Had to crash the svx on the way to work saturday.
Going too fast (80) over a blind hill (stupid) as I crested it a box truck pulling a trailer pulled out of a side street on my right to make a left turn into the oncoming lane on the road I was on and then stopped in the middle.
From the crest of the hill to the side street is <1/10th mile. (In this pic the truck is where I was at when I crested the hill, I am behind where the truck/trailer was)
intersection
No way to use oncoming lane - he had it blocked. No way to use other lane in street he was coming off of - he had that blocked also. No way in hell am I going to involve another vehicle in my stupidity.
Only option - had to use the ditch - which had a 2ft diameter (big) rock in the middle of it.
big rock
Lit up the ABS and hauled down as much as I could before going through the ditch. Tried to stay as far to the left as I could without tagging his trailer but had to Catch the rock with the passenger side bumper and sent it flying about 20 ft. Dragged a bunch of dirt and crap across the rd in the process.
At this point I was thanking the tires, brakes, and svx gods that I did not nail the truck or trailer while wondering whether I had destroyed the bumper, tranny, exhaust, suspension, or all 4.
I had just opened a dr. pepper and had it sitting, top off, in the wedgie. Needless to say my interior including the windshield, radio, steering wheel are coated with a nice sticky residue.
Looked in the rear view and the guy took off!
Not knowing the extent of the damage I took off to chase him down to get a police report for insurance reasons.
The whole time the car is making awful noises and I'm waiting for the exhaust to fall off or the tranny to drop.
I catch him a mile up the road and ask him to pull over to wait for police so I can file a report.
In the southernmost redneck accent I've heard ever he replies only with, "I'll tell them how fast you were going"
He had a good point.
I looked over the car to find the damage was mostly cosmetic, the bumper was pushed in about an inch, the noises were the fenderliner wrapped around the tire.
At that point I wished him a nice day and headed for work, tail between my legs.
The damage wasn't too bad all in all,
damage
I was actually able to pull the bumper back out and bolt it back down straight. then sprayed the bumper with a pretty close match paint (was way too much to cover with a black sharpie) So damage is hardly noticeable.
I am truly amazed that nothing broke. The car is still in alignment. I got really lucky that the rock was big enough for the bumper to catch it instead of the undercarriage
What scares the crap out of me is how bad it could have been.
There could have been a nice little old lady crossing the street to get her mail. There could have been more cars in the intersection, there could have been...
So I've slowed down again.
I hope it lasts this time.
Strange thing is I never go that fast over that hill simply because it is a blind hill and curve. Also strange is that morning I got a weird feeling in my stomach as I came up on the hill and looked down at the speedo and said to myself, hey - you never go this fast over this hill.
If only I had listened to it and braked then instead of shrugging it off.