crash.

2

Just be sure to skip the Cronenberg flick of the same name.

3

Already watched it. Loved it. Wrote a review of it which I posted here. What was so bad about it?

4

B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-but Crash? Apart from, well, apart from whatever, what was good about it?

Can you stitch me a link in a blink? I’ll riffle through the review, 23 skidoo.

5

And it’s official, half-Asian’s can’t drive, either!
[Insert smiley that maximizes funny, and minimizes offensiveness].

6

:smack: ?

7

Review of Crash and Thread.

What’s good about it?

[ul]
[li]Great nuanced performance by James Spader[/li][li]Even better portrayal of Vaughan by show-stealing Elias Koteas who also played Casey Jones in the Ninja Turtles movies[/li][li]Super-hot Deborah Kara Unger, naked[/li][li]Great cinematography[/li][li]Fantastically eerie score by Howard Shore[/li][li]Great supporting performance by Rosanna Arquette[/li][li]Hot male-on-male sex[/li][/ul]

OK, that last one might not be your cup of tea.

Anyway I liked it a lot.

8

Asian’s? WTF?

9

Yeah but still, no, i didn’t like it, althought you did grant it quite an impassioned review. I noticed you left Existenz off the Cronenberg resume. No Arquette or M on M sex, but it’s my favorite.

10

Good that you’re okay! But I have to say I find it amusing that both the other drivers were Asian. Sounds like the beginning of a joke or something.

11

My girlfriend’s Asian and when we go anywhere out of town, I have her do the driving. She could drive an 18-wheeler down Lake Shore Drive at rush-hour.

12

OK, I just thought I’d share this, though it may be TMI - speaking of my girlfriend, she was in a car accident of her own just 2 days ago (passenger, not driver.) The next day we watched Crash, and that movie got her so turned on that we did it twice afterwards.

But I think it was more the sex scenes and not the crashing ones.

(I’m usually discreet about these matters but I felt this was too good a story to withhold, given the discussion.)

Also, isn’t my sig line perfect for this thread?

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Oh yeah, and one more thing - after all this, I asked the tow truck driver, a gigantic, grizzled good ol’ boy who looked like Harrison Ford on steroids, for a cigarette. He said he didn’t smoke. WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO?!

14

I’m glad that you are okay! Thanks for the reminder to quit doing dumb things like this. I thought it was just part of becoming a little old lady. (How’s that for a nasty blow to your ego?)

Be sure to print out a copy of your OP and tape or glue it into the front cover of your book. You don’t want to separate the account from the book. Something bad might happen.

BTW, I liked Crash also, but I’ve never seen the NC-17 version because Blockbuster wouldn’t carry it. The James Dean thing was eery and fascinating.