On Recently Getting an Involuntary Bus Ride...

Insurance statement of Greg Amy, driver/owner of  2011 VW GTI

I was traveling westbound on I-90 near Stafford NY on 09/27/25 at approximately 11AM EDT. It was good weather, with the highway dry and the skies mostly clear. Traffic was on the heavier side but flowing well.

I was in the left (passing) lane, passing a slower line of traffic in the right lane that included cars, trucks, and some RVs. I passed a black pickup truck pulling an RV trailer which was following a large bus-type Class A RV flat-towing a red compact utility vehicle.

As I cleared the black truck/RV, it pulled into the left lane behind me, slowing slightly and flashed its headlights as if to indicate to the Class A that it could pull into the left lane in front of it.

I had not yet cleared the Class A.

As I got to the front of the Class A and was almost clear of it, I experienced a sudden and large bang and my car was violently turned hard right across the nose of the Class A. My car became pressed against its nose, perpendicular to the direction of travel, and my tires were screeching as I was being bulldozed sideways by the Class A. No input in steering or brakes seemed to affect a change in my trajectory so I released the controls and rode it out.

After what seemed like an eternity, we slowed and merged toward the shoulder of the road after about 400-500 feet; when we finally came to a stop I put my car into gear and drove away from the Class A RV and stopped about 15 feet in front of it. I exited the car to evaluate my situation.

The driver of the trailing black truck/RV trailer did not stop to render aid.

The owners of the Class A called 911 and reported the incident, and a NYS trooper was soon on the scene. That trooper filed out a Collision Report.

In evaluating my car, the entire right side is crushed in (quarter panel, door, and fender) and the right rear quarter glass was shattered. The RV displayed surface damage of plastics and Fiberglas. Photos attached.

In reviewing the situation and the evidence, I believe the driver of the Class A RV saw the trailing truck/RV flash his lights and, without verifying clearance, pulled into the left lane to pass the car(s) in front of them. However, I was still abeam their left front corner and by pulling into my lane they spun my car across the nose of their Class A motorhome while I was fully within in the left passing lane. This is supported by attached photos showing both the damage to both vehicles (left front corner of the bus and whole right side of my car) as well as photos illustrating tire marks beginning well left in the left lane of the highway where my car was turned sideways.

I am on a week-long business trip in Wisconsin with the car, which is still drivable and functional. However, the right door is no longer accessible and the right rear quarter glass is shattered. To avoid the expense of a rental car and vehicle storage, as well as to avoid weather damage to the interior and reduce risk of theft of contents, I am contracting with Safelight Auto Glass here in Wisconsin to replace the quarter glass this week. Once I return to Connecticut the first week of October I will bring the car to an auto collision center for further evaluation.

Your prompt attention is appreciated.

Greg Amy

 

Postscript: and...the rest of the story.

The tale above offers the basics of the action...but there's always more.

It's surprising how calm I was as I was sliding sideways, looking rightward to see nothing but an oval "TIFFIN" nose badge glaring at me through the right window. At that point I knew there was nothing I could do to affect the trajectory of our combined some 45,000 pounds so I simply slapped it into neutral and took my feet off the brakes and "enjoyed" the ride...wondering if I was gonna get flipped.

About halfway through the slide I hear a "DING!" from the dash and look down to see the warning "ADD WASHER FLUID"...no prob, GTI, I'll take care of that at my first opportunity...

And then I looked left for my buddy was who I was traveling with...and his brake lights weren't even on...are you not seeing this, dude...? (He did stop and come back).

Eventually, the screeching of the tires stopped and we came to a halt. I put it in gear, turned the wheel hard left, and drove off the nose about fifteen feet and stopped...and noticed my left hand was shaking pretty good. Funny thing, that doesn't happen to me when racing...adrenaline is a hell of a drug.

In the end, it'll possibly cost me one of my all-time favorite cars, but I'm safe otherwise . And that's what's important. And it made for a helluva conversation story at the Runoffs.

Sigh.

The ironic bit is that the reason I was driving the GTI instead of towing the RV with the Excursion was because I decided to rent an on-site RV to avoid the stress and the risks of towing a RV. So the irony of not towing the RV in order to avoid the stress and risks of towing the RV, and then getting hammered by an RV, are not lost on me.

It's been said that "the most dangerous part of racing is getting to and from the track" and many a racer's harrowing trailering tale can attest to that. This is just more evidence.

And to demonstrate that SCCA members do actually have a sense of humor...I found this on the car after we returned from Sunday evening dinner...SCCA racers will know what it means.

Yes, I did fill up the washer tank at the next fuel stop. - GA

 9/30/25 update: 

 Car now has a quarter glass  for the drive home...

 

10/2/25 update: and the G2C sticker has a new friend:

 10/15/25 update:

We're home now, and I'm working with the insurance company to get this resolved. It appears that with some legwork on my part, the GTI will survive.

The preferred local autobody shop tossed in a pretty hefty estimate which I suggest would have likely totaled the car. They're higher-end and do quality work - I've used them before - but I wanted to avoid totaling the car with a salvage title (which is a major PITA to deal with in CT, requiring de-registration, repair, then trailering to state police inspections, and then re-registering as a salvage title).

In letting them know what I was trying to do, the rep offered that they would only work with new parts so there was not a lot of leeway. However, she suggested that instead of submitting this estimate to the insurance company I request one of the insurance company's appraisers to inspect it at my house and discuss options.

The appraiser visited me promptly and was a nice guy, understood my situation, and recognized the car still had value, certainly to me. I offered that I would be glad replace the door with a good used one, get the fender PDR'd (paintless dent removal) and then he'd appraise the costs of having the quarter panel repaired professionally. He ran those numbers, including reimbursement to me for the glass and the door (although he came up with a number for the door that was less than the most-local one) and when it was all tallied up...we were at 65%. I think they total around 75%?

He forwarded to me that appraisal and I reviewed it carefully. I shopped doors online (car-part.com) and brought the appraisal to another recommended local body shop, who said they thought they could do the quarter panel for the remaining amount (after my buying the door and reimbursement for the Safelight quarter glass).

I accepted the appraisal and had a check via ACH fewer than three business days later.

I replaced the door yesterday (same color code, though it'll need blending) and I'm inquiring about PDR options. The newly-preferred body shop (recommended to me by a racing buddy) wants to meet next week with the appraiser at his shop to further review my GTI, and he thinks he can get me into his shop early December (the car drives and seals fine).

I'll post updates as I have them, but it seems that for a few hours of my effort and maybe $300-400 out of pocket I'll have the GTI back on the road, in similar quality as before.

And I gotta say, given the liability of having hammered a passenger car at Interstate speeds and bulldozed it sideways for 500 feet or so down a highway to a stop on the shoulder...Foremost/Farmer's Insurance got one hell of a bargain.

More later.

 

 

Other photos: