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You just can't win when it comes to that.
Joey's Cooper Thread; Suspension Thoughts
- Thread starter Joey D
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You just can't win when it comes to that.
- 4,728
- ferrari_chris
From an educated guess, I think this is where the incident occured:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=E+Silverbell+Rd,+Lake+Orion,+Oakland,+Michigan+48360,+United+States&jsv=107&sll=42.785717,-83.232894&sspn=0.011606,0.019999&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=0,42.723440,-83.228360&ll=42.723095,-83.240605&spn=0.001452,0.0025&t=h&z=19
Matches the pic you drew Joey.
Shows the lane just forming outside your house and all that.
I guess a speed like that does seem pretty fast to be approaching a group of stopped traffic, then pulling off into a non-existent lane.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=E+Silverbell+Rd,+Lake+Orion,+Oakland,+Michigan+48360,+United+States&jsv=107&sll=42.785717,-83.232894&sspn=0.011606,0.019999&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=0,42.723440,-83.228360&ll=42.723095,-83.240605&spn=0.001452,0.0025&t=h&z=19
Matches the pic you drew Joey.
Shows the lane just forming outside your house and all that.
I guess a speed like that does seem pretty fast to be approaching a group of stopped traffic, then pulling off into a non-existent lane.
Joey D
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Woah creepy, you found my house 
.
Anyways here is the drawing I did in class. This matches what it looked like to the best of my knowledge.
As far as I know there was at least one car behind the Trailblazer but I'm foggy on whether there were more or not.
.Anyways here is the drawing I did in class. This matches what it looked like to the best of my knowledge.
As far as I know there was at least one car behind the Trailblazer but I'm foggy on whether there were more or not.
- 3,987
- Gaithersburg/MD
- landseaair
where is the stoplight?
Joey D
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She was going a bit fast for the situation. She obviously didn't see Joey, and It looks like he wasn't too far in the road, so he would be far easier to see than the cars lined up just off to his right. But from the looks of it, she didn't have to be very far off into the shoulder to pass the cars in the main lane.
She certainly shouldn't have been making such a move at that speed, but I think you are going to have a hard time fighting it. You can't blame it on her doing something that 99.99% of the time would be perfectly safe but with just a little lack of judgment when it looks like she was technically in the road before she hit you and you technically should have yielded. But I think her driving was sketchy enough that you can probably fight it pretty well if you can put a really good argument together.
She certainly shouldn't have been making such a move at that speed, but I think you are going to have a hard time fighting it. You can't blame it on her doing something that 99.99% of the time would be perfectly safe but with just a little lack of judgment when it looks like she was technically in the road before she hit you and you technically should have yielded. But I think her driving was sketchy enough that you can probably fight it pretty well if you can put a really good argument together.
- 3,987
- Gaithersburg/MD
- landseaair
Here is a zoomed out view:
hmmm... since there is no division saying when you can enter the new lane I don't know how much luck you are going to have. I do see what you're saying about her probably having to go off the road to get into the lane the way she did but without witnesses you are going to have trouble proving it. Just keep refining the drawings!
Joey D
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I still couldn't have yield because I was already in the road before she entered the road, as I've said I can not yield to was is not there. And move like she did is never safe during rush hour traffic near my home. I plan on taking pictures next week to show how bad it is at the time I was hit.
I think I will be able to fight it with little issue and even if they don't find her at fault, which I can't imagine they will, I still think I can get the ticket thrown out. Plus I'll have lawyer which always helps.
I think I will be able to fight it with little issue and even if they don't find her at fault, which I can't imagine they will, I still think I can get the ticket thrown out. Plus I'll have lawyer which always helps.
Joey D
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To give an idea of what the end of my driveway looks like I snapped some photos.
This is about where my car was positioned but more in the road when the girl hit me. As you can see there isn't much room on the side of the road and there were cars at least all the way down to my neighbour's mail box. The lane as far as I know starts where the concrete curb ends.
