The Energon Pub

I was coming home from 2nd shift Walmart tonight, and getting off my interstate ramp and there was a broken down car on the ramp. But it was at a spot where you couldn't see it til you came thru the bend. So I came around, hugging the white line, and all the sudden there it was right in my headlights. I swerved pretty hard to the left, which sent me into the concrete divider from the onramp next to it, I'd tried to counter steer but I pulled too hard. Hit the divider and that spun me across the lane into the guardrail, bounced off that, and spun again into the divider which sent me into more guardrail.

DIDN'T hit the broken down car though.

So now I get to find out if my 01 Grand Am (my baby) is totaled or not. Cops didn't think so, tow driver thought it was. We'll see. I hope not, I bought that thing new and I've enjoyed it every day since.

Oh, and the cops didn't site me because of how that other car was sitting, they said it'd have been an unseen obstruction basically.

Pontimax 01 wrote:I was coming home from 2nd shift Walmart tonight, and getting off my interstate ramp and there was a broken down car on the ramp. But it was at a spot where you couldn't see it til you came thru the bend. So I came around, hugging the white line, and all the sudden there it was right in my headlights. I swerved pretty hard to the left, which sent me into the concrete divider from the onramp next to it, I'd tried to counter steer but I pulled too hard. Hit the divider and that spun me across the lane into the guardrail, bounced off that, and spun again into the divider which sent me into more guardrail.

DIDN'T hit the broken down car though.

So now I get to find out if my 01 Grand Am (my baby) is totaled or not. Cops didn't think so, tow driver thought it was. We'll see. I hope not, I bought that thing new and I've enjoyed it every day since.

Oh, and the cops didn't site me because of how that other car was sitting, they said it'd have been an unseen obstruction basically.

Yikes man. that really bites. I take it you're ok though?

Yeah, I'm okay actually. Really upset is all.

oh man, that sucks. i'm really sorry to hear about that. at least youre not hurt, though.

Yeah, but I worry more about the car then myself. The car is the only thing I care about other then my gf. Feel like my child is sick and dying.

The really stupid part was that the tow truck driver said that the car had been there for a day or two, and nobody reported it as needing a tow or being broken down. The local cops (who responded to me) didn't do a damn thing about it. But they sure towed it away quickly after the accident.

now that is ridiculous. the city should be held accountable for leaving such a dangerous obstruction in the road!

glad to hear you're ok, and i hope all goes well.... but seriously i say you try and fight it with the city. the city shouldve done something about the broken down car.... this basically means that you're allowed to park your car on the freeway and leave it there, but you're not allowed to park at certain hours on the street, or else theyll hit you with a ticket or a tow-away in a matter of hours?! load of bs.... the city seriously needs to get a kick in the ass for this one. and, what pisses me off even more were that the cops were willing to cite you. they shouldve cited the person who left that car there in the first place. whatever, glad to hear you're ok, and hope everything goes well.

Well I called the city managers office today. They referred me to the Police Chief for my town. He called me back, was very nice, but explained that traditionally the town police don't monitor the interstate or the interstate ramps for this sort of thing, because the Ohio State Patrol has juridiction over these matters. He gave me OSP contact numbers, and I called them only to find out that they let vehicles set for multiple days first so that owners have ample opportunity to deal with the vehicle. So it's all bullshit if you ask me, they should at least come out and put out a reflective traffic cone behind a dangerous obsticle, and the Police Chief agreed with me on that count. He said that if the OSP is unwilling to move vehicles quickly, that the local police may have to start monitoring these situations, something they normally haven't done, but could start to for safety since OSP doesn't seem concerned.

Here's a couple pictures I snapped today when I was getting stuff out of it. Body shop manager says its probably not totaled, as long as they give the car a decent value. It's only got 67,000 miles on it, which helps, and it was in perfect condition before the accident and very well maintained.

Yeah a 6 year old car with that kind of damage would be on the borderline of being written off by the insurance company, but is in no means unrepairable, and the fairly low milage for the age of the car(my mother racks that milage up in 3 years of commuting to and from work) should keep the value up so it should be ok.

Just be glad the airbags didn't go off, as then even a new car would be written off as it costs about €7000-€8000 to replace the airbags, the explosive charge, the control system, seatbelts and the seatbelt tensioners which all have to be replaced if the airbags deploy, and thats just the parts and not the labor costs to get them fitted.

Glad your not injured, but pity US law sucks as here the owner of the abandoned car would have been liable for the damage done.

wow, that sucks. At least you're ok though, cars can be replaced. Is there any posibilith of a lawsuit against the broken down cars owner?

Your ok.Main thing. Insurance company would understand
it's close to act of god when it comes to incidents.
Have a good one. Say hello.

GremlinGrimlock wrote:Your ok.Main thing. Insurance company would understand
it's close to act of god when it comes to incidents.


Say hello.

Heeeeelllllllo. The car is repairable and the insurance company is sending me the check needed.

Probably be a couple weeks, but hell it's coming home.

Pontimax 01 wrote:

GremlinGrimlock wrote:Your ok.Main thing. Insurance company would understand
it's close to act of god when it comes to incidents.


Say hello.

Heeeeelllllllo. The car is repairable and the insurance company is sending me the check needed.

Probably be a couple weeks, but hell it's coming home.

See? Good news all around. Anyone with a modicum of common sense could take one look at that car and tell you it's not totaled, or even worthy of being declared as such. That tow-truck driver is an idiot! A pure, dyed in the wool, idiot.

The main thing though, is that you're alright.

Autobot032 wrote:

Pontimax 01 wrote:

GremlinGrimlock wrote:Your ok.Main thing. Insurance company would understand
it's close to act of god when it comes to incidents.


Say hello.

Heeeeelllllllo. The car is repairable and the insurance company is sending me the check needed.

Probably be a couple weeks, but hell it's coming home.

See? Good news all around. Anyone with a modicum of common sense could take one look at that car and tell you it's not totaled, or even worthy of being declared as such. That tow-truck driver is an idiot! A pure, dyed in the wool, idiot.

The main thing though, is that you're alright.

I guess it was close though according to the adjuster. Bluebook is around 9,000 and I don't know at what percent they total the car, but I did tell the adjuster yesterday that I wanted to save this one and not see it get totaled, so he said he'd take a good look and find a way if possible. So him and the body shop worked it out together. It's not that the damage is severe, it's just the cost of putting everything back is. Otherwise like you said, the car can be driven just fine and would still do its job.

Interestingly enough, right in the impact area on the rear quarter is the strut mount. I run a solid steel strut tower brace front and rear, about an inch and a half in thickness. Connects the towers together to make the frame more solid for handling. The adjuster mentioned that he was suprised how the unibody didn't get damaged from the hit to that area. I kinda think the strut tower brace stiffened the area enough to prevent damage, and probably transferred some impact across the other side of the car. Who knows, but it had to have helped to have that reinforcement there.