The most dangerous thing on the road ran into my targa yesterday

trader220 · 10-16-2003, 05:51 AM

Well I joke with my wife that the most dangerous thing on the road is a woman with a cell phone. Guess what, as I waited in a long line of traffic to make a right turn at the end of a freeway ramp a woman on her phone plowed into my rear. The deck lid is shot, the bumper is scratched up the center lens is cracked and so is the drivers side signal lamps. The passenger door now seems askew to me also, but I wont know for sure till later today.

Here is the real question... to tail or not to tail, and if so which one? I am thinking duck, quack quack ...

JeremyD · JeremyD's Garage

That sucks - quack!

trader220 · 10-16-2003, 05:55 AM

Oh by the way the muffler appears to have been damaged too, i wonder if her insurance co will spring for a perfomance exhaust?

JeremyD · JeremyD's Garage

Doesn't the 911 come standard with a performance muffler? Oh, and how's your neck - looks a little stiff from here...

Jdub · 10-16-2003, 06:06 AM

Assume your engine is now crooked in the mounts, the rear end now misaligned, and there are waves in the metal sheeting along each side. The bumper hydraulics may need replacing as well.

You should go with the ducktail. It is subtle and beautiful. Saab knew what they were doing when they put it on the 99/900 series.

Seriously, your car is worse off than it appears. You will need a full rack alignment/check. Don't scrimp on this.

As for the idiot driver, whatever it takes to get you happy is her privilege to deliver if she feels she can drive that way on the road.

Best of luck,
John

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

I bet your heat x'rs are shot too and can ONLY be replaced by SSI's. Aurbox bad? You need a MAF now. I hope you were planning on a Euro-style bumper with amber lenses too. The sky's the limit.

Jadams1 · Jadams1's Garage

Make her pay!

RickM · RickM's Garage

And the center lens is NLA in it's original style....what to do?

Mike Feinstein · Mike Feinstein's Garage

"whatever it takes to get you happy is her privilege to deliver..."

How'd she look?

JeremyD · JeremyD's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by Jdub
whatever it takes to get you happy is her privilege to deliver

ohhhhh I like that quote...

Overpaid Slacker · 10-16-2003, 07:10 AM

Quack.

However, if you need Turbo rear-end parts, I've got a pristine tail and rear bumper (w/ bumperettes) for sale. They're yellow, so you'll go faster too.

JP

trader220 · 10-16-2003, 07:26 AM

Thanks but its the targa that was hit not the turbo. As far has her looks she's about 60 years old, nuff said. She seems pleasent enough I am taking the car to a close friends shop today.

Early_S_Man · 10-16-2003, 07:47 AM

Well, sorry it happened, but I have to disagree with your subject line! Granted, cell phone users are a threat, and very annoying ... but the overabundance of 18-wheelers in a hurry, and sleep-deprived is a FAR bigger danger to your life these days!!!

I have strongly believed for a couple of years , now, that 18-wheelers should be prohibited from the highways from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM ... every day of the week! Most recently, last week ... I was tail-gated by an 18-wheeler on a two-lane US highway for twenty minutes or so under very light rainy conditions under which the roads are at their most dangerous/slick condition, and I was not comfortable driving faster than 60 mph! One careless farmer, or housewife with cel-in-ear pulling out in front of me and my Newtonian physics-controlled trajectory would have been determined by that 18-wheeler behind me, and I would have been only a passenger along for the brief ride to the crash scene!!!

Tim Walsh · Tim Walsh's Garage

I'm going to have to disagree with that one. 18 wheeler drivers are just like you and I. There are good ones and there are bad ones. On the other hand I think that cell phones are a HUGE distraction for anyone on the road. Where only some big rig drivers are the culprits, ALL cell phone using drivers are being distracted from a statisticly very dangerous activity.

svandamme · svandamme's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by Jdub
whatever it takes to get you happy is her privilege to deliver

was she goodlooking?!! single?
i would need a huge amount of comforting if someone raped the rear of my targa... mechanical repairs are insurance to pay.. mental damage is up to her personally to do whatever it takes...

Early_S_Man · 10-16-2003, 08:28 AM

Tim,

I think you missed my point. The congestion of the highways by 18-wheelers, and the MASS [in kg or slugs] involved proves my point! Sheer numbers of the trucks on the highway -- and I am specifically talking about highway driving, not around town -- means the percentage of marginal truck drivers is a serious threat to anyone in their way or vicinity! It has been estimated that 20% - 40% of the truckers are violating ICC 'hours' regulations, and are fatigued ... which means they are a definite threat on the highway to me or you! That doesn't even include the numbers impaired by substance abuse!

There are avoidable 18-wheeler accidents, many of which are single-vehicle -- on major Interstate highways every day in or near every major city in the country -- tying up traffic with needless detours and miles of backups! One such accident [single truck involved] on I-35 in New Braunfels, TX on Sunday, October 5, 2003 at 10:15 AM ... caused a detour onto the access road for more than EIGHT HOURS for ALL of the southbound traffic into San Antonio while a diesel spill was cleaned up by Haz-Mat crews!

billwagnon · 10-16-2003, 08:38 AM

On my way into work today everybody was going 70 in the left lane. This woman in a Honda behind me would get WAY too close everytime things slowed down 1 or 2 mph, so I'd tap my brake. This went for a couple of miles.

So we keep going at 70, then I see in my rearview mirror she's dropping back - farther, farther, then about 1/2 a mile - still sitting in the left lane.

Traffic dispersed a little - I'm still doing 70 - move to the center lane. She eventually comes past me PAINTING HER FINGERNAILS!!!

at least she wasn't in a semi.

thrown_hammer · 10-16-2003, 08:42 AM

You say you need a muffler huh? A little self promotion.

1986 911 exhaust system

Jadams1 · Jadams1's Garage

How about reading a book while driving! I have seen it more than once.

dd74 · 10-16-2003, 09:25 AM

Reading a book? How about actually writing a screenplay on a laptop while driving? Seen that. Seen a full face mascaraed, lipsticked and blushed on while changing lanes without looking. Also seen an entire McBreakfast consumed...oiy! Thank goodness no one really "moves" on our freeways.

Back to the original question: get a ducktail. How's the bumper BTW? Might as well go "lightweight" if she messed that up. Spring for a dual-out muffler (if possible). And check your rear alignment.

How bad was her vehicle? In L.A. if an old person runs into you, it's your fault: you shouldn't have been on the road to begin with. (Plus, they bolt from the scene - crafty nonagenarians that they are).