My 1st at fault accident, unfortunately I was driving my Viper!

[Ratical2]

I have been depressed all week. This is my first at fault accident in 30+ years of driving.
Going to work on Wednesday morning in Bay Area commute traffic, I played bumper tag with the guy in front of me. He was no more pleased then I, as he was driving a brand new Lexus LS460 with only 300 miles on the odometer. Now he will have an even newer rear bumper.

Traffic was moving along at about 40MPH when I looked to my right to change lanes but as I started to move over, I saw out of the corner of my eye that a car was driving in my blind spot and turned further to verify. Yup, a car was really there.
When I looked back forward, traffic was stopped in my lane. I couldn't move to either lane because of traffic and could only go forward.
I thought I was fairly decent at threshold braking but I was not ready for the surge of adrenalin, and the cold pavement. I locked up and lifted and reapplied the brakes only to lock up again sliding into the car ahead of me at 10 to 15 MPH.

I still feel awful and depressed about the damage to both cars, while I have been the anvil a few times I have never been the Hammer. I really pride myself in attentive driving but sometimes stuff happens as the Lexus driver put it. He was pretty cool about it all things considered.

So far the estimate is at $6800 for repair. Most of the damage is hidden by the facia. The hood was popped up in front but not damaged except for a chip in the paint as passenger side rear edge slide under the front edge of the door. The driver side headlamp needs to be replaced and the bumper cover is not torn but wrinkled. Hopefully, it doesn't have to be replaced.

I need to practise my threshold braking at 45F and simulate the panic condition so don't do this again.

My wife reminded me it could have been much worse...

 

[BlackSnake99]

I have been depressed all week. This is my first at fault accident in 30+ years of driving.
Going to work on Wednesday morning in Bay Area commute traffic, I played bumper tag with the guy in front of me. He was no more pleased then I, as he was driving a brand new Lexus LS460 with only 300 miles on the odometer. Now he will have an even newer rear bumper.

Traffic was moving along at about 40MPH when I looked to my right to change lanes but as I started to move over I saw out of the corner of my eye that a car driving in my blind spot and turned further to verify. Yup a car was really there.
When I looked back forward, traffic was stopped in my lane. I couldn't move to either lane because of traffic and could only go forward.
I thought I was fairly decent at threshold braking but I was not ready for the surge of adrenalin, and the cold pavement. I locked up and lifted and reapplied the brakes only to lock up again sliding into the car ahead of me at 10 to 15 MPH.

I still feel awful and depressed about the damage to both cars, while have been the anvil a few times I have never been Hammer. I really pride myself in attentive driving but sometimes stuff happens as the Lexus driver put it. He was pretty cool about it all things considered.

So far the estimate is at $6800 for repair. Most of the damage is hiden by the facia. The hood was popped up in front but not damaged except for a chip in the paint as passenger side rear edge slide under the front edge of the door. The driver side headlamp needs to be replaced and the bumper cover is not torn but wrinkled. Hopefully, it doesn't have to be replaced.

I need to practise my threshold braking at 45F and simulate the panic condition so don't do this again.

My wife reminded me it could have been much worse...

Thanks goodness everyone is OK. Sounds like one of those things that happens and could happen to anyone. Only thing that ***** is that it was the Viper. Sorry to hear it and get her fixed and back on the road ASAP!

 

[PatentLaw]

Mistakes and accidents happen. You are one of the good drivers on the road.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

When I first did the oh-oh/panic/lockup/slide/ouch thing I ran over a brake marker sign. Sorry to hear about your accident and I know the funny depression you go through. The bright side is for 10% of the repair cost you can add rear brakes that will greatly cut down on the lockup, cut car lengths off the stopping distance, and bring a confident smile back. If it makes you feel better (likely not right now anyway) I probably spent your repair cost on many flat spotted tires and prototype brakes...

 

[dave6666]

Sorry to hear about your damage. They'll fix 'er up and all will be good again.

And this is exactly the situation I've stood behind in all the discussions on such; ABS is better than human skill during emergency braking. You don't need to practice slamming on the brakes and letting ABS do the rest.

OK. Chastise me now.

 

[jasontiff]

I can't find the chastise smiley...crap.

Is it just me or does all this talk of Dave's abs turn you on?

 

[Venomiss]

Most important part is that you walked away and nobody else was hurt.

 

[viper067]

Having done a similar thing about a month ago, I can fully understand. If all goes well, I get it back next week. I also believe that I'll be adding Tom's brakes to the list of things I want to add to the car.

 

[Chrissss]

It's a pain and discouraging but it's still just a car. It can be fixed and it's better that it needs fixing and not you. It takes just a a millisecond to change our lives and give us a lifetime of second guesses and regrets. That didn't happen to you thank God. Don't be sad for the car, be happy for you.

 

[Ratical2]

Thanks everyone for your words of encouragement. Yes, I am quite thankful that it wasn't any worse than this and that we both walked away uninjured. It took a week for me to post this because I was quite frankly, ashamed that it happened.
I am not sure what hurt the most, hitting the guy's car, that the car was less than a week old with 300 miles and still has dealer plates on it, or damage that I did to my car that was all original, never in an accident!

I did wonder who would be the first to mention ABS, thanks Dave! I walked through the ABS vs no ABS question with one of my racer buddys at work. Based on the distance and conditions at the time, we came to the conclusion that ABS would have not made enough of a difference except for keeping me from flat spotting the tires.

Tom, you are one of the first people I thought of after the acccident. I have been playing around with some ideas i've gotten from your post, but was hesitant to do anything none original to the car. Now that the car is no longer original, I will probably be doing some conservative modifications in the interest of safety and cooling the cabin down.

