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F***ing geese! Well, it WAS an accident-free car...

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    F***ing geese! Well, it WAS an accident-free car...

    Yeah, so, because I no longer have garage parking for my Crown Vic (a new toy has taken that garage space), I was going to clean it a bit (something I tend to put off a lot), and then put it up for sale (I'd like to keep using it as a daily driver it, but the 24/7 outdoor exposure to the elements made me uncomfortable - I'd rather sell the two-door to someone who can improve upon it than have it decay with my parking-outside-plus-daily-driving use, and then get myself an "appliance" car for driving to work).....

    AND . . I'd only recently bragged that I, as the second owner, have now put more miles on the car than the first owner did.

    And, yesterday, I was technically involved in a 4 car accident.

    2 lanes each way, wide-ish grass median between the East and West bound sides, but raised slightly, so there's a standard height concrete curbs at the edge of the median. A lot of traffic, so swinging abruptly from the left lane to the right lane was NOT a possibility.

    This involved the left lane.

    Car 1 stops abruptly because geese decided that walking from the grass median to the left lane was totally cool in traffic.

    Car 2 panic stops and tries to swerve left, and hops the curb onto the grass median, and is now half on the median, and half in the left lane. The front right corer of car 2 has collided with the left rear corner of car 1.

    Care 3 (me) panic stops, and moves slightly to the right, but still completely in the left lane, with a little room to spare. Driver of car three breathes a sigh of relief, thinking "Whew, that was a close one!"

    Car 4 panic stops, but not quickly enough, and the front right corner of car 4 collides with the left rear of car 3, pushing the car forward some.



    Doesn't appear that there were any injuries, though I'm always concerned with my neck and will have myself checked out. Damage to body panels ALMOST nonexistent, but the rear bumper is definitely pushed in on the left, and I can't tell if it's twisted upward or not. Left tailpipe slightly crunched.

    All drivers were pretty good natured about the whole thing, nobody ranting or screaming or anything, and it was all four of us basically saying "goddamn geese, should've run 'em over" etc. The geese, no doubt, are fine and having drinks a bar somewhere and laughing over the mayhem they caused.


    More details and possibly some pics to ensue. The police are considering it two separate accidents since I didn't hit the car in front of me. I sincerely hope that they don't write the report as "Black Crown Victoria stopped for no reason..." or some crap like that.


    But still... I was proud of it being a 2-owner, accident-free car.

    On the other hand, considering how non-blatant appearing the outward damage was, the other drivers were saying "I need to get one of those" and I replied with "Let the bidding start now..."
    1987 Ford LTD Crown Victoria 2-door Coupe - perpetually "sort of" for sale...
    Black with Red cloth (velour?) interior.
    Purchased on 10/10/2008, with only 70,386 original miles, and only ONE previous owner.
    Reader's Ride post, First pic with "new" rims, Other pics with "new" rims

    #2
    Well firstly, glad to hear you're alright, and secondly, fucking geese. Any animal I figure won't damage my car i'll run right over if there's no way around it. Just a pisser that so many people on the road don't share this credo. Hopefully you can get her fixed up and back on the road without any major drama. Bummer all way around though. Are you going to run over the next goose you see in the road? I would, little bastards...

    Comment


      #3
      Good luck, they can't really write it up at all like 'black crown vic stopped for no reason.' You stopped for halted traffic ahead in the lane. Or "because of the accident ahead." No worries, glad everyone was okay.

      Sent from my XT557 using Tapatalk 2
      ,
      Slicktop '91 GS HO 4.30 rear. '82 Mark VI Tudor HO, '90 F-150 XLT, '62 project Heep, '89 Arizona Waggin' and '88 donor in PA, getting combined.

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by knucklehead0202 View Post
        Well firstly, glad to hear you're alright, and secondly, fucking geese. Any animal I figure won't damage my car i'll run right over if there's no way around it. Just a pisser that so many people on the road don't share this credo. Hopefully you can get her fixed up and back on the road without any major drama. Bummer all way around though. Are you going to run over the next goose you see in the road? I would, little bastards...

        It's as if people would rather save an animal than save a person nowadays..
        1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
        1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

        Comment


          #5
          If anything goes it's the 1st driver'side fault for slaming on the brakes and causing any collisions. Always better to hit the animal than slam the brakes or swerve. Only time I would do either of those is if a little kid ran into the street.
          88 Town Car (wrecked, for sale)
          Walker OEM duals with muffler deletes

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by 88Vic View Post
            If anything goes it's the 1st driver'side fault for slaming on the brakes and causing any collisions. Always better to hit the animal than slam the brakes or swerve. Only time I would do either of those is if a little kid ran into the street.
            Teenage girl died swerving for "precious animal" in the road, ended up halfway up a telephone pole or something back when I was in HS. Turn anything that steps out in front of you, four legs or two, into hamburger.
            ,
            Slicktop '91 GS HO 4.30 rear. '82 Mark VI Tudor HO, '90 F-150 XLT, '62 project Heep, '89 Arizona Waggin' and '88 donor in PA, getting combined.

