Have you been in an auto accident?

[JeeberD]

I've been very lucky so far and have never been in an automoblie accident (knock on wood). After watching a few of the new VW ads it makes me feel like I'm one of lucky few that hasn't been in a crash. Am I one of the lucky few or are the ads overstating how often accidents can happen?

[Draft Dodger]

I have.

don't remember any of it other than waking up in the ambulance and not having the slightest clue where I was. scary.

[JS19]

Funny you mention that VW ad. I've been in 3 accidents, 1 of them being a serious one which was pretty recent. I am not one who is really influenced by commercials, but in my accident the car was struck on the drivers side, similar to the VW Jetta commercial, and it actually has me wondering what would have happened had we been in that Jetta. Not saying im pissed i wasn't in a Jetta, just that when i'm out looking for a new car eventually I might give VW a longer look than I would have.

[Lorena]

I've been in 3 accidents:

1 - when I was about 6 years old, we were at a stop light and were hit by a drunk driver. We all faired well, thank goodness

2 - got hit on the side and my window completely shattered on me and the door caved in

3 - minor fender bender, my fault

[Franklinnoble]

I've been in one serious accident. Still have scars from it. I was 16.

I've been in two moderate accidents (no major injuries, but significant car damage).

I've been in a handful of fender-benders - rear ended by morons in traffic, that sort of thing.

So, yeah, you're due, Jeebs...

[MrBug708]

Hydroplaned on the freeway and spun it out. Scary stuff indeed and totalled my truck

[molson]

I was pretty lucky. I was driving on the highway in the Salt Lake Desert when a giant 18-wheeler, right besides me, decides he's going to go into the lane that I was currently occupying. He didn't see me I guess, I tried to speed up to get past him, and somehow ended up spining around across the highway into a car. Not a scratch on me, though the car was totaled. I still don't really understand how I didn't get smushed, or avoided even flipping the car. To this day, when I pass a 18-wheeler on the highway, my heart races, and I do it damn fast.

[TargetPractice6]

Back in November I was leaving my friend's house on a Sunday morning. I was trying to make a left out of his driveway, but the lane coming from my left was bumper-to-bumper due to the large church down the road in the other direction. A guy left me room to make my turn so I tried to lurch out and peek over the line, but at the wrong time.

A car coming from my right slams on its breaks, but not in time before hitting my passenger side fender. The impact was hard enough to change the direction of my turn even more to left which sent me rolling into the car that gave me room to get out.

Nobody was hurt, but it was sure scarey (and expensive) enough.

[caspanky]

One, but not too serious at all. I was going a little too fast on an off ramp when it was raining and hydroplaned a little to the left around the bend. Left front wheel slid into the curb, and bent up the suspension for the wheel, and pinch the wheel against the body. No injuries, except my pride.

[sooner333]

What do you consider serious??? I mean, I was in a borderline situation where I hit a (stopped) car who hit another car. Now, the middle car was pretty much screwed over (probably totaled b/c of its low value) and the front car had minor bumper damage. My car had zero damage. Also, the lady in the front car (not the totaled car, mind you) started to have neck trouble, but looking at her, she only had it when approached by people. She requested an ambulance, but refused to go to the local hospital, saying she would go to another hospital on her own...pretty sure she was faking it.

I would say that it was major if she was really hurt, kind of borderline if she wasn't (just because I had nothing wrong with me...plus, nobody seriously hurt).

[JeeberD]

Dammit, I wish I had made this a public poll. Stupid vodka... :mad:

[Franklinnoble]

Friends don't let friends drink and post about driving?

[molson]

And then there was the time a hotel valet driver wrecked my car in Calgary. But - that worked out OK. My insurance company apparently didn't understand the American/Canadian currency difference (which was quite substantial back then), and gave me a check in American $ to pay my repair bill that was in Canadian $. That worked out well.

[Eaglesfan27]

About 3-4 years ago, I was on I-10 driving home towards New Orleans when an A-Hole decided he was going to pass me on my left. He then realized there was a car already to the left of him, so he swerved back, hit the back left end of my car. He then bounced my car into the car in front of me, and I guess the car spun around a bit and hit a few other cars. I've read this in the police report. My car apparently stopped inches short of a rather large solid concrete wall. My car was totalled, and I'm lucky that I wasn't seriously hurt in the accident. The A-Hole who hit me was driving without a license or insurance. Fortunately, I only had a concussion and lots of bruises. Also fortunately, no one else was seriously hurt.

I've also been in 2 minor accidents with no injuries.

[JS19]

It just hit me, this last accident I was in which was a serious one, and the 1st accident I was ever in which has to be at least 10 yrs ago by now, my father was driving I was in the back seat, both happened on the same road just at different ends, and both were no more than 20 seconds from home.

[chinaski]

my worst, got broadsided by a station wagon taxi cab going 70. I was in 1976 toyota celica. Broke all my ribs, collar bones, sternum, dislocated both shoulders. completely changed my life. I was a welder at the time, that pretty much ended my blue collar career and put me on the tech path. bought a computer with my some of the settlement money and the rest is history. im oddly glad it happened, the settlement was pretty big and it got me out of welding.

my GF got broadsided by a little truck at a stop light, the guy wasnt even going fast; 25 mph tops. caused her to have TMJ - she was far worse off than i was when it was all said and done. 3 TMJ surgeries later and shes still screwed up.

