But, its not as bad as it sounds.
Coming home from school yesterday, i was behind this kid in a brand new white toyota Celica. We were behind some school busses, so we were goin kinda slow. He makes as if to pass the bus in front of him (on a double-yellow), and i dont see a turn signal, so i dont slow down. Thing is, he wasnt passin, he was makin a real wide right turn. He turns directly in front of me. I lock up the brakes, and start slidin. The front end of the trooper was down so far, that when i hit him, i actually picked the rear end of his car up, and set it down about 10-15 feet later. He goes fishtailing off the road, into a street sign. There is a streetsign shaped vertical dent right behind his drivers door. When the sign went under his car, it ripped off all of his engine "skid plates" and all of his stupid underglow crap. I pulled off the road, got out of the truck, and just kinda sat down....luckily (or is it?), my girlfriend was riding behind me in her CRV, and my best friends little brother was in the car with me, so i had 2 witnesses, to his one.
Luckily, the cop was nice, (Ive ran into him before... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />) and he didnt write me a citation for following too closely, which would have at 17, cost me my license, most likely. Technically, it was my fault, since I rear ended him, but really, the accident could have been avoided if he had:
a) had his turn signals on BEFORE he commited to the turn and,
b) if he hadnt swung out into the oncoming lane to make the turn.
Damage to the trooper:
-front bumper: FUBARd
-Brushguard:FUBARd
-Grill: FUBARd
-radiator support: possibly FUBARd, but maybe not. Comealong may come in handy here
-Hood: FUBARd
-one off road light:FUBARd
So, im lookin at a pretty penny to fix the thing, as my insurance covers only his car, not mine. Looking at it, it looks like my brushguard saved me from totalling the thing. It is tied into the frame at at least 2 points, so it was pretty solid, and saved both my fenders, and my headlights.
Im thinking about getting the worlds first (?) first gen Trooper stinger winch bumper.
Pictures coming soon.
-J <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />
