Something fell from the sky and damaged my car!

reply to post by virraszto

I understand how sometimes you just want to get home. A long drive sucks.

BUT, if this was damage from a golf ball, then taking a couple minutes to stop and see, could have possibly been the difference between you receiving a couple hundred dollar repair bill, or a golf course receiving a slightly higher bill.

Here are the photos with the yardstick. It was kind of hard considering it was on the roof and I'm pretty short.

I'll post the map with the golf courses to see if anyone can figure out which one, or from which direction the ball came from.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/66d6e01142d9.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/725ca5a9046a.jpg[/atsimg]

And here is the map with the golf courses. The red dot is the side of the expressway I was on.

I don't know if there is any way to tell. They are both pretty close to the expressway.


[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/4a42552610c2.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/82078894e8ef.jpg[/atsimg]

reply to post by virraszto


If I was driving my daughter and something hit my car with a loud BAM, I wouldn't wait until I get home to check it out.

Were you not concerned about the state of your vehicle and it's safety?

Glad you're safe though, and just be glad you weren't in a CONVERTIBLE eh.

Originally posted by virraszto
Here are the photos with the yardstick. It was kind of hard considering it was on the roof and I'm pretty short.

I'll post the map with the golf courses to see if anyone can figure out which one, or from which direction the ball came from.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/66d6e01142d9.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/725ca5a9046a.jpg[/atsimg]

There seems to be something very odd here, your horizontal axis reads based on the photo about 9 inches (22.86cm) and the vertical axis seems to read 5 inches (12.7cm) now given that the spread is on the horizontal axis then would mean that the mass of the of the object was not circular but rather elongated or oval so that places a question mark regarding the golf ball as the spread should have been the other way around. Although i forgot to ask, but could you recall the speed that you were traveling at the moment you heard the object strike and model make of your car as i am curious to see the internal structure casting of the roof for rib reinforcements that could affect the imprint thus allowing a horizontal imprint as opposed to a vertical imprint.

Originally posted by cerebralassassins
...would mean that the mass of the of the object was not circular but rather elongated or oval ....

How about a whole golf club or maybe the head of a broken one.

Looks like a 4 Iron to me.

reply to post by cerebralassassins


I was driving between 70-75 mph and it's a 2000 Mercury Sable. Would it be better if I took some photos with a tape measure instead of a yardstick? Are you factoring in the windshield damage? I tried to show the measurement from one spot to the other.

Originally posted by nerbot
reply to post by virraszto

 

If I was driving my daughter and something hit my car with a loud BAM, I wouldn't wait until I get home to check it out.

Were you not concerned about the state of your vehicle and it's safety?

Glad you're safe though, and just be glad you weren't in a CONVERTIBLE eh.

This car is ten years old. We have replaced the windshield twice already because of cracked windshields. Last winter, a large tree branch from my neighbors yard fell on the other side and luckily, only got a small dent, but it's a ten year old car and I am not really concerned about repairing it.

If it were anywhere else but the roof, I would have stopped. If I had thought I hit something, sure, I would have stopped, but I know I didn't and since I know it hit the roof, and we were both ok, I didn't stop. I swear it sounded like it came straight down.

Now that I see the dent, I am glad no one was hurt. If it had hit the windshield and went through it, hmmm.. I don't want to think of what might have happened.

from what it seems and as mentioned above the culprit might very well be a golf ball based on the data bellow. Without being able to find structural ribbing of the roof online as data and given the odd deformed shape of the imprint it does suggest that the frame itself that holds in place the windscreen seems to have attributed to the horizontal spread. The images bellow show the data of such an impact. Although the angle of impact was an estimated guess and the velocity was also an estimated guess within logic, the rest of the data in the second photo show's consistency with your damaged vehicle.

Hope that helps.

Yes, thank you very much. Since there are two golf clubs within ten miles of each other right off the expressway, I can't know which one the ball came from. We were very lucky it didn't come through the windshield.

Question?
If it was golf ball, and it was traveling at that velocity, impacting at that angle, the vehicle traveling at 70-75 mph, and it's trajectory came from the front of the vehicle, would it have been possible for it to ricochet not only off the roof, but the windshield also?

Originally posted by BrandrTorny
Question?
If it was golf ball, and it was traveling at that velocity, impacting at that angle, the vehicle traveling at 70-75 mph, and it's trajectory came from the front of the vehicle, would it have been possible for it to ricochet not only off the roof, but the windshield also?

edit on 1-7-2011 by BrandrTorny because: Spelling error

looking at the photo's you can also see that there were no scorch marks or visible tears on the rubber seal that surrounds the windscreen so in actual fact the object missed the windscreen by about 1 to 2 inches. As i mentioned earlier, if this object had hit the windscreen at those speeds while driving then it could have resulted in a fatal crash.

