Stupid Driver Stories

Stupid driver today. I was driving to campus and i had the green light when a woman in a Cadillac CTS pulls up to the light. She had the red but i guess she didn't get what that meant because she just kept going into the intersection. There was no room for me to avoid it. Fortunately, my car still ran and only had body damage. The drive train and engine are fine. She wasn't so lucky. Radiator was punctured and was flushing itself onto the ground and her car had to be towed away. After replacing the body parts i need to, i plan on putting one of those steel bars that cops have on the front of their cars (i don't know exactly what they're called.) just for the hell of it.

Pics of the Damage: Pic1 Pic2

Ha, two FG'ers in one day getting taken out in about the same way :p.

Cops -> Bull Bars; if you get what the off-roaders use, they're called anything from grill guards to brush gards.
 
Yowch, hopefully her insurance will fully cover it!!!

(And we call them either 'roo bars, bull bars or bumper bars over here, and they are a pretty good idea if you do anticipate your car being hit again. Not so good if you accidentally hit a pedestrian/cyclist/motorbiker :()

The small ones that only have a centre section, usually a single curved bar coming up from the bottom of the car, going across the grille and back down again, are usually referred to as nudge bars.

And bumper bars are usually what is there before the bullbar goes on :p
 
Ha, two FG'ers in one day getting taken out in about the same way :p.

Cops -> Bull Bars; if you get what the off-roaders use, they're called anything from grill guards to brush gards.

lol. I did I little looking and it looks like I won't be able to find a bull bar for my car (2000 Suzuki Grand Vitara) so it looks like I'll have to make one myself. Yah, it seems like an odd car to put one on but i have to deal with this car for another 2.5 years so i want to make the best of it.
 
lol. I did I little looking and it looks like I won't be able to find a bull bar for my car (2000 Suzuki Grand Vitara) so it looks like I'll have to make one myself. Yah, it seems like an odd car to put one on but i have to deal with this car for another 2.5 years so i want to make the best of it.

Are you sure? Bullbars for those are very common around here. You should be able to find some off-roading shop or something that would stock them.
 
well, when i said i "searched a little", i meant i googled and looked at 2 or 3 sites. I dont think bull bars are very common in Michigan in the first place so if i did find one, it'll probably be expensive as hell. I may just see about finding a police interceptor crown vic at a junkyard, rip the bull bar off that and then just weld my own adapter for it. It would probably be cheaper that way anyways.
 
well, when i said i "searched a little", i meant i googled and looked at 2 or 3 sites. I dont think bull bars are very common in Michigan in the first place so if i did find one, it'll probably be expensive as hell. I may just see about finding a police interceptor crown vic at a junkyard, rip the bull bar off that and then just weld my own adapter for it. It would probably be cheaper that way anyways.

That could be a cheap way to do it :)
 
Ha, two FG'ers in one day getting taken out in about the same way :p.

Cops -> Bull Bars; if you get what the off-roaders use, they're called anything from grill guards to brush gards.

Brush guards are typically just cosmetic, bull bars or nudge bars aren't that great in a crash, but are ok for gently pushing a broken vehicle out of the road. In off road circles we call them "Damage Multipliers" because they tend to do increase the damage to a vehicle in a collision with another car or an animal. (in before Ice)

If you really want protection then you want a plate-steel bumper.
 
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Brush guards are typically just cosmetic, bull bars or nudge bars aren't that great in a crash, but are ok for gently pushing a broken vehicle out of the road. In off road circles we call them "Damage Multipliers" because they tend to do increase the damage to a vehicle in a collision with another car or an animal. (in before Ice)
Primarily because the impact and forces inflicted to the bar goes straight to the frame of the vehicle, rather than the crumple zone/impact protection.
 
Sort of. Most brush guards don't hold up well in a crash and a minor fender bender that would only scrape up the bumper now dents up your hood and fenders and bends the brush guard. down into other body panels.

That's why I want plate-steel - it actually increases the strength of the frame while being airbag compliant and protecting the bodywork.

You want to hit me? You get to crumple.
 
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That is no where near as scarey as GB.

GaryBuseyOct07.jpg
 
Funniest thing happened to me today....

Younger guy pulls up beside me (to the right) in a BMW 1-series at a red light. He looks over at me in my A3 and revs his engine a couple of times. I'm thinking, oh great, here we go now.... so I drop the car into sport mode, turn off the ESP, and when the light goes green, I barrel off at about two-thirds throttle. He does the same, but presumably at full throttle.... then 3 seconds later hits the brakes, screeching loud enough that I can hear him coming to a near-halt..... why? The lane on the other side of the intersection was a VERY SHORT MERGE LANE and he had nowhere to go except behind me, or up onto a curb!