[JeeberD]

TMJ?

[chinaski]

TMJ?

Oh sorry, its the joint in your jaw. Theres a pad that cushions your jaw and it got knocked out of both sides of the joint. The surgery is really spotty and shes now had 3 of them. Its crazy bad, cant eat, cant talk... and i wont even go into detail about how bad the narcotic pain killers wrecked her inners. anyone watch the latest survivor, well its like what happened to the guy who had to go home, but waaay worse. She now has ear cartilage in her TMJ. 3 different occasions now ive waited on her hand and foot for 3 months at a time.

[Eaglesfan27]

Tempro-Mandibular Joint Syndrome is among the worst pain in the world according to some of my patients...


Sorry to hear about your GF suffering with it.

[Chief Rum]

Hmm, two major ones, and a semi-major and several fender-benders. One of the majors was my fault, and the semi-major, I was actually a passenger. Most of the fender benders were the other guy (or gal), but I am responsible for a couple.

The one major that was my fault, I was just 17 and driving my little brother home in my Dad's new Mustang convertible. Yeah...ouch. It gets worse. Big van in my way on an unprotected left. Thought it was free. All I saw was a grill before the Mustang was literally lifted and thrown at least a first down away from the point of contact (sideways). Amazingly, my bro and I were okay (just a scratch on my bro's face), and the woman in the Mercedes (yeah, I said it was bad, didn't I?) was stunned but okay. Both cars totalled, I got a reckless driving and a probationary license for two years. Incidentally, more than 15 years later, I can still visualize that view of the Mercedes grill,a nd for that reason, I can't stand those VW commercials. Too real.

The second major, I was driving a 1980 Toyota Celica on the 10 in a heavy downpour when I saw some guy up ahead of me spin out and end up astride my lane. I was a good deal away, but I had to hit the brakes, and I hydroplaned. The guy got lucky, because my tires caught just feet from his driverside door and ended up crumpling his driverside wheel well. The guy said someone cut him off, which made him spin out. CHP said there was no way to tell and even let us take off without reporting an accident (although we were both just driving the cars off of the freeway at that point).

The semi-major (one where I was the passenger), I (about 18-19 at the time) was in the car in a left hand turn lane with my mom, and a drunk in an SUV making a left (going past us opposite direction) just "kept turning", vaulted the island and smashed right into the side of our Nissan Maxima. We were okay (back end of passenger compartment was hit), and the sorry sap got arrested for felony DUI.

Not surprisingly, I'm not really an auto enthusiast.

[JeeberD]

Ugh, sorry man... :(

[chinaski]

Tempro-Mandibular Joint Syndrome is among the worst pain in the world according to some of my patients...


Sorry to hear about your GF suffering with it.

Its horrible, it killed me seeing her like that. Too top it all off, the guy who ran the light had been in multiple wrecks before and was somehow able to have the lowest form of insurance; in existence. She basically got nothing for a pain and suffering and now to this day is still paying to go to the doctor, out of our pocket.

dont take your TMJ for granted, that sucker rules your world :(

[Mustang]

Hmm.. I've been in a few

1. 16 y/o, Dodge Omni - slid on snow and hit the curb and snapped the wheel off.

2. 16 y/o Ford something (1 week later), going eastbound.. guy pulled out in front of me, I reacted and he clipped the rear passenger side. (His fault)

3. 17 y/o, Dodge Omni - sitting in the parking lot.. car comes rollling down a hill and hit my passenger door. (his fault, car left in neutral) My most humorous... I had just bought that Samantha Fox poster, you know.. the one that was the collage from the 80s and me and my friend were looking at it.. next thing you know. BAM..

4. 17 y/o, Dodge Omni - green light through an intersection, car ran a red light, I saw him and reacted and side swiped him. (his fault, running a red)

5. 17 y/o, Friends Truck - at a stop light, rear ended by drunk driver

6. 22 y/o, Ford Probe - Sitting at a stop light and car broadsides me. I was in a turn lane and he came out of a parking lot and wanted to go into the same turn lane but, didn't see me. (his fault, only going 15 or so. Although, to this date, I have no fucking idea how he didn't see me)

7. 32 y/o, Ford Mustang - Going east bound, 45 MPH and a truck pulls out in front of me.. I only had a few feet to react and totalled my car, air bag deployment. Had bad neck/shoulder pain for almost 1 1/2 years after that and still get occassional flare ups. My worst accident by far.

8. 34 y/o, Ford Mustang - My dumbest accident by far, I cut through a parking lot, didn't have my sunglasses on and a light pole was between me and the sun setting. I clipped it with my front tire but, it did just enough to deploy the airbags and basically total my car.


What I've learned.

1. Seatbelts. They are there for a reason. Use those bad boys.
2. Shit happens.. be on the lookout for idiots.
3. Wear sunglasses
4. 80's poster girls, while hot at the time are now older and not cool.

[Chief Rum]

One funny story, though. Not an accident, but it is car thing and happened to my bro.

When we were teenagers (he's a year younger than me), he had this 1986 Dodge Daytona. Wasn't a great car, but it looked good and ran decent. Well one hot SoCal day, he came home from a drive around to do errands. Maybe 10-15 minutes after he got home, he and I were just reading the paper in the kitchen when we saw our neighbor running up our driveway frantically yelling and pointing toward the side of our house. We ran out, and holy crap, my bro's car was literally engulfed in a ball of flame. That's right, a ball of flame in the middle of our driveway. We called the fire dept., and they are around the corner so they got to us fast and put it out. Apparently, some of the rubber in the engine overheated on a hot day and caught fire. The thing was dust, just a husk and a frame with a whole lotta stink and a black circle burnt permanently into the driveway concrete.

That night, a couple of my friends came over and watched the old John Woo Hong Kong action flick The Killer, and my bro watched it with us. There's a part in there where a car catches on fire. My brother just watched the movie, pissed. Pretty funny stuff (and yeah, we teased him, I was a shitty older brother).

[sabotai]

3 accidents

The first one, totally my fault. I had my license for about 2 months and took my eyes off the road for a second or two and rear ended someone. I was going slow, so the damage was minor. Rookie mistake, lesson learned.

The second one, I was driving in Philly. I was stopped at a red light at about 11 or 12 at night. Hardly anyone around. When the light turned green, I started to go and someone drove by in the left lane.....except he was a bit in the middle lane (where I was) and scrapped along side me. My side mirror was damaged, and obviously had some nice scratches on the side. The fucker kept driving, though. Funny, because half of his back fender was hanging off. He got the worse of that one.

The last one was about a year ago. It was snowing heavily and I was stopped, about to make a left turn. A guy in an SUV came up behind me, slid, I saw this in my mirror and tried to drive forward, but my tires spun and he rear ended me. He had slowed down enough, though, that it just damaged my fender and nothing else.

And those are my 3 accident stories.

[Karlifornia]

I was about 12, and my mom and I were driving 280 southbound, when the car in front of us came to a screeching halt, my mom tried to stop, but slightly tapped the rear end of the car in front of us. We both breathed a sigh of relief, but then BAM! a Ford Bronco skidding sideways rams into the back of our Mustang. Just broke out all the taillights and dented the rear bumper. No bad injuries

When I was 19, I made a left turn from a busy street onto a moderately busy street, a spider was crawling on the interior of my car right in front of me. This was a big, ugly sumbitch, so I felt compelled to kindly escort it out of the vehicle. I rolled down my window, and flicked it out-Or so I thought...I rolled the window back up, and the damn thing is still inside the car. So, I go to roll my window back down, and glance at the spider. BIFF! I rear end a car that was stopped dead going about 25 MPH. I knocked the car to the other side of the road. It was 4 skater kids in a shitty tercel. One of the kids feigned a neck injury.

The other accident I was in was also my fault. I tried to make a left out of a parking lot and missed seeing a BMW that was coming from my left side....he tried to get out of the way, but to avail. I basically just left a little paint on his car. Not really a big deal.

[vex]

What I've learned.

1. Seatbelts. They are there for a reason. Use those bad boys.
2. Shit happens.. be on the lookout for idiots.
3. Wear sunglasses
4. 80's poster girls, while hot at the time are now older and not cool.

5. No Dodge Omni's
6. No Ford vehicles whatsoever.

[Franklinnoble]

Man... third car accident I had was a head-on with a Dodge Omni (I was in a big old Ford POS - the Omni didn't do so well).

Those things were accident magnets, it seems.

[ice4277]

I refuse to vote in this poll due to the potential jinx factor.

[illinifan999]

Well I'm being sued for over $100k so I'd say the accident was kinda serious. Although I love seeing the person involved playing basketball with whiplash. Quick healer.

[FrogMan]

been in a pretty serious one and a few unlucky smaller ones. The big one was a couple days before prom night in high school, was going to check the place when the party was going to happen, some sort of big field in the country and I didn't do a stop, thinking it was a 4 directions stop. The thing is, it wasn't and the other car was coming at maybe 45mph, hit my mom's Chevette right between the front wheela dn the passenger door. About a foot more to the back and I probably wouldn't be typing this post. The car spun sideways for 270 degrees but I was lucky enough that with the seetabelt, I suffered absolutely nothing, other than some aching...

FM

[flere-imsaho]

Am I one of the lucky few or are the ads overstating how often accidents can happen?

I've been in two accidents, neither of which were my fault. :)

In the first, I was in the passenger seat when the driver (who wasn't very good and wasn't paying attention) swerved and hit a parked car at about 20 mph.

In the second, I was rearended by a guy doing about 40.

I've only seen one of the VW ads, but no, I don't think they're overstating it. Until you've been in a car accident, it's hard to comprehend the sheer amount of force involved. It is shocking.

Frankly, if it wasn't so dangerous, I'd be convinced that everyone should go through a simulated car accident before they get their license. Once you've had the experience of the forces involved, you have a different view of driving, in my opinion.

[flere-imsaho]

Related to accidents, I've got one really sad story and one really funny story.

