AJ_92RS

I'm a member of Backwoods Cruisers Car Club. We had a gathering today that was a combo of a regular meeting, a birthday party, and a going away party for someone in the Army Reserves.

It started off at noon. Everyone ate, we played for a little while doing burnouts on the old country road, talking guy talk about big motors and "My car would whip your car's ***" and all that ****.

I did a couple 250-300 foot burnouts. It was fun

Next we had the meeting. After the meeting was over, our president busted out with his car. He has a '41 Plymouth Coupe with a BBC 502/502 HP in it (took 2nd at World of Wheels this year). He had some trouble keeping the car from getting squirmy on him. He pulled on onto the road in front of everyone and just smoked the hell out of those tires. Then he let off the brake and was fish-tailing for another 300-400ft. I was thinking "He better be careful before he ditches that car."

I'm not sure how well some of you know OLD country roads, but it was a lot like Denny's road, but A LOT slicker and the ditches are about the same size.

Well, he got about 1/8 mile away, did a U-turn and headed back toward us. He stopped, held the brakes and got the tires spinning again. Then... I don't know WTF he was thinking, but he let off the brake and here he came.

The car started fish-tailing again as he was heading our way!!!

Just about everyone there was standing near the road watching him, and here he comes out of control. Left-right-left-right. I was standing beside my car and I said "*** THIS!!!" I high-tailed it OUTTA THERE!!!

As I look back I see him coming nose first at the crowd. He went down into the ditch, and slid about 150 ft sideways in the grass. His pass. side door creamed the front end of a '98 Monte Carlo and pushed that car into an '85 Monte Carlo. Then he flew up into my car.

One guy was standing on the other side of my car watching. He didn't run. My car got pushed into his hip and literally threw him head over heals about 20-30 ft.

Another guy who was standing next to the '98 Monte got hit BY THE COUPE!!! He was thrown about 100 ft. right into the side of a Chevy ½ ton pickup.

The guy who got hit by my car got a broken arm and a minor fracture around his left eye.

The guy who got hit by the Coupe was given CPR until the ambulances got there (which is about 10 minutes in the country).

He didn't live.

As they were putting the Coupe on the flat bed tow truck, one of the paramedics (who is also a member of the club) heard that Jay was DOA.

The crazy part is one of the guys that performed CPR until the ambulances arrived WAS THE GUY WHO WAS DRIVING THE COUPE!! He was thrown out of his car, still had the steering wheel in his hands, got up, and ran over to help.

As soon as the first ambulance left with him, Bill (the driver/owner of the Coupe) almost passed out. He had a broken collar bone and some minor internal bleeding, but he's OK.

So is the guy with the broken arm and broken eye (the guy that got hit by my car.)

My car's pass side qtr panel is totally smashed in. BAD!!!

Some of you may remember that I already had a dent in my pass side fender. Well, it's bigger now to. I know FOR A FACT that Bill's car didn't hit it up there so we're not sure how it happened. We think some part of Jay's body may have hit it there.

I'll get pics tomorrow. My biggest fear is that his insurance company is gonna total my car. OR that because he was guilty of wreckless driving, they may not cover it.

I'm sorry for the long post but I had to vent. My car got smashed, and I watched somone die today. Not a good day at all. Don't you wish sometimes you could press the Rewind button in life?

Please, everyone, BE CAREFUL!!! What I watched today was crap that you're only supposed to watch on RealTV, not in REAL LIFE!!!

Guest

Hey AJ i don't know if you recall who i cam but i talked to you for a long at at denny's Bing about the exhust on your car and mine car and you made fun of me for goign right noext tot he tail pipe as it was running.. Man i wish i could say i know how you feel but i can't. i have never seen anyone die befor and i wish i could help a fellow member of this board out. i here for you if you need somoene to chat with. as for the car its just a car. just be happy that you where not the one killed. if you need anyone to talk to you can IM me on AIM any time my SN is XxCrazyMikeyxX

AJ_92RS

Yea Mike, I remember you. The guy with the fire-proof pants.

I appreciate your offer. I don't know what AIM is, so I doubt I'll talk to you there. I have MSN Messenger.

The ironic part is... I said I wish you could press the Rewind button in life, but I can't turn off the Rewind button in my head. I just keep seeing it over and over and over. That's why I'm not in bed yet.

And you're right... I'm actually not that worried about my car. It may be the perfect time to get a Chevelle

LOL... I'm just kidding. I need some comic relief right now.

This sucks

FruityOne

Damn Aj, I wish I could say I know how you feel, but I've never had a friend die because of someone elses stupidity. At least it was your car that was hit, and not you. Though that probably doesn't make you feel any better about Jay.

You were a bystander, unless your Ins. company has a clause about reckless driving. However, you weren't driving so how is it your fault? Its a big mess.