I'm calling it a cloaked UFO hovering a little bit low...LOL

reply to post by cerebralassassins


After re-reading the post, I see what you mean. That's what I get for doing too many things at once...lol
Thanks for answering, though.

If I were you I would figure out exactly where I was at on the maps above when the impact happened. More than likely the nearest golf green is the one that the ball came from. I would also take photos and obtain three estimates for the body damage and the windshield damage and write up a very matter of fact letter to the golf club that you believe is responsible, including day and time, and where you were at via aerial map shot - make sure you send it registered mail, and send it to the offending club. At the very least nothing ventured nothing gained, but you may be suprised. They may be willing to pay partial damages, which you could use to offset your insurance deductable or insurance costs. The crack in your windshield is a "phantom" crack due to the metal fatigue transferred into the glass.

Originally posted by pityocamptes
If I were you I would figure out exactly where I was at on the maps above when the impact happened. More than likely the nearest golf green is the one that the ball came from.

I would also take photos and obtain three estimates for the body damage and the windshield damage and write up a very matter of fact letter to the golf club that you believe is responsible, including day and time, and where you were at via aerial map shot -

The driver of the car chose to continue driving on down the road, so now all responsibility lies on that driver. The driver does not know exactly where this occurred. It is nothing more than a guess that maybe it might have been a golf ball.

Since I disagree with you advising to disguise a false claim, by writing it up in a 'matter of fact' way, I might just go ahead and email a link to this thread to 'Fenton Farms' and to 'Tyrone Hills.'

Did not stop = does not know the exact cause = driver's fault/driver's wallet.

reply to post by BrokenCircles

The driver of the car chose to continue driving on down the road, so now all responsibility lies on that driver. The driver does not know exactly where this occurred. It is nothing more than a guess that maybe it might have been a golf ball.

Since I disagree with you advising to disguise a false claim, by writing it up in a 'matter of fact' way, I might just go ahead and email a link to this thread to 'Fenton Farms' and to 'Tyrone Hills.'

Did not stop = does not know the exact cause = driver's fault/driver's wallet.

And here's where I disagree with you. No matter what it was that hit my car, be it a golf ball, a baseball, or a rock, etc. just because I didn't stop does not mean it was my fault. What if it had been a crime riddled area? What if I did not stop because I was injured and rushing to the hospital?

And no where in my post did I say I wanted the golf course to pay for any damages. In fact, if you read my posts, you will see I said I didn't care about the damage to a ten year old car.

I did, however, email both golf courses and let them know that my car was hit with a stray golf ball, and I was emailing them to let them know I was not hurt, in case the person who did it was wondering if their stray ball had hurt anyone.

I am a little insulted that you would assume I would make a "false claim" as if I were lying about something. I drove past two golf courses, both of them you can see from the map are right along the expressway. Something just happens to hit my car around the exact same time I passed these golf courses. I know the time frame of when I got hit because my daughter made a phone call shortly afterward. I can check her phone records to be certain.

To say it was my fault is insulting, and then to assume I would try to make a claim when I don't even know which golf course the ball came from is even more insulting.

The chances are pretty much zero that it was a golf ball. I think the people who are stating that didn't read the OP closely enough and see that there are in fact TWO areas of damage- one in the sheetmetal above the windshield and one on the windshield itself. A golf ball would bounce high and far once it hit and could not have struck a 2nd time (and the OP only mentions a single impact anyway). It is simply not possible for a golf ball to have caused both and frankly I don't think a golf ball could cause either one of those either. I was driving by a golf course once doing about 45 and a golf ball came nearly straight down and struck the roof of my car. I knew what it was because I craned my neck around to see what had hit me and I saw the ball bounce again away from my car. I looked in the opposite direction and in the distance saw a golfer on the tee box with a rather surprised look on his face. I pulled over to check my car and there was no damage whatsoever. Even though you were going faster, that would not have increased the impact speed since whatever hit you was coming practically straight down. My guess is that it was a large irregular single object that caused both areas of damage at the same time. Someone else mentioned it could have been debris from an airliner, this is quite plausible. There have been reports of debris (sewage) being released and freezing in the upper atmosphere, then gathering ice as they plummet to the ground. Sometimes they are large enough to cause significant damage. Are there flight paths over the area where this happened?

reply to post by virraszto

I was not implying that you were planning on doing this. I had already read your comment stating that it was a 10 year old car, and you were not very concerned with repairs.

I thought it was quite clear that I was directly replying to the comment from 'pityocamptes,' that was advising you to make a fraudulent claim. I was simply trying to prove a point, that it is not a good idea to give advice such as that.

Ide have to say something round like maybe a basketball that bounced which is why you didn't see anything, I don't see it being an animal because there isn't any signs of blood.