veedub_cabbie
07-01-2008, 11:04 AM
The day was Saturday. I just got back from culinary school and my friends and I were gearing up for a party to kick-off the summer. We were going to have Jello wrestling, strippers, beer-pong, jello shots, Fubar, fireworks and other festivities.
During the day, we drove around trying to find beer-pong balls and got into some verbal altercations with some Carbondalians (aka. Street Garbage). We were a little grizzed, but we got our beer-pong balls and returned to the house.
Over the weekend, I had been driving my Cabrio with the top-down and decided to get behind something with a little more torque. I pulled the cover off of my 92 Mustang LX notchback 5.0. 350HP!!! I have been working on it for a couple of years, but never get the chance to drive it anymore with the way gas prices are nowadays. But I made an exception that weekend because I needed to run it and I had to blow off some steam. What better way than to drive like a bat out of hell?!
I hooked up the battery, checked the fluids and then cranked it. She roared to life and sang her glory to the world. I got in and pulled it out of the driveway and worked the clutch until it wasn't so tight. I let it idle for about 20 minutes and then I took it down the road. I brought it down to a local restaurant about a mile away, turned around and headed back. I was driving like a maniac on these windy country roads, doing about 90 in 4th gear. I came up on a hill and at the bottom of the hill I saw a little blue Saab convertible in front of me. I braked and down-shifted into 3rd as I was going over the crest of the hill. I lost the back-end and started to slide. I tried to correct, but ended up in a 180, and slid towards the embankment on the opposite side of the road. As soon as I realized I was no longer in control, I let go of the wheel and put my life in ***'s hands.
I hit the embankment and panicked when I realized that for the first time in 5 years, I got into a car and drove without a seatbelt on. The car took out a 40MPH sign and launched into the air. I flew up over the driver's seat and into the back as the car spun twice in the air and finally landed in the middle of the road on its roof facing the direction I was originally driving. I was conscious for the whole accident, but when I realized what had just happened, I was in the back, technically on the ceiling in the fetal position. I reached up and hit the seat-release latch so I could crawl out the 18" opening in the passenger side window. I got out of the car and ran back to my in-laws' house with a piece of glass in my foot.
When I got to their dirt road, my wife was in my Cabrio with my friend Lauren. They asked if I was okay and said they heard the accident from the house. I told them I "totaled it. I flipped the damn thing."
They drove off toward the accident and I limped to the house, where my friend megan helped pull glass from my foot. I knew I'd have to go with my father-in-law in his F550 to flip my car back over and try to get it out of there before the cops got to the scene. After I hopped in the truck I started to realize how lucky I was to be alive. I looked at my wrist and noticed it was severely road-rashed and a little busted up, but not broken. I was lucky I wasn't cut in half.
We arrived back on the scene before anyone else got there and hooked the chain up to the frame of the car. I was astonished at the wreckage that sat before me. If I had my seatbelt on, I would have been killed.
The truck backed up and pulled the car back onto its wheels. Unfortunately the car was no longer in gear after the crash and rolled down the opposite embankment towards the lake at the bottom of the hill. We tried again to attach the chain and pull it out, but then the fire chief arrived and ordered us to put the chains away and leave the car there.
I climbed back up the bank and met my wife on the road. She was mad, but she was just scared and thankful that I was still alive. The ambulance came, the fire trucks came, the fire police came, and then the cops came. I then realized how screwed I was for being so damn stupid. The car had no inspection, no registration, and no insurance. It was all expired because I hadn't driven it in so long. With the recklessness and the speeding, I was facing like 8 or 9 fines. probably close to $10K.
The tow truck came and winched my car out of the lake and took its corpse to the tow-shop. ($400!!!) After that, we regrouped and drove back to the house to recover.
I called my folks and told them what happened, and they were just glad I was okay. I didn't feel okay. I felt like an i***t; a loser! At the age of 22, and Iraq-war veteran, married with a 7-month old son, I should know better! That day I made a horrible descision which could have been detrimental to my family. I showered and regrouped. I realized my nose had been smashed off of the steering wheel, my knee got bashed up, my wrist was killing me, and my hand was severely bruised. But, I didn't have a concussion, I wasn't lying in half, and most of all, I wasn't dead!
I have *** to thank for my miraculous survival after a ridiculously stupid decision to get behind the wheel to blow off some steam. Just because you have speed, doesn't mean you have to use it. If you're going to use it, you have to respect it. I don't know if I'm going to lose my license but I certainly deserve to. I deserve every fine I'm going to have to pay. I will pay for my stupidity and ignorance for a long time, but I hope to teach people to respect speed and power and to not abuse it. Every day is a gift. After you unwrap it, enjoy it; Don't throw it away.