3.8TransAM

Thats some serioulsy not good news AJ. Im sorry to hear about your friend, I hope the guy that was being a fool realizes hes more than likey up for manslaughter charges now :-( Some people just dont get it... I mean we're all stupid(see my "Sheer Stupidity" post), but i never ever never even remotely try to do anything stupid or be just plain careless when i could possibly hurt someone else...........Me, I could live getting splattered in my car(not a deathwish just if im gonna go why not doing something i love right?). Knowing i totally destroyed someone elses life or killed someone being an idiot is another story......

To everyone out there, keep it under control, if their being stupid , no ones gonna blame u if u leave..

Later
Jeremy

AJ_92RS

Here's some pics I drew up of the accident.

They're not to scale, but pretty close.

***Sorry, but I took the pictures off. I don't want any assumtions made by anyone based on my memory of what happened. My memory is as short as my &%@! ***

AJ_92RS

After he hit the cars.

***Sorry, but I took the pictures off. I don't want any assumtions made by anyone based on my memory of what happened. My memory is as short as my &%@!
I am leaving the pics of my car though. I don't think they'll matter since my car didn't "see" anything ***

AJ_92RS

Here's my car

AJ_92RS

The front

Guest

g0d damn man. i don't knwo what to say other then i'm so sorry. i hoped i helpped you last night when i was talking to you till like 4:00am i hope you got some sleep.

xformula79

Thats a f*cked up story with a hard lesson learned. Too bad someone lost their life over it.

KagA152

iTrader: (5)

wow, that was hard to read. my condolences to jays family. may dale have a quick recovery. hope everything works out with your car

firebirdchick24

sorry to hear about your accident and that your buddy died that just shows us all to be more careful around burnouts, too bad we have to learn from someone's life taken away and a few others injured i hope your insurance still covers you and i hope you the best with getting through this and i hope those who were injured a speedy recovery.

3.8TransAM

Dohhhh AJ your car got whacked pretty hard :-( Cars can always get fixed no matter how much it hurts, people(well most of them) are priceless

Good luck to u getting it fixed and the folks that were hurt.. Best wishes to the family of the guy who got killed :-(

Just sad it was over stupidity
Later
Jeremy

AJ_92RS

Thanks everyone for your condolences. I don’t know what else to say.

I can sit here and say what the guy should not have done, but I can’t say that he didn’t try to stop a long time before he was near us. From what he said, his accelerator stuck. I’m going to assume that’s true based on what other members have said about him. They’ve known him for years and years, and said he knows when it’s time to stop.

I went to his house today to get his insurance info. He has specialty vehicle coverage, so I think my car will be covered (I hope).

Not much was said. I didn’t expect there to be. I just wanted the needed info so I can contact my insurance company and give them the info they need.

No offense Jeremy, but could you please lay off the “stupid” comments. I didn’t come here to post any hatred. I just wanted to blow off some of my tension. I know you only mean well, but some things are better left unsaid, know what I mean? Especially since you’re basing your opinion on my explanation of what happened. I can only tell how I saw it, and remember it. That doesn’t mean it’s 100% accurate, nor true.

AAMOF, the guy who died wasn’t standing where I put him on that map. We looked at some actual pics another guy was taking just before the crash, and Jay was ON THE ROAD in front of the ‘98 Monte Carlo. We came to the conclusion that he was hit before the coupe slammed into the Monte.

So again, no offense intended, OK. I have my own feelings on the subject, but that will be addressed after the water has stopped boiling and everything cools down a little.

Thanks again everyone. I didn’t want to put a damper in anyone’s day, but I feel certain things like this should be talked about to remind us of what we have, and that we should appreciate everything. It could be worse.

Thanks again everyone, especially you Mike. Chatting with you did help. I slept rather well after I got my mind off it.

MetalliCamaroRS

iTrader: (15)

Wow, thats really crazy. Its sad to hear about your friend, that really sucks. Hopefully the others recover quickly.

AJ_92RS

Thanks Andy. I haven't meet you yet, but I know you're first name. That's funny.

That also reminds me of the info about the others.

Bill (driver) has a broken collar bone. They sent him home that night.

Dale (broken arm) had surgery on it this morning. I guess they had to break it and set it again. There's a few pins in there to hold it all together because it was smashed pretty good. Plus, as you all know, there are two bones in your forearm. They have to be held together so they can heal at the same rate.

I also heard they did an autopsy on Jay, and found blood in his lungs/chest from broken ribs, as well as a broken neck. ***Edited for ignorance of investigations*** The investigation isn’t over, so we can only predict what happened at this point.

I’ll keep all of you posted. About my car, as well as the investigation.

