The unthinkable has happened... :-(

[corvettecrazy]

VAmagred01 : corvettes ARE equipped with a black box it is located just behind the radio in your dash and is about the size of a cigg pack. i dont know if it would be usefull if the air bags didn't go off but it might.

i would consider a new vette if the reapairs are 75% of a new one. paying that extra 25% will make up for the hassles you will have with getting it repaired. and repaired cars are NEVER the same no matter how well done the repairs are.

i agree the extra weight on the front and less in the rear probably exagurated (sp??) you steering adjustment.

i know it may be kind of rude to ask but do you have pictures?

 

[81kix]

Man I'm so sorry to hear what happenrd to your dream come true car but, your ok, that's most important. The Vette can always be repaired or replaced, your alive to tell the story.
Good Luck

 

[fhturner]

i would consider a new vette if the reapairs are 75% of a new one. paying that extra 25% will make up for the hassles you will have with getting it repaired.

Well, if the repairs are going to cost 75% of what that car is worth undamaged (not new, just undamaged), then they have to "total" it anyway. So, given that my '98 coupe is (was) probably worth $21K-$24K, depending on where you look, options, condition, etc., if it looks like it's going to be over $16K or so to repair, then they'll just total it. Should have an estimate later today or in the morning. We'll see...

i know it may be kind of rude to ask but do you have pictures?

No, not yet. I've been considering taking the digital camera from the office and snapping a few photos "for the record". Then again, I'm not sure I'm really going to want to see them after all this is over... If I take some, I'll post a link.

Thank you once again to everyone for the sympathy, relief that I'm okay, and well wishes. It truly means a lot.

Fred

 

[fhturner]

Update & pics

Well, I went by Ivan Leonard Chevrolet to survey the damage and estimated repair cost. The estimated grand total is $14,867.33. :cry It could very well be more than that once they start the "tear down" process and see what else might need attention. Big ticket items to fix/replace include the hood, front wheels & tires, front bumper cover, windshield, radiator, exhaust "converter & pipe", left muffler & pipe, rear suspension crossmember, and 12 hrs worth of frame alignment.

I'll be talking to the insurance adjuster tomorrow to see what they want to do. I guess at this point, it makes more sense to total the vehicle, but I don't know what they'll decide. If it's not totaled out, I might take the check for the repair amount from the insurance company and sell the vehicle as is. Depreciation will be a killer, especially with as much damage as was done.

For those of you who'd like to see pictures of the damage, you can find them here.

Guess I'll start looking for a replacement. Still can't believe that this is happening-- the car was so new to me that I was still pinching myself about actually having a Corvette... Wonder if I'll ever get over the trauma of destroying my very first Vette...

L8r,
Fred

 

[SPANISHVETTS]

Wonder if I'll ever get over the trauma of destroying my very first Vette...

I for one hope you don’t. You f***ed up. If you are going to own a performance car you can either drive like an old lady or learn how to drive. I am not perfect and I have wrecked lots of cars, but to lose a Vette at 40+MPH over the speed limit is just plain stupid. You got out lucky; there could have been a kid on a bike on the way home from Softball.

Forget any suspension, brake, etc, etc, options. They will not make you a better driver. Even Ralf Nader never found a safety device to protect us from the ¨Nut behind the wheel¨

If you get another Vette do us all a favor and go to driving school, But who the hell am I to fuss, I am 3000 miles away and dogging Spic´s who drive 10 times worse than you on a good day.

 

[81kix]

Fred,
I feel bad, you will get over this....Thank you for sharing your story. It could help some of us think twice on what we do.

 

[RedRagTop]

Easy, SPANISHVETTE, I'm sure he feels bad enough and is thankful there was NOT another vehicle/pedestrian involved.

fhtturner: BTW, how do you like those Firestones?

81kix: Where would I want you to be? Hmmm...
Got a good winter coat?

 

[pauld]

Go easy on him SPANISHVETTS, We all make mistakes and although I agree with you about losing a 40+ over the speed limit, I think the guy is feeling pretty silly and more than a little upset already. I have kids and don't agree with street racing or driving like a lunatic, but I am sure we have all got on the gas at one time or another. Just cut the guy some slack thats all.
fhturner, I am glad you are ok and I hope you sort it out soon, one way or another, good luck.

 

[SPANISHVETTS]

Go easy on him SPANISHVETTS

Easy, SPANISHVETTE,

I thought I was going easy, here is the first draft before I sweetened it up.

Add up the #´s, 4-lane intersection +/- 40´wide +20´ to the side road + another 20´or so of sliding down the side road. The intersections were 3/8 mile apart; let’s say you accelerated for ¼ mile before you got off the gas that leaves 1/8 mile or 660´ (a bit more than 21/2 football fields) to the intersection. With slow reaction time you should have been on the brakes by the 300´mark. So let’s cut that in ½ and say the stopping process started 150´ before the intersection that gives you a total distance of 230´ to bring the Vette to a stop.

