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-   -   friday the 13th proves unlucky for us... merc gets a dent... (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street-experiences/6293-friday-13th-proves-unlucky-us-merc-gets-dent.html)

i've been meaning to post this for a while now but have just been caught up in a lot of stuff. just to clarify, i live in new york, amrika. this occurence took place last month (may 2005) on a Friday which incidently also happened to be the 13th day of the month. i'm not much of a superstitious person but i do hold a belief in the supernatural.

my wife and me were looking forward to the weekend as we had a lot of activities planned. anyways, so it was the almost the end of the day and i picked her from work a little early. as there was still a little daylight, we decided to drive down to central park and go for a stroll before heading home.

in amrika, we have a yield on left system - which basically means that when the signal turns green, you yield to on coming traffic before making a left turn.

so here i was waiting (at a cross road) to make a left turn at a traffic light. now, there was a car ahead of me facing the opposite direction waiting to make a left turn. as i inched ahead to get a clear view of the road ahead of me a nyc yellow-taxi swerved around this car ahead of me and came straight at me and slammed straight into our car (passenger-side bumper). crash!! and down the drain went our much looked-forward-to plans.

there was a sickening crunch but we never felt an impact as such, so i wasn't expecting much more than a broken headlight glass. well, i was wrong.

anyways, first instinct was to check if my wife was ok - neither of us were scratched - seatbelts kept us in our places and the crunch-zones absorbed the brunt of the impact.
the cab suffered a minor broken cornering light and a teeny dent in the bumper which would be easily repaired/replaced.

needless to say, the cabbie was a desi. nyc cabs are known for their rashness - and desis account for a majority of cab-drivers here. this guy was just upholding his clan's reputation.

called 911 (emergency number, not my porsche..lol) and waited for nypd, who sad to say, took their own sweet-time getting there. waiting for 1/2hr stranded after an accident in peak-hour traffic wasn't a very pleasant experience. reports were filed, registration, insurance information noted and the cops were off.

mr. cabbie in the meantime was busy catching up on his social-life by calling-up all his friends (proudly?!) to say he'd smashed into a s500.

the car was still driveable so off we went, back to our apartment to take some pictures (for insurance purposes), etc. later on at night we drove back to my in-laws place to exchange cars.

dear mom-in-law freaked big-time on seeing her darling baby in such a state - she loves her car and keeps it in immaculate condition all the time. my wife says its like the daughter she never had. i recieved a black mark in my zapiska (read ian flemming to understand this).

anyways, the insurance company was very effective and helpful. damage was assessed and checks dispatched. i took care of other legal matters.
damage came to a whopping $4500. ouch!! thank god for insurance.

the car is back now from the workshop - as good as new!

was a very bad experience and thankfully no-one was hurt but to take place on fri the 13th makes me wonder! hmm! who knows! coincidence or something more? i cannot say.

i won't describe the damage in detail - its assesible from the pictures - i'm posting a couple of them right below this report.
ad

[quote=aah78]damage came to a whopping $4500. ouch!! thank god for insurance.

QUOTE]

BIG OUCH!! Good that the sound came from the Insurance Company and not your wallet ;)

Whether the damage is repaired to 'good-as-new' condition or not, I dont think you will ever be able to forget that 'sickening crunch'. That cabbie needs to be deported. Man I feel bad for you, even though it is not my car. :(

While reading your story, i thought it would have been a bigger impact and consequently caused more damage. But, fortunately, it doesn't look much more than a wrecked bumper...from the pictures.

Surely, GOD did have a lil mercy on your soul....imagine 4500$ worth repairs n without insurance???? lol:

something similar happened to us on friday the 13th a couple of years back. we(2000 C230 Kompressor) were first at a signal and there was a car behind us(nissan maxima) and all of a sudden a cabbie crashed in to the car behind us and he in turn crashed into ours. NY cabbies are also known for braking at the last minute at a red light and this one overestimated the distance between the cars. the tail lights and the rear bumper of the maxima were gone and our bumper had a dent in it and had to be replaced.

agree: thank god for insurance.