turbo_oxide

Going down the highway tonight and in a split second, I heard a car behind/aside (hell, i don't know where he was) me swerving, tires squealing, and then felt a dreaded "tap", and then all i saw was a car spinning out of control in my left rear side mirror.

(this is seeing it all through my side mirror) the 2003 Corolla spun 2 full circles across 3 lanes of highway and head-first into the concrete median.

I slowed down and parked it in the emergency "groove" which split the highway and exit ramp got out and saw:



Luckily, nobody was injured. Of course, I wasn't about to run across 3 lanes of highway to the other side where the guy was to check on him (I figured he was fine because he was on the cell phone the entire time after he hit the median). I called 911 immediately and had the cops come out.

Based on what it looked like: there was silver paint on his REAR bumper, he spun out of control and hit me with his rear bumper as he was starting to spin.

The guy supposedly "lost" or couldn't find his wallet, had to call his dad to come out to bring the insurance card. Teenage driver... he said he didn't have a clue of what happened but thought someone hit him and then he lost control and hit me. At one point, he was running up and down the emergency lane in the dark looking for "something". I'm guessing he was trying to find his wallet...

Took a better picture once I got home and it didn't look as bad as it did in the scene, but the red Corolla left some liptstick on my bumper:


He took out the taillight, dented in the bumper, and scuffed up the lip... no real body damage though, so I'm thankful for that.

Well, I ALMOST made it to one year of ownership with no incidents...

IamaTL

Probably texting, drifted over, over corrected then the rest is history

cokorote

iTrader: (1)

This is no joke but yeah I see all people driving and texting all the time but the majority of them are teenager. Something need to disable their cellphone when they get in the car. His excuse is that he couldn't find his wallet? hahahaha

Good luck OP and be glad that is minimal damage.

ez12a

ouch. glad you're ok and it's only minimal. at least he didnt do a pit maneuver on you.

Undying Dreams

iTrader: (3)

Wow, sucks to see that happen :/

Glad it was only some replaceable parts and everyone was okay.

I for one don't text, really not worth crashing my largest investment.

Safe 19 year old

<---

ff4930

That teenager got 9 lives. Holy cow.

BTW OP, glad you are ok. Damage seems minimal hope you get it fixed soon!

felixthecat

Glad you're okay and there's no damage to the rear quarter panel! Otherwise, that'd be more headache.

I'd check your exhaust pipes as well, since the lip damage seems to be close to that area.

I know what you mean about teenage drivers. I live in a college town, and I get new scratches on my bumper basically every other day. Most young people nowadays don't know how to drive anymore.

UA6

At least you're ok. From what I can tell in the picture it looks like the trunk is still aligned properly which is a good sign. Besides the paint it doesn't seem to bad.

truonghthe

glad you are ok, dam those teen driver that text.

turbo_oxide

Thanks everyone.

It doesn't seem that there's anything on the body out of alignment. Trunk open/closes fine, exhaust pipes look fine, everything lines up correctly (aside from the point of impact).

Had I been just 3 ft to my right, I probably would have not been touched.

mattymac

Glad your okay! Damage seems skin deep. Hopefully you had some scratches on the bumper and now you get a free paint job!

turbo_oxide

^--- Unfortunately, no. My car was immaculate, original bumper and paint, no chips or paint blemmishes on the back whatsoever. It might have been better if he "tapped" the front. That would have worked out better for me as far as getting a free paint job!

A couple more pics from this morning in better light... analyze away.

mattymac

Well shitty deal then, it truly sucks when someone hits you and lowers the future value of your car. Make sure you don't have whip lash, sometimes it takes a few days to set in.

nfnsquared

Did the punk get cited?

turbo_oxide

i never got to talk to him, so I don't know... I only got to talk and give my statement to the officer. they had another officer dealing with him on the other side of the highway. they didn't get my insurance info, but i sure the hell got theirs.

THEReeM718

iTrader: (2)

Damage was minimal. Glad your ok. Insurance will take care of it.

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

^^^ Still, sorry to see.

FamilyGuy

Glad everyone is ok

story.customz

Glad you're alright OP. could have been a lot worse

UA6~RBP

Really sorry to see & hear about this. I know way to many of my friends who think they are 'unstoppable' when driving and don't give a rats ass about their surroundings. I usually avoid driving with others as much as possible because I hate listening to them call me a 'daddy' driver LOL.

In all seriousness, I'm going to assume playing with the radio, fiddling with their phone, or possibly texting played a role in the accident. Silver paint on his bumper was probably from him sucking at parking. Man it's bad enough on regular roads, let alone a new driver on the highway. Luckily, the car can/will be fixed and nobody was hurt! Hopefully the Corolla driver was hit with a little common sense to straighten his ass out.

Acura_Dude

^

Glad your ok OP, could've been way worse. Stay safe out there.