Car and Driver stopped the 1998 in 172´ from 70MPH. With ABS stopping requires no talent, just push the pedal and the beast stops. 98 Corvettes have an Lateral Acceleration rated at .98 G so sliding sideways it will slow down about as fast as it will going straight.

You were probably closer to 100MPH when you lost it. There is no way to justify your actions. They were at best stupid. You should be given the biggest Reckless Driving ticket the state of Alabama has to offer, be sent to driving school, and be required to spend a month it the Trauma unit of the local ER room. It might do you some good to see what innocent victims of reckless drivers look like before they are sent to the morgue.

Driver’s licenses should be like pilot’s license. You should be required to have a rating for the HP/weight ratio of the car you are driving. We Americans have a lot of RIGHTS guaranteed to us by our Constitution. The right to drive any hi-performance vehicle is not one of them, it is a privilege that should be earned and respected.

Thanks for giving the insurance companies another reason to raise our rates. I’ll be thinking of you when my policy is up for renewal.

 

[pauld]

I guess SPANISHVETTS must be a perfect driver and has never done anything either reckless or stupid in his entire life, must be great to be so perfect. I feel his comments are both patronising and condesendind to say the least, but thats just my $0.02 worth. None of us are perfect and talking down to people is just plain rude, the guy wasn't proud of himself and was hurting as it is and all SPANISH can do is just kick a guy when he is down.
I guess all we can do is to aspire to be as great and wise as SPANISHVETTS.

 

[RedRagTop]

OK, enough with the flaming before Rob shuts you both down. SPANISHVETTES does have a few points, indelicate as he is in putting them forth. There WAS a bit of street racing involved but I'll be damned if we haven't all let it out a tad at one time or another. Hell, my first post on the CAC was to ask the old timers why my vette just about looped changing into 2nd gear. I just happened to get away with it.
Now in Canada, as a cheap election ploy they are talking about the charging of higher insurance rates for young drivers as being descriminatory...
Wait. This topic deserves it's own thread.
No more coffee for you guys!

 

[HOTMOTORSPORTS]

"Friday night, I was out cruising with my buddy, who owns a white '96 LT4 coupe. We've done this several times recently, and have tended to go kinda fast at times, but not insanely or recklessly so."

fhturner, you were going insanely or recklessly fast. I agree with SPANISHVETTS. You probably totalled your car and were going about 100 MPH!!!!

I know you are posting this in good faith and are quite sad that your car was damaged.

But you have to expect a dose of reality about this. There could have easily been a group of school kids walking across!!

PLEASE, think about what you were doing and don't do it again. They have race tracks for that! It could have been my kids or anybody's kids.

That's what I think SPANISHVETTS is trying to relay.

pauld.... Come on now, if he can't take this small bashing after that foolish move!!!!

Chuck

 

[pauld]

I apologise for getting on my soap box, so I will leave it there. I didn't mean to start a flaming war, we all love our 'vettes, so lets all just be friends. Good luck to fhturner.

 

[MoeJr]

I am a little late jumping in here but JohnL made a very good point. If fhturner was decellerating and made an abrupt yank of the wheel the rear end would have been unloaded and would whip around like it did. In hindsight had he been maintaining speed or blipped the throttle he probably would have been able to control the rear ends sliding motion. Regardless it was a mistake that he will hafta learn from and hopefully use better judgement in the future. Be glad no Kids were in the cars path as that is one thing I would never wanna live with on my conscience.
Just my .02

:bar

 

[fhturner]

SPANISHVETTS & HOTMOTORSPORTS--

Guys, I can appreciate the fact that you are trying to make me feel worse than I already do about this accident. However, you are fighting a losing battle. This is simply because I feel absolutely, positively terrible about it, and could not possibly feel worse. I've already beat myself up much more than you could possibly imagine over this.

Your points are well made, but I'm already well aware of how lucky I am that no schoolchildren were crossing the road (at 9:00-10:00 at night, to/from the deserted side of the road, on the non-existent crosswalk, from the non-existent school zone).

Okay, so schoolchildren weren't really threatened in this case, but another driver sure could have been, and I realize that. I shudder when I think about how awful it would have been had I injured anyone else. That would be difficult to live with. People keep telling me that the important thing is that I'm okay. True, I guess, but I'd have been much more concerned about the other people being okay, had others been involved.

In my defense, I have one nit to pick:

Thanks for giving the insurance companies another reason to raise our rates. I’ll be thinking of you when my policy is up for renewal.

