First of all, I'm very thankful to be alive today.

That said, I've just had probably the worst weekend of my life. At about 7:00 yesterday morning, my beautiful silver 8 received severe injuries. I fortunately did not.

I was approaching a red light in the right hand lane at an intersection with two very clearly marked NO TURNS signs (there's a separate lane that you can access about 500 yards from the intersection if you want to make a right hand turn) when the light turned green, so I continued at a normal speed instead of stopping. Next thing I know, a semi that had been stopped at the light starts making an illegal right from the middle lane, right in front of me. I slammed on the brakes, but was too close to stop in time, and slid under his trailer. Needless to say, the 8 is a few inches too tall to fit nicely in the 43 inches of clearance under a normal semi. I think I hit the trailer at about 10-15 MPH (down from about 35-40), and the drivers side roof rail was deflected in about 6 inches from the impact. The windshield, roof, drivers side doors, rear quarter panel, and front drivers side fender probably will all need to be replaced. I got a few cuts from my shower of glass, but other than that I escaped without injury. The airbags did not go off.



So now my 8 is at the body shop until the insurance adjuster comes out on monday, and I'm stuck driving a POS Jeep liberty rental car.

 

ouch

So your accident looked like this?

 

That's terrible. That truck driver's insurance sure will be paying out bigtime!!!

 

Should of turned off your Silver8's cloaking device man!

Kidding aside glad your alright man. A semi accident are usualy the worse because of their weight and their nondesire to move when hit. From the sounds of it seems like in the previous post half your car got underneath the semi's trailer, think they'll total it for you or your safe?

 

pretty much a mirror image, except that I was going straight not turning.

 

I don't know whether I want them to total it or not. Its been a great car and I think it could be repairable. It already has a brand on the title (recovered theft) so I don't think having body work will significantly decrease the value over what it was already decreased by the brand. For that reason, I'm afraid they'll rape me on value if they total it.

 

so whats the next car .. i recommend a brand new rx8

 

If my car was totaled and I still wanted an rx-8, I'd look very closely at the showroom condition turbo'ed rx-8s that are sitting around unsold on the FS section.

 

Ouch.. well hopefully they'll let you just repair it. I'd honestly say start shopping around and look for a really good shop. Been hearing to many bad stories about Mazda Body Shop guys (the gods know I'm one of their bad story tellers). If your lucky and you find a good shop they will already have a deal with your insurance company.

Taken any pictures yet? Oh also you atleast get a good rental outa this? That was the one silver lining (no pun I swear) out of my accident a few months back (besides getting my 8) was the rental, got a Buick LaCrosse CXT thing had ***** and leather. I'm going to assume the driver was at fault so I'd ask your insurance company how much the other guys insurance company will pay for a rental and get the most out of it like I did. I could of gotten a subcompact but said screw it and went sadan on the rental.

 

Good to hear you're ok. That had to scare the shiat outta you.

 

I don't know how all states work but when my mom's Tribute was in the shop the other person's insurance had to pay whatever it would cost to get a comparable vehicle during that time frame. Too bad the only thing the rental place had was a Kia Optima. The car went in around Memorial Day time range so everybody was renting out cars. The seats in that thing were worse than sitting on metal folding chairs or hard wooden bleachers!! My poor butt!!! LOL

 

while its in the shop, PAINT IT A DIFFERENT COLOR!!!...............))))

 

you can change your stripes, but you'll always be silver on the inside.

 

How about pink? I'd be all over that in no time!

 

Yeah, why not?
http://www.addictinggames.com/poke.html

 

sorry for the loss, well, really glad youre alright. yeah, that truck drivers insurance will be paying big time for this. Hope you repair or get another 8 IMO!

 

I'm getting back in an 8 one way or another! I love this car, and have always had a rotary fondness.

I'll have pics later this evening probably, I've got my camera and I'm going to the shop later today.

 

^ Dont cry to much man when taking those pictures she shall be fixed!!

 

I'm glad you're okay. That was a close call.

It's totally the truck's fault, but we shouldn't gamble with our lives around semis and buses. We must always expect stupidity on the road when we drive.

It freaks me out when people just hang around by the speed limit right next to a semi, or when people turn outside a semi on the outside of a curve on the expressway, or when people stop right next to a semi at an intersection, especially on their right where they likely cannot see you. On tight roads, semis sometimes NEED to turn from the center lane or they won't have enough clearance.

 

Dont worry. my warm hugs will make you happy

 

Glad you're ok, bro. Maybe you can you get the new blue for 06. Sharp color. It is NOT availble w/cloaking, so you'll be a bit safer. Good luck.


(dynamho - you're right about the semis needing more room, and people needing to be more aware of blind spots on semis. But re-read - this case was an illegal turn.)

 

I'm aware of the wide turns, trust me - my brother drives trucks for a living and I've been on the road with him plenty of times. At this intersection he was crossing 2 lanes of straight traffic, making a right turn at an intersection where there was a separate turn lane with a nice arc to it so that truck traffic has no problems on it.

See the diagram.

 

Was curious about the streets set up. I think the stupid *** truck driver realized he missed the turn and obviously just turned without looking. We have a few intersections like that around here. Well if all else maybe you'll get a decent settlement outa it. Are you hurt btw back or neck?

 

^ No. the dumbass was tryig to make a wide turn and didnt notice the rx8 because he was in his blind spot or the truck driver is a complete dumbass. happens all the time because trucks need a lot of space to turn. have you noticed those "This Vehical makes Wide Turns" in the back of the trcuk/trailer? theres also a pic of the truck turning and hitting a car next to it right under where it saids "This vehical ....". just like his diagram and the pic where th blue rx8 got owned.

 

Erm.. Pistons.. that is what I said lol.. the diagram shows a special lane to take right turns on the far right which the truck driver missed, hence me stating the truck driver just turned without looking. The truck driver should not of been even attempting a turn anyways. Blind spot or not the truck driver should of just went past and found a U-turn spot.