[iGod]

so as i am motoring my happy ass down the 210 freeway yesterday, westbound headed for I5 to get home, i wrecked my tC a bit. for anyone in the OC/LA area, you all know what kind of traffic is out there. i was following a truck that was high enough it didnt need to swerve to aviod the BIG FREAKIN SEMI TIRE in the lane we were in. his ability to clear the obstruction left me with no indication of my need to move around something, and with the lanes next to me filled up, i couldnt have swerved far enough anyway without causing an accident. always willing to take one for the team, i plowed directly over what had to be about 3/4 of a full truck tire. the next thing i heard was plastic scraping concrete, and it was off the freeway to assess damages.
looks like i will be getting a new front bumper, new airsplitter things, a new tow-plug, and a new lower grille. my tC took it like a champ, and with a little tucking and pushing and bending, we managed enough ground clearance to drive her home and into my garage.
anyone want to buy a slightly f#cked front bumper?

 

[Eric]

damn.. whatta pisser...

...hope everything is going well otherwise...

 

[Azrael]

Wow...that really sucks.

 

[iGod]

on the plus side, i get a shiny new bumper with no rock chips or license plate holes. straight over to the clear bra guy.

 

[wolo]

Damn. That blows, D.

 

[Plissken]

Inevitablecrunch.

 

[Madeinthe80z]

Isnt that weird how that all worked out D? we were totally JUST talking about the clear bra and you waiting till you got a new bumper to get it! let me know where you are going and price for the clear bra..i drove down auburn to find that one place but didnt see anything so i'm still looking. I'm glad you guys are alright, was that your tC parked on the side of toyota today? i should have made my routine "stop by to annoy damon trip" today...oh well the weeks not over yet!

 

[Sin_Is_Sick]

that sucks man but like u said good things have came from this.

I just noticed I am getting some rock chips on my new bumper so I ordered a kit off of ebay from a reputible dealer. Heading out to the Bay Area to get it installed from a fellow Scion guy who does just that.

I was quoted 150 for the full kit. I better get some painters tape to tape up everything on my drive out there.

 

[Samsingha]

It's been my driving practice NOT to drive behind big trucks or big cars. You cannot see past them and it makes it hard to avoid the trouble in front.

If I have to follow a truck, I'd back off far enough for me to have enought time to react.

 

[iGod]

^^^ gee, thanks, dad. you must not drive much in L.A. there is no following far enough behind. the second you give an inch, four assholes in hummers squeeze between you and the guy you were trailing, leaving you tailgating and, with all the traffic surrounding, with no room to go around. especially in the mid afternoon, when traffic is at its worst. you can lay down best case scenario all you want, but the fact is, for all anyone can do, there is that time you cant do a damn thing.

 

[kurker]

Good silver lining. I'm glad the damage was minor and you weren't hurt. Did you get pics of the carnage?

 

[Samsingha]

Originally posted by inevitablegod@Sep 8 2005, 01:07 PM
^^^ gee, thanks, dad.  you must not drive much in L.A.  there is no following far enough behind.  the second you give an inch, four assholes in hummers squeeze between you and the guy you were trailing, leaving you tailgating and, with all the traffic surrounding, with no room to go around.  especially in the mid afternoon, when traffic is at its worst.  you can lay down best case scenario all you want, but the fact is, for all anyone can do, there is that time you cant do a damn thing.

I do drive in DC and although the traffic probably is not as bad but it's on the list of the top 10 worst traffic in America, kiddo.

I said that my rule is NOT to follow big truck because you cannot see out front. If they come in front of me, I simply try to keep distance and change lane as soon as I can. Why follow them? Driving like that and you might as well drive blind.

I don't have a problem if I need to follow other cars up close as long as I can see what's ahead. If the traffic is light, I'll be quite far. 2 seconds rule, remember ?

But when rush hours come, and I cannot leave so much room, I would CHOOSE the car I drive behind and certainly it ain't gonna be no truck or an 18-wheeler.

And you can make as many excuses as you want, but the fact is that as long as you don't use your head, the results can be ugly.

Don't be ticked off by my comments just because you messed up your car and have no one to be ticked off at but yourself. I'm speaking the truth and you know it.

 

[moriarty]

L.A. driving is teh suck. because most california drivers shouldn't be on the road in the first place.

 

[moriarty]

Oh, AND I must also add:

d's driving is top notch. I have been with him in a car many times. If he said he was unable to avoid the massive tire that came hurling towards him, I have no doubt that he speaks the truth.

d is the kind of person who can admit when he makes a mistake. I respect your opinion about DC driving and what-not but, please remember there are still a handful of drivers out there that don't suck. d is one of them.

 

[moriarty]

that's right.

 

[bluesciontc]

SOUTH CAROLINA DRIVERS ARE THE WORST FROM ANY WHERE

THEY DRIVE LIKE IDIOTS. YOU CAN BE GOIN 60 AND THEY WILL PULL OUT IN FRONT OF YOU AND NOT ACCELERATE AT ALL. BUT WAIT IT GETS BETTER AT NIGHT SINCE THE COPS ARE LAZY ##### THEY EITHER DRIVE WITH OUT HEADLIGHTS AND NO BODY FLASHES THEM OR THEY ONLY HAVE ONE HEADLIGHT WORKING. BUT WAIT THERES MORE WHEN IT RAINS ALL OF THERE DRIVEING SKILLS (WICH THEY HAVE NONE) GO OUT THE WINDOW AND HOW MANY ACCIDENTS I HAVE SEEN WHEN IT RAINS WELL LETS SEE IN THE SPAN OF A 5 MIN DRIVE THERE WERE 10 ACCIDENTS ON THE SAME ROAD. NOW ALL OF THIS HAS BEEN MY OBSERVATIONS LIVING ON SHAW AFB IN SUMTER SC IF YOU LIVE IN SC AND I OFFENDED YOU I AM SORRY AND THEN TAKE A DRIVE THRU SUMTER AND YOU WILL SEE WHAT I MEAN.

 

[Azrael]

Whoa...what's with all the yelling?

 

[bluesciontc]

didnt mean for it to be yelling lol and yea i work on F-16s why is that scary?

 

[bluesciontc]

I also want to say that those semi tires suck i had a near miss with one of those the same way you did but luckuly i had an out and just barely made it. this was on I95 goin south bound.

 

[Samsingha]

Originally posted by lo bux racer@Sep 8 2005, 03:37 PM
Nope.  You just don't understand California traffic.  I've driven in DC many times.  It's a cakewalk compared to LA at rush hour.  I could go into a long discussion about East Coast and West Coast driving, but suffice it to say, there is no fair comparison.  Your style would not work here.

Not driving behind a big truck is impossible in LA ??? Is everyone on the road driving a truck out there ???

Be serious. I know that there are times when the traffic is so bad that you cannot keep a good distance in front of you. If so, let it be as long as the THING in front of you is a big truck or some big SUV that you cannot see over.

If you have a big truck in front of you and you still keep insisting on following it, there isn't much anyone can do.

BTW, LA is a cake walk compared to Bangkok my home town where a 2-lane traffic can turn into a 3 or 4-lane traffic at any time. Other than that, you have a bunch of motocycles zig-zagging among cars that you have to worry about. Over there, the rush hour is 24/7

but, people there hardly get into any serious accidents because they are MORE careful. This is at a place where it has been said to have the worst traffic in the world.

Confess it, you guys just got spoiled driving in such a good traffic that you become more careless.