[Guest]

Around 5:45 pm tonight on the Beltway in stop and go traffic I watched as an elderly man in a new-ish Camry tried to merge into a non-existent gap behind my car. I watched as I said to myself, "He's not going to stop in time... He's not going to stop in time..." THUMP! Then he promptly got rear-ended by the car behind him that he cut off. Middle lane. Rush hour.

F**K!!!

Of course, at the time, I'm on my way to meet up with Ausgang for dinner as he's in town doing work at NIST where they're doing continuing research on the WTC collapse. So he got to hear about it earlier.

This eldery, well, asshole, got creative and insisted that he was rear-ended and the force of that impact pushed him into me. Well, that's not what I saw.

Still, while the damage is even more minor than last time, it's still significant enough that it needs to be repaired so I get the joy of YET ANOTHER round of insurance squabbling. At least this time the guy has State Farm (not GEICO, thank god!) which is alo MY insurance carrier. We'll see if that works out any better.

F**K!!!

Oh yeah, after dinner we went to a parking garage nearby to try to take a few shots of the cars together up on the roof. Well, this rent-a-cop comes along and parks behind the cars and acts as though he's running the license plate numbers on our cars. We're out of our cars but he does not speak to us. We finish up, get in and drive off. All without a word from the rent-a-cop. Ausgang called me on my cell phone a few minutes later to laugh about how this guy thought he'd scare us off by pretending to be running our plates. In a car with "AmGuard" on the side? Yeah, right.

 

[Mystikal]

Glad to hear you're okay. :thumbup:

On the bright side, now you can get this Hamann rear apron you've been lusting after!

:lmao:

 

[Guest]

Glad to hear you're okay. :thumbup:

On the bright side, now you can get this Hamann rear apron you've been lusting after!

:lmao:

This is twice in just a few months. Hell, the car has only been repaired for like 6 weeks.

And how'd you know I was lusting after THAT beautiful (cough!) rear apron?

 

[Mystikal]

This is twice in just a few months. Hell, the car has only been repaired for like 6 weeks.

And how'd you know I was lusting after THAT beautiful (cough!) rear apron?

Just judging from your general reaction to every other riced out car pic posted.

What (if any) mods does your car have anyways?

 

[Guest]

Just judging from your general reaction to every other riced out car pic posted.

What (if any) mods does your car have anyways?

Are you trying to hijack my b*tching thread??

It has the E36 M3 LTW cross-brace (aka X-brace), UUC clutch stop and UUC Rob Knob shift knob. Upgrades are limited so far to Bridgestone S-03 tires and Mobil 1 0W30 oil. I will upgrade the rest of the fluids to Red Line reasonably soon, the shocks will be upgraded to Konis, and the brake pads will be upgraded to (probably) either Porterfields or Hawks. As for mods, I'm considering the UUC SSK, the Euro ellipsoid headlights (no "eyes", thank you), a strut brace (probably the Strong Strut) and the Jim C Shark Injector. But I'm in no hurry on those. Brakes are next. Then shocks.

 

[Mystikal]

Yep, and I'm doing a damn good job of it!

Well-rounded mods, I must say. What do you like/do more of: track or auto-x?

I have something to confess. I've been researching prices on local E36 M3 2-doors for sale. There's this one Estoril one that's tempting me...:eeps: Nah, maybe as a second car years down the road, when they drop down to $>25k. It's an interesting thought though, I could almost straight trade my car for some of the M's up for sale.

 

[Chris330Ci]

Sorry to hear that. Well, you know what they say, bad things come in three's. Watch out!

 

[Mystikal]

LOL, now TD is going to ignore my attempt to further the thread hijacking. Bastard!

 

[JST]

Are you trying to hijack my b*tching thread??

It has the E36 M3 LTW cross-brace (aka X-brace), UUC clutch stop and UUC Rob Knob shift knob. Upgrades are limited so far to Bridgestone S-03 tires and Mobil 1 0W30 oil. I will upgrade the rest of the fluids to Red Line reasonably soon, the shocks will be upgraded to Konis, and the brake pads will be upgraded to (probably) either Porterfields or Hawks. As for mods, I'm considering the UUC SSK, the Euro ellipsoid headlights (no "eyes", thank you), a strut brace (probably the Strong Strut) and the Jim C Shark Injector. But I'm in no hurry on those. Brakes are next. Then shocks.

Hey, where did you say you saw the good price on ZKW Ellipsoids?

Sucks about getting rear-ended. Camrys and their drivers should be banned.

