Accident :(
 

Well, earlier this evening I had the misfortune of running into a fool who ran a red light, at about 50 mph. T-boned him. The person (a male) was driving a white Miata. I was wearing my seat belt and the air bags deployed. My only injury was a second-degree burn to my left forearm from the airbag deploying. I did take an ambulance ride to the hospital to get it fixed up. It's quite painful. However, I suppose it's some sort of testament to the crash survivability of an RX-8 that I wasn't more seriously injured. I hit the car very, very hard and walked away from it. Anyways, I am hoping the car will be considered totaled but who knows. The front end was pretty screwed up but I don't know if there was body frame damage.

There were several witness to the accident who stuck around to give statements to the police. All the witnesses told the police that the Miata blatantly ran a red light. So I should be alright as far as insurance goes. Of course I do have full coverage myself but it's much better if the other party has to pay for everything.

I am still kind of shock over this, just goes to show that you never know what can happen, you can be the safest driver in the world and still have your day (and car) ruined by an idiot doing something like running a red light or driving drunk. Take care out there.

good luck... so you want another 8?? also -- what color was your 8?

Hey Im glad to hear your ok, thats the most important aspect. Since you have insurance, everything will be fine. If you get chance post some pics of the damage...

Sorry about the car, but glad to hear you did not receive major injuries.

Hope all goes smoothly with the insurance co. and you are back on the road quickly.

If it is a total do you think you will get another RX-8?

Glad to hear you're okay dude. Getting into an accident turns your world upside down for a little while. Keep your head up and good luck w/ your insurance company. vegas.

Glad to hear you are ok AirForceGuy.

It might be my morbid side asking, but if you could post pictures of the damage that would be great. You can get a good idea of what type of damage the rx-8 can take - hopefully give everyone confidence in the car they drive.

I will try to get some pics today when I go to the wrecker lot to get some items out of the car. My car was red. The Miata seemed to come out of it okay, I hit it towards the front of it and I believe it spun away from the site of impact. I couldn't tell you exactly what happened because my view was obstructed by the air bags but once I got out of the car the Miata was away from my car in the middle of the street. (I was in the far right lane of a 3 lane each way road.)

If my car is totalled I don't know what I will do. I recently found out that I am going to Korea for a year. I won't be able to drive there so I may just keep the money if it is totalled and buy a beater to drive until I leave and then buy a new car when I get back from Korea.

how was the other driver? any injuries there? were they drunk?

Glad to hear you are OK - anyone that has not been involved when the airbags go off does not appreciate what a "violent" thing it is. My dad was involved in a T-Bone (same as your accident - someone ran a red light, hit my dad) and he had some very severe abrasions on both arms, 2nd degree burns on both arms from wrist to elbow (he was wearing a short sleeved shirt) and 2 cracked ribs. So, air bags save you, but they can hurt you too.

Hope the insurance does the right thing, and you can cheer yourself up with a brand new RX8 very soon!

Glad to hear you are fine. I don't understand these idiots who think yellow means "speed up" and red means "speed up more". The person thought he was saving some time and ended up wrecking his car and yours.

awww sweetie!!!!! I am SOOOO sorry! I'm glad you're ok! you just wern't very lucky in this car!! This is the 2nd accident right? :( I'm glad to know you're doing ok. Sorry about you going over seas again too:( Hopefully you'll still be here when we do another meet and you can come to it! :)

I hope you don't leave the 8 fourms even if you don't get another 8.

oh, and my mom wants me to get my steering wheel air bag taken out. She says i'm too small to have one. A good friend of hers got burns all over her face and arms and broke her arm too because of it. Soo...i'm considering it and just praying i never get into an accident where i'll need it.

I got in one too.. Luckily the month has already passed and I will be getting my car back either today or tomorrow.. I spun out of a corner going about 25 mph and hit a curb..

Luckily my insurance is only going to go up about 50 dollars every 6 months. This was my first incident.

Here are some pics...

...spun out at 25mph? you were doing things you shouldn't have been, weren't you ;)

and glad to hear that everyone was ok. remember, as much as it sucks, cars are just things and can be replaced...people can't. but its good to know that if something bad does happen, the 8 can keep you safe. good luck with the insurance and whatever you decide to go with in the future...and stay safe in korea.

Well.. I think it was a combination of a few things.. One, I had just gotten my car washed that day and it still had the tire dressing on it. Two, it had just started raining. Since the accident was in the corner, my grip was using part of the tire that maybe hadnt gotten rid of all the tire dressing... So I dunno.. It all comes down to driver error though because anyone can drive slow and not get into the accident I did.. Thats why my insurance is going up.

that sucks. oh well. lesson learned (?), and your premium wasn't affected all that much.

No. Don't do it. Newer airbags are 'dual stage', so they don't go off at full force unless you need them at full force. The arm-breaking thing can usually be avoided by holding the steering wheel with your palm facing inward (towards the hub) rather than outward. Holding the wheel at the bottom with your hand 'in' the wheel/palm outward is asking to get your wrist broken. Unless your mom is a crash test engineer, or works for the NHTSA, I'd rely on more experienced judgement and keep the airbag.

Sorry to hear about your car. It's to bad you are the first one I have found on hear that is in my area and now your car is totaled. Out of curiosity what intersection was it at.

If your car is officially totaled, do you get money for a new car or do they just replace the exact same car you had? If your car was purchased at 25k do they give you 25k even if you can't get that deal again or give you a carbon copy basically of your car?

Just curious...

davefr, been there, done that. i was one of the few w/ the car when it first came out. it was 20degrees out, took a hard corner and gunned it at 2nd w/ dsc off (when i was inexperienced), and boom. Curb/tree. Lesson learned, and now i'm more experienced.

but yea, airforce, glad to hear you're ok. i guess you weren't one of the few w/ the silver curse. Just bad luck. wait until u get out of korea, get the MS 8.

Dave will your insurance be covering your wheels too? I noticed that one of your wheels got jacked up.

AirForceGuy, I'm sorry to here of your misfortune. Once again, the integrity of the RX8 amazes me. Glad you are OK and I'm glad you have plenty of witnesses. I'm 100% sure your car will be totaled and I haven't even seen the images yet. You should be up and running with a new car within a month. At the speed you were going and the damage involved in the front end not to mention the kicker, your airbags deployed. That is a total IMO. Did it get into the front doors?

Ha! No.

What you bought the car for is completely irrelevant. You could have gotten a great deal and bought your car for 10,000, or you could have gotten ripped off and bought it for 50,000. The insurance company does not care. The question is "what is it worth *right now*?" Look at the blue-book value of your car (which is considerably less than whatever you paid, due to depreciation). That's the max you would get (less deductable) if it were 'totaled'.

The insurance term for this is 'ACV', actual cash value. If you wanted to insure something (house, car, furniture, whatever) for the amount necessary to get a new one, that would be 'RV', or replacement value. Nearly impossible to get on a car, and far too expensive to be worth it.

If you're financing or leasing, the car will depreciate faster than you'll pay it off for the first few years. In that case you can get 'gap' insurance for an additional fee which covers the difference between what it's worth (which your regular insurance would pay) and what you owe (which you're responsible for).

That sucks a big one man. I hope the ins. company doesn't try to screw you over when they tell you what it's worth...you can fight with them a little bit.