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Re: Dude, I do hope you're ok! Posted by Justin VanAbrahams [Email]  (#32) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Justin VanAbrahams) on Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:43:02
In Reply to: Dude, I do hope you're ok!, Siegfried, Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:02:03 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
My speed at impact was probably about 25mph. Speed limit on that street is 30mph and very strictly enforced. Beyond that, I live two blocks away (1/4 mile or so) and as a matter of course I keep speed way down until the car warms up. I specifically turned onto the street in a big break of traffic so as to not slow people down as I always do. Most people travel that road at 40mph or more - I watch people pile up behind me pretty frequently. I have no idea how fast the other car was going, so I can't guess at the effective speed of the crash.
Airbag deployed - that hurt. Not terrible, but not pleasant either. Have a burn on my left arm from the deployment. Strange that there was no damage to my shirt, just my skin underneath. I don't feel it saved my life, but quite frankly it may have minimized upper body trauma.
Front end is demolished as you can see in the pictures. Fenders buckled, frame rails bent. Radiator crossmember is trashed, obviously, along with the front cooling core. Hood crumpled and locked into the a-pillars like it's supposed to.
My initial belief that the engine/transmission were wrecked may not be accurate - it does not appear the drivetrain shifter much if at all - the engine is still level and square in the engine bay. That would be nice - there is a ton of money invested there, and obviously the intrinsic value of a 5-speed transmission with only 67,000 miles on it.
The "crease" in the dead center of the SPG is because contact was with the right front corner of the other car. He literally turned in directly in front of me - the lanes are pretty narrow, so he was perhaps 3' across the center divide. It was as close to a head-on collision as it could be without actually being one.
Passenger compartment is virtually unaffected. Both doors still open and close perfectly, windows go up and down. The only internal damage is the airbag deployment, and a surely a wrecked shifter rod. I made no contact with anything. Seatbelt worked as expected, and I was a safe distance from the steering wheel/airbag.
Personally I have been in a serious funk since it happened. I honestly can't tell if I'm depressed about the loss of the car, annoyed at how much time I know this is going to take, or as a result of physical strain injury. Maybe a combination I'm having focus issues at work - witness me spending all day posting on internet forums. :) I'll tell you, I got tagged HARD at the first 24 Hours of Lemons (t-boned by a Buick going 45mph) and I didn't feel this bad afterwards. It makes me think this guy was going pretty quickly as he made his turn, and the effective speed was pretty high. I've got some tingling in my hands - doctor says it may be normal, but is a warning sign of possible injury. She actually called me last night to be sure nothing had gotten worse.
I am so upset about this - I've put 11 years of love into this car. The only thing it needed was a pair of front seats, and in a twist of irony had almost ordered them Tuesday night, but got sidetracked and never finished the purchase. Guess that's for the better.
posted by 12.71.42...
, Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:37:10, Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:43:02 <-- Viewing This Message
, Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:41:51
, Thu, 17 Sep 2009 08:20:47, Thu, 17 Sep 2009 04:21:15, Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:05:40
, Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:24:03, Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:12:09, Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:14:35, Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:14:00, Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:59:48, Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:42:33, Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:51:46, Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:22:46
, Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:10:15, Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:26:31, Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:34:52, Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:11:51, Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:19:51, Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:13:05, Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:44:23
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