A Depressing Day for my Corvette
 

My fiance and I were traveling through Scituate on a main road and a 91 year old man struck the drivers side of corvette. Blind sided me as he was pulling out of driveway and going straight across the street. I had little time to react and ended and hitting guard rail after initial impact and swerved back onto road. Luckily my fiance and I walked away with minor injuries. He was driving a 96 honda civic and his car was completely crushed. Reason why i believe they should implement driving exams for elderly over a certain age to assess ability to drive. Here is the aftermath of accident:





https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=1&theater

What a shot! Thank god you weren't hurt. Good luck with the repairs.

Wow Silver. Naturally glad you two are ok, but man that has to hurt...!! Hope she is fixed up good as new real soon....

I am hoping they do not total the vehicle. I just done putting 10k worth of stuff into this car! But most important thing is we are okay

He was probably sexting his girlfriend.:toetap:

Sorry for your accident. That would crush me!:willy:

Ouch!!!! You're lucky you didn't get hurt more based on that door damage alone. I worry about that happening to my car a lot living down here in the retirement capital of the world, SW Florida. Too many elderly people driving here as anywhere I guess. Hope it all works out for you guys!!!!:thumbs: Perhaps a newer vette for you when it's all said & done?

Yeah something needs to be done about the elderly driving. He didnt even apply brakes while hitting my door

We call them "Blue Hairs" down here. They invade Florida every winter and one must be on the lookout. Very common that they don't stop and don't look when pulling out driveways. I have almost been there and done that. Their other favorite pass-time is going 20 MPH below the speed limit on a one lane road where you cannot pass them.

Glad you and the wifey are ok and good luck with the repair:rock:

Once you reach a certain age, however old that may be, you should be required to take yearly driving exams to retain your license.


Glad y'all are okay, good luck with the repairs. If they do total it, salvage what you can of your mods.

Sorry this happened to you. I hope it works out.

Wow, that's a shame. Glad you both are ok. Just curious, did the side air bag deploy?

The damage looks pretty severe. I'm not sure I would want it back after repair. Of course, your mods would be a huge loss for you. Glad you're ok and good luck on the repairs.

The important thing is that you and your fiance were not injured too badly.

With any luck at ll you may reach the same guy as the guy that hit you. Perhaps you will change your opinion of older drivers once you become one.

BE SAFE!

There should be a law in place that tests individuals after a certain age. This guy hasnt been tested on vehicle operation since 1938!!

Sorry for your loss. Glad you and your fiancé were not hurt. Do remember, however, that some day you will be there and hopefully know when it is time to stop driving. Accidents do happen. None of us are perfect. The important thing is that you two were not hurt seriously and the car can be fixed.

There should be a test at ANY age if you ask me... glad you're fine.
Would be nice if the insurer let you get the mods stuff out if they total it, but I know they probably won't. Sucks major.

What a damn idiot!! Veteran or not. Glad you two are OK. People over 80 need to be tested yearly IMO!!! And don't give me any crap about age discrimination, its common sense for the safety of all of us!!

It seems most on this thread think only old people have car accidents. Maybe the law should have everyone retested periodically. :hide:

Not me. Read me, three posts up:

:thumbs:

Sorry to see the damage to your car and very glad that you and your wide were not seriously injured. Best of luck with either the repair or a replacement should it come to that.

Sorry I did missed that one, but I did say "most".

When i am at that age, i hope they have learned their lesson at the DMV. This is a common occurrence and he was not competent enough to operate a vehicle. A simply safety driving exam would suffice to maintain safety on the road.

I know. We're in agreement anyway! :cheers:

Not sure which age category generates the most accidents: Teenagers (racing, texting etc...) or old timers..... and I am from the retirement state! I see and avoid them every day. :willy:

:iagree: About age 80. Not yearly, but every 4 to 5 years.

No, not likely, and I've been retired for 10 years.

:iagree:

An 80 year old female almost hit me 3 different times when I had my first Vette in 1967.

Were you dating her daughter?

haaaa!!!!!!

Anyone over 50 should be tested.

It's easy to put the blame on age. After all, somebody has to be responsible. There has to be someone to sue, right? I wonder if any teenagers have ever broadsided anybody or have done something totally stupid. :toetap:
O.P. sorry for your misfortune. Is the 91 year old man okay or does that not count?

Pretty ugly, good luck with the repairs.

Sorry about your Vette. Glad no one was hurt.

Twice in my driving career that has happened to me....both young kids..the most recent an unlicensed driver. So incompetents come in all ages. :(

The intent was not to make fun of the guy with that post. I was merely stating his physical ability to walk. Def a miscommunication because i wanted to make sure he was okay. He walked away with minor injuries

Yup:
And:

From the damage it looks like you will need a door, new door frame/rocker, maybe a new rear quarter, repair to the frame under the door and maybe replacement of the front door frame support. All fixable without leaving any issues (it isn't a unibody car where the forces would distribute through the whole structure). Only problem is cost could be quite high and insurance company will be trying to total it. Since you are the injured party you should be in the driver's seat as far as what happens to the car as long as the insurance has sufficient coverage to pay for the repair.