 

[·clyde·]

This eldery, well, asshole, got creative and insisted that he was rear-ended and the force of that impact pushed him into me. Well, that's not what I saw.

That sucks. From what I recall when I was involved in a similar incident many years ago, the way it works in MD (or were you still in VA?) is that while the guy that hit him would be responsible for hte damage to the rear of the old guy's car, the old guy is still responiosble for the damage to yours becuase he didn't leave enough space between his car and yours. Of course, I now fully expect that you will arrive at the next NCC autox missing a taillight assembly

For my own little hijack attempt :bigpimp: The rate of fatal and non fatal crashes caused by elderly drivers is almost as bad as that of teenagers. Ove teh last 20 years all sorts of restrictions have been placed the teenage drivers throughout the country and it sounds like more are on the way. If anyone holding elected office even makes a suggestion out loud that elderly driver licensing needs to be looked at the AARP gets the voted out at the next election. Very pathetic.

 

[nate]

Be glad it wasn't worse. A re-paint is always better than reshaping the body. I also got rear-ended twice within a few months time. First time in May '00, $2600, repaired and hit again in two months in August, but just a re-painted bumper is all. Just a pain in the ass because people can't drive for crap

 

[Ack]

TD - sorry to hear about this. It always sucks having your car hit, but twice in two months. :yikes: Elderly people should get mandatory testing every couple of years to test reflexes, visions, etc. I know for a fact my grandfather shouldn't be driving. He had a stroke over two years ago and he hasn't been the same since.

To continue the hijacking, NY is about to pass a law requiring that any teenager who wants a license has to have a permit for six months. They would also have to complete a drivers ed course and have a certain amount of hours of driving time under their belt. There will also be restrictions on how many under-age people are in the car and no one under eighteen years old (license or permit holder) would be allowed on the highway without someone over 21 in their car. The only time they could drive by themselves is going to school/work. I hope this new law; when/if passed will help to drop fatal accidents in teenagers.

My brother lost three close friends in a car accident when he was in HS. The girl driving was trying to throw gum out the window, it got stuck on the glass and she tried to flick it off. Since she wasn't paying attention to the road, her tires went off the curb. She reacted by over-compensating and the car swerved across the road. She tried to bring the car back in line and she loss control. The car went off the road, hit a tree and flipped over a bunch of times. It then caught on fire, trapping most of his friends. I still feel terrible for my brother and the families of these kids.

On a somewhat lighter note:

The crazy thing is this level of inattention happens even with veteran drivers. I see so many women applying makeup while driving. . .:tsk: I don't mean to pick on the opposite sex but the only time I see guys not paying attention is when they are searching for cd's on the floor of their car or if a hot girl is walking on the street during a nice day. Remember that Seinfeld episode . . . "she wasn't wearing a bra!" So in the end, my conclusion is women cause most of the accidents on the road (either directly - applying makeup, or indirectly - walking down the street in a mini-skirt) <-- btw, this is just a joke.

 

[Cliff]

The crazy thing is this level of inattention happens even with veteran drivers. I see so many women applying makeup while driving. . .:tsk: I don't mean to pick on the opposite sex but the only time I see guys not paying attention is when they are searching for cd's on the floor of their car or if a hot girl is walking on the street during a nice day. Remember that Seinfeld episode . . . "she wasn't wearing a bra!" So in the end, my conclusion is women cause most of the accidents on the road (either directly - applying makeup, or indirectly - walking down the street in a mini-skirt) <-- btw, this is just a joke.

I hate to burst your bubble, but feel free to add cell phones, personal grooming, map/newspaper/business report reading, and fine dining to your list of things guys do instead of driving. I'd say there ought to be a law, except there probably IS a law saying that you're supposed to actually be engaged in driving your car when it's moving on a road.

 

[Ack]

I hate to burst your bubble, but feel free to add cell phones, personal grooming, map/newspaper/business report reading, and fine dining to your list of things guys do instead of driving. I'd say there ought to be a law, except there probably IS a law saying that you're supposed to actually be engaged in driving your car when it's moving on a road.

Yeah, those are all pretty bad. My boss actually writes e-mails on his laptop while driving.

Edit: Sorry about the hijack TD. Let us know when your car is all fixed.

 

[JPinTO]

Yeah, those are all pretty bad. My boss actually writes e-mails on his laptop while driving.

Edit: Sorry about the hijack TD. Let us know when your car is all fixed.

Well you might as well do something while your driving because there isn't anybody else focusing on driving while they're driving.

 

[Guest]

Ah, I love people.

I called my insurance company this morning. The guy who hit me has State Farm which is what I have too so I figured I'd just call my agent.

