Sadly, just before Thanksgiving I joined the sad lot of losers who've wrecked their Z's.

Its a long ugly story....basically my friend and I were driving somewhere (in separate cars) and got going a bit fast. (109 is what I was clocked at - and we all know on a 4 lane highway that isnt SO fast in a 350Z). Anyway this was going to be my uhm...3rd I guess moving violation since I had gotten the Z at the end of August. I also had moved from out of state and had an out of state license but in-state plates, and a pending ticket for no operator's license because of it.

Yes yes I'm really dumb - but hey it gets better! (or worse that is)..

I droped the gear and got down to < 65mph as soon as I saw breaklights - hardly able to make myself look to the inside berm where the cop who triggered all the breaking sat. He pulled off while still a good distance in front of us. There wasn't much I could do except get another group of tickets (I also had two for no front plate, etc) until I realised that the highway divides right at the spot I was comming to. He had not turned on his lights yet, and frankly - I was really ****ing stoned.

After realizing he had committed to staying on the current highway, it didn't take more than a quarter second of (mindless)deliberation before I cut across 4 lanes of road and guned it.

The best way I've found to describe my feelings at this point was as if day had turned to night (actually it was dusk anyway), but thats the basic 'oh **** this sucks feeling I was experiencing). Either way I had made my move and I commited to it. I remember shifting into 6th at 5th's redline (so ~135) and realising I wasn't going to want to stay on the highway and shifted back to 5th and rode the redline. About 50% of my mind was trying to navigate, 40% was just going OH **** OH ****, and the remaining 10% was doing the actual driving.

This breakdown met with a bad end when I tried to take the first exit (one I was entirely unfamiliar with) at -who knows- what speed. It ended up being a decreasing radius 25mph ramp...I estimate I bounced off the guardrail at about 85. The physics in GT3 are totally realistic!!! Too bad real cars take real damage.

The cops passed by on the highway at first without seeing me. I had already made a phone call or two before they found me, and the helicopter didn't show up until they were cuffing me. I should've ****ing run and reported the car stolen, but at that point I was pretty much resigned to being ****ed. To add insult to injury the cops joked that if I was driving a TT, i'd have made the curve...

I guess I can say 'lesson learned', but damn I'd have thought I already knew better...

My steepest charge is Flee or Evade, which is a misdemenor 1, however seeing as the cop didn't actually turn on his lights, etc I am hoping to plea it down to disorderly conduct (plus my reckless ops, 109 in 65 , no ops, no front plate). We'll see if the lawyers are worth the money or not here pretty soon...



So if you're wondering, Thanksgiving? Why post this now? The bodydamage was pretty superficial really and is mostly repaired. The bulk of the hit was to the suspension. I think I pegged the rail almost horizontally with the drivers side front rim. The tire was still in the wheel well but the rim was not to be found...

They've just informed me though that there are backordered parts which may not be availible for quite some time, including tail lights and tie rods. So....anyone have any ideas on either expediting nissan parts delivery - or maybe someone who totalled their Z but has undamaged tie rods they want to sell??? I know its a shot in the dark but I'm really sick of paying for a rental on top of all my other associated costs! I had 30 day coverage which has long since expired.

If not, hope the story encourages those of you with bad habits and bad instincts to resist temptation.


--disco

 

are you serious? heres the thing... first off prepare to be flamed, only thing saving you from a flaming by me is that you didnt mention anyone else on the highway, so if you were indeed all alone, then your welcome to kill yourself as much as you want, makes no difference to me.

now next thing, you WILL NOT have a liscence for a few years. I promise. so have fun getting raped on the sale of your car since your selling a new car thats been smashed. good news is you wont have to worry about the fact that no insurance company will insure you for about 5 or 6 years.

anyway, hope that was some incredable weed. and I wouldnt worry about finding parts for the car, you got nothing but time on your hands. oh and bus tokens I suppose.

 

Is this post serious?

 

Yikes disco. I'm not gonna be one of those "ra ra ra you are so dumb" people, cause I've gotten into my fair share of deep sh*t with car stuff(nothing as bad as you, but speeding, no insurance etc). I can't imagine it'd be very easy to find a wrecked Z for salvage being as they're still pretty rare, any Z's that are wrecked are probably robbed of any parts by whoever ends up with the car once it's been totaled.