And here is looking down at the stop light, the cars were backed up almost to my mail box which means if she didn't hit me she probably would have rear ended the person stopped there for the light.
**Damn I always hit the wrong button, I fail**
This is about where my car was positioned but more in the road when the girl hit me. As you can see there isn't much room on the side of the road and there were cars at least all the way down to my neighbour's mail box. The lane as far as I know starts where the concrete curb ends.
And here is looking down at the stop light, the cars were backed up almost to my mail box which means if she didn't hit me she probably would have rear ended the person stopped there for the light.
**Damn I always hit the wrong button, I fail**
- 1,397
coupla things
a) regardless of if the lady in the tahoe/ trailblazer waved you in, traffic on the road still had right of way. you have to yield to all of them. its not like a four way stop sign where each one gets a turn to go. imagine a t junction with the upright part of the t having a stop sign. the person approaching on that side has to yield to all traffic. so if someone is trying to let you filter in, but the people going the ther way are not, you still have to wait until it is safe for you to join the flow of traffic. and that is what you were trying to do, join the traffic.
b) this is what really kills any argument you may make. the fact that the dividing line as seen from the satellite image is right before your driveway technically means its a two lane road at that juncture, and she had every right to be there, in the rightmost lane, going about her business on the phone with her boyfriend/ agent (hey, i live in los angeles) or whoever. if your car is faced the direction of traffic, then she is entirely responsible for hitting you. but you were perpendicular to traffic, so she is not. you were blocking/ obstructing the lane.
the way i see it, your only defense is that she was not paying attention to the road, realised she was going to go into the back of the trailblazer, and averted that by going off into the lane you were in and t boning you.
a) regardless of if the lady in the tahoe/ trailblazer waved you in, traffic on the road still had right of way. you have to yield to all of them. its not like a four way stop sign where each one gets a turn to go. imagine a t junction with the upright part of the t having a stop sign. the person approaching on that side has to yield to all traffic. so if someone is trying to let you filter in, but the people going the ther way are not, you still have to wait until it is safe for you to join the flow of traffic. and that is what you were trying to do, join the traffic.
b) this is what really kills any argument you may make. the fact that the dividing line as seen from the satellite image is right before your driveway technically means its a two lane road at that juncture, and she had every right to be there, in the rightmost lane, going about her business on the phone with her boyfriend/ agent (hey, i live in los angeles) or whoever. if your car is faced the direction of traffic, then she is entirely responsible for hitting you. but you were perpendicular to traffic, so she is not. you were blocking/ obstructing the lane.
the way i see it, your only defense is that she was not paying attention to the road, realised she was going to go into the back of the trailblazer, and averted that by going off into the lane you were in and t boning you.
- 40,683
I think this mostly depends on the judge, really. Legally, Joey is screwed. However, the judge may see it with Joey's point of view, either that he couldn't yield when nobody was actually there or that she was unfit to drive due to being on her phone. I bet the former may happen before the latter (and I personally think one of them will happen rather than Joey losing), which does at least relieve Joey of his ticket. Laws are open to interpretation, after all.
Joey D
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I was barely blocking a lane of traffic because the lane doesn't really start until my driveway. She had to have driven on the shoulder to pass stop vehicles, if she would have entered where and when she was supposed to by law she would have hit the front of my car and not the side.
As I've said there was nothing for me to yield to when I pulled out of my driveway so I couldn't have failed to do so. She should have gotten a ticket for impaired driving since she was on her phone and passing on the shoulder which is illegal. The most ticket I should have received was the impeding traffic which is exactly what I was doing I suppose.
As I've said there was nothing for me to yield to when I pulled out of my driveway so I couldn't have failed to do so. She should have gotten a ticket for impaired driving since she was on her phone and passing on the shoulder which is illegal. The most ticket I should have received was the impeding traffic which is exactly what I was doing I suppose.
