There I was, sitting at a red light. Some old dude just backed into me.
Could have been a lot worse, and the first thing the guy did was admit fault and give me his contact and insurance info. Almost demanded I take a pic of his license and one of him standing next to his license plate.
I've personally witnessed more accidents in this area than I have in any other area, even accounting for time differences in those other areas.
That sucks 
There is some weird E36 M3 that happens on the roads here. My usual duty location is on the base so I take the Crosstown to south Tampa. I can't count how many times I have seen a "wrong way driver" warning on the electronic signs on the expressway. How does one even enter the expressway going the wrong way?
When I lived here previously, my commute was seriously only 4 miles. This time, its 27 miles one way. Its only a matter of time...
In reply to stanger_missle :
Yeah, I have no clue how people get on going the wrong way here. It completely baffles me.
In a way I'm happy about it. I was overdue for someone to hit me and having it just be this is a fairly benign way of checking that box.
I'm afraid I'm due for one. I have had plenty of close calls so far.
I hate this commute. Its either surface streets, the expressway or I-4/275 which is guaranteed death. I pay $120/month in tolls on the expressway because its literally the lesser of the three evils.
In reply to stanger_missle :
I feel you on the tolls. I literally get on at the start of the expressway in Brandon and drive to St Pete. And I fully agree on the expressway being the lesser evil, so long as it isnt raining people are usually sane on it.
I'll be so happy when they finish the Gandy extension of the toll road.
Time to get a 1995 Lightning.
In reply to mr2s2000elise :
I'll just turbo this in the next year or so.
Welcome to thunderdome. I drive E36 M3ty cars for a reason lol
In reply to Mr_Asa :
Same for me. I'm coming up from southern Riverview, up 301 to 75, 75 to the Crosstown, Crosstown to Gandy and then south on Dale Mabry to the base. Our office has been under renovation so I have been at our other office which forces me to take the Crosstown I-4 connector to I-4, then to I-275 and off on Westshore. 275 is always a total cluster. It doesn't matter what time of day or what day. If its raining, you can expect to be at least 15 minutes to an hour late.
I was kinda shocked when I finally added up all of the toll charges for the month. But then I tried experimenting with alternative routes taking 41 and surface streets but got fed up with the construction and traffic backups. I figure its a small price to pay for sanity.
Not only is the Gandy extension going on right now but they are also working on the South Selmon Safety Project where they are removing the center grass median and paving it. I'll be happy when both of those projects are completed.
On the plus side, he didn't take the door jamb out.
914Driver said:On the plus side, he didn't take the door jamb out.
I was just thinking that. A foot farther aft and that would have been a much worse outcome for no harder an impact.
Crappy that happened yes but he stopped, manned up and admitted fault and was cooperative with you. Plus no injuries? As having been on the receiving end of a hit and run once, this turned out probably as good as possible considering the circumstances.
In reply to 914Driver :
Yup. Very happy that it was as simple as it was.
In reply to drainoil :
Also very happy with his behavior. His wife was giving him a world of E36 M3 from the passenger seat, but despite that and the fact that he hit me, he was great.
I've actually been thinking about trying to help him out by not going through insurance and getting the parts on the side, with a junkyard door I'd expect everything to be about $200-300 for parts paint and all? Anyone have any thoughts?
Take the insurance money and use it to buy a turbo. Leave the door as is cause sleeper.
Nah, she's been too good to me to allow that to happen. Besides, the better she looks the happier I am to drive her, and happier to spend more money on her.
Mr_Asa said:In reply to stanger_missle :
Yeah, I have no clue how people get on going the wrong way here. It completely baffles me.
In a way I'm happy about it. I was overdue for someone to hit me and having it just be this is a fairly benign way of checking that box.
It is usually an impaired driver that ends up going the wrong way on an expressway
At least you got a driver who admitted fault and gave you actual insurance info. I don't wish the opposite of that on anybody.
Same thing up here.
Wife's Suburban has been hit once a year for the last 3 years. Every time, not her fault.
Every time, other person says "I didn't see you". How the hell do you not see a 3/4ton Suburban?
The first one was a BMW 3-series that rear-ended her while stopped at an intersection. Lady driver behind her tried to say it was my wife's fault. No, you drive into a stationary vehicle from behind. 100% on you.
Apathy and indifference are some of the most frustrating things to fight against.
Got an alert on my phone that a yard had an F150 come in today. Look at pics and the mirrors are my style, doors are clean, and as a bonus it's an XLT so it has power windows and locks, something I've wanted almost as long as I've had the truck. Hell, even the seats and center console are good, so I might snag them. I was kind of giddy as I pushed my wheelbarrow full of tools to the row.
I get there and the entire passenger side was caved in by the idiot that operated the forklift to put it where its sitting.
So disheartening
In reply to BlindPirate :
It happened again; one day after your post:
In reply to Mr_Asa :
I feel your pain. I've been burned so many times by poor inventory management at junkyards that the only way I'll buy a part is if I find and remove it myself or I can thoroughly inspect it with my own eyes. It's so frustrating when you call a yard and they swear up and down that the part is there and in good shape but when you drive there that isn't the case. I berkeleying hate that.
Which yard was it?
In reply to stanger_missle :
I feel the entrance to TIA might be a bit easier to understand. None of the construction they've been doing there makes sense.
It was LKQ on Causeway. I thought about asking for the manager and telling them how much their employee had berkeleyed up, but as I thought about how many vehicles I've seen with that same damage I realized they wouldn't care.
In reply to Mr_Asa :
I agree on TIA. It is not very intuitive to navigate.
I've never been to the Causeway LKQ location but LKQ was who I was talking about in my previous post. Wrong fitment, parts damaged beyond use and parts they couldn't find.
I gave up buying online from them.
I would reward his behavior and keep it simple by letting him pay out of pocket if he so desires.
but that's just me.
You'll need to log in to post.
