Ohh.. I didn't mention that the hood was damaged in the middle. I will likely get the dumbass award for the year... After 4.5 hours in evening school, I left. The car seemed beyond reasonable to drive. The front bumper and hood were dented/scratched, but nothing even close to non-drivable. Soo.. I drove it. About thirty minutes later, I am on 695 or somewhere over there going towards I-70West from Baltimore, there is a loud BANG!!! I don't know what the hell happened, but I could no longer see in front of me, with the exception of the lowest 2 inches of the windshield. The freaking hood latch retainer mechanism had been damaged, and the hood flew ALL THE WAY back - not stopped until it hit the windshield, and mostly the top of the windshield.
If you can imagine a lightweight strip of balsa wood in a 60 mph wind, and what type of quick movement it would have... well that's how quickly the hood flew up... I didn't even see it move.
I used my razor sharp autocross skills [not really] to bring the car to a gradual stop at a safe location, and started trying to figure out who was responsible for THIS damage (practical law school application).
It turns out that there are two separate claims, even though one was precipitated by the other. I am responsible for the aft hood, and the lady for all the other junk. We just studied this type of stuff too a few weeks ago, in Torts class.. directly related to another's actions, as an immediate consequence of, etc... I guess I lost on that deal, but my $500 deductible will get half the car repainted.
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