I started driving it when I got my license in April 1998, and had been driving it for a few months at the time of this story. I hadn't yet driven in snow and I was anxious to show all of my friends what my Dart could do. It was about 5:30 at night on December 8, and we were in the middle of our first real snow storm. I was thinking about how I never wanted to have an accident. Even if I did have an accident, I was pretty cocky, and all of my friends knew it, that I would be fine and my Dart would have minimal damage.
I went to see what was going on at the high school and as I drove up to the parking lot I kept commenting to myself about how stupid it was that the driveway wasn't plowed yet. I was on my way out and I went to make a gradual turn at about 20 mph. As soon as I turned the wheel my car headed straight. I panicked and locked up the brakes and kept heading toward the side of the road. My Dart ended up on top of a 400 pound rock that it had moved about five feet. I was almost able to back my Dart off of the rock, but my back tires were barely skimming the pavement.
I called my parents and my uncle showed up. I gave the fuzz the 411 and then my uncle pulled the Dart off of the rocks. We inspected the car and made sure that it was roadworthy. We found that the left side of the bumper was pushed up about four inches and the right headlight had popped out. When the car hit the rock, the impact of the rock on the bumper knocked it right up and it came down on the A-frame (thank God for the A-frame). No damage was done to the radiator or the engine. We checked for leaks and anything else, we found nothing. I drove my Dart home where we inspected it some more.
The next morning I drove it to school and I am still driving it today. My uncle is hoping to take it into the garage and push the bumper back down. Meanwhile, the car drives the same as it always has and suffered no side effects. This story only re-emphasizes the strength of a Dart and that it can go to hell and back and still get you where you want to go.