In the previous blog entry, I explained how the "Bad Driving" idea came to be, and how the time had clearly arrived, to finally destroy that car!
The ideal spot for Rev's destruction was an entrance into the L.A. River, where they shot the car chase in Repo Man. On Santa Fe Ave., just below the 6th St. Bridge (where we shot Rub My Back), there is a tunnel to a ramp that leads into the concrete culvert that is euphemistically called a river.
When I first showed up on Saturday, I was startled to see that there was already a cop car in the river. I backed my car quickly out of the tunnel, and went in on foot, to see what they were up to. My mistake, because they told me that I shouldn't be there (there are no posted signs). That would come back to haunt me.
Thankfully, the cops left right after that, and my friend John arrived to be my camera operator.
Our first stunt was almost our last. In the concrete canyon that leads down to the tunnel, I was hoping that there would be some way of getting two wheels up onto one of the walls, but all I ended up doing was popping a front tire.
I don't know why the headlight went out!
For a couple moments there, it seemed as if our day was over. I still had my spare tire with me, but I had (just that morning) removed anything else of value from the car, including my jacks and lug wrenches, and John had come on his motorcycle. I tried riding on the rim, but the car could barely move, nor steer. Fortunately, there was a still photo shoot on the surface (they were very amused by the bad driving), and they helped scrounge up the necessary tools to change my tire (thanks guys!).
Even with the tire fixed, it was clear that I was not going to be able to drive my car anywhere else to destroy it, so we focused on getting the rest of the damage done, as soon as possible, before the cops came back.
The shooting itself went great, although the steering became more and more laughable. Basically, I had control only over the brakes, gas, and which gear I was in. Sometimes I would try to crash into something, but the car would just steer its way around the obstacle.
I had a dream of rolling the car down one of the banks as the grand finale, but it would have taken a lot more control than I had, assuming it was possible at all. Instead, I just rode it as hard as I could, as long as I could, until the gears no longer engaged (the last shot in the below video).
Almost immediately after the car stopped riding, the cops showed up. And boy did they show up! We had at least 8 cops, 8 firefighters, and (no lie) a helicopter circling overhead. Someone had reported that we had suffered a horrific accident, somehow crashing through into the L.A. River basin and rolling down the embankment.
We were very cooperative with the cops, who were nice enough not to even frisk us, and ultimately, I got away with nothing but a ticket for riding in the river. This, despite the fact that two of the cops were the ones who had earlier told me that I shouldn't be in the river at all. I must say: I lucked out!
One of the cops did say that I had to fill out an SR-1 (accident report), which would mean a point on my record, and higher insurance rates. However, I researched CA Traffic Codes, and came up with the following very useful exception.
The accident report only needs to be filed if on a street or highway (exempting us, since we were in the river), or if the wreck was a "reportable off-highway accident." Thankfully, CA Vehicle Code 16000.1(3)(b) states that "A 'reportable off-highway accident' does not include any accident which occurs off-highway in which damage occurs only to the property of the driver or owner of the motor vehicle, and no bodily injury or death of a person occurs". Ergo, no report!
The final version of "Bad Driving" is out, but here is my first quick cut of the highlights of Rev's last day:
