I know I see a bad driver when...
 

Stole this topic from miata board, I will start. When I see disabled plates.

Old man in a minivan ran a stop sign a few hours ago and did this. He did not even slow down, but two kids chased him and told him he better go back. He hit me hard enough that it spun me around 180*. Hardly made a mark on his van. He said he thought the car behind him had hit me. There was no car behind him. If I were the CHP, I don't know that I would have let him drive, with the tale he told. Looks like I will be in a rental for a while, has something broken in the suspension.

Back is already pretty sore, I am going to lay down, maybe an ice pack.

Goodnight all.

Forgot the pics, oops, and I did not even hit my head. Steering wheel is pointed straight ahead, check out the way that wheel is turned.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1318655593.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1318655627.jpg

You know the drill about pain, and going to the ER and what not...


Sorry to hear about your new ride though. You hadn't had it long enough to deal with this.

Sorry to see that, Tobra! Glad you were not badly injured. Seems the older I get, the more afraid I am in traffic. Bad driving habits all around.

My pet peeve is drivers hanging right on my back bumper.

Wow. Sorry 'bout the new ride. But good for the kids to chase him down. And as always, most importantly you're OK.

Glad you're OK Tobra... Metal and plastic can be replaced, but bones and soft tissue not so easily.

I have always said that drivers tests, written and road tests, should be repeated every 5 years after 65. Just because you've been driving for 50 years means squat. Those 50 year drivers learned in a small town that is now a huge city and the pace of traffic is faster now than in the good old days, everybody is in a hurry now and elderly drivers - not all, but some are a danger out there, we've all seen it, everybody knows about it but nothing is done.

Glad you're ok, Tobra. The 1st and 15th of a month are days that we should avoid driving.

Just sayin'........

But it happened on the 14th

If I were going straight instead of turning left he would have T boned me and I would have gotten a ride in an ambulance, no doubt. Did not sleep well, pretty sore, will live.

It was really something though. Guy in Land Rover going left to right, smoking a cigarette. We got to the intersection about the same time, technically I had the right of way and literally said to myself, "I am not pulling out in front of your dumb ass."

There was nobody on the right when I hit the stop sign, not even close to the intersection. Old man had to have been going 35-40 mph and never touched his brakes. The Land Rover must have blocked me from seeing him. It happened right in front of a parking enforcement gal, who called the CHP. We both thought it was a white van, turned out to be grey. Hardly did anything to his van.

I wonder if Shaq is right about those icy hot patches.

Was coming back from the shooting range one day, about 100 yards behind a red pickup. See a big azz caddy coming the opposite direction swing out as if it were gonna pass, but nothing to pass. He wakes up and/or notices red truck coming at him, swerves back to his lane, then suddenly swerves back out to hit the truck mostly head-on (speed limit was 60 on this road). Truck does 180 and is all messed up, kids walks away from it. Caddy is all kinds of screwed up, actually left the drive shaft in the road ... old man driving it is banged, bruised and cut but mostly alert and oriented. Turns out he was trying to pass a bicyclist, saw the truck, swerved back not realizing he hadn't passed the bicyclist yet, hit the guy on the bike, reacted to the "thud" by swinging back out.... Old guy was 93 ....

We live on a sharp 90 degree turn out in the middle of the country. In the 11 years we've been here, 18 times some one has missed the curve and gone thru our fence. 17 of those times were in the dark, bad conditions, or had alcohol or lack of sleep involved. The one that happened during a bright sunny day w/ no fog, no wetness on the roads, etc. was a 89 year old man. He thought he was pressing the brake pedal to slow down to make the curve... the hiway patrol guy said he was probably doing about 50 (speed limit for curve is 15, for the long straight road approaching it is 45) when he hit the fence.

I know I see a bad driver when...
 

...I see convex blind-spot mirrors glued to their stock mirrors. It's a dead give away they don't know how to set their mirrors.

Glad you're okay.

Didn't your wife hate that car....

Wow. How far is your house from the fence!?!

Can't the county put in more signage or rumble strips or...

Good news on your heath, Tobra...but, honestly, can the car be fixed;)

Sorry about your troubles, Tobra.

Just saw this, that blows. My wife has a three month old Mazda 3 and the grocery cart wrangler at Vallarta Market ran about 20 of them into her left rear door last week. $2,900 to replace the door skin and repaint the pearl white paint. I want it 100% back, especially on a 3 month old car.

The color of Tobra's car is called Titanium Metallic. Miata folks just use Ti. There's a Ti curse. Essentially, if you've got a Ti car, you're going to have someone drive into you. The theory is that the color/shade of gray is too similar to asphalt and blends into the surroundings too well in dim light. I guess the curse has bit our buddy.

I guess I'm glad my car is "Velocity Red Mica" (the only other option besides gray for '04). In '05 (I think Tobra's is an '05) there were 4 colors available.

On the plus side, you don't have to drive a Miata for a while! ;)

Sorry about your car, I'm glad you're not hurt!!

House is about 100 yards back from the road. The road has rumble strips, but they are worn ...

After the fence is are a few big oaks (one down and parallel to fence), some big limestone boulders, etc. Cars never get close...

Hey, so how are you doing? Still sore?

Any news on the car?

Sorry to hear this Torba... glad you are OK.

Stories like this keep me off motorcycles.

Looks like the engine got damaged... good time to swap in the SBC ;)

glad your okay..
I know your pain...

got tagged last month by a rig...
him..I didn't see you...
me..which time, you tagged me 3 times..