Thanks again everyone.

samdog1232000

That is sad to hear! I will definitly think twice before doing something crazy in my car! Sounds like it was a freak accident! As for your car it definitly looks fixable! My other camaro got smashed really hard and the dent was almost exactly like yours. I bought a quarter panel for about $150 bucks and paid $700 to have someone weld it on, after I had my uncle painted it the thing look just as good! Nobody was able to tell the difference! Even if they total it you can fix it and have some pocket money lefy over, the only thing that would might be a problem is getting the car insured with a salvage title! Has there been any charges on the guy that got his pedal stuck doing the burnout?

Either way I hope things get better!

ontogenesis

hey man...i don't think anything i could say would help. Was 4mula88 there? keep us all updated man, i dunno you, but if you want somebody to talk to in person or anything, pm me and i'll drive up. I wouldn't mind seeing the damage in person if your ok with me stopping by, i've driven by your place before. It's sad that your car is messed up, but they're cheap around here...and i have little doubt they'll total it, but if you want a clean quarter or bumper, you can take anything you need off my parts car...yours for the taking. What's even worse is that you lost a friend, and friends are hard to come by. Rest assured that this is a pain shared by all of us because he wasn't just a Backwoods Cruiser, he was a car guy, he was one of us.

RIP

I'll be sure to scan the article if it shows up in the newspaper, and i'm sure it will.

redcamaro83

best wishes aj and for your friends too
i've had a few friends leave unexpectedly and its no party so i do feel your pain.
i think i met u if u went to denny's party
if so i'm the guy with the "multicolored" camaro
if u want the car fixed i know a guy that has a top notch shop he will hook you up for decent price.
if u wanna chat for a while pm me.

Guest

his car was parked right behide you.

4MULA88

Yes, I was there but I had to leave a 1/2 hour before hand to go to work. It is a sad tragady, and a a hard lesson to take in life. Live your life one moment at time and love the ones close to you.


There will be benifets for Jay's family. AJ or I will let you more about them in a day or so.

redcamaro83

i saw 3 purple cams that day wasn't sure but yeah i remember u aj and your car. so how ya feeling

Guest

It made it into the joliet News paper. i started crying when i read it.

AJ_92RS

Here's the link to our local paper.

I thought Bill's car was a '41

Either I'm wrong or they're wrong.

I'd love to give you the details of the autopsy, but since it's under investigation, I'd better bite my tongue.

http://www.daily-journal.com/content/?id=28160

I called my insurance agent today, and she said until the police report is fully completed, I'd better not notify my insurance company. She fears they may suspect me of being directly involved and either raise my rates, or just drop me.

I called Grundy County Sheriff's Office, and they said the police reports won't be ready until after the investigation.

So here sits my car.

ontogenesis,

You're more than welcome to stop by. I don't know if you drove directly by my house, or if you meant you just rode through Clifton, but you should have stopped.

I live on the west side of the tracks. Go north on Locust until you see my car on your left. It's a big red house.

If my truck is here, I'm here.

ontogenesis

yea, i drove directly by, took me a while cruising the east side before i came by yours on the other side of the tracks...saw a second gen and a cop car... up the street...

Slowmaro95

Hey dude I'm sorry for what happened. There's not much you can say on situations like this when you see sh*t like that happen. It's amazing how things can get outta control so quick, even if they seem like they're done in a controlled environment. I'm sure this serves as a lesson to all of us, don't become a statistic. I know next time I go out on the weekend to fool around I'll think twice about doin' it.
Once again, my deepest sympathy. Hope things work out with yer ride.

--Dominic

AJ_92RS

A second gen? Where? I don't remember ever seeing one. The sad part is I live over here.

Like I said, feel free to stop buy anytime.

AAMOF, every Fri & Wed night we'll be either at Jeanakies (spelling) Hot dogs in Bourbonnais, or Stake'n'Shake there on Rt 50.

We're the dorks in the orange shirts. :lala:

If I'm not there Heath (4mula88) might be. Just ask for AJ or Heath. Someone who's there will know us. Whether or not they admit it is a different story.

Dominic,
Thanks for your condolences also.

The wake was today, and may I say that the car-guy community is STILL ALIVE!!! :rockon:
You should have seen all the cars there today. It looked like the funeral home was having a car show. :sillylol:

From what I hear, there will be even more cars at the funeral and in the procession tomorrow. It should be quite a sight.

Guest

if i'm going to go thats wht way i would want to go!

Slowmaro95

Even though I didn't know him I would vote for a moment in the procession were everyone revs their engine. I mean if there's gonna be all those V8 power there you all should dedicate it to your fallen friend, plus image how much noise that'd make . Just thought I'd try to brighten thing up for ya.

tbfirebird

man thats why when i do donuts i MAKE SURE that the only people that are watching are in cars and i do the donuts as far away from them as possible and i dont do it in front of crowds your just asking for trouble when people try to show off like that espically since he was DOA.

Guest

hey AJ any word yet on the car? what did the insure. do??