After dealing with the insurance company regarding my daughter's car, I have come to the realization that my family has bad car karma. Reason: strange accidents that are never our fault. Really.
When I was in high school, I remember driving with my mom in Point Loma. Near the Loma Theatre. Out of the blue we feel a jolt to the car and realize some guy on a motorcycle just ran into the side of the car. Turns out he had stolen the motorcycle, and his passenger was a runaway.
Back in the late 70's while I was away at college, my mom was headed to my gramma's house about 4 miles away. She was on a side street. Made a stop at the stop sign. Headed into the intersection only to be hit on the passenger side by a man who ran his stop sign. My mom was so shook up she got his information, then walked the mile or so to gramma's before she called my dad. Those that know my mom, know that walking was not her thing!
While in college, summer break rolled around and mom came to get me and my stuff in my dad's Dodge Dart (because the seat folded down and fit a lot more stuff!) and tote me back to San Diego. We were almost home - on the 805, right under the 163 overpass when a tractor tire falls off a flatbed truck. She couldn't maneuver into another lane because of traffic so she decided to just straddle it. Unfortunately, it was taller than the undercarriage. We heard a huge riiipppp but were still able to pull over. As we did, we watched the truck continue on its way. Luckily, we weren't hurt...and neither was my stuff!
My dad owned a '56 Tbird. A beauty - red fire engine paint job, hard-top convertible. His pride and joy. Next to me. I think. He would always let me or anyone he knew drive it. We were all terrified that something would happen so drives usually consisted of rounding a few blocks in the neighborhood. After driving it one time, I noticed a pinging, and told him. So he took his 'girl' out on the road. As he was coming back, up Aldine, a car made a left turn in front of him (which was illegal at the time. Since then it is now legal - go figure!), and slammed into him. The 'bird was a mess, front end, bumper, chrome damaged. But running. Couldn't say the same for the other car. The guy driving jumped out and ran as did his passenger. There were however, some good samaritans who managed to catch the driver and hold him til the police got there. In this case, another stolen car, fleeing from a hit and run committed a few minutes earlier on El Cajon Blvd. The one good thing: dad got an all new paint job, new chrome and the car looked better than ever!
Then...there are my accidents. Same car. One year apart. Same intersection. Same time (headed home from work at lunchtime). Different people. One insured. One not.
My current car...a 2007 Rav4. Had it 2 days. Driving home to Nor Cal through LA. Hit in stop and go traffic. I stopped. She go'd. No insurance. No license. Again.
The latest, which brought me to thinking about this, was having my daughter's Yaris hit while parked on the street. No biggee? Yeah...apparently, whatever hit her, got stuck and in getting away ripped the entire front (plastic of course) end off, bent the hood and shattered the window.
As for cars....I've had 3 Nissans (well, one was a Datsun; remember those?), 2 Chevys, 2 Fords, 4 Toyotas and 2 jeeps. The Chevy Blazer, the Ford pickups, the jeeps and 1 of the Toyotas (a truck) were owned with my ex-husband, so I'm not going to count them.
All 3 Nissans blew their engines at about 100,000 miles. As did my 1st Rav4. And no, it wasn't my fault. The Nissans all had timing chains/belts go out and the Rav 4 sprung an oil leak - that leaked for 300 miles while driving north to south. The Chevy Cavalier lasted long enough to actually sell! The 2 Toyotas we have now - keeping my fingers crossed and looking to St. Christopher for a little help.
When I was in high school, I remember driving with my mom in Point Loma. Near the Loma Theatre. Out of the blue we feel a jolt to the car and realize some guy on a motorcycle just ran into the side of the car. Turns out he had stolen the motorcycle, and his passenger was a runaway.
Back in the late 70's while I was away at college, my mom was headed to my gramma's house about 4 miles away. She was on a side street. Made a stop at the stop sign. Headed into the intersection only to be hit on the passenger side by a man who ran his stop sign. My mom was so shook up she got his information, then walked the mile or so to gramma's before she called my dad. Those that know my mom, know that walking was not her thing!
While in college, summer break rolled around and mom came to get me and my stuff in my dad's Dodge Dart (because the seat folded down and fit a lot more stuff!) and tote me back to San Diego. We were almost home - on the 805, right under the 163 overpass when a tractor tire falls off a flatbed truck. She couldn't maneuver into another lane because of traffic so she decided to just straddle it. Unfortunately, it was taller than the undercarriage. We heard a huge riiipppp but were still able to pull over. As we did, we watched the truck continue on its way. Luckily, we weren't hurt...and neither was my stuff!
My dad owned a '56 Tbird. A beauty - red fire engine paint job, hard-top convertible. His pride and joy. Next to me. I think. He would always let me or anyone he knew drive it. We were all terrified that something would happen so drives usually consisted of rounding a few blocks in the neighborhood. After driving it one time, I noticed a pinging, and told him. So he took his 'girl' out on the road. As he was coming back, up Aldine, a car made a left turn in front of him (which was illegal at the time. Since then it is now legal - go figure!), and slammed into him. The 'bird was a mess, front end, bumper, chrome damaged. But running. Couldn't say the same for the other car. The guy driving jumped out and ran as did his passenger. There were however, some good samaritans who managed to catch the driver and hold him til the police got there. In this case, another stolen car, fleeing from a hit and run committed a few minutes earlier on El Cajon Blvd. The one good thing: dad got an all new paint job, new chrome and the car looked better than ever!
Then...there are my accidents. Same car. One year apart. Same intersection. Same time (headed home from work at lunchtime). Different people. One insured. One not.
My current car...a 2007 Rav4. Had it 2 days. Driving home to Nor Cal through LA. Hit in stop and go traffic. I stopped. She go'd. No insurance. No license. Again.
The latest, which brought me to thinking about this, was having my daughter's Yaris hit while parked on the street. No biggee? Yeah...apparently, whatever hit her, got stuck and in getting away ripped the entire front (plastic of course) end off, bent the hood and shattered the window.
As for cars....I've had 3 Nissans (well, one was a Datsun; remember those?), 2 Chevys, 2 Fords, 4 Toyotas and 2 jeeps. The Chevy Blazer, the Ford pickups, the jeeps and 1 of the Toyotas (a truck) were owned with my ex-husband, so I'm not going to count them.
All 3 Nissans blew their engines at about 100,000 miles. As did my 1st Rav4. And no, it wasn't my fault. The Nissans all had timing chains/belts go out and the Rav 4 sprung an oil leak - that leaked for 300 miles while driving north to south. The Chevy Cavalier lasted long enough to actually sell! The 2 Toyotas we have now - keeping my fingers crossed and looking to St. Christopher for a little help.
No comments:
Post a Comment