[Riverwild]

The man was driving home from the Canadian border with the DS, on a stretch of highway that is virtually empty 99% of the time. He was driving my Lincoln Town Car (89, still in beautiful shape, no dings or dents at all!)
with cruise control on at 65 mph when a car came up from behind him, doing about 80 mph (his estimate). There were no other cars in sight either in front of or in back of him.

The car passed him and immediately pulled halfway into the lane in front of him and slammed on it's brakes and slowed to almost a full stop. He was able to avoid crashing into it by braking hard and pulling into the breakdown lane at the same time. He slid on the guardrail until he stopped, checked out the DS to make sure he had no injury, got out to check the car, and then realized the other car had sped off.

I isolated the DS in another room and heard his side of the story, which jibed with the one the man told me. The DS has a disability and is virtually incapable of lying, very detail oriented and tells his stories with no embellishment and a very flat affect. This was one of the very few times he has shown any emotion in his voice while telling me what happened. He was obviously very frightened when it happened.

I am of the opinion that this was one of those incidents where someone saw that it was a luxury car and tried to stage an accident and when it didn't work out, they sped off to avoid any repercussions. There was no opportunity to get the license plate number and they never saw the car again, even though it is a limited access highway on this northern stretch. He didn't have a cel phone signal to report the incident and decided that since he didn't have any details to give to the police, that he'd let it go and deal with me when he got home.

I'm so thankful that they are both ok, and that the damage is not too bad, but I am really angry that someone would do that to a car with anyone in it, never mind that one of the passengers was a child!!!

The worst part of it all is that I took off the collision coverage last month since the car is 20 years old and the insurance co. would probably never repair it, they'd just total it. I'm sad that such a beautiful machine was damaged through the utter stupidity of some @$$h0!e

Sometimes we here in the sticks think we are isolated from things like this but I truly believe that this was one of those attempts to stage a crash!

[ewizabeth]

I'm sorry RW! But I'm glad that DH and DS are ok.

[Kitty]

I think you're right, RW. It takes someone who virtually has no conscious about doing the wrong thing to do something like this....so I'm glad it didn't work and they left. No telling what they might have done if your DH and son had gotten out of the car!

[braingonebad]

I think you're right too. I'm glad they are both okay, and I hope that moron gets a little karma.

Do you have a trades school around? Ours used to teach hands on. They had a body shop and all the customer paid for was parts, paint, etc. And they did a good job.

[SallyC]

WOW, what a TURD!!! So glad all are ok..

[karousel]

That is just horrible! I'm glad everyone is okay but that was just so wrong to happen in the first place.

[TwoKidsTwoCats]

RW, I'm glad to hear the man and DS are ok. That was either a staged attempt at an accident or a set up for robbery.

Our insurance company recently did a report with one of the tv networks about the staged accidents and how it affects rates for everyone. I see attempts by what I call "accident baiters" almost every time I go out. Most would be minor fender benders, but that one you described would have been a whole lot worse. It's crazy what people will stoop to for money instead of putting effort into a job.

[DM]

That's just wrong, RW!! A sad reminder that there are JERKS out amongst us. So glad that the ole man and DS are ok and I'm sorry your car, which I know you love, took a beating. Good thing it wasn't the ''mouse'' car or things could have really turned out bad.

Moral of the story~ what goes around, comes around, so the ''jerk'' will get his comeuppance eventually. Take care my tall friend.

(hugs)

[AfterMyNap]

RW! Glad the boys are okay, and YES, it does sound exactly like a staged accident to me. A good friend of mine has been in and out of court for over 1.5 years because of one. She was driving a friend's Cattletrack Escalade and in a toll gateway, a beater whipped in front of her and disappeared—he had slowed to a crawl and turned off his lights. She barely tapped his bumper, there was virtually no vehicle damage on either side, and he insisted on a police report.

Fast forward, the jerk is suing her in civil court claiming that the "accident" caused him to get MS of all things! He has seen no less than 11 neuros, not one will dx him with MS, and yet, he persists in this with full vigor. It's ludicrous and my friend is wasting thousands in legal fees for absolutely nothing. So far, her insurance has not paid him one penny and he is persisting. How flippin' obnoxious is that?!?

[Riverwild]

I had to drive the DS home yesterday since the man is displaying his own version of " I have the H1N1 virus" (he's got a cold)

I found the place where it happened on the way home. I found my paint on the guardrail, the brake marks from both sets of tires, and a piece of a lens cover from a sidelight that is inset on the rear quarter panel of my car (I can glue it back into place!)

It absolutely looks like a setup!

Now I wish it had been me in the car, cause I would have chased that #$%^&* down and there would have been injury, but it wouldn't have been me! I'd have planted that steel bumper that is hidden under the pretty chromed rear bumper an inch off his front end and stood that Lincoln on it's nose.

Hey! Maybe I could have claimed that I got MS from the trauma of knowing in advance that he was going to hit me since I have ESP and pre-cognition!