The sad story concerns a guy with whom I went to high school. He was a big skiier (downhill) and went on to college in Vermont. One night he's at a party and gets pretty loaded. When he leaves, he decides he's drunk too much to drive, so decides to walk home through the snow and whatnot. On his way home some friends come by and offer to give him a ride. Unfortunately, they're not completely sober either, but it's unclear how much he could tell in his own state. Anyway, long story short they end up sliding off the road and hit a bunch of trees. Since he's not wearing his seatbelt he gets thrown clear and ends up a paraplegic.


Funny story: Dad's teaching me how to drive stick, so we get in his car in the driveway, and I go to start it up. Now, this was on a car that didn't require that you let the clutch out before starting it, so the car's in gear, in reverse. Sadly, just behind the car is a massive 4 ft deep hole that's just been dug for a shed Dad was putting in. So, I turn the keys and the car goes sailing backward into the hole. Dad had to drive it backwards totally into the hole (hole was on a slope) and then out through the vegetable garden. Some exhaust problems, but not a huge deal, although a pretty huge blow to my ego at the time. :)

[sachmo71]

My accidents:

15 years old. Stole my dad's New Yorker late one night and took it for a spin with a friends. Tooling around an industrial park, not really knowing how to drive, and I smashed into a light pole. Light pole died, but I survived. Sort of.

15 years old. Buddy drives and I don't. We raid his parents liquor cabinet and decide to pour a little bit of everything into a mason jar. Call it "The Blitz". We drink it while driving around. We see a bus parked in our neighborhood. Friend decides to back up to see what it's doing there. Unfortunately, there is a car behind us, honking frantically. We can't hear it because we are drunk and the Judas Priest is just too loud. Turns out, the lady driving is married to the head coach of the SMU Mustang's baskeball team. Oops. She didn't catch on that we were drunk, so we get away scott free.

16 years old. Driving home from summer school. Fellow student changes lanes into my car. He had a 66 Mustang, I had a 75 Impala. I won. He ended up telling his parents that it happened in the parking lot and buying me some liquor.

16 years old. Friends get together to have water balloon war. Somehow, it extends to cars. We ambush the other team from my buddys steel and iron station wagon. He takes off. They give chase. We duck down an alley. I'm watching for pursuit. Guy next to me is watching for pursuit. Passenger is watching for pursuit. Driver is watching for pursuit. Too bad, and he proceeds to smash into someones fence. He continues to drive, plowing the entire back quarter of the fence down. We come down, and he takes off at our urging. Cops are called, and waiting for us as we get to his house. It took a long time because we had to make left turns the entire way...the fender was crumpled into the right wheel.



18 years old. Driving from Austin to Dallas with GF. It's raining hard. GF has the wipers on intermittant. I tell her to turn them on full speed. She refuses. I tell her she can't see. She says she can. They sweep, and traffic on the freeway is stopped about 20 yards ahead. She locks 'em up, we bounce off of the retaining wall. We stop INCHES from the rear bumper of a pickup. I was wise and did not say a word.


There were some close calls as well, but that's a story for another time.

[sachmo71]

I was about 12, and my mom and I were driving 280 southbound, when the car in front of us came to a screeching halt, my mom tried to stop, but slightly tapped the rear end of the car in front of us. We both breathed a sigh of relief, but then BAM! a Ford Bronco skidding sideways rams into the back of our Mustang. Just broke out all the taillights and dented the rear bumper. No bad injuries

When I was 19, I made a left turn from a busy street onto a moderately busy street, a spider was crawling on the interior of my car right in front of me. This was a big, ugly sumbitch, so I felt compelled to kindly escort it out of the vehicle. I rolled down my window, and flicked it out-Or so I thought...I rolled the window back up, and the damn thing is still inside the car. So, I go to roll my window back down, and glance at the spider. BIFF! I rear end a car that was stopped dead going about 25 MPH. I knocked the car to the other side of the road. It was 4 skater kids in a shitty tercel. One of the kids feigned a neck injury.

The other accident I was in was also my fault. I tried to make a left out of a parking lot and missed seeing a BMW that was coming from my left side....he tried to get out of the way, but to avail. I basically just left a little paint on his car. Not really a big deal.


who are you again?

[GoldenEagle]

I hit someone when I was about 17. I was turning right in I guess what you would call a turn pike. There was a car which looked like he was driving off. I checked over my shoulder, saw it was clear and took my foot off the break.

The car in front of me was now about 2 feet closer then it was and I hit maybe going 2 MPH. I of course bumped into him. He claimed his neck was hurt and they had to call him an ambulance. I was shocked.

Anyway, the insurance company claimed they investigated fraud but we still got stuck with an increase in insurance.

[FrogMan]

18 years old. Driving from Austin to Dallas with GF. It's raining hard. GF has the wipers on intermittant. I tell her to turn them on full speed. She refuses. I tell her she can't see. She says she can. They sweep, and traffic on the freeway is stopped about 20 yards ahead. She locks 'em up, we bounce off of the retaining wall. We stop INCHES from the rear bumper of a pickup. I was wise and did not say a word.


wow, only 18 but wise beyond his years. Did you end up marrying that girl?

:D

FM

[sachmo71]

wow, only 18 but wise beyond his years. Did you end up marrying that girl?

:D

FM


nope. as you can see, she's a bit stubborn.