 

That was a great story. If it was true, you're one damn dangerous guy. I suggest you focus on why you would drive at triple digit speeds while stoned, not how you're going to fix your Z so you can be a menace on the road. Running from the cops...this like that TV show World's "Most Dangerous Drivers" or "RealTV"!

 

I probably should've just left the story out, but I can care less if I get flamed. If I didn't seem deeply appologetic to the public at large - sorry. It was not an entirely empty road and I could've easliy killed someone or myself. The gravity of the situation has not escaped me. I am a deeply non-religious person, and the best thing I could think while I was sitting in the back of the cruiser was 'thank god for the guardrail'. If I had run some minivan and its family off the road and killed them, I doubt I could live with myself.

As far as losing my license, note I am facing charges of NO OPS (no operators license). As far as this state is concerned, I do not have a license to lose.

As far as the weed goes, yea it was damn good My new-years resolution is to give up smoking...

 

they can also revoke your right to apply for a liscence. and either way... you could drive without a liscence, but youd also be driving without insurance. hopefully you learned more from than that.

 

Heh. Well, I did something similarily stupid and crashed a 280 ZX when I was a kid too. I just wont admit to the details. Check this: http://www.autosource.ws/Ad/350Z_03_Ad.htm

And, slow down man, it's easy to kick it.

 

You definetly have to get the list of parts that you need and get a hold of NNA. NNA has a parts coordinator that will be able to access their databases and find out the availability of the parts that you need. If you make enough noise they will be able to prioritize the parts and redirect them from the various suppliers. It took me seven weeks to get the front suspension parts that I needed from my wreck.

 

........ahh, the joys of learning the hard way.......I won't dare flame you as I found myself in a much worse situation as a kid--I was clocked at 153 in a 55, tried to run for 9 miles, decided it was over, was pulled out at gunpoint, then blew a .18. My parents left me in jail for 3 days. It only takes one of these to make a sobering impression on you for life. Amazingly, I walked away from it free of any charges, but my punishment was four years with Uncle Sam in the U.S. Navy, which I gladly served. More importantly, I'm still alive to tell the story. Take it easy out there, guys, there's a lot more to life than getting fu**** up and driving fast. Your chances of ending up a smear on a telephone pole are just as good as your chances of making it home safely. Just something to think about. Glad you're o.k.

 

There is no words I can say to express what I feel except.... DUMBASS!!
PS- Just to let you know, if you hit the brakes and went 65, and still got pulled, you'd only have DWI.. but I'm guessing you were too stoned to think?

 

Well No. I didn't get DWI as it was. You can't tell the difference between STONED and STUPID, and as I was both it was even less clear. I'd have gotten a ticket for racing, reckless driving, no ops, speeding, and no front plate had I not run. I traded racing for misdemenor flight and a wrecked car.

As far as my ability to get stopped, yea its totally because I was stoned and in fight or flight mode. I had no plan, and wasn't using any spare cycles for DRIVING. At 135mph, the exit came up fast enough that I only caught the first 3 letters of the street name. My decision to take the exit was very last second, even by 135mph standards. If I decided to take the ramp about 1 full second earlier, and braked hard in a straight line before I got to the curve, Id have totally made it, gotten away, and more than likely learned the wrong lesson. I can't say I'm glad I crashed, but my pattern of poor judgement ended without dying, killing anyone, and with no felony charges.

I probably should've just posed the question about spare parts without the story, but a) my embarassment over the situation has subsided into humility, b) its probably a bit more eye catching with the story and maybe people will be more likely to read it and give me advice on parts (thanks for those of you that have), and c) maybe other fools will think that much longer before making similar decisions.

 

Well this is great. Yet another moron wrecking his Z by doing something stupid. I don' t really care right now, but when my insurance goes up because of dumbasses like you, I will be pissed. Thanks in advance.

 

"let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

I've only got three things to say:

1) good luck on the parts... I know people have been circling in anticipation of salvage parts for the 350z for months...

2) good thing you're okay and no one else was hurt... remember that...

3) I've done some pretty stupid sh*t before too. sometimes I got away, sometimes I got caught... paying the insurance premiums that hit me now makes me wish I had never been such an idiot... consider this... by the time I pay off my car, I would have spent enough on jacked up insurance rates to pay for another 350z. *sigh*

signed,

recovering-moron

 

Nice bed time story.