Rika

Radiographs say no fracture, muscle spasm is evident though. Ibuprofen in the daytime, flexeril(muscle relaxer) at night. Can only work on the computer standing up, nerves get a bit angered up if I sit too long, burns like a MFer right between the shoulder blades. Fortuitously, my autoclave is just the right height, go figure. L butt cheek hurts if I sit too long too, discovered that my reflexes are diminished on the L, don't like that, but primary doc says that will come back after PT. I am glad I am pretty fit. If I was a fat tub of goo, I bet I could not get out of bed. Can't work a full day and don't see being able to for at least a few weeks.

Car is in the shop, initial estimate is $6400, talked to them today. He ordered the suspension bits that are bent/broken and will have them next week. He said he will put those on, drive it around and see how it is. I mentioned I thought the estimate was low, he said "We have a few thousand to work with." I think this may mean that if the repair bill gets too close to $9000, they may total the car.

I suspect the salvage value is pretty high. Rear diff is worth well over a grand, transmission and motor are a lot more than that each, not to mention the three pristine fenders, trunk, rear bumper cover, leather seats and very slightly bent aluminum hood. If repair+salvage value = more than value of the car, they write a check and I am car shopping again:mad:

Maybe Steve is right, should have gotten a red one...

The wife hated the car until she drove it for the first time. Women, can't live with 'em, can't get your car keys back.

Gotta go eat, can't put that ibuprofen in an empty belly. Maybe pulled pork sandwiches and red wine, that sounds pretty good about now.

whoa, sorry to see this, did Rick Lee visit you recently or something? Glad you are OK!

Tobey's deal is bad, but it isn't like he's missing a helmet.

I thought you were okay the night you posted. Sorry to hear you are so beat up.

I'm sorry to hear that you're still hurting.

Next daily driver...

http://bringatrailer.com/wp-content/...ck_Front_1.jpg

Nah Steve....here's what Mark needs.....

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...bTjUoy4kLjwIby

:p:p:p

Hope you get well soon Mark - and good luck with the car repair/replacement! ;)

Guys, Im a huge fan of the Miata, MX5 as theyre called here, weve had three, still have current one. Bright Hairdresser Red. But next time you get in with the roof up, feel up beside your head, window side- the folding roof frame. In any sort of impact that fitting is going to open your head.

I dont understand how it got through crash testing. Grandfathered from earlier cars I imagine. Im currently manouvering the Mrs out of her beloved Mazda- Im afraid Ive lost confidence in the mighty Miata, great fun though they are.

Ah, the tank that was nicknamed, "Zippo" because of it's propensity to roast it's occupants....

ze Germans called them "Tommy Cookers"

$10, 581 and 32 days later, got my car back. Rental car was about $750, plus $500 deductible is what I am out of pocket until his insurance pays up. Neck and back are still jacked up, medical expenses on top of the property loss.

Got the police report, which was not accurate regarding some pretty significant facts. They got my statement wrong, and had me going straight instead of turning left. The guy admitted he was speeding and ran the stop sign, but they did not cite him for this or for fleeing the scene. I can almost understand why they did not take him to jail, no room. They did not even do sobriety evaluation. The state and county are bankrupt. I would have thought they would like the dough from the tickets. Maybe the driver was related to one of the investigating officers or something

Yep, I've noticed that. I even got my previous car a bit sideways once and had the car violently regain traction and snap back. It was violent enough for my head to hit that spot. It hurt like hell, and that wasn't even an accident.

That's why I've performed the foamectomy on both of my miata to get my seating position as low as possible.

There's a guy that's prototyping some Elise replica seats for sale to miata folks since there are so few aftermarket seats that fit and get you lower in the car. I can't wait.

Wow, that's amazing. I could maybe understand in an accident that was very minor, but when there's that much damage, I would have thought that he should have been cited for something.

Now you just need to find a hot PT girl to whip you back into shape. ;)

I know I see a bad driver when...

- The rear of the car is covered with political or "save the environment" stickers.
- The wipers are going at warp speed when it's hardly raining.
- The car is an older squared-off Volvo, a domestic luxury brand or some clapped-out POS.
- A turn signal stays on for miles along a road with no turns.
- I can't see the driver's head above the seat back.
- There's a collection of small stuffed animals in the rear window.

I could go on...

I see a bad driver when I see a Zip Car.

Damn! Sorry to read all this. Hope that someday this will just be a distant memory to you.

I believe it was Ronson. Lights first strike every time. I could be wrong though.

I was almost rear ended today because the driver behind me was on the cell and reading at the same time. Sad part is we were both on the highway at speed going the same direction when she almost hit me.

To answer the original question I see a bad driver when... I see my cousin behind the wheel. She once tried to avoid a tractor that was approaching from the other direction on the shoulder on the ohter side of the road when she lost control and backed into it.

That freaks me out a little too, but these days they are making the headrests so tall and prominent and cars are so high waisted, that it's not unusual any more.

What's even worse is the driver whose head is dead center of the car because he's chillin'. (assuming it's not a McLaren F1 ;) )

I know I see a bad driver when . . .

You pull up behind

A Camry
Can't see the driver's head (it's below the headrest).
Some kind of pagoda dangly thing hanging from rear view mirror
Croched blanket covering rear seat
Box of tissues or stuffed animals on rear shelf

If you see more than 3 of those 5 signs, stay clear.

Did a Google on the Sherman. Knicknames included Ronson, Tommy Cookers AND Zippos. There was a version that was a flame thrower....all models had external fuel and ammo storage with add on armor that wasn't all that effective.

They churned and burned on both ends, it seems. As a 'medium' tank they had little cjance against the behemoth Tiger tank....but they were cheap and plentiful. You were a brave man to fight one of them.

So, the names were kinda interchangeable.

http://www.weaponsofwwii.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=41