Hey Jack, forget about the car, be glad that you are alive!
Gald to hear you are O.K. The same happened to me five years ago, I was
accelerating down a freeway entrance ramp (three lane) and had a Shadow
pull out in front of me from the right lane. I was going 65 and accelerating
and he was going about 20. When I hit him, he fish-tailed for about 100
feet. Unfortunately, there were five people in that car, one was hurt,
banged her head on the roof.
My Dak had a smashed grille, wrinkled fenders and hood, and a bent bumper.
The Shadow was totaled!
Now the BAD news, I was sued! Be careful Jack! Get a lawyer, they most
certainly will sue, get a good one.
Mark "Flyboy" Kuzia
99 Dakota Sport 5.2L, 5-speed, 3.92-SG
14.83 @ 93.37 mph
flyboy01@worldnet.att.net
http://home.att.net/~flyboy01/
-----Original Message-----
From: W. Jack Hilton III <HEMI@charter.net>
To: dakota-truck@buffnet.net <dakota-truck@buffnet.net>;
dakotart@egroups.com <dakotart@egroups.com>
Date: Wednesday, October 06, 1999 6:01 PM
Subject: DML: R.I.P. Dodge Shadow...or...How Jack Hilton almost died
|
|
|Well , the Shadow is toast .
|
|I was going to a field office to train some people this morning .
|
|I was traveling on a state hiway , it had two lanes on my side , and one
|lane in the opposite direction , with no turning lane .
|
|I was in the lane closest to the center-line behind a Blue Ford Ranger .
|
|We were both doing between 55-60 and all of the sudden , he swirves to the
|right-hand lane VERY quickly without a signal or brake lights , and I am
|staring at the back end of a 93 Mercury Sable that had stopped in my lane
|to make a left turn into a business .
|
|I slammed on the brakes .
|
|I knew I couldn't veer left because of oncoming traffic , and I tried to
|veer right to force my way over instead of hitting a stationary car . I
|turned the wheel , but when the brakes locked down , steering was futile .
|
|When I knew I would hit the other car , it was just like the movies :
|Everything went into slow motion and it felt like it took half an hour to
|reach the other car . All I could hear was my heart beating .
|
|I know I joke around alot here with you guys , but all jokes aside , I
|trult thought that I was about to die . I mean , I knew it .
|
|When I finally reached the car and was about to hit it (I skidded 135 feet)
|I let go of the wheel so I wouldn't break my arms or anything .
|
|After hitting the rear of the car ( it was offset to their right-rear and
|my left-front ,so I guess I was able to swirve ever so slightly) my car
|travled another 35 feet . My car spun counter clock-wise and rotated about
|90 degrees before coming to a stop . The car that I hit was spun
|counter-clockwise and the right-front of their car clipped the two tandem
|axles of the trailer on a semi coming in the opposite direction .
|
|My car had one air bag , theirs had two , and they all exploded and worked
|like they should , thank God .
|
|Immediately after I came to a stop , my left arm was dislocated , I guess
|from the shoulder belt , which also left it's mark on my left shoulder and
|chest .
|
|The damn fumes from the airbag were unbreatheable . It's like you survive
|the crash , but then you sufficate in the car from the damn fumes !
|
|Miraculously , everyone was alright . There were two people in the front of
|the Sable , and they both had their belts on too . everyone was out and
|walking around after the accident and I think the worst visible damage was
|the other passenger had a very very slight nick in her forhead . We all
|went to the emergencey room just to be on the safe side since I have a bad
|back .
|
|The bastard in the Ranger didn't even stop and he HAD to have seen what
|happened !
|
|The State Patrol came to the hospital and interviewed all of us and issued
|my a freakin ticket for following too closely . He said even though there
|was nothing I could do , and that I was not being dangerous , that the law
|here says that you should be far enough behind someone so that if they make
|an evasive maneuver , that you can react safely .
|
|So anyway , now here are my problems :
|
|1) Insurance will go up
|2) Both cars were totalled
|3) When they total mine , I know they will not give me enough to pay it off
|as I just bought it in May and had to get a high interest rate .
|4) I will probably be sued by the two women I hit .
|5) I have a damn ticket with an accident on my record .
|
|If anyone knows anyone at Chrysler that works in the areas that design the
|safety standards for their cars , I would like ot send them a personal
|thank you .
|
|My car gave it's life for me .
|
|There was absolutely no intrusions into the passenger compartment and both
|the belt and the airbag worked as they should have .
|
|This was the more common of impacts , an offset-frontal type , with my car
|absorbing the brunt of it .
|
|I think the right-rear of the Sable's bumper ended up in it's back seat .
|
|The damage to my car was extensive to say the least . The damage was , as I
|said , offset to the left of the car . From the left side of the right
|headlight , all the way around to the driver's side door , the car is
|demolished .
|
|I would still have hopes that they could repair the car , except the roof
|is buckled just a little bit right where the door post is on the edge ,
|which would mean that the frame got bent .
|
|I went to the wrecker service and gathered my personal things from the car
|as well as took several pics which I will post tomorrow evening .
|
|The only bright spot in this story ?
|
|I will be driving my R/T every day for a while until things shake out !
|
|I have never been this scared , nor have I ever been so certain that I was
|going to die , I mean *really* die .
|
|It really makes you stop and think about life .
|
|
|@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
|
|W. Jack Hilton III
|
|HEMI@charter.net
|
|http://webpages.charter.net/hemi/jbd1.html
|
|ICQ#: 32611901
|
|AOL Instant Messenger: "DwnSth69"
|
|@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
|
|
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