I've been in 8 car accidents. The majority of them I have not been driving for, but nearly all have left the car incapacitated. But yeah, so it's kind of an ongoing joke "Don't let Kelsi ride with you!"

Till Friday night. Brought the toll up to 9. That means my 9 lives have expired, so I better watch out, because the next one is gonna be my calling!

Here's how it went down:
I was headed up to see Pete in Richfield (the suburb just south of Minneapolis). Well I had left waaaay late because I'd stayed at the dealership to get some stuff from Dan, set out on my way, then had to turn around and go home, then FINALLY got on the road for good. I was running about an hour and a half later than usual.

The way I go is I take I-35 up to the cities, then 494 west, and Pete's exit is Penn, which is the very first exit. So I was just into the exit lane, when this white Mercedes full passenger side is all of a sudden right in front of me. I slammed the brakes but he was way too close... wheels screeched and *BAM*...we connected. He was fully stopped and I hit him going about 40 I'm guessing (maybe a little slower). I hit his bumper, which then bounced him off the EDGE of the guardrail, and he went into the ditch.

I was able to limp the car along up past the guardrail and out of the lane. We were both fine, just freaked out. Pete's apartment was less than a fracking 1/2 mile away, so I almost made it. He came and stayed with me and we were able to avoid a tow.

I gave the officer my story, and she asked if I was fully in the exit lane - yes, I was - and then I asked what the other guy had told her (she had spoken with him first). What had happened was I was in the exit lane, and he was in the lane just to the left of me. A car had stopped between the exit lane and the other lane (apparently he/she didn't know where they were going). The guy in the Mercedes hit the brakes and swerved to avoid hitting the car, but he swerved right into the exit lane and STOPPED perpendicular to traffic, so had I not served, I would have t-boned him. The stopped car then took off.

I didn't get a citation, I'm not sure if he did or not. We were looking at the report tonight and saw that his insurance car is not current. So I'm placing a call tomorrow to insurance, the police department, etc. to see what I need to do. I'm praying they don't file it as "no fault".

Visible damage includes: bent hood hinges, front driver's fender is smashed to my wheel, broken driver's headlight, the edge of my rim is a bit chewed up, I'll need a new tire, bumper is gone, and a little frame damage. Pete thinks my wheel might be pushed back a little too.

I'm praying really hard that my car isn't totaled. I'd be f'ed beyond belief if that's the case. *cry* Here are some photos:









The Mercedes C220
Where I hit him


Driver's side where he hit the edge of the guardrail

 

wow, yeah, you need to be careful, 9 accidents over how many years? you're very lucky. do you have any lingering aches and pains? if they said they came to a complete stop, they are at fault, it is illegal to come to a complete stop on a highway on a roadway unless traffic comes to a halt.

i wish you best of luck, hope things work out for you. but cheer up, remember, everything happens for the best.

 

Oh true true. Nine accidents since I was 15, and I'm less than a month away from 23, so they're pretty spaced out. Still, yeah, I'm clearly bad luck in cars.

The only pains I really have are my shoulders being crazy sore (from locking my arms), both wrists are just slightly sore, my left knuckles hit the dash because they're kinda bruised and sore, and my right knee hit the steering column because that's hurting a little. I kinda freaked out last night because I was laying in bed and went to sit up and the right side of my spine hurt, so I'm really only focusing on that. It was only evident for about 2 minutes last night, and I haven't felt anything since.

Thanks. Yeah I know. Even if the car is totaled and I have to get a beater or just something to get me by, at least neither of us had any physical injuries.

 

oh man... so souped up too.... if they do happen to total it (i hope they don't either, but does look that it might be from those pics), would you be willing to part out anything that isn't damaged? that is, if they total it.

that sucks man....

 

wow, the vultures are already circling! LOL

 

I'm keeping my wheels, but if it's totaled and I can't get another Scion (which I won't be able to - damm credit) then I'll have an RS 3 xB h/u and a few other things.

