Patches

I was forced to drive one of our C5's to work for a couple of weeks due to being rear-ended for a 2nd time in 15 months by a young male who shouldn't have been out on the road. No one was hurt but this is definitely getting old and I'm paranoid that the C5 is going to get hit when I do have to drive it. My commute is 1 hour each way, some of it heavy, 8-lane rush-hour traffic but most of it canyon roads. The bumper-to-bumper stuff is what makes me nervous since everyone's in a hurry and some are not paying attention, while others are half-asleep at the wheel.

I do have to say, though, that driving the Vette as a dd was a lot of fun and very comfortable. I love my MINI Cooper S as a commuter for the great gas mileage and it's ability to dart through traffic so easily, but the Vette shone as a powerful and comfortable ride that commanded more road respect than the MINI does. Gas mileage wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be either, considering the type of driving it is. I could get use to it but I'm sure paranoia would get the better of me after the first close call.

Anyway, back to the MINI on Monday since I picked it up this morning.

Evil-Twin

Hi Ed... I can understand your concern about repetitive rear end potentials in a daily 2 hours commute. Glad you made it through and even though I know you were gun shy, I'm sure the commute was a bit more fun.. If this ever happens again, maybe a rental would alleviate the concern. Just a thought.
Bill aka ET
PS. nice to see you posting

oldC5

Be careful my friend .

Patches

Hey, Bill.

Actually, I fully expected to have a rental but AAA didn't come through in time. AAA was the other driver's insurance. Last time the kid that hit me was on his parents' insurance which was Mercury. They treated me like royalty.

I'm actually glad I drove the C5 for a couple of weeks since I originally bought it as my dd and then it was commandeered by the wife as hers. She has an Audi now so both our C5's are strictly pleasure vehicles.

Bill, you threatened to visit here once. I'm still looking forward to that possibility. Let me know if/when it'll happen.

Oh, btw, I still post quite a bit, just not nearly as much as in past years.

Ed

Patches

Here's the story, Memo:

This is the second time in the past 15 months I've been rear-ended by a young male at almost exactly the same spot on I-5 South on my way home from work.

The first time, a 17-year-old, not paying attention to the road in 8-lane, bumper-to-bumper rush hour traffic, rammed into the back of my 2011 MINI while I was stopped in traffic and shoved me a few feet forward. I was far enough behind the vehicle in front of me that I did not hit it. Luckily, no one was injured and the kid's parents had great insurance (Mercury) that totally treated me to a first class repair in every possible way. My MINI looked better than new after picking it up from Spectrum Collision in Irvine due to the perfect panel fit they did on the trim.

The second incident was June 20 last month and the circumstances were somewhat similar - leaving work, on I-5 South, bumper-to-bumper rush-hour traffic . . . So this 21-year-old male darts out of the carpool lane he's in illegally directly behind me and proceeds to drive aggressively and erratically, rushing my bumper and nearly hitting me 3 or 4 times within a half mile.

I had to hit my brakes due to the pickup in front of me slowing, although, I didn't hit them very hard. I was still braking, steadily slowing down when I looked in my rearview mirror and see the guy behind me was looking down, not paying attention - I knew what was coming next. He finally looked up, his eyes grew to saucer size, he grabbed the wheel with both hands, screamed and proceeded to bash into my rear bumper.

I was pissed.

We pulled over and it took every ounce of control I had to not throttle this guy - he was driving like an idiot and it was inevitable that he was going to hit someone. Anyway, he was trying to leave the scene after showing me his insurance info on a crumpled piece of paper. He had neither a driver's license nor registration with him. His beat-up '96 Dodge Neon had a lot of damage. He claimed he was just learning to drive stick-shift and couldn't control the car. :roll: CHP finally showed up, took my statement and sent me on my way.

This guy had AAA insureance and it was legit but was not the smooth experience I had last time with Mercury. I actually filed a claim with my insurance after a week and a half due to lack of responsiveness from AAA but they came through hours later with approval. By then it was too late to get a rental as my car repairs were completed yesterday. I picked it up this morning and Spectrum did their usual awesome job making the car look new again.

There was $1,800 damage last time and $3,300 this time.

Here are the pics:





His '96 Neon


Fixed . . . again








Guess we'll try it again on Monday. :eek2:

oldC5

The only thing that counts is your ok . A car can be replaced .

Mr.Bill

Good deal, I am surprised AAA didn't get you a rental, Did you ask for 1? 2 weeks without a car, They can't expect anyone to do that.

VETJAZZ

All's well that ends well, and you got to drive the vette. PITA I'm sure, but I see safe travels in your future!

Vetteman Jack

Sure glad you were not hurt. Looks like the body shop did a great job fixing the Mini. And driving a C5 every day for two weeks had to feel good.

RMB97LS1

All right! Good as new again! Be careful out there..

DonP1

My mom and sister live in Lake Elsinore.

I gave up on California back in 1996. Driving from Diamond Bar to Torrance (I-57, I-91), I told the head-hunter to find me a job closer to home. Long story, but I became a flying consultant and landed a life in Cinci and love it. Now I work from home and no more hours stuck in traffic.

Mike98SilVert

Hey Ed, sorry to hear of your bumper car escapades but glad that there were no injuries. Looks like the repairs went well. Keep safe.
Mike

rob-cyn

Me either, I enjoy mine every day

MSG C5

Glad your OK and that your car is being fixed (again).

With that type of commute, how many miles have you logged on the Mini?

A few years ago, I used to have a long 50 mile one way commute to/from Tampa and it got old really quick. Defensive driving skills are absolutely required.

One Friday, I decided to break things up a bit and drive my C5 vert to work. I thought a nice top down commute over the Skyway bridge would be good for my soul. I was about one mile away from my office, stopped in traffic on the Howard Franklin bridge near the airport exit when I noticed a car coming up too fast behind me in order to stop. Since I was in the far right lane preparing to exit, I was hoping the driver had the sense to pull his car onto the shoulder. I heard his brakes lock up, saw the smoke and expected the worst. Luckily, at the last moment he did move onto the shoulder and ended up stopping two cars lengths in front of me!

The Corvette angels were watching out for me that day!

Z06ster

Patches... sorry to hear about your bad luck!!

I've been in Southern California (west west San Fernando Valley) for over 20 years and I haven't' been rear ended yet. I probably just jinx'ed myself.

Zr-1Mike00

The more miles for me the better!

ZigZag

Love that movie "The Italian Job". Great little car you have there.

Patches

Thanks for the well-wishes, guys.