            Comment


              #7
              Seems like YOU are the only one not at fault for any of it.
              V-1 Improper turning movement. At fault. 50%
              V-2 Following to close. At fault 50%

              V1- Your calling yourself V-3 No fault. You did not hit anyone. You stopped due to hazard. If you hit V-2 you would be including in first collision.
              V2- Your calling it V-4 Following to close. At fault !00 % It is considered a second collision.

              In some states, Insurance companies assign fault. Some states may have different criteria for establishing accident classification.

              Comment


                #8
                I had a very similar accident setup happen years back. Initial cause was an asshole cutting someone off, but same sort of result. I avoided the car in front of me, the person behind me hit me. 2 accidents. Cops determined the guy that hit me was at fault because he was either too close or not paying enough attention. I wouldn't worry about that much if I were you.
                86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
                5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

                91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

                1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

                Originally posted by phayzer5
                I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

                Comment


                  #9
                  Yeah, I'm guessing I don't have much to worry about . . just a bad experience about 12 years earlier in the next town over from the one where this accident occurred. Was the fault of the typical "sweet little 70-odd year old lady" who was local, as compared to the young, long-haired guy not from the area. There were some interesting omissions in the police report for that one.


                  But this one seems, to me, straightforward.

                  For what it's worth, as well, while I can agree with the idea of not trying to avoid hitting an animal when it runs out in front of you, I think it's just human nature that if anything suddenly gets in front of you (child, squirrel, wildebeest, plastic garbage can) abruptly, you tend to react before thinking. I can't really fault the first driver for that... I suspect that if I were in that position, I'd hit the brakes, then after the fact berate myself with "Why didn't I just run the fucking goose down?!?"

                  Just to teach other geese a lesson, though, I'm tempted to go all psychotic-cartoon-character, run down geese individually, stop, get out of my car, and, as the goose lays there dying... put out a cigarette on its head (I don't smoke), and growl out "This is a lesson for all the rest of your kind" with my best Clint Eastwood/Tommy Lee Jones type of squint....

                  Still got to get my neck checked out, though. I am NOT taking a chance on that.


                  My initial inspection makes me think that only the hydraulic at the end of the rear left of the frame rail has been compromised. Pushed in almost completely. There's an odd bit of slgiht damage to the left quarter panel - seems like the very front-edge of the rear bumper where it wraps around the side hit the body momentarily . . about an inch or so ahead of where the bumper now is! Makes me wonder if the bumper momentarily bent further then sprung back a little.
                  1987 Ford LTD Crown Victoria 2-door Coupe - perpetually "sort of" for sale...
                  Black with Red cloth (velour?) interior.
                  Purchased on 10/10/2008, with only 70,386 original miles, and only ONE previous owner.
                  Reader's Ride post, First pic with "new" rims, Other pics with "new" rims

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Well, I'll be seeing a doctor on Thursday, and setting the other driver's insurance company's adjuster on Thursday. It's Geico.

                    Anything I should be wary of? I've never actually had an insurer appraise damage to my car before...
                    1987 Ford LTD Crown Victoria 2-door Coupe - perpetually "sort of" for sale...
                    Black with Red cloth (velour?) interior.
                    Purchased on 10/10/2008, with only 70,386 original miles, and only ONE previous owner.
                    Reader's Ride post, First pic with "new" rims, Other pics with "new" rims

                    Comment


                      #11
                      No advice with the insurance adjuster, but I wish you the best of luck both with the neck and the car. Hopefully this all comes out alright. Fuckin' geese...

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Bring all recent (last 2 years) maintenance and repair receipts with you just in case. Piles of documentation on a car generally help get more value. Put it all in chronological order too. Make it as OCD as possible.

                        Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -- Albert Einstein
                        rides: 93 Crown Vic LX (The Red Velvet Cake), 2000 Crown Vic base model (Sandy), 2003 Expedition (the vacation beast)

                        Originally posted by gadget73
                        ... and it should all work like magic and unicorns and stuff.

                        Originally posted by dmccaig
                        Overhead, some poor bastards are flying in airplanes.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          +1 on documentation. My stack of receipts was good for nearly 4 grand when my car got backed into. If you feel the need, find a truly comparable car as well. Not just an 80s Vic, but a similar mileage one with cosmetics and such similar to yours.
                          Last edited by gadget73; 08-18-2015, 05:05 PM.
                          86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
                          5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

                          91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

                          1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

                          Originally posted by phayzer5
                          I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

                          Comment


                            #14
                            I tried that documentation route when my car was being adjusted and Progressive did not care at all about my receipts. Maybe it's just Progressive but good luck with that.
                            1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
                            1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Never hurts to try I guess. The money they offered me for my car was just an insult. I could have gotten as much driving the thing to the scales myself. It was something like $850 minus a $500 deductible. At the time, the price of steel was enough that I could have gotten that much without waiting.
                              86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
                              5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

                              91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

                              1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

                              Originally posted by phayzer5
                              I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

                              Comment

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