One other thing that have to mention, Maurice is great guy. He hooked me up with a trusted Auto Body guy , Mike in Petaluma. That is a ways to go but how much is peace of mind worth? After I dropped the car off, Maurice even drove up to pick me up and let my drive his new Camaro back as a form of therapy. I can say that I feel better now, thank you. The car is a lot of fun to drive.

Jon B is even helping to pull together the parts to put my car back on the road.

So between Mike and Jon B, I am confident that she will be all better soon.

 

[eucharistos]

glad to hear you are getting over it r2

happens to the best of us, life goes on

 

[eucharistos]

Is it just me or does all this talk of Dave's abs turn you on?

jason, buddy,


it's just you

 

[RTTTTed]

Jason ... uhhhh

Ken, I wrote off my 98 GTS into a Semi. At least you get to fix yours as that's better than replacing it?

I have to agree with Tom that his rear caliper upgrade is necessary for better stopping. Had Tom's rear calipers upgraded by Tom on my 98. And, just so that you know that you can outstop your brother's vette get a set of Roe Racing lightweight 14" front brakes as well. Then you'll be outstopping everything on the road, like me. I do have a set of 13" lightweight slotted and cross-drilled front brakes if you need them send me a PM. They actually make a significant difference as well.

Ted

 

[Warfang]

Damn... sorry to hear. That Bay Area traffic is such a bear! Looks like no hood damage though. Thank God for that. Get the snake back on the road soon!

 

[Fatboy 18]

Sorry to hear your news, Accidents like this happen all the time over here in the UK. We normally get them at rush hour periods on our motorways and also at roundabouts! The person starts to pull out onto the roundabout then changes there mind and stops, as they failed to judge the speed of the approaching car correctly This results in the other cars having to stop suddenly and you know what happens then It was also good of you to post pics of the damage I'm sure there are other owners out there who would not want to let others know of any scrapes they have had.
I wish you well with the rebuild, Don't beat yourself up too badly about this, at least nobody got hurt.

Great Colour car, Love the Blue and Whites

Mark

 

[plumcrazy]

its just a car, at least nobody got hurt and your baby will be fine soon enough. hang in there

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Doesn't look bad.

Not meaning to give you any grief but are you one of those guys that points the side mirrors to the same spot as the rearview mirror? The side mirrors are meant to point to the blind spot and they work well if used properly.

Glad to see your wreck wasn't bad and easily fixed.

 

[Ratical2]

Chuck, I do have a bit of overlap in rear view coverage. I have the mirrors adjusted so that I can still see the edge of the car as a reference point. I honestly don't know how she got where she did, most likely by changing lanes. I am constantly checking my mirrors as well as forward and to the sides. We have a lot of people that really don't know how to drive in the bay area. You really have to be defensive.

Thanks Mark, I believe in full disclosure when buying or selling a car. If I were ever to sell this car, I would tell the prospective buyer all of that I know about the car. Simply the golden rule, do unto others as you would have them do unto you!

Your right Plum, it is just a car.....well almost. With every incident like this it becomes more so.

 

[Sellshomesdrivesviper]

Wow, congratulations on being accident free for 30-years, thats a long time of good driving.
A lot of insurance premiums wasted, now is a good time to take advantage of an unfortunately circumstance and file a claim. Glad your okay, which is much more important than your car.

 

[TrackAire]

Glad you're ok and the damage appears minimal.

Personally, I know if I had a brand new Lexus, I would much rather be rear ended by a high end sports car (that in all probability has insurance) than an 1982 Buick with a driver that doesn't even have a green card let alone insurance.

Bay Area traffic *****,.....the "S" curve and chunks falling off the Bay Bridge make for challenging commutes.

Cheers,
George

 

[Kevan]

Glad to hear you and the other driver are okay.
It's a bummer about the car, but the damage doesn't look too extensive (famous last words...heh heh).
I'm sure you'll have her up and cruising in no time.

 

[uvbnbit]

What? Nobody ask how old his tires are yet?
Maybe you can include that in the claim (especially if they're flat-spotted).
Sorry to hear about the accident. Horrible feeling.

 

[Qualitywires.com]

That really *****!!

I can't help but to look at the first picture you posted. It looks like your Viper has a fat lip like someone punched it.

 

[Ratical2]

What? Nobody ask how old his tires are yet?
Maybe you can include that in the claim (especially if they're flat-spotted).
Sorry to hear about the accident. Horrible feeling.

I was waiting for this one too. The tires are at the end of their usable life. They are almost 2 years old with 25K miles on them. One rear has just touched the wear bar and the other three have of couple of 32nds of tread before they hit the wear bar.

Mike is discussing the flat spots with the claims adjuster. The best I can expect is some form or proration.

The longest moment in time is that period from both feet in until you finally come to a stop, just waiting to see how it is all going to turn out.

 

[eucharistos]

time warp and horrible sound burned into your memory

They are almost 2 years old with 25K miles on them.

- for driving your car

 

[gb66gth]

Ugh, that's a sick feeling. Sorry for you. So much $$ for so little apparent damage.

 

[Mopar Boy]

Dude! I am so sad for you!

Glad you are OK though and that the car was not written off!

 

[WANTED]

could have been worse.

 

[sdaddy]

No big deal. I have seen cars for sale with worse hood gaps on e-bay.

The original owner of my 96 GTS had a lady back into the car in a parking lot when the car was just a few days old and 150 miles on the clock. Bunged up the right front wheel and cracked the hood over the right front wheel well, He lived in Detroit and had heavy connections with Dodge so they told him to take the car back to the plant. The plant pulled a new wheel and hood off the assembly line, installed them and sent him out the door. Mine may be the only GTS to have gone back to the plant for body part transplant. At least that kept it all original factory paint, if not the original hood.

 

[Fatboy 18]

could have been worse.

Thats not too bad, I reckon that will buff out, get a good clay bar

Mark