- 10,620
- gtp_jimprower
so, do you HAVE a court date set? it sounds like you have something of a case, but I do know that there is a money issue, here, and, as much as I regret it, upper-middle class people tend to win these things. Wouldn't surprise me if the parents were lawyers, either.
Joey D
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I'll know in six weeks when my court date is, I appealed the ticket yesterday. Yay sixth amendment!!! The lady who processed my ticket said 12-14 weeks to appear in court.
And I guess I am upper-middle class and I will have a lawyer so it shouldn't be to bad I would guess.
- 10,620
- gtp_jimprower
Sounds good. All I can say is good luck.
Keef
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- Dayton, OH
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I suggest you whip out a tape measure and start talking to a lawyer instead of us if you want to defend that. But even if she does get cited for driving illegally on the shoulder, you certainly will still get your ticket for your violation of the right of way. I don't think you understand that what you did was illegal. It's illegal to stop and be kind to a person leaving a lot or driveway: obstruction of traffic. It's illegal to do what you did because it's a violation of the right of way. And if you can prove it then apparently what the girl did is illegal too. You were all wrong.
And the green light/fueling station issue is a technicality. Depends on the situation. Of course, this is America and everything has loopholes. That's how my cousin used his lawyer to get his DUI reduced to a misdemeanor. He wasn't actually driving, but was outside the car parked in a private lot.
+1 agreed and this is how court will see it too. Sorry Joey. However the bigger thing is not the ticket but rather the damage itself.
Joey D
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Since you guys weren't there I'm going to say we just end this now. I know what happened and I don't believe I was at fault, neither did the officer on the scene. And since this is just a debate that is going no where I will just throw a lock on this thread until something else happens with the car.
Joey D
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Update Time
I finally had my day in court today after waiting nearly two months for it. Other then thinking the courts are rather lame, it didn't go all that bad. I saw a magistrate, which was expect, but she could not have cared less to what I was saying. I went with drawings, photographs, and even some Hot Wheels cars so I could demonstrate my side of the story. Oh well, after talking for a couple of minutes the magistrate said she would reduce the citation to Impeding Traffic...which honestly it what it should have been in the first place. It was $100, no points, and doesn't show up on my driving record. It just seemed like a way for the State of Michigan to make money off me. Oh well, could have been worse I suppose.
===
I hit 11,000 miles yesterday, not bad for seven months of owning the car. So far everything is going good although I am having some trouble with the brakes, the squeal when they get warm. The dealer is going to take a look at it next week for me, but they told me that if there was any sort of brake wear I would have an indication on the OBC. I'm not to worried but I would like it looked at to make sure there isn't an issue.
I have a few criticisms of the car now that I have driven it through the various seasons. The A/C feels a bit asthmatic and isn't as powerful as other cars I have been in, maybe that's due to the small size of the engine? Also when the A/C is on the car's power is drastically down and you can feel it. This annoyed me a bit since I prefer the A/C to having the windows down.
My other criticism is that the seats aren't very comfortable over a long distance, driving around today for instance where I was in the car for three hours straight made my back hurt and I was uncomfortable. The Blazer's seats were like big comfy chairs, although offered no support from any sort of lateral g.
The windscreen wipers are still a bit of a puzzle to, I can get them to go on and I can make them go really fast, but I haven't figured out the intermittent setting yet. Althought I haven't had much need to, but I still would like to know.
The stock tires are damn near useless as well in anything other then dry weather conditions, I will be ditching them fairly soon in favour of a good set of all seasons.
The other little annoyance is the size of the cup holder, it's to small and it doesn't fit my bottles of Perrier very well. Also there is only three cup holders for a car that seats four, which makes no sense, and the one rear cup holder has the ash try in it filled with quarters.
Granted these are all rather minor things in the long run and I can get used to them.
There are many things I do love about the car though, mainly the fuel mileage. I get anywhere from 35-40 mpg in the city depending on how I drive, the weather conditions, the amount I'm using the A/C and anything else that affects mileage. This is good since the number one reason I bought the car was because of it's stellar fuel economy and not having the hybrid stigma attached to it.