I knew a guy who was driving his 67 427 BB TriPower Roadster in Nashville back in the early 70s when it was hit by another driver essentially destroying 60% of the car with severe frame damage. Other guy's insurance company wanted to total the car but the guy I knew insisted the car should be repaired. Luckily, he did that since the car is worth over $100K now.

Bill

I have noticed most senior drivers have difficulty turning their heads / neck & just check the mirrors leaving a huge blind spot, I have almost been backed into twice last month, sorry for your accident & I'm sure after repairs will be good as new.

sorry about the car...glad no one was hurt seriously


cleaned up the unnecessary commentary...lets keep the hostility etc out of the thread

Glad to hear you are okay!! It took years to convince my grandmother who is now 93 to not drive. I just do not understand why driver tests are not a requirement every 3 year at 70+ years of age.

Time for a C7. :auto:

Ouch. That sucks.

Glad to hear everyone was ok :woohoo: Cars are repairable as loss of a life is not.. Good luck with the insurance company and the repair..

My next door neighbour Steve and his wife both turned 80 on the 17th
Mandatory test for both
They both failed and lost their licences. Yipeeee

She sideswiped my Pantera pulling into her driveway 4 yrs ago
Side swiped a friends Vette pulling into her driveway in April

I'm 68 and all for yearly tests

Happy to hear you we're not seriously hurt....Ed

Wow thank god you guys weren't hurt. F**k the car it can be replaced and should be. Make sure you get that thing totaled. Hope everything works out well for you and your fiance.

When your properly adjust your mirrors, there is no blind spot.

:iagree: No blind spot on my 13 C6 with mirrors properly adjusted.

That there is a testimonial to how well these cars are built and no injuries ( except maybe to your pride) Yes it sucks that it happened, but it can be fixed or replaced. Good luck with which ever is best for you.

That stinks!
 

Sorry to see your car. I hope it works out in your best interests.

Bob K.

:eek: Glad you two are OK.

The problem these days is that there are a lot of people on the road out there with a prescription med that should keep them off the road, at any age. Somehow people look at driving as their right not a privilege.

Hopefully everything is repaired back to new condition and I'm glad you both are ok. Keep an eye on your body the next few weeks as that was a big hit.

Did the airbag go off (side one)? The reason I asked is because my Impala SS was t-boned and it didn't go off.

Not true when you are backing out into a street. The stuff behind you is easy to see in the mirrors. The problem is the stuff that is just outside of the mirror viewing angles that is traveling perpendicular to your direction. That means you have to swivel your head in both directions over your shoulder to see oncoming traffic or pedestrians. If you are like me and have arthritis in the neck it is very hard to turn the head far enough to see.

Bill

Regarding your mods....If you have recent receipts, many insurance companies will pay for the upgrades unless it was part of basic maintenance (better brake pads for instance), so you'll want to check. If they will, then you're in good shape if it's totaled. If they won't...

Head to where the car is stored (body shop?) and talk to the manager. Many shops will allow the owner to remove aftermarket parts and install the stock parts so long at the car still functions as it did when it was brought there (ie if it was running, it should still be running after you pull off the upgrades, if you swapped to better seats, you replace them with the stock seats, etc).

Regarding those that want more testing...
I think the testing needs to be every 5-7 years regardless of age. In addition, the testing needs to be meaningful. Starting, stopping, using your turn signals, and demonstrating parallel parking is a joke (although it may have weeded out this guy). Having controlled tests that require people to make rapid decisions is what we need....IMHO.

Glad you're ok

sorry to see that let us know
how everything turns out
good luck

Yeah the side airbags deployed and just extremely sore and back is being tested. Also i have USAA so i hope they will reimburse for modifications if totaled. They are appraising the vehicle today.

I feel for ya and your car......I will say this about aged drivers.....never woke up to the Sunday morning paper to read about a car full of 90 year olds missing a curve at 2 a.m. Saturday morning and all being killed....like I have 17 year olds......

This sucks. I hate to see anyone injured in an accident. The car can be replaced or fixed.

I think he was looking at your chrome in the fender opening and couldnt take his eye off it. Next time no chrome. :) j/k

Hope you dont have any long term injuries with your back/neck.

Thanks guy i appreciate it and yeah the license retesting laws need to be modified regardless of age.

To the OP, I know it may not seem like it at this point in time, but as the saying goes "This too will pass" .

I am glad that you and your fiance are ok, and hopefully the vette will be fixed to your satisfaction, and/or you will be compensated accordingly by the insurance company.

Aside from the older drivers that shouldnt be driving, and yes, I support driver retesting; I think the even bigger problem that we have today is the younger,(and older) people texting,talking, eating, reading while driving. or the "political correct" statement is distracted driving.

This conduct is at an epidemic level...I see it all the time here in CT.
A motorcyclist was killed about 2 weeks ago stopped at a light when he was rear ended by a woman texting and whom did not even apply the brakes. didnt even see him.

Tougher, and more importantly "enforced" laws need to be put into place and acted on, and maybe,just maybe we can cut down this activity...

Sorry to hear about the accident. Glad you two are ok.

You mentioned that you had 10K in mods into the car. When my first vette went up in flames I had almost as much into mods as you did and my insurance company paid for most of it. I had all the paper work.

Yeah they are claiming the car is repairable at 14K worth of damage. Still need to do a tear down to make sure there isnt any frame damage.