twowheelnut
R.I.P. Our Motorcycling Friend
So there I was, all cozy in bed listening to the rain pattering against the windows, Angelina Jolie was getting frisky again when all of a sudden, the ring of a distant phone could be heard. It grew louder and louder and POOF! I woke up (Dammit! Angie was goooooood, too!).
Wifey grabs the phone and I hear her end of the call, "What?! You, OK?! Where are you?! You OK?! Did you call 911?! Ohmigod! You OK?! Ohmigod! Totaled?! Ohmigod! We're on our way! (Click) C'mon, let's go! Paul's been in an accident! He's right on the on ramp around the corner!"
Paul is her son, my step son. He's been driving for a bit over a year and his Dad bought the car for him from a family member. It was a cherry '96 Cougar. Not any more...
Seems the young lad was entering the highway on 'our' entrance ramp which is a very tight right-hander ending in a very short run-up into the travel lane - you have to punch-it if you don't wanna get run over entering the highway. Well, with the light rain we received this morning, a shitily designed ramp, a rear drive honkin' V8, and a testosterone laden male teen conspired to swap the front end for the rear end... Now mind you, at 6:00 am on a Saturday, traffic tends to be very light on this stretch of the 101, but wouldn't you know, just as he spun to a stop facing the wrong way, an F150 decided that there should be a meeting of these two Ford products.
Ugly. Very ugly.
The good news is that the safety equipment did it's job. He was belted in and both air bags deployed. The F150's bag did not, but the driver was belted in. He took a ride to the ER, complaining of pains in his ankle. Junior was OK save for a bruised knee and abrasions from the air bags. We took him to the ER just to be safe and the Doc proclaimed him fine, but shaken.
Both vehicles are junk - big time. The Cougar's motor was pushed back and down a good foot so as to punch out the entire dash. The roof was even buckled and the driver's door was jambed. He crawled out through the passenger door which would not open much past 30 degrees or so. That was the only visible damage done to the car until the CHP nosed his cruiser to the back wheel well and shoved the car off the road. Those push bars make nasty dents in sheet metal...
Anyway, the boy is fine and I think he's learned quite a bit about vehicle dynamics today, but I dread opening that letter from Allstate that should soon arrive...
Wifey grabs the phone and I hear her end of the call, "What?! You, OK?! Where are you?! You OK?! Did you call 911?! Ohmigod! You OK?! Ohmigod! Totaled?! Ohmigod! We're on our way! (Click) C'mon, let's go! Paul's been in an accident! He's right on the on ramp around the corner!"
Paul is her son, my step son. He's been driving for a bit over a year and his Dad bought the car for him from a family member. It was a cherry '96 Cougar. Not any more...
Seems the young lad was entering the highway on 'our' entrance ramp which is a very tight right-hander ending in a very short run-up into the travel lane - you have to punch-it if you don't wanna get run over entering the highway. Well, with the light rain we received this morning, a shitily designed ramp, a rear drive honkin' V8, and a testosterone laden male teen conspired to swap the front end for the rear end... Now mind you, at 6:00 am on a Saturday, traffic tends to be very light on this stretch of the 101, but wouldn't you know, just as he spun to a stop facing the wrong way, an F150 decided that there should be a meeting of these two Ford products.
Ugly. Very ugly.
The good news is that the safety equipment did it's job. He was belted in and both air bags deployed. The F150's bag did not, but the driver was belted in. He took a ride to the ER, complaining of pains in his ankle. Junior was OK save for a bruised knee and abrasions from the air bags. We took him to the ER just to be safe and the Doc proclaimed him fine, but shaken.
Both vehicles are junk - big time. The Cougar's motor was pushed back and down a good foot so as to punch out the entire dash. The roof was even buckled and the driver's door was jambed. He crawled out through the passenger door which would not open much past 30 degrees or so. That was the only visible damage done to the car until the CHP nosed his cruiser to the back wheel well and shoved the car off the road. Those push bars make nasty dents in sheet metal...
Anyway, the boy is fine and I think he's learned quite a bit about vehicle dynamics today, but I dread opening that letter from Allstate that should soon arrive...