I like the sportiness of it (with the A/C off mind you), the suspension is tight, the 6-speed gear box is responsive and lets you really rev it out if you desire, and the brakes are awesome (even though they squeal). I still haven't been to an autocross yet so I have no idea what the car can really do, or even 50% of what it can do. I try not to wreck the car so when I'm on main roads I try to drive as safe as possible, although as well all know accidents can and do happen...no one is immune.
It isn't as small as everyone makes it out to be either, my 250lbs, 6'3" buddy rode in the back and said it wasn't bad for running a couple miles to a restaurant or store. I agree it isn't going to be an S-class back there but it's not awful. I've manage to surprise myself on a couple occasions when buying things a Costco, if you play Tetris you can really pack it in the car.
===
I got my bonnet stripes put back on today and I think they botched it, they are bubbly and looks like sort of a quick job. I think I'm going to return it to the collision shop and make them redo it.
I finally had my day in court today after waiting nearly two months for it. Other then thinking the courts are rather lame, it didn't go all that bad. I saw a magistrate, which was expect, but she could not have cared less to what I was saying. I went with drawings, photographs, and even some Hot Wheels cars so I could demonstrate my side of the story. Oh well, after talking for a couple of minutes the magistrate said she would reduce the citation to Impeding Traffic...which honestly it what it should have been in the first place. It was $100, no points, and doesn't show up on my driving record. It just seemed like a way for the State of Michigan to make money off me. Oh well, could have been worse I suppose.
===
I hit 11,000 miles yesterday, not bad for seven months of owning the car. So far everything is going good although I am having some trouble with the brakes, the squeal when they get warm. The dealer is going to take a look at it next week for me, but they told me that if there was any sort of brake wear I would have an indication on the OBC. I'm not to worried but I would like it looked at to make sure there isn't an issue.
I have a few criticisms of the car now that I have driven it through the various seasons. The A/C feels a bit asthmatic and isn't as powerful as other cars I have been in, maybe that's due to the small size of the engine? Also when the A/C is on the car's power is drastically down and you can feel it. This annoyed me a bit since I prefer the A/C to having the windows down.
My other criticism is that the seats aren't very comfortable over a long distance, driving around today for instance where I was in the car for three hours straight made my back hurt and I was uncomfortable. The Blazer's seats were like big comfy chairs, although offered no support from any sort of lateral g.
The windscreen wipers are still a bit of a puzzle to, I can get them to go on and I can make them go really fast, but I haven't figured out the intermittent setting yet. Althought I haven't had much need to, but I still would like to know.
The stock tires are damn near useless as well in anything other then dry weather conditions, I will be ditching them fairly soon in favour of a good set of all seasons.
The other little annoyance is the size of the cup holder, it's to small and it doesn't fit my bottles of Perrier very well. Also there is only three cup holders for a car that seats four, which makes no sense, and the one rear cup holder has the ash try in it filled with quarters.
Granted these are all rather minor things in the long run and I can get used to them.
There are many things I do love about the car though, mainly the fuel mileage. I get anywhere from 35-40 mpg in the city depending on how I drive, the weather conditions, the amount I'm using the A/C and anything else that affects mileage. This is good since the number one reason I bought the car was because of it's stellar fuel economy and not having the hybrid stigma attached to it.
I like the sportiness of it (with the A/C off mind you), the suspension is tight, the 6-speed gear box is responsive and lets you really rev it out if you desire, and the brakes are awesome (even though they squeal). I still haven't been to an autocross yet so I have no idea what the car can really do, or even 50% of what it can do. I try not to wreck the car so when I'm on main roads I try to drive as safe as possible, although as well all know accidents can and do happen...no one is immune.
It isn't as small as everyone makes it out to be either, my 250lbs, 6'3" buddy rode in the back and said it wasn't bad for running a couple miles to a restaurant or store. I agree it isn't going to be an S-class back there but it's not awful. I've manage to surprise myself on a couple occasions when buying things a Costco, if you play Tetris you can really pack it in the car.