[FrogMan]

nope. as you can see, she's a bit stubborn.

that's an understatement ;)

FM

[FrogMan]

dola, on first reading, I thought you were the one driving and you asked her to put the wipers on. I thought that was a bit weak on your part. I see you were the strong one there :)

FM

[sachmo71]

dola, on first reading, I thought you were the one driving and you asked her to put the wipers on. I thought that was a bit weak on your part. I see you were the strong one there :)

FM


there were times when this would have been possible, but i would just have been showing off.

[Toddzilla]

I've been in 2 - one pretty serious, one pretty funny in a karmic way - both in high school when I was 17.

The first accident was pretty bad - after school traffic was fast and furious, and one of the two lanes on the road home was closed. Traffic slowd to a stop, but the asshat behind me wasn't paying attention and hit me at a dead stop doing about 65. Totaled my car, his car, the car in front of me, and damaged the car in front of that one. I messed up my back real bad, spent some time in the hospital, and was on heavy-duty narcotics almost my entire junior year.

Second accident was karma biting me in the ass. There was a big party coming up on the weekend, so I had gone with a pal who's sister was over 21 and we stocked up on Moosehead, 4 cases of it. It was in my trunk and on the way home I was slowing down for a curve and some other dickhead smashed into the back of my car without even slowing down. I was okay and had completely forgotten about the beer when the police showd up and I was walking around my car with him explaining what had happened. Beer was streaming out of my trunk into big frothy pools in the road. The cop looked at me, at the beer, back at me and laughed. "You better get that car cleaned up, son, before you take it to the garage." "YES SIR!"

[JeeberD]

Dude, Sach was a little hood! :eek:

[Raiders Army]

About 3 years ago, I was driving on I-10 when this fucker was driving like an old lady. I needed to pass him on his left so I began to get out in the lane when I saw this car speeding up next to me. I couldn't get out, so I got back in my lane. The guy in front of me slowed down even more, and clipped me with the back left end of his car. He spun around a bit and hit some other cars. Unfortunately, I didn't have my license or insurance with me at the time.

[Raiders Army]

This other time I was in Canada and I was coming to an intersection one night. I was going about 45 MPH and hit this crappy Chevette between the front wheel and the passenger door. I spun that car sideways for 270 degrees. The dork who pulled out in front of me didn't suffer any injuries.

[FrogMan]

This other time I was in Canada and I was coming to an intersection one night. I was going about 45 MPH and hit this crappy Chevette between the front wheel and the passenger door. I spun that car sideways for 270 degrees. The dork who pulled out in front of me didn't suffer any injuries.

:p

FM

[FrogMan]

dola, and it wasn't crappy. it was 1986 and this was back in 1988 :D

FM

[Raiders Army]

I also got hit by this 17 year old kid. He hit me from behind with his car going at least 5 MPH and hurt my neck. They had to get an ambulance. I wasn't faking it.

[Raiders Army]

:p

FM
OMG! That was you!

[WSUCougar]

High school. I'm driving the family Corolla with a buddy in the passenger seat. Red light, VW bug in front of me turning right. Light turns green, we begin to move, VW suddenly stops in mid turn. WHAM! Fender bender, my fault. Turns out someone was in the crosswalk so she had to stop.

My dad grounds me and doesn't let me drive with any friends in the car for 3 months! Grossly unfair! He's an ogre! ACK!

[Toddzilla]

Hmm.. I've been in a few...
{edit}
What I've learned.

1. Seatbelts. They are there for a reason. Use those bad boys.
2. Shit happens.. be on the lookout for idiots.
3. Wear sunglasses
4. 80's poster girls, while hot at the time are now older and not cool.
What I've Learned

1. NEVER ride with Mustang

That is all.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Two years ago, I was making a turn at an intersection, and a car full of teenage girls came across the intersection in front of me. I hit the side of their car. They had a stop sign and I didn't, but I somehow got tagged with the blame on that one.

Also, I guess a little over a month ago, my car skidded on some fresh snow and slid right into a guardrail at about 20 MPH. I messed up my car pretty good on that one.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I had two snow related accidents and in both I was amazing lucky.

The first didn't end up being an accident really. I was heading down a two-lane highway. There was a semi on my right and a van in front of me. The van hits the breaks and I tap mine. My car all of a sudden starts to spin. I lose control. Had I gone right, I would have ended up under the semi. Luckily my car veers to the left and into an incredibly wide and shallow median. I get control and I am now driving in the same direction I was heading on the grass. Without stopping, I just merged back onto the highway. Perhaps some dirt on the car, nothing else. It wasn't until I got home that I reflected on what happend, well, what could have happened, and then immediately felt sick.

A few months later I was on another two lane highway in the snow. I was in the left lane and a tanker cuts me off. I hit the breaks and start to skid. Once again, I go left and into the median. It's a ditch, so I go down into and then back out into two lanes of on-coming traffic and then down into the ditch on the far side of the other lane. The rear left tire had come off the rim, but that was it. I got towed out about an hour later and drove to a truck stop about 1 mile down the highway. The guy fixed the tire (it hadn't punctured) and I was on my way.

Needless to say I hate driving in snow. It's the biggest drawback in moving back to Michigan.

