Accident stories

Dsemaj

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 3, 2006
Messages
2,955
Location
Adelaide, Australia.
Car(s)
2003 Urabus Impreza WRX, 1997 Fraud Falcs EL Wagon
Well, yesterday I experienced something I thought I'd never have to. I had a fender bender.

I was driving along a main road which is notorious for it's long tailbacks during peak periods. I was suddenly distracted by a really clean Mercedes SL in a car lot and... suddenly looked back to see a Rav4 and a large queue of traffic. I was about 4 car lengths away, so I slammed on my brakes. ABS didn't kick in, but brakes didn't lock up, so I stopped just in time... to have my front bumper impact into his towbar.

Thankfully, the damage is minimal. My whole bumper is very slightly bent at the front and doesn't meet with the wheel arches. If the bumper can be bent back, it'll need some new trim pieces. The Rav4 came off fine (odd, being that the german barge usually comes out better) and thankfully I didn't get my head kicked in by the owner of the other car! He was quite good about it... nevertheless, I'm not very happy about my driving!

Any stories to share? :p
 
Well, yesterday I experienced something I thought I'd never have to. I had a fender bender.

I was driving along a main road which is notorious for it's long tailbacks during peak periods. I was suddenly distracted by a really clean Mercedes SL in a car lot and... suddenly looked back to see a Rav4 and a large queue of traffic. I was about 4 car lengths away, so I slammed on my brakes. ABS didn't kick in, but brakes didn't lock up, so I stopped just in time... to have my front bumper impact into his towbar.

Thankfully, the damage is minimal. My whole bumper is very slightly bent at the front and doesn't meet with the wheel arches. If the bumper can be bent back, it'll need some new trim pieces. The Rav4 came off fine (odd, being that the german barge usually comes out better) and thankfully I didn't get my head kicked in by the owner of the other car! He was quite good about it... nevertheless, I'm not very happy about my driving!

Any stories to share? :p

Both my mother and sister have done similar things over the past 2 days, except they managed to stop just in time! Sibling (being a learner) got the berating of her life from dad (whose driving is oh-so-perfect and can't ever be faulted and everybody else is crap compared to him :rolleyes:) Whereas mum just went "oops" and laughed at it (I was clinging to the seat, frozen in fear :lol:)

Me? So far, worst I have done (as far as damage to my car) is hit my driveway the wrong way (and cause a couple more scrapes to be on the underside of my front bumper) and leave my fuel cap slightly open (as in half a twist) so fuel dripped down the side of my car for 7 hours and strip a bit of paint off my rear passenger side wheel well (bumper bit, so only plastic is exposed). All the other damage on my car was done by my mother/father (including one hell of a ding in the rear quarter drivers side panel!)

(also, *cough*, http://forums.finalgear.com/general-automotive/your-worst-crash-38896/ kinda similar but not 100% the same, let the mods decide. And heh, I was the last person to post in that thread about my family's various mishaps! :lol:)
 
My one story is that I was following a Chevy Blazer around a slow, 25mph neighborhood.

We both turned right, and I glanced off at something in a yard or something.

I looked back a second or so later to see his rear bumper rapidly approaching the front bumper of my car. I slammed on my brakes, and still ended up hitting him at some, although fairly slow, speed. We both got out of the car, and it turned out he was an old Eastern European man with a very heavy accent. He muttered about this or that, but mainly what I got out of it was "Well my truck no hurt" and he got back into his blazer and drove away.

My front bumper was caved in, as well as my grille, but as he said his Blazer was unharmed in any way.

I of course filed a police report but he never called the police or anything of the sort.

My car, other than aesthetically, was fine (until the timing belt snapped and the engine ate itself 3 months later)
 
I have quite a few. I live in Utah, it's inevitable that some moron is going to hit you.