===
I got my bonnet stripes put back on today and I think they botched it, they are bubbly and looks like sort of a quick job. I think I'm going to return it to the collision shop and make them redo it.
- 4,728
- ferrari_chris
Wow, you got off! Well done.
I'd like too see photos of you playing with Hot Wheels in court though, that'd be hilarious.
Oh, and I'd take it back (again) if you're not happy with the stripes. 👍
I'd like too see photos of you playing with Hot Wheels in court though, that'd be hilarious.
Oh, and I'd take it back (again) if you're not happy with the stripes. 👍
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- It/It
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Joey D
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- Lakes of the North, MI
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I can still beat you in a corner and in parking in very small spots
.As for the mileage, I really don't know how I drove that much, I was lucky to do 12,000 a year with the Blazer. I'll easily go 20,000 by November since I have a couple road trips coming up. The tour of the thumb area will be this weekend, a run to Traverse City area and North Manitou Island, and probably a run to Grand Rapids over the 4th of July long weekend. I guess I just like to drive.
You never know how visual people are going to be, I figured Hot Wheels were the way to go...I even brought my little Cooper one too
. I am going to take back the striped but the place really isn't convent for me to get to. They are open 9-5 Monday through Friday, the problem is I'm working or at school during those times and I hate having to take time off of work. Although I'll probably have the dealer look at them next week and help me figure out a course of action. Give one a driver, you'll love it. The only big complaint I have about the car during the buying process if you get one new is that they suffer from BMWiditis, where as the simple fan it's sort of a BMW makes it that much more expensive. If you don't find the Cooper to your liking the Toyota Yaris is another fun little vehicle, along with the Honda Fit.
Americans and their obsession with frakking cup-holders!!!
- Glad to see you've got your car back and only a minor fine at court 👍
I know, there was actually a column in Bill Bryson's I'm a Stranger Here Myself that covers this perfectly, it talked about how the average American car has something like an average of 2.4 cup holders per person. I just want to put my bottle of water in something, although my passengers are always trying to bring something along. I don't allow anything other then water in my car, if you want to have a Coke you can do so in someone else's vehicle. The last thing I want is a gooey, sticky mess.
===
And thanks for the words about getting off the ticket. I was not guilty of "Failing to Yield" however I will concede that I was guilty of "Impeding the Flow of Traffic", so the fine was justified. I was just really hoping the officer wouldn't show up and I would get out of the whole thing.
===
New problem with the car has arisen, apparently my front wind screen has a decent size crack in it now. Damn gravel haulers that don't tarp their loads
. So I need to get it replaced, only thing is where do I take it? My mom says the insurance should cover it after a $100 deductible. Would the dealer be the best bet?
- 10,620
- gtp_jimprower
There's actually a service in my city (Jolliff Glass) that will come to your house and do that for a reasonable price. Got the windshield on mom's Cabrio fixed pretty quickly, and it's quite professionally done.
See if there's a service like that in your city, and see if anyone you know has used it. Shop around, check the dealer, too, remember to check the reputation of anyone you check on for this service. otherwise, you could get nasty whistles and other noises from poorly sealed windshields.
See if there's a service like that in your city, and see if anyone you know has used it. Shop around, check the dealer, too, remember to check the reputation of anyone you check on for this service. otherwise, you could get nasty whistles and other noises from poorly sealed windshields.
- 3,704
All those years of playing Tetris are finally going to pay off. Can you add the supercharger later if you want to on the base models? and make it "S" esque....
Joey D
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- Lakes of the North, MI
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All those years of playing Tetris are finally going to pay off. Can you add the supercharger later if you want to on the base models? and make it "S" esque....
The R56 models were switched over to turbos, but ya I could add it on, wouldn't be all that hard. Although if and when I'm ready for that I will probably just get a new one.
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