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:( wrecked my baby :(
I am ok though
I always hated reading this stories when people post them. I also played the typical arrogant role and thought it could never happen to me. Well, it did. I go to school in Radford and I live in Dumfries, its about a 4 hour drive but its all highway so its not that bad.
I was driving home for this weekend for two main reasons. The first was that a friend I graduated HS with, and went to college with is getting married today. It also worked out that Sat, tomorrow, also happens to be my mothers birthday. So I left yesterday after my class to come up here for all that. Then the rain hit....
I had made it over 3 hours in my adventure home when it started pouring. And I mean real bad, this was no joke of a rain. I'm only about 10 miles from Manassas and 234 (the final road I'd need to take). So as everyone else slowed down, I did the same and moved over to the right lane. I did this thinking that the car in front of me, which I could barely see, would still give me a path to follow. And the car did, I thought, for the most part I was following in their tracks.
As I was going across a small overpass the car just fish tailed. It was literally that fast. One sec I'm looking at the road, the next I'm looking over the cement barrier I was about to hit down at the cars driving on the road below me. It was pretty scary to be honest. I figured I was going crash through the barrier and land roof first on the road below me. But those cement things are really strong, after it was all over, it only had scuff marks on it.
So now the car...? As I said, I was in the right lane. Well about half way across the overpass I guess I hit a pool of water, fish tailed, and almost instantly hit the wall. Both air bags deployed so everything after that is speculation. But I hit the wall almost head on, but at enough of an angle so that the pass. side of the car took all the damage. After that first hit, I guess the car spun back to the left, probably from bouncing off the wall. So the rear quarter panel on the pass side got smashed too.
Now the damage report (from what I visually saw):
Front bumper and quarter panel are smashed. Pass headlight, turnsignal, everything in that corner gone. It got pushed in enough to fold that corner of the hood in too. That fender is wraped around the wheel, so it couldnt even move when the tow truck pulled it up on the flat bed. Both air bags went off (which is a h3ll of an experience) and I guess when the pass side one went off it cracked the windshield because that thing is all kinda of cracked. And its bubbling outward, like something from the inside pushed it out, which is why I assume it was from the air bag. The dash looks to be in bad shape too, which I'm guessing is from the air bags. Then the rear quarter panel is bad. The tail light popped out of its socket, that whole fender is pushed in. Everyone thats seen it has said that it'll probably be considered totalled. so that really sucks.
But as I said, I'm perfectly fine. A little red face still from the air bag, but I'm actually impressed. The car protected me more than I thought it could. And to be able to get out, do the walk around and see all the damage from the impact really opened my eyes. I know how lucky I am, and can only imagine how much worse it could of been.
Even though I was not at fault, the state trooper still had to give me a ticket. Failure to maintain control, its an automatic recklas, so I 'get' to come back up here and fight that. The trooper said he's speak on my behalf and let the commonwealth know that there was nothing I could of done to prevent it, and nothing I did caused it. Still more BS I have to go through.
I always hated reading this stories when people post them. I also played the typical arrogant role and thought it could never happen to me. Well, it did. I go to school in Radford and I live in Dumfries, its about a 4 hour drive but its all highway so its not that bad.
I was driving home for this weekend for two main reasons. The first was that a friend I graduated HS with, and went to college with is getting married today. It also worked out that Sat, tomorrow, also happens to be my mothers birthday. So I left yesterday after my class to come up here for all that. Then the rain hit....
I had made it over 3 hours in my adventure home when it started pouring. And I mean real bad, this was no joke of a rain. I'm only about 10 miles from Manassas and 234 (the final road I'd need to take). So as everyone else slowed down, I did the same and moved over to the right lane. I did this thinking that the car in front of me, which I could barely see, would still give me a path to follow. And the car did, I thought, for the most part I was following in their tracks.
As I was going across a small overpass the car just fish tailed. It was literally that fast. One sec I'm looking at the road, the next I'm looking over the cement barrier I was about to hit down at the cars driving on the road below me. It was pretty scary to be honest. I figured I was going crash through the barrier and land roof first on the road below me. But those cement things are really strong, after it was all over, it only had scuff marks on it.
So now the car...? As I said, I was in the right lane. Well about half way across the overpass I guess I hit a pool of water, fish tailed, and almost instantly hit the wall. Both air bags deployed so everything after that is speculation. But I hit the wall almost head on, but at enough of an angle so that the pass. side of the car took all the damage. After that first hit, I guess the car spun back to the left, probably from bouncing off the wall. So the rear quarter panel on the pass side got smashed too.
Now the damage report (from what I visually saw):
Front bumper and quarter panel are smashed. Pass headlight, turnsignal, everything in that corner gone. It got pushed in enough to fold that corner of the hood in too. That fender is wraped around the wheel, so it couldnt even move when the tow truck pulled it up on the flat bed. Both air bags went off (which is a h3ll of an experience) and I guess when the pass side one went off it cracked the windshield because that thing is all kinda of cracked. And its bubbling outward, like something from the inside pushed it out, which is why I assume it was from the air bag. The dash looks to be in bad shape too, which I'm guessing is from the air bags. Then the rear quarter panel is bad. The tail light popped out of its socket, that whole fender is pushed in. Everyone thats seen it has said that it'll probably be considered totalled. so that really sucks.
But as I said, I'm perfectly fine. A little red face still from the air bag, but I'm actually impressed. The car protected me more than I thought it could. And to be able to get out, do the walk around and see all the damage from the impact really opened my eyes. I know how lucky I am, and can only imagine how much worse it could of been.
Even though I was not at fault, the state trooper still had to give me a ticket. Failure to maintain control, its an automatic recklas, so I 'get' to come back up here and fight that. The trooper said he's speak on my behalf and let the commonwealth know that there was nothing I could of done to prevent it, and nothing I did caused it. Still more BS I have to go through.
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