sweanders

Wow Mike, that sucks!

Good thing that you are OK!

Remember, now is the ultimate time to upgrade!

Nicole

Congratulations for NOT hitting the kid - this whole thing could have been so much worse (I remember hitting a pedestrian when I was about 18... his fault, he lived, but what a mess)!

Thank god you and your girlfriend were unharmed. You can replace a car.

Is the Police making any attempts to find the kid? Do you or the other driver even have a description of the kid?

Either way, I hope we don't lose you as part of the 928 community. All the best!

Lagavulin

I'm glad to know you and the babe are ok!

CWO4Mann

Hi Mike. You saved the kid's life, you saved your girl friend's life and you saved your own life. Three very important and consequential acts. Obviously your quick reaction, driving expertise, and decision-making ability played important parts in the scenario. I believe that Father God guided you and placed a Wall of Protection around all three of you.

As for the 928 ... it will be reborn in a hundred other 928's all living because of it's sacrifice.

Cheers,

Dave

Thaddeus

Hey, glad you're OK.

I wouldn't feel bad about that car. It saved 3 lives. If it was a human, it would be a hero, right?

Worse ways to go.

Jim_H

Mike,
A very good friend had this to say

"That is really terrible. Poor guy. Not much he could do. I may have hit
the kid to save the car, but that's just my system of values."

Flint

What a ****ty situation to be in. I've had to wrangle with insurance before (not mine, the "person at fault's") and there's all kinds of nasty **** they tried to pull (Even with four injured people! f*cking state farm pieces of...). Really glad you don't have injuries on top of it. All because of one probably stoned kid (skateboard, late at night...think about it).

nee.dragger

[QUOTE=mspiegle]

I thought that if I had tried to make another correction and go for the leftmost lane (where there was slightly more room), there was a possibility I would hit his head and instantly kill him. . . . . . rather quickly and I was aiming to get my car between his foot and the curb. QUOTE]

I would have just kept going straight . . . . thump, thump, 'oh, what was that, a speed bump? Hhmmmmnnnn, didn't even feel it' and would have kept right on driving. Would serve the kid right doing something stupid like that.

Fogey1

JSerio wrote:
"Damn Mike, I am glad for you that you don't have to go the rest of your life with that flashback of running someone over."

I'll second that. I hit a pedestrian on a main drag of the UT campus (26th Street) with my BMW R75/5. She ran in front of me from between parked cars, across the street to catch a shuttle bus coming the other way, looking at it, not where she was going. My right cylinder head turned the middle of her left shin into hamburger.

The shuttle bus driver, who said she was looking at him as she ran out, and five other witnesses stopped and waited for the cops. They all said I couldn't have missed her. I know I tried.

It could have been worse. Her leg could have been between the exhaust and the frame and we'd have gone down tangled. At the moment of impact, as I took the twenty pounds of books she was carrying in the chest, our faces were inches apart. We almost knocked skulls, and I doubt either of us would have survived that at 10-20mph.

When I ran back to her I thought she was OK until I noticed her foot next to her knee.

I visited her once in the hospital. I hope she got good rehab and has more story than deficit.

l and got a call from her lawyer a few weeks after the accident. I sent him the police report and witness statements and never heard from him again.

But it's been twenty-five years and I still wince about it occasionally. IMO, those who say "just run 'em down" are either inexperienced or ethically hopeless. I've killed enough people already.

Red UFO

Michael thanks for sharing this story and the pics. I showed my GF last night and read her the story. I hope when this happens to the next 928 driver and his life flashes infront of them, this story flashes by and maybe helps out in a bad situation.

Normy

Mike-

I'm sad to hear what has happened. Why is it that the sh*ttiest things happen to the nicest people?

-I hope that it's true what people say: "What comes around goes around". That kid deserves to have his pride and joy destroyed in front of him. Hopefully, if it happens to be his car...he'll be as good a driver as you.

N!

jserio

Karma is the mother of all constant in this universe. No one is safe from it.

Normy

Heh! Since the day I bought my car, my mother has looked at it like it was an appliance...but my dad, being a **little** more in the know...has looked at me with this "Ok, it's cool....but DONT you get killed in the damn thing!" look.

My dad "knows" me. My mom doesn't- she's pretty much gone into "lala" land, but that's ok. Many of us have parents that are either unknown, unreportable, unfanthomable, or un- [insert phrase here].

You get the idea-

Anyway, I came to visit my parents tonight, and as of late they have spent a lot more time on their computers, since my dad started his real estate company a few years ago and has well....made a lot of money.

I showed them this thread tonight, and they were impressed! My dad was like "And you say they walked away? How fast was he going, and he and his girlfriend walked away from that? Jesus!" My mom squinting at the screen in the background.

928 Strength- There Is No Substitute-

mspiegle

As I mentioned before, I couldn't believe how "smooth" the crash was. I could hardly feel any of the poles I was hitting. There was a little bump at the end with the tree... but not much. My girlfriend never believed me when I said the car was a tank... but now she knows. I think several people had mentioned "I can't believe you walked away!" to which I replied "Yup, i'm definately buying another 928!"

SteveG

Mike, I'm glad you're both OK. Re the tank concept: Sometimes weight is good. I'm frequently trying to get my brain around what any car, but esp the 928 is doing as it moves thru space. Aren't all vehicles just a big roller skate with some nice looking lightweight panels covering the raggy edges of the motor and suspension? The 928 being the most aerodynamic and pleasing. And I'm trying to understand the Weissach too. Anyway, when I put weight on the flat upper surface of the fender and it gives, I think, boy, that is kinda flimsy, but all it is really meant to do is direct the flow of air around and cover the wheels, and when I release the weight of my hand it springs back, becomes a cosmetic fender again. Anyway, I hope your engine is OK, but I suspect that since your momentum was along the longitudinal plane, obviously all the force was absorbed by the nose, rad, and into the engine. If it were a 911, the front would crumple, different story, but then 911s have a survival mode that frequently puts the engine in the front of the momentum too . That car with all its characteristics prob saved 3 lives.