The worst would be people that fail to yield while turning left. I witnessed this very accident happen three times to other people before it happened to me. It's sad because I had the opportunity to go three different ways and for some reason I went with this one which was the least desirable. Ah, what ifs. Anyhow, I was going 50 MPH, which is five over. It's a two lane road and I have a person next to me. I'm coming up to a light and suddenly this idiot in a Pathfinder turns left. I had next to no time to react. My only option was to hit the brakes. Of course, they locked not being ABS. My skid marks went for 65 feet. I hit him going 45 MPH offset, head on. The impact was hard enough that it pushed him back into the oncoming lanes before the intersection and my car was also siting outside the intersection.

I walked away with a few cuts and being a little sore thanks to an airbag. My passenger got some bruised ribs thanks to the way he was sitting. The car was totaled but at least I totaled the Pathfinder as well.
 
I was driving on a slippery country road after it had just been raining and took a corner slightly too fast for the conditions. The back stepped out (VN Commodores had notoriously poor front to rear balance, and I was pretty inexperienced at the time) and I cannoned into a tree on the opposite side of the road. Low speed impact, and it hit the left quarter behind the front wheel but ahead of the door (ie there's a significant whack of metal in that area to absorb the impact). One very shame faced teenager and a bent car which I had to explain to dad.
 
I've been rearended more than reasonable. Sometimes it's while I'm sitting at a red light. Sometimes it's while I'm braking for a turn. This never happens when I'm driving aggressively - when I'm driving aggressively I'm watching my rear, as I know most vehicles on the road cannot stop as quickly as mine. But when I'm driving "normally" (as in gentle braking), I don't watch my rear as closely. I end up braking gradually and then feeling that familiar shudder that means the person behind me just wasn't paying attention. Most of the taps have been minor, but one person managed to hit me when I was nearly stopped and she was going nearly 30mph. That caused $11,000 in damage to my car (yet remarkably, no damage to me, at all). That driver fled the scene.

I've considered installing a spiked rear bumper that'll puncture the radiators of the people who rearend me. Try to flee? Blow your engine, and leave a trail of coolant for us to follow! Perfect!
 
the only accident I've been in was once when my car failed to stop in time.

I was driving behind some guy in a minivan. We were going about 40mph when he, for no reason, slammed on the brakes (no one in front, no animals, etc). I was following at what i thought was a safe distance for my car and speed but i guess it wasn't. I hit the brakes, they locked up and I slid across the pavement into the back of his car. He got out, said there was no damage to his car and got back in his car and left, leaving me with a destroyed front end and a barely running car. I later discovered that the rear brakes and the front drivers side brake weren't working at all.

Now i don't drive that car anymore and I'm stuck working my schedule around my parents so i can take one of their cars until i can afford something else because my parents won't help pay at all.
 
Once in a traffic jam I was behind some stupid oversized SUV. they slam on the brakes quicker than expected as I cannot see around their car and I bump them at about 7 mph. The damage is literally 2 scratches, maybe 2 mm in length each from the screws on my plate.
Would you believe the asshole reported THAT to the insurance company? WTF is wrong with people, you could fix that with 2$ of polish and a rag.

Other accidents I have had include coming out of work to find my hood dented in enough to make it unfixable so I still have a warped hood (insurance doesn't cover hit and runs) and sitting at a light waiting to take a turn and being hit head on by a 96 trans am.
 
I have hit two different posts about 2' 6" high in two different cars, both times whilst reversing in a car park to get out. But - touch wood - I have been clear since 1987 when I got my licence. You develop a sixth sense about loonies and stay away from them. Oh and avoid Eastern European trucks at all costs - seriously these are lethal.
 
Most of my accidents are cause of my utter inability to measure the size of what is essentially a box on wheels.

the most recent one involves trying to come out of my parking space (You know, the little patch of grass that involves going over the sidewalk to get to.) Anyway, instead of bothering to leave my parking space with the mitsu pointing east i decide to take the lazy route and point it west.

Backing up i thing i have 3 feet or so between the side and the road, it was more like 3 inches so i scratched a good part of the passenger door. put it into first, get into parking space, do it the other way.

this is one small incident other entries mentioning include: The time when coming out of the space (pointing east) I destroyed the side of a corolla parked on the other side of the road, the time I backed into a lamp post, the one in which the front right part of the mitsu ended buried below the tailgate tire holder thingy of a KIA Sportage (I'd be dead if it had been Blind's X).
 
