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It's the other drivers.
Aug. 10th, 2004 07:46 pmWhen I was a young driver, my parents used to always tell me, "Be careful out there." I'd retort that I already was a careful driver. "We're not worried about you causing an accident," they'd say, "It's the other drivers that worry us."
Yesterday I got to experience just what they meant first hand. I was making a left turn onto Hegenberger from the I-880 S/B. The light had turned green, I'd checked both right and left to make sure I was good to go, and I'd gone. A second later I heard the screech of brakes from my left, and a second after that an Acura Legend plowed into the front driver-side tire (and tire-well, and fender, and...). I'd had the presence of mind to slam down on the brakes, and I was prepared for the impact. It still rocked my shoulder and made me bang my wrist against the dashboard. Rather fortuitously, that was the extent of my injuries.
The other driver was also fine, apart from an abrasion on his lower left arm, probably caused by his airbag (which had deployed nicely). Our cars, however, were not fine. His was spewing steam and leaking radiator fluid like a sieve. My front axle was bent such that the tire was at a 45 degree angle. A police officer showed up almost immediately, and the guy admitted that he'd run a red light. A few minutes later, the guy who'd been driving the truck to my right and the woman who'd been driving the car behind me showed up to bear witness to the fact that he ran the red light. (Witnesses! In Oakland!)
The damage was done. We both had to have our cars towed away. The insurance apppraiser called me today and told me they were declaring the car a total loss. They have to do some calculations, and then they'll let us know how much they'll pay us for it. This is a crying shame, because the Blue Book is not going to reflect the fact that this truck had a good 120-130k miles left to go on it. The other guy said he had AAA, but they've never heard of him; maybe his other Fly-by-Night insurance company will pan out.
( Pictures of the truck )
I'm walking and talking, and that's something worth writing home about. In the meantime, if anyone out there is selling a reasonably reliable car for ~$5,000, drop me a line.
Yesterday I got to experience just what they meant first hand. I was making a left turn onto Hegenberger from the I-880 S/B. The light had turned green, I'd checked both right and left to make sure I was good to go, and I'd gone. A second later I heard the screech of brakes from my left, and a second after that an Acura Legend plowed into the front driver-side tire (and tire-well, and fender, and...). I'd had the presence of mind to slam down on the brakes, and I was prepared for the impact. It still rocked my shoulder and made me bang my wrist against the dashboard. Rather fortuitously, that was the extent of my injuries.
The other driver was also fine, apart from an abrasion on his lower left arm, probably caused by his airbag (which had deployed nicely). Our cars, however, were not fine. His was spewing steam and leaking radiator fluid like a sieve. My front axle was bent such that the tire was at a 45 degree angle. A police officer showed up almost immediately, and the guy admitted that he'd run a red light. A few minutes later, the guy who'd been driving the truck to my right and the woman who'd been driving the car behind me showed up to bear witness to the fact that he ran the red light. (Witnesses! In Oakland!)
The damage was done. We both had to have our cars towed away. The insurance apppraiser called me today and told me they were declaring the car a total loss. They have to do some calculations, and then they'll let us know how much they'll pay us for it. This is a crying shame, because the Blue Book is not going to reflect the fact that this truck had a good 120-130k miles left to go on it. The other guy said he had AAA, but they've never heard of him; maybe his other Fly-by-Night insurance company will pan out.
( Pictures of the truck )
I'm walking and talking, and that's something worth writing home about. In the meantime, if anyone out there is selling a reasonably reliable car for ~$5,000, drop me a line.