Let me get this straight: you said in your original post that you are "not perfect and have wrecked lots of cars," yet you're giving me a hard time about insurance??? This is my first and only wreck in nearly 13 years of driving! Now, I might not be the most intelligent being on Earth, but I do know what the definition of the word hypocrite is. If you'd like to learn, click here.

To everyone else, once again, I thank you for your concern and support during this difficult time.

Fred

 

[SPANISHVETTS]

Ok regardless of anything else said here this will be my last post on the subject.

Let me get this straight: you said in your original post that you are "not perfect and have wrecked lots of cars," yet you're giving me a hard time about insurance??? This is my first and only wreck in nearly 13 years of driving! Now, I might not be the most intelligent being on Earth, but I do know what the definition of the word hypocrite is. If you'd like to learn, click here.

Yes, I have wrecked lots of cars but never on a public road!!! I have had a driving license since 1963. From 1976 to 1980 I drove for a living averaging 400 miles per day 6 days a week. I have a SPOTLESS driving record. No tickets, no at fault accidents. As a matter of fact, the only accident in which I was ever involved was when I got rear-ended at a stop light by a drunk driver in Cairo IL

The insurance companies have never had to pay $.01 due to my driving.

High speed driving is my business. I have been attending hi-performance driving schools on a regular basis since 1966. I have held SCCA, NHRA, or FIA driving cards since 1966. I help teach and coach young racing drivers, several of them are now Euro-famous on the Formula circuits. One of these ¨kids¨ moved up to the F1 league last year and another one is ready to make the jump next season.

I sent my wife, who is much younger than me and a relatively inexperienced driver, to a 10 day long Hi-performance driving school this month. She just finished last Monday.

You should learn not to throw big words around unless you know who you are throwing them at. I am an insufferable, hard-headed, opinionated jerk. If you call me an a$$#0!e, $0b, old fool, or any thing else that applies to my lousy personality I will have to agree with you. At least I can still laugh at myself.

You made the same mistake with me that you made with the Vette. You jumped in without knowing the potential of the beast or how it would respond and once again, you lost control.

Rob, I am sorry for the rant. I promise that this will be the last words from me on this subject.

 

[SuperVic]

unreal.......

Hello eveyrone, SuperVic here. I was the white '96 LT-4 driving with F.Turner...the 98 C-5, last Sat. nite when the accident occurred. And that's what it was...an accident. We were at approx. 88mph., not 100mph...I was side by side F.Turner and was mid-way in 3rd gear and would not have shifted until 104mph into 4th. and yes, I braked, F.Turner braked, then I accelerated....so that's why his left rear didn't slide into mine........so now that's clear......guess there won't be a 100 threads about those driving dynamics.

Anyway...whatever.........it was an accident and that should be it.
It amazes me how people on these forums who were not physically at the location at the time of the accident can start to form their own opinions of what happened, plus bust on a guy who was simply looking for support. Most of you have given support, but as we all know, there was the bully in school, or someone who has a small d#4k and is self conscious or simply that everywhere you go, there's always as as@hol@......My post is too big a file, so I'll send it in 2 blocks.............

 

[SuperVic]

unreal part. 2

I jumped on here for this response only and will not entertain any responses, because I really don't care to debate what you THINK happened or any NEGATIVISM........had enough of that in high school by people like SpanishVette. You got real heart bro.....why not just jump on someone that's down? Doesn't matter what inputs were his fault or not.....read above the message and show the guy a little support. Don't think you'd feel too good if someone crushed your prized possession in front of you, would ya? All talk 1000 miles away aren't ya? What a waste.

There will probably be 100 posts slamming me on this....so what.

One final thought: let's think outside the box: When they first came out, to own a Ferrari F40, you had to meet 3 requirements: had to have owned 2 former Ferraris, agree that you would not purchase the F40 only to turn around and sell it to make a profit and have a good relationship with a Ferrari dealer.

What if there was an attitude and personal 'insecurity test' or really....a 'Touch of Class' pre-req. before owning a Vette? People like Spanishfly, I mean...what's his name??? ...wouldn't even be on the forum......

C-ya.

 

[RedRagTop]

Easy SuperVic, everyone is entitled to their opinion. I f one of us went a bit overboard the others stepped in to calm things down. There are points to made on either side but as you have noted, support was the main theme...

BTW Rob (I know you're watching this one) I got my CAC polo shirt and love it!

 

[HOTMOTORSPORTS]

88 Miles per hour and not 100 miles per hour.

Thanks for clarifying that.

That's much better.

------------

I really am sad when anything happens with any corvette and I sincerely hope all will end well.

AND we're all happy everybody was OK (besides a few bruises to the ego).

Chuck