Three weeks ago, I was driving my freshly restored '87 325is along a two lane country road. I had spent all last summer working on the car and had over $20K in the car and parts. It was the first drive after almost all of the work had been completed, and the car ran beautifully.
A tandem axle dump truck approached me from the other direction and when it was about 150 feet away, it blew it's front left tire. The explosion was loud enough to bring people out of their houses. It blew the hold downs to the hood off and the hood flipped up. The driver was not only unable to control the truck, but the flipped up hood made him unable to see. The truck careened into my lane and came at me.
With only seconds to make a decision, I went to my left and attempted to pass the truck in his lane. Debris from the truck hit my car as I passed him. The sound of screeching tires, grinding steel and the decelerating diesel engine made a roar. I was almost past him when his right rear tire hit my right rear quarter panel. The force spun my car around about 150 degrees. The truck had crossed his lane and run off of the road. It was all over in a minute.
The impact tore the trailing arm and rear wheel out of my car. My brand new Bilstein shock was laying in the weeds.
Now my car sits in the parking lot of a local body shop while everyone argues as to whether the car is totaled. I had collector car insurance with an agreed upon value that should cover me, but when the accident happens, you find that there are still all sorts of ways to get screwed. That's another story.
A tandem axle dump truck approached me from the other direction and when it was about 150 feet away, it blew it's front left tire. The explosion was loud enough to bring people out of their houses. It blew the hold downs to the hood off and the hood flipped up. The driver was not only unable to control the truck, but the flipped up hood made him unable to see. The truck careened into my lane and came at me.
With only seconds to make a decision, I went to my left and attempted to pass the truck in his lane. Debris from the truck hit my car as I passed him. The sound of screeching tires, grinding steel and the decelerating diesel engine made a roar. I was almost past him when his right rear tire hit my right rear quarter panel. The force spun my car around about 150 degrees. The truck had crossed his lane and run off of the road. It was all over in a minute.
The impact tore the trailing arm and rear wheel out of my car. My brand new Bilstein shock was laying in the weeds.
Now my car sits in the parking lot of a local body shop while everyone argues as to whether the car is totaled. I had collector car insurance with an agreed upon value that should cover me, but when the accident happens, you find that there are still all sorts of ways to get screwed. That's another story.
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