[Telle]

I was driving down a main road through town. For no appearant reason, an SUV that was stopped at a stop sign on a side road decided to pull out right into me. I was totally fine, but the car had considerable damage. And I didn't think about it until later, but she had knocked me into opposite lane and I was damn lucky there wasn't any oncoming traffic at the time. The real fun thing was that I was 26 weeks pregnant at the time.

[King of New York]

In my youth, I might as well have put a giant bulls-eye on my car and invited people to crash into me:

1) Pick-up runs a stop sign and hits the front left of my car.
2) Car skids on ice and manages to crash its side into the front of my car, even though I am stopped at a stop sign.
3) Traffic is stopped getting onto a bridge. I come to a stop, the guy behind me doesn't.

No serious injuries, fortunately. For reasons I do not understand, once I turned about 25, no one wanted to crash into me anymore.

[VPI97]

- Age 16 - Ran over a wooden fence (pressed gas instead of brake)
- Age 16 - Skid on ice and flipped my convertible into a drainage ditch...was suspended (unconscious) by my seatbelt over the water for about 45 minutes until someone found me.
- Age 19 - T-boned by a car when I was trying to make a left turn
- Age 21 - T-boned by a car when I was trying to make a left turn (again)
- Age 28 - Fell asleep at the wheel and rammed an abandoned car on the side of I-285 (Atlanta). Jaws of life + airlifted + 2 days unconscious.

There's probably a few more that I've forgotten about.

edit - more:
- Age 27 - rear ended in traffic to such an extent that my Jeep was pushed on top of the back 50% of the convertible in front of me. No one was seriously injured

[Maple Leafs]

I've never been behind the wheel for so much as a fender bender. I was involved in a bad situation a few years ago with about six cars and whiteout conditions on the highway, but four cars piled up and me and another guy wen stunt driver and got away clean.

The (future) wife was in a bad one back in high school. Her friend was driving. They went to pick up abother friend and my wife hopped in the back seat to make room. The third friend turned out to not want to go out, so the wife hopped back into the front seat. The driver made a left and was hit -- minor injuries to both girls but the back seat was obliterated.

[Young Drachma]

Two weeks before I was to separate from the Air Force, back in 2002, I was on the shoulder during a rain storm on I-64 in St. Louis going towards the bridge to take me back to Illinois.

A woman rear ended my car going 50+ mph. The car, of course, was destroyed. But the real blessing is, I came out of it unscathed. There has never been a time where I really and truly feared for my life, like I did that day.

The whole thing cost me a ton of money, despite having not been in the wrong, simply because I still owed money on that car and the insurance company (HERS) felt the need to jerk me around royally.

It took forever to get it resolved. So..umm..yeah. But that's the only real time. Other than that, never anything major.

[Bee]

Not sure if it counts, but when I was a kid I got hit by a car and was in the hospital for about two months. I was hit by a teenage kid racing another, neither had licenses or insurance. Other than that I've been in a couple small accidents. Once someone slammed into me when I was stopped to make a left turn (pretty common at that location). Once I ran into the back of someone who had taken off from a redlight and killed the engine because they didn't know how to drive a stick. That one didn't do any damage to the other car, but my car had about $2000 worth of damage :(.

[Grammaticus]

I've never been in an accident where my car actually had to be repaired. But I have been bumped and have bumped someone else in traffic and parking lots. Again, no damage to my vehicle was ever noticeable, but I guess it still counts.

[st.cronin]

I was hit by a car riding a bicycle - does that count?

[Maple Leafs]

I was hit by a car riding a bicycle - does that count?
That's a cool trick. How did they get the car to balance on the handle bars?

[st.cronin]

That's a cool trick. How did they get the car to balance on the handle bars?

Kiss my hat, grammar pig.

[Yossarian]

I just passed my test this year, mid february.

My gf has her mum's old 1994 Micra. It's in great shape considering its age due to her mum's care.

(you know where this is going...)

long story short, two weeks after passing my test, I had a bump.

thankfully it was pulling out of my spot in a multistory car park. Funny thing was, I reversed into the spot so that I could come out face front (so as to help my visibility).

Then when I did come out, I forgot to look left and the other driver decided that given that she (oh, she was a reverend btw) has right of way that she'd ignore me coming out (ever so slowly) and just keep driving.

one of those STUPID crashes that if either party had half their wits about them wouldn't have happened.

I mean seriously, she was going about 5mph, i was going bloody slow and I was totally out my space and almost turned straight before we collided - meaning she had at least 10 seconds or so to stop but cest la vie...

we then got shafted by the insurance company due to their staff incompetance and it's been a royal pain in the ass to be honest.

so kids, look both ways!

[Kodos]

A lady backed into me as I passed her in the parking lot. Otherwise, no accidents.

[JeeberD]

I refuse to vote in this poll due to the potential jinx factor.


I managed the trip to the gym and back with no problems...I hope I'm as lucky going to work tonight!

*knocks on more wood*

[Hammer755]

Never been in one, knock on wood.

[Glengoyne]

When I was a sophomore in college I was involved in six accidents. None of them my fault, none of them very serious at all. My car was hit an additional two times while it was parked and unoccupied.