Bet he won't try that one again anytime soon........ eeesh.
 
old video, but some of those are crazy - esp the one at around 2 mins
 
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Funniest thing happened to me today....

Younger guy pulls up beside me (to the right) in a BMW 1-series at a red light. He looks over at me in my A3 and revs his engine a couple of times. I'm thinking, oh great, here we go now.... so I drop the car into sport mode, turn off the ESP, and when the light goes green, I barrel off at about two-thirds throttle. He does the same, but presumably at full throttle.... then 3 seconds later hits the brakes, screeching loud enough that I can hear him coming to a near-halt..... why? The lane on the other side of the intersection was a VERY SHORT MERGE LANE and he had nowhere to go except behind me, or up onto a curb!


Bet he won't try that one again anytime soon........ eeesh.

I had a similar situation at a crossing here in town last winter. The road goes from two lanes to single lane right after the crossing. I was in the left lane and a taxi pulled up beside me. Young guy inside, probably student. No passengers.

I admit he had the faster reaction, when the lights went green (or he was more familiar with the timing of the lights, dunno) but it didn't help him, because he only had a Mercedes E200 CDI and I had 286 HP in the BMW X3 plus 4-wheel-drive on a wet road. So he went about half a car's length ahead of me and then I humiliated him. Seriously, it was written on the side of my car: "XDrive35d". What did he expect? Winning???
 
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I had a similar situation at a crossing here in town last winter. The road goes from two lanes to single lane right after the crossing. I was in the left lane and a taxi pulled up beside me. Young guy inside, probably student. No passengers.

I admit he had the faster reaction, when the lights went green (or he was more familiar with the timing of the lights, dunno) but it didn't help him, because he only had a Mercedes E200 CDI and I had 286 HP in the BMW X3 plus 4-wheel-drive on a wet road. So he went about half a car's length ahead of me and then I humiliated him. Seriously, it was written on the side of my car: "XDrive35d". What did he expect? Winning???
LOL I had something similar to that. On a fairly wide two lane (one lane in each direction) road some dude got up next to me on a vet road in a V6 RWD Caddilac. He floored it off the line I accelerated normally, take a guess which car won (Hint: it has AWD :p)
 
^ have had the same happen to me too
granted, it isn't obvious that my car has that much grunt, but still, your 11 year old 90hp Golf will not win from a newer more powerful car

they think it's all in the shifts? Or getting off the line first?

Usually I don't even notice I'm being raced until after a few seconds, then I floor it and zoom by
 
^ have had the same happen to me too
granted, it isn't obvious that my car has that much grunt, but still, your 11 year old 90hp Golf will not win from a newer more powerful car

they think it's all in the shifts? Or getting off the line first?

Usually I don't even notice I'm being raced until after a few seconds, then I floor it and zoom by

I can beat some much more powerful cars in my Swifty (when it wants to move) purely through being able to shift faster than them, better reaction times, etc (best eg was a BMW 1 series). Put me next to an auto though and I am doomed :lol:
 
I can beat some much more powerful cars in my Swifty (when it wants to move) purely through being able to shift faster than them, better reaction times, etc (best eg was a BMW 1 series). Put me next to an auto though and I am doomed :lol:

That was happening to me with my first Fiesta (65 hp). very short distance (30-40 meters), better reaction, lighter car, worse driver in the other car. The first time was a BMW 316i, the second time was an AUDI TT (I think the basic engine). It was more than 10 years ago. Now traffic light racing are not interesting anymore. I just decide what I want to do beforehand (so it's not a race since what the other car(s) do(es)) don't change the way I'm going to move) and by the time I need to shift to second gear I can tell if I'm going to be where I want to be or not.
 
That was happening to me with my first Fiesta (65 hp). very short distance (30-40 meters), better reaction, lighter car, worse driver in the other car. The first time was a BMW 316i, the second time was an AUDI TT (I think the basic engine). It was more than 10 years ago. Now traffic light racing are not interesting anymore. I just decide what I want to do beforehand (so it's not a race since what the other car(s) do(es)) don't change the way I'm going to move) and by the time I need to shift to second gear I can tell if I'm going to be where I want to be or not.

I don't "race" the other cars per se, but to get my car to move 99% of the time you have to rag it to the limit so it does feel like you are racing (and losing) anyway :lol:
 
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