 

and remember, luck is just probability taken personally. i'm not saying you are responsible for all or any of the accidents you have been in, but basically, you have to drive like either everyone else on the road is out to kill you, and/or assume that they are all legally blind and can't see past their dashboard and that their mirrors aren't even working or aimed right.

so far, between today, and last spring, there have been 3 very close calls where somebody has made a very stupid manuever and i had to do a last minute autocross honed maneuver that saved me and my car's bacon.

also, don't stress about being late, you get there when you get there, no sense to rush on the road because traffic devices like intersection lights will pretty much regulate you so much that no amount of speed can really can gain you any time. also, police too!

 

if it is totaled you can take over payments on mine? i wanna get rid of it lol. ill take off whatever you dont want, or you can take it as is and sell off stuff to make some money back lol. best of luck with the car tho!

 

Ha thanks Luci!

drax - Yeah the thing is I'm like, crazy careful about driving, 5mph over the speed limit MAX. I normally don't take the road I took because it's more congested, but I figured I'd take it because it shoots me closer to his apartment. Just so many "what-ifs".

 

So that's what happens when you get brake-checked by a tank....

This should wind up being the mercedes driver's fault, every accident I've seen no insurance=the guy that pays. Also, if the other car had stopped between the rightmost lane and the exit, the mercedes would've been swerving toward it. Everything here's pointing at the mercedes guy being at fault.

As for the car, you might be able to fix it up if you find another that's been damaged only in the rear and swap over parts and such. I can't tell if there's been frame damage, but it may not be the end for your car.

 

Yeah the frame is bent a little bit. Right now it's a toss up. I'm hoping the adjuster can get out tomorrow but I doubt they'll get there till Thursday or so.

 

I'm pretty sure they're going to total it. My car had much less damage (fender, door, rocker panel, headlight, side view mirror, tire and rim) and that was just around $6500. You have waaaay much more damage than I did, plus the whole front end looks slightly twisted, bad frame damage.

Get a tank of a car for your next car.

 

GOOD NEWS!!!!

I talked to my agent about 45 minutes ago and he recorded my statement and everything. According to them, it's the other guy's fault and my accident should be covered.
Talked to Pete about 10 minutes ago and they think they can fix my car... about $7000 worth of damage though.

Only bad part is that I think I'll have to pay my deductible up front (don't have $500 laying around) and I'm not sure if I'll get reimbursed for rental car insurance (I'm required to have it since I'm under 25) or not. And that's as much as the rental itself.

BUUUUUT My car is fixable (more than likely) and I'll get reimbursed for my deductible. FANTASTIC NEWS!!!!

 

fantastic news

 

PA turnpike by butler this morning, dude cut right over in front of me doing 70 MPH... i was in line with his rear bumper. have no clue how i slowed down enough to dodge him... gave him the horn blast of 10 seconds and showed him he was number 1 with me.

anyways, good to hear your car can be fixed!!!! i would hate to lose one like that

 

Yeah, I just can't catch a break though.

Enterprise is going to charge me up-front for the $15/day young driver insurance (since I'm under 25) - so that's over $300. Plus, since I'd use a debit card, they tack on an extra $100 fee up front. My insurance covers $20/day. So that would almost cover an ECONOMY car...

I'm seriously teetering on the brink.

 

I'd make sure they test the alignment of the frame. That looks like a lot more than $7,000 in damage. Usually more damage will pop up when they're fixing the car, because insurance adjusters can't see all the damage when they go to look at the vehicle.

 

True true. Pete (the boyfriend) is going to be handling most of it I think. He said he's going to check every little thing and really stay on the body shop and make sure they're "doing sh*t right!" haha.

The adjuster told him $7-10k in damage... but the adjuster hasn't called ME yet... so we'll see. Hopefully I'll get to talk to him in about 15 minutes.

 

Another totaled car. Absolutely f*cking ridiculous. God really hates me.

 

so wait....it's not repairable?