Two of the accidents happened within a week of each other. The lady who had rear ended me at a stop light was simply aghast at the damage she saw when looking at my car. She was talking about paying for the damage, and not going through the insurance and all of that. She was actually pretty manic and upset. She was unbelievable relieved when I told her that the damage had been done a week earlier.

[tarcone]

i was in one where i was driving about 30 on a snow covered road. the i cameover a hill and there were cars stopped in the middle of the road and io tried to stop. hit the brakes and nothing. put it into park and low and park again.....nothing. veered to my right went down a hill and head on into a tree then the car spun left and hit another tree. had my wife and 2 kids with me. no one hurt but car totaled

My wife and her sister were driving down the street in this one. going 30 they went in front of a highway off ramp which has a stop sign and a pretty severe curve right before the stop sign. here comes a semi truck going waaaaayyyy to fast. hits a stopped car and pushes it into my wife in the mini van and pushes her actoss the road into a sign. no one was seriously hurt although she has back pain now whenever she cleans (coincidence or conspiracy?) the gas station across the street had a video of it and the semis trailer was tipping over around the curve.

[RPI-Fan]

I refuse to call my one and only collision an "accident".

I was waiting at a four-way stop (with no other cars there), for the required 1-2 seconds. Just as I began to get ready to take my foot off the brake I got hit from behind (it was icy out).

Since I was less than 0% at fault (I was actually stopping at a four way stop where nobody ever does), I refuse to call this an accident.

[Pumpy Tudors]

By the way, does anyone find it funny how no one ever seems to mention an accident when they were at all at fault?
I wasn't even at fault when I hit the guardrail. It jumped right out in front of me!

[st.cronin]

I wasn't even at fault when I hit the guardrail. It jumped right out in front of me!

I hope you sued.

[sabotai]

By the way, does anyone find it funny how no one ever seems to mention an accident when they were at all at fault?

edit: I noticed WSUCouger owned up earlier in the thread, so props to him. :cool:

I never get any props. :(

[RPI-Fan]

I never get any props. :(

Deleted my post because after reading through the thread 100% many people admitted fault.

With that said, I don't believe I have ever heard, in a real-life conversation, someone admitting any fault in an automobile collission.

[Tom E]

On October 3rd 1994 I was sleeping in the back of a truck that hit a tree, breaking my neck at C 6/7...

Wow I can't believe it's been that long...

I also totaled a car when i was 16, not totally my fault. It was raining and i reared ended somebody...Nissan Sentra's are fucking tin cans...

[bulletsponge]

Does hauling a trailer home behind a van, then flipping the van upside down going 70 mph totaling both the trailer and the van count? only got 1 scratch on my arm

[Mustang]

What I've Learned

1. NEVER ride with Mustang

That is all.

*snicker*

If the car is in motion, everything is cool. Its just when the car is either parked, idling or in a parking lot where everything goes to shit. :D

[st.cronin]

Does hauling a trailer home behind a van, then flipping the van upside down going 70 mph totaling both the trailer and the van count? only got 1 scratch on my arm

You know, I somehow totally forgot about this: Driving a UHaul last summer, the brakes failed on I-25 and the vehicle ended up about 50-100 yards off the highway, but amazingly did NOT turn over.

[Celeval]

About two weeks before going to college, in the passenger's side with my best friend driving. We were running late for something, so going a bit higher than the speed limit, and it was pouring... on the way off the highway, hydroplaned, spun the car, hit the curb while backwards, and flipped over... skidded about a dozen yards on the roof. Car (Ford Taurus) was totalled. We both had our seatbelts on - he didn't have a scratch, I had a window essentially implode into my arm when the car was on its side and had to get a bunch of stiches, also bumped my head on the ceiling at some point and was put in the neck brace/ambulance to get neck x-rays just in case. Another reason I take seatbelts very seriously.

A few other minor incidents, but that's the only serious one. The most non-serious one was the older lady who barely spoke english who tried to pass me on the left when I was in the far-left left turn lane. She hit me on the wrong side of the road as I was turning and tried to explain to the police why it was my fault because my blinker wasn't on (all the while, the blinker was /still/ on).

[Chief Rum]

- Age 16 - Ran over a wooden fence (pressed gas instead of brake)
- Age 16 - Skid on ice and flipped my convertible into a drainage ditch...was suspended (unconscious) by my seatbelt over the water for about 45 minutes until someone found me.
- Age 19 - T-boned by a car when I was trying to make a left turn
- Age 21 - T-boned by a car when I was trying to make a left turn (again)
- Age 28 - Fell asleep at the wheel and rammed an abandoned car on the side of I-285 (Atlanta). Jaws of life + airlifted + 2 days unconscious.

There's probably a few more that I've forgotten about.

edit - more:
- Age 27 - rear ended in traffic to such an extent that my Jeep was pushed on top of the back 50% of the convertible in front of me. No one was seriously injured

When I first read this, I read "Age" as "Aug", as in August, and thought, "Wow, that might be the worst month ever."