Back in high school I was driving my parents Durango around at lunch time. Two fellow classmates were apparently deciding whether or not a Volvo or Oldsmobile was faster. Turns out the Olds was not only faster but also had better braking than the Volvo which proceeded to ram into me while I was stopped at a light. I proceeded to yell at the guy until he cried. Few hundred dollars for damage to me, few thousand for him...
 
Heh, I have a story...

In August of 2008, I was in a hell of a car crash. I was on my way to work at about 6.30 AM. I pulled up to a red light attempting to turn left onto the four-lane highway. The light turned green an I started to move into the intersection. I know how dangerous the intersection is and I usually dont go until its obvious everyone is stopping, but this morning there was a huge semi with trailer blocking my view of the left lane of oncoming traffic. I started to creep into the road when a pickup truck blew through his red light. I successfully put my attention on avoiding him, but was then struck by a liquor-truck that also ran the light doing about 65 MPH. He hit me on my drivers side door. I ended up several hundred feet down the highway facing the wrong direction. The liquor truck lost control and hit another car from the oncoming lane. Ended up with the highway closed for two hours in rush hour traffic and the fire department spending an hour cutting me out of the car. I ended up with: half my left ear cut off, broken pelvis in two places, back broken in a few places, left hand broken, cracked skull, and some pretty heavy damage all around from glass/airbags/seatbelts. Unable to walk, some permanent damage, and six months physical therapy to learn the whole walking bit again.

Yes, it sucked. Pics below :)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=32194&id=520827799&l=7fa9fff27a
 
Nothing major so far...only a roundabout crash. I was crawling with the traffic to get in the roundabout, when suddenly a bitch in a Mazda hurr durred into the back of my Punto. Thank fucking god the airbag didn't deploy, I had just leaned forward to look at something and if that shit poped I would have gotten it straight into my neck.

Wasn't so bad, that bumper was caved in, the structure underneath was fine ( very reassuring ) and only the boot door gave me headache since it wouldnt latch. Car was driveable, pulled into the body shop 500m away, got the car back 5 days later. =)
 
I had a crazy hit and run as a passenger. We were on a Motorway overtaking a Land Rover with a trailer attached, as we were pulling out to take it, the trailer's offside rear wheel flew off at our car. At the time we were doing 65MPH or so, and luckily the wheel flew underneath the cars bumper, meaning our car was temporarily in the air, riding on top of the wheel. We pulled over and the guy in the Land Rover did the same about half a mile ahead. He glanced back, then ran back into his LR and drove off. Our car was nearly a write off due to chassis and floorpan damage, but luckily/unfortunately it was only a few months old at the time, so was repaired.
 
I crashed my own car in December messing around on an icy industrial estate. Obviously I wish I hadn't done it but at least I chose somewhere safe to experiment! I was fine on the snow but a patch of ice caught me out and the passenger side smashed into a concrete fence post. It damaged the inner wing somewhat, but I got it straightened this month. Also got new slam panel, bumper headlight, indicator light and I still need to get a matching headlight for the other side now!
 
I got read ended newtons cradle style(car hit car hit me), only left paint scrapes but still FUCK PEOPLE.
 
I had an accident in a workmates VZ Commadore S pack about a month or so ago. Entirely my own fault. Went into a corner to fast, the back end stepped out, I over corrected and spun the car into a gutter backwards. No panel damage, but bent the RHR control arm and buckled the wheel. Cost me a bout a grand to fix it. I wasn't hurt at all, just really embarrassed.
 
My Dad was driving his Merc 190E in Hong Kong a few years ago, and at a traffic light, a taxi braked too late and slammed into the back of our car. His grille and bumper caved in a little. The Merc came off literally without a scratch and I mean nothing, there wasn't even any marks or anything on the back bumper.
 
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