In conclusion, 2 hours after the accident, we had one KICK-ASS Jello party and everyone got drunk and naked and, the sober ones drove us down to the lake on our private road to set off fireworks. We all lived happily ever after. The end. (pics coming next week)
During the day, we drove around trying to find beer-pong balls and got into some verbal altercations with some Carbondalians (aka. Street Garbage). We were a little grizzed, but we got our beer-pong balls and returned to the house.
Over the weekend, I had been driving my Cabrio with the top-down and decided to get behind something with a little more torque. I pulled the cover off of my 92 Mustang LX notchback 5.0. 350HP!!! I have been working on it for a couple of years, but never get the chance to drive it anymore with the way gas prices are nowadays. But I made an exception that weekend because I needed to run it and I had to blow off some steam. What better way than to drive like a bat out of hell?!
I hooked up the battery, checked the fluids and then cranked it. She roared to life and sang her glory to the world. I got in and pulled it out of the driveway and worked the clutch until it wasn't so tight. I let it idle for about 20 minutes and then I took it down the road. I brought it down to a local restaurant about a mile away, turned around and headed back. I was driving like a maniac on these windy country roads, doing about 90 in 4th gear. I came up on a hill and at the bottom of the hill I saw a little blue Saab convertible in front of me. I braked and down-shifted into 3rd as I was going over the crest of the hill. I lost the back-end and started to slide. I tried to correct, but ended up in a 180, and slid towards the embankment on the opposite side of the road. As soon as I realized I was no longer in control, I let go of the wheel and put my life in ***'s hands.
I hit the embankment and panicked when I realized that for the first time in 5 years, I got into a car and drove without a seatbelt on. The car took out a 40MPH sign and launched into the air. I flew up over the driver's seat and into the back as the car spun twice in the air and finally landed in the middle of the road on its roof facing the direction I was originally driving. I was conscious for the whole accident, but when I realized what had just happened, I was in the back, technically on the ceiling in the fetal position. I reached up and hit the seat-release latch so I could crawl out the 18" opening in the passenger side window. I got out of the car and ran back to my in-laws' house with a piece of glass in my foot.
When I got to their dirt road, my wife was in my Cabrio with my friend Lauren. They asked if I was okay and said they heard the accident from the house. I told them I "totaled it. I flipped the damn thing."
They drove off toward the accident and I limped to the house, where my friend megan helped pull glass from my foot. I knew I'd have to go with my father-in-law in his F550 to flip my car back over and try to get it out of there before the cops got to the scene. After I hopped in the truck I started to realize how lucky I was to be alive. I looked at my wrist and noticed it was severely road-rashed and a little busted up, but not broken. I was lucky I wasn't cut in half.
We arrived back on the scene before anyone else got there and hooked the chain up to the frame of the car. I was astonished at the wreckage that sat before me. If I had my seatbelt on, I would have been killed.
The truck backed up and pulled the car back onto its wheels. Unfortunately the car was no longer in gear after the crash and rolled down the opposite embankment towards the lake at the bottom of the hill. We tried again to attach the chain and pull it out, but then the fire chief arrived and ordered us to put the chains away and leave the car there.
I climbed back up the bank and met my wife on the road. She was mad, but she was just scared and thankful that I was still alive. The ambulance came, the fire trucks came, the fire police came, and then the cops came. I then realized how screwed I was for being so damn stupid. The car had no inspection, no registration, and no insurance. It was all expired because I hadn't driven it in so long. With the recklessness and the speeding, I was facing like 8 or 9 fines. probably close to $10K.
The tow truck came and winched my car out of the lake and took its corpse to the tow-shop. ($400!!!) After that, we regrouped and drove back to the house to recover.
I called my folks and told them what happened, and they were just glad I was okay. I didn't feel okay. I felt like an i***t; a loser! At the age of 22, and Iraq-war veteran, married with a 7-month old son, I should know better! That day I made a horrible descision which could have been detrimental to my family. I showered and regrouped. I realized my nose had been smashed off of the steering wheel, my knee got bashed up, my wrist was killing me, and my hand was severely bruised. But, I didn't have a concussion, I wasn't lying in half, and most of all, I wasn't dead!
I have *** to thank for my miraculous survival after a ridiculously stupid decision to get behind the wheel to blow off some steam. Just because you have speed, doesn't mean you have to use it. If you're going to use it, you have to respect it. I don't know if I'm going to lose my license but I certainly deserve to. I deserve every fine I'm going to have to pay. I will pay for my stupidity and ignorance for a long time, but I hope to teach people to respect speed and power and to not abuse it. Every day is a gift. After you unwrap it, enjoy it; Don't throw it away.
In conclusion, 2 hours after the accident, we had one KICK-ASS Jello party and everyone got drunk and naked and, the sober ones drove us down to the lake on our private road to set off fireworks. We all lived happily ever after. The end. (pics coming next week)