[Passacaglia]

15 years old. Buddy drives and I don't. We raid his parents liquor cabinet and decide to pour a little bit of everything into a mason jar. Call it "The Blitz". We drink it while driving around. We see a bus parked in our neighborhood. Friend decides to back up to see what it's doing there. Unfortunately, there is a car behind us, honking frantically. We can't hear it because we are drunk and the Judas Priest is just too loud. Turns out, the lady driving is married to the head coach of the SMU Mustang's baskeball team. Oops. She didn't catch on that we were drunk, so we get away scott free.



My driver's ed teacher used to exclaim 'Judas Priest' whenever he got mad at us.

[Craptacular]

What do you consider serious??? I mean, I was in a borderline situation where I hit a (stopped) car who hit another car. Now, the middle car was pretty much screwed over (probably totaled b/c of its low value) and the front car had minor bumper damage. My car had zero damage. Also, the lady in the front car (not the totaled car, mind you) started to have neck trouble, but looking at her, she only had it when approached by people. She requested an ambulance, but refused to go to the local hospital, saying she would go to another hospital on her own...pretty sure she was faking it.

I would say that it was major if she was really hurt, kind of borderline if she wasn't (just because I had nothing wrong with me...plus, nobody seriously hurt).

That sounds pretty familiar ... did you hit me in Milwaukee in about 1992?

Seriously, that is very similar to the one accident I've been the driver in. My friends and I were leaving a Brewers' game in heavy, but freeway-speed traffic. A fat lady in a big old boat of a car (Caddy?) moved into my lane and then screeched to a halt for no apparent reason. I hit her and got hit from behind, although I honestly don't know which was first. My car was totalled, her's had maybe a scratch on the bumper, and the couple behind me had damage to the front of their car. A couple of my classmates were actually in the next car behind them. Luckily, we were all OK, as we all had seatbelts on. My airbag deployed, but I don't think I ever touched it. The lady in front of me complained of neck pain, but refused medical attention or an ambulance. We called BS, and found out later that she was involved in a similar accident ... THE DAY BEFORE! Unfortunately, we never heard of any further action. The insurance companies probably just made a deal with each other and called it a day. No one got a ticket, although legally it would have been me and the guy behind me, while in reality it should have been the lady in front. To make things worse, the frickin' officer who took us from the scene didn't take us to the station to wait for someone to pick us up. He dropped us off in front of the YMCA in downtown Milwaukee, saying we could go in, make a call, and wait there. Of course, they were CLOSED. Great, so you've got four fish-out-of-water 16-year-olds who are not familiar with the area, with little cash and no transportation, stuck in downtown Milwaukee on a Sunday evening. We wandered around until we found a hotel that let us make calls and wait in their lobby until my buddy's dad was able to drive down and pick us up. This is one of the reasons I hate Milwaukee.

The more serious accident I was in was when I was in 6th grade. My parents were on vacation, and hired some grad student to watch us while they were away. She and I were going to the mall one day, and she ran a stop sign at a rural 55 mph highway. She nailed a car on the highway, which then proceeded to spin out into the ditch. I didn't see any of this because I was knocked out from the side of my face hitting the dashboard. When I came to, she was out of the car, had my door open, and was probably trying to figure out what to do. I did notice I put a nice dent in the dashboard. This intersection happens to be one close to my home that saw A LOT of accidents, and the people in the bar on the corner probably called for help immediately. I eventually got taken into the bar and laid down on a pool table. I went to the hospital on a stretcher, but fortunately, didn't suffer anything major neck problems ... just a cut-up face and likely a concussion. I later found out that the people in the other car were a 7-year-old kid and his grandparents. The grandma suffered a broken collarbone and some broken / bruised ribs ... I think she was in the front passenger seat, where our car had hit them. I think the grandpa and kid were basically OK. This happened shortly before Wisconsin finally adopted a mandatory seat-belt law (1987). I learned the hard way. At least the grad student didn't wreck my parents' car ... it was hers.

[Craptacular]

What I've learned.

1. Seatbelts. They are there for a reason. Use those bad boys.
2. Shit happens.. be on the lookout for idiots.
3. Wear sunglasses
4. 80's poster girls, while hot at the time are now older and not cool.

5. STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM MUSTANG!!!!

[Craptacular]

Man... third car accident I had was a head-on with a Dodge Omni (I was in a big old Ford POS - the Omni didn't do so well).

Those things were accident magnets, it seems.

My brother got in an accident at the same intersection my serious one was at ... in a Dodge Omni. He got a broken arm.

[Mac Howard]

I wrapped my Triumph sportscar around a tree as a young man. Travelling back home at 60 mph at one in the morning my inside front wheel struck a rock dropped into the road earlier by a truck. It split the front nearside tyre. The car was uncontrollable and with concrete lamposts down either side of the road the situation was not pleasant. The car lurched one way then the other as I struggled to control it and eventually I managed to force the car across the road onto a gravelled area. But found myself going straight for a tree. I flung the car sideways and slid passenger side (no one else in the car) into the tree. The tree ploughed its way through the side of the car, crushed the passenger seat and into my shoulder. I was pushed into the driver's door which sprung open.

I got out of the car shaken but not injured. The car was wrapped around the tree like a banana and was a complete write-off.

[Mustang]

5. STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM MUSTANG!!!!

You can't avoid me Crap.. I'm in the same state. I will find you!