Well, it turns out this guy's most recent payment was due June 3rd. He's in the grace period. If he does not make a payment until after June 25th, he's uninsured for the period between June 3rd and when he finally pays. My agent has called his agent and they will call him and inform him that it's in his best interests to pay by Tuesday as, if he doesn't, he will be arrested under Maryland's uninsured motorist laws. Granted, I'd have to cough up my $250 deductible, but having the guy arrested would mildly offset that in my mind.

So, I figure he'll come up with his premium and I'll get to proceed on, once again, going through the hassle of getting the car fixed.

Have I mentioned that people suck?

One thing I do feel is that I'm going to keep my State Farm agent as they did quite a bit to track down this guy and his current policy. They've been great.

 

[JPinTO]

Ah, I love people.

I called my insurance company this morning. The guy who hit me has State Farm which is what I have too so I figured I'd just call my agent.

Well, it turns out this guy's most recent payment was due June 3rd. He's in the grace period. If he does not make a payment until after June 25th, he's uninsured for the period between June 3rd and when he finally pays. My agent has called his agent and they will call him and inform him that it's in his best interests to pay by Tuesday as, if he doesn't, he will be arrested under Maryland's uninsured motorist laws. Granted, I'd have to cough up my $250 deductible, but having the guy arrested would mildly offset that in my mind.

So, I figure he'll come up with his premium and I'll get to proceed on, once again, going through the hassle of getting the car fixed.

Have I mentioned that people suck?

One thing I do feel is that I'm going to keep my State Farm agent as they did quite a bit to track down this guy and his current policy. They've been great.

Man, if I were him, I'd have the cash at the agent's office first thing this morning. He'd have to be an idiot to let it lapse --- but you never know with people.

 

[Ausgang]

That rent-a-cop

To be fair, TD, you left part of the story out as it relates to that rent-a-cop.

Initially, the idea was to drive to the top of this garage we saw to take some pics of our cars up on the roof.

Soon after we get in the garage --- we realize it's brand new and there's no cars in there --- and the building it's for is still under construction. Just smooth brand-new concrete --- and without the little bump-tranisitions most garages have.

Well -- of course after about 3 circuits around and up --- we confirm there's not a car in the whole place ---- and no evidence there ever has been ---- so we turn the place into a 'pseudo-auto-x' course to the top. Essentially, it was an oval course with two slightly different radii turns (repeated over and over) and with a near constant rate of incline. Something similar would be an excellent way to train repeatability.

There was LOTS of grip on that surface, perfect for verifying if your tire pressures are right for ability to power out of any understeer. I used it to verify over and over whether the balance was where I would have liked. (Still more understeer than I would have liked.)

Well -- this 'cop' must have heard us --- because when we were doing the same thing on the way down ---- he about s#!T his pants when I went by the other way.

I went by full speed, as I wasn't in a place where I could lift when I saw him. And, here I had figured I was 'safe' on the way down as TD had led the way while I put away my cameras.

 

[Guest]

Re: That rent-a-cop

To be fair, TD, you left part of the story out as it relates to that rent-a-cop.

Initially, the idea was to drive to the top of this garage we saw to take some pics of our cars up on the roof.

Soon after we get in the garage --- we realize it's brand new and there's no cars in there --- and the building it's for is still under construction. Just smooth brand-new concrete --- and without the little bump-tranisitions most garages have.

Well -- of course after about 3 circuits around and up --- we confirm there's not a car in the whole place ---- and no evidence there ever has been ---- so we turn the place into a 'pseudo-auto-x' course to the top. Essentially, it was an oval course with two slightly different radii turns (repeated over and over) and with a near constant rate of incline. Something similar would be an excellent way to train repeatability.

There was LOTS of grip on that surface, perfect for verifying if your tire pressures are right for ability to power out of any understeer. I used it to verify over and over whether the balance was where I would have liked. (Still more understeer than I would have liked.)

Well -- this 'cop' must have heard us --- because when we were doing the same thing on the way down ---- he about s#!T his pants when I went by the other way.

I went by full speed, as I wasn't in a place where I could lift when I saw him. And, here I had figured I was 'safe' on the way down as TD had led the way while I put away my cameras.

I was stopped outside of the garage looking in when I saw you coming around the turn that he was approaching. I was just hoping you wouldn't hit him. The second I saw you weren't going to, I enjoyed watching him react. I do think there is a good chance he did in fact soil himself. I was honestly expecting a toothless chewing out but, surprisingly, it never came.

 

[Guest84]

Bad things come in three's! After you get it repaired, garage-queen it for a couple weeks!