Accident post mortem...

[AUDIDUDI@delphi.com]

Since there appears to be a prurient interest in the details of my accident
earlier today, here goes: I was the last car in on a four-car pileup. I was
in the process of preparing to change lanes to go around slowing traffic in
front (it's a two-lane road and there was a left-side exit just ahead), was
driving at the posted limit of 45mph and had a 4-5 car cushion ahead.

I checked my mirrors, then turned my head to look over my shoulder, started
to ease right (waiting for a fast-closing car to pass) then turned back and
saw the Toyota Land Cruiser in front of me slew sideways as the rear wheels
locked up and the tires hazed.  I started to dive to the right but caught a
glimpse of another car alongside and went for the brake pedal instead ... I
had maybe 1 to 1-1/2 car lengths left at this point and aimed for the small
gap between the two cars (attempting to split the lanes) and almost made it
except for the fact the Land Cruiser got REALLY wide as it went sideways.

I hit its right rear corner with the driver's side headlight at maybe 30 or
so and trashed that corner back to the wheel.  As best I could tell looking
at the car while waiting for the police to arrive, the frame rails were NOT
bent and the strut tower is only slightly rippled, which it already was due
to the accident it suffered at the hands of its original owner 6 years ago.
It'll need a hood, fender, nose panel, bumper cover, radiator and condensor
and lots of trim pieces ... since it cost $6k to fix similar damage that my
father inflicted upon my '91 100 earlier this year and book is $4,500 tops,
I figure it's a total.

Amazingly, I *didn't* receive a ticket!  The police said I wasn't at fault
since the LC was "improperly stopped in the road" at the time I hit it.  I
never heard of this before but I certainly wasn't going to argue about it!
In the back of my mind, I always figured that I could "drive my way out of
trouble" in a situation like this thanks to my racing experience but I was
obviously wrong ... even at 45 mph, you're covering 66 feet per second and
that works out to about four car lengths.  It's sort of ironic how I tried
to be cautious (looking over my shoulder instead of relying solely upon my
mirrors) and ended up being in an accident as a result.  Live and learn...

BTW, one of the passengers in the Toyota was awfully cute ... I wish I had
the poor taste to ask for her phone number but my parents brought me up to
be a gentleman and it just didn't seem like a very good idea at the time!

     _             _              _
    / l       l o l  \       l o l  \  _   _ o  _   _   AudiDudi@delphi.com
   /__l l l / l l l  l l l / l l l /  / l /  l l \ / _  Jeffrey Goggin
  /   l l_l \_l l l__/ l_l \_l l l  \ \_l \_ l l l \_l  Scottsdale, Arizona