I almost got into a car accident this weekend and I was curious how many accidents you have been in. It can be as a driver or passenger, but I'm wondering if at some point in life more people than not have been in a car accident.
I don't drive - never have - but about 25 years ago I was in two almost identical accidents in the same year. In both cases a car pulled away at an intersection at the wrong time and came headed right toward the front passenger seat - which is where I was seated. The first time, the driver I was with pulled out of the way fast enough to lessen the impact. The second time, there was a great deal of damage to the car I was in, but only a minor scratch to my right arm..
April 3, 2009 - I was driving my car down an on-ramp where the off-ramp was right next to it - no barriers. The off ramp had a hairpin turn at the bottom. A lovely young man in a pickup truck decided to take the off-ramp at about 45 mph. He slammed into my driver's side door. I went into a weird bumper car spin and was stopped by a telephone pole. I had to be cut out of the car. No broken bones, but my neck and left shoulder are in constant soreness/pain. But I'm still here. Sorry, SE.
Been driving for 34 years. I've been hit 4 times. Two hit and runs. Once hit in stopped highway traffic when I couldn't get out of the way of the guy behind me fast enough when he failed to stop with the rest of us. But the best one was when I was hit by a cop and they said I was at fault by running a non existing light. I won that court case. Never caused an accident.
I'm 33 and have been in 3, all not my or my driver's fault. First two were as a passenger, both junior year of high school. In the first one, an ancient man came barreling out of a driveway, making an illegal turn into my friend's car as we drove home from high school. No one was hurt, but since he was old and we were young he was a dick and tried to tell the cop it was our fault. He was not successful. The second was about a month or two later on a weekend night, my friends and I were out driving around and a drunk crashed into us. Car totaled, but no one was hurt and the drunk driver was arrested at the scene. Finally, about 5 years I was driving to work in a brand new car, and an old lady came barreling of a driveway, illegal turn again, and crashed into me, again totaling the car. Again no one was hurt though, which I suppose is the most important part. That and having good insurance which replaced my car in full within a week.
Knock on wood it's been years and years, but I've had three. Never my fault of course, which is a miracle because my driving skills are not improving with age. I've had lots of close calls.
Did anyone else feel the sensation of being in slow motion as the accident was taking place? I know it's only a few seconds, but it felt like time stopped for me.
I've been in 5, but only 1 was my fault. All pretty minor fender benders and everyone walked away. I still have neck pain from the first one at age 12. Those backseat lap belts were shite.
Have slso had several near misses in rush hour traffic when people at speed come to a sudden stop. That freaks me out the most.
@Califblondy - I absolutely know the feeling. As if you're spinning out and you have all the time in the world to think about what is happening, and how you could have avoided it, and what will happen when you finally stop spinning...such a strange, out-of-body experience.
When I was 18, a school bus hit me while I was stopped at an intersection. Thankfully there where no kids in it at the time. The bus driver was going fast enough to pick up my car and drop it a few feet away. A couple of thousand dollars of damage to the car, but I was ok. Yes, it seemed like slow motion, and images of my life did flash across my mind.
I was in a really bad accident in high school. Thankfully nobody was killed. I did talk to Sammy Hagar as a result of it, though. :D
I was only in 3 fender benders in Korea. All cabs, all the other guy's fault, all cabbies left their meters running. With the way people drive over there, it's a fucking miracle I was never killed.
I've been in 2 - and I totally remember the "time stopping" thing. One was not my fault - in traffic on the highway, an 18 wheeler hit the back of my car. He wasn't paying attention and basically rolled into me at 20 mph. Well when you're a Hyundai and the other car is a Semi, even at 20mph there's damage. We exchanged info and he never reported it to his insurance company. They cut me a check for the repairs.
The second was partially my fault, but had the other guy not been speeding in a 35mph zone, it would not have been as bad as it was. I was making a left hand turn and hit the car. He proceeded to hit another car. He tried to sue me three days before the statute of limitations was up. My insurance company played hard ball and he didn't get nearly what he thought he was going to. Greedy SOB. When you refuse to show your tax statements when you are claiming lost wages, you aren't going to win.
ha @Vicki Cupper, my ex was stationed in South Korea, near the DMZ and I remember him telling me how terrified he was riding in the taxi's over there. Sounded like it was a madhouse, glad to hear you were ok!
@Lisa--Ugh! THAT is why I don't always have the greatest impression of cops sometimes. I know there must be good, honest ones, but it's stories like these that make me think they're all corrupt. Sad. Just like politicians, power is dangerous. Glad you won the case!
2 fender benders and 2 slightly bad ones. None my fault. The worst was my ex was driving at night and a light was out, so he and the other driver hit each other at the intersection. The car flipped over twice and landed on it's top. I had to be cut out. I had 3rd degree burns on my breasts from the dome light, and kidney bruising. It sucked bad. It took about a year to heal. Califblondy YES, that's exactly what it felt like!
Been in 5 car accidents. Only one where I was driving and it ended up not being my fault..the woman in front of me decided to make a left out of the right lane.
None of the accidents left me debilitated except for a broken limb or glass in my scalp.
I do hate the sound of a car crash and sometimes even the squealing tires pre accident. Brings back too many bad memories.
2 head on collisions while I was driving. The first was a hit and run by a drunk driver after he had already hit and ran 3 other cars ahead of me! The second was a college kid not paying attention and smashed right into the front of me with his truck. I was pregnant at the time. Fortunately, with both accidents there weren't any injuries and baby was fine. Scared me silly though, I must say.
Glad you are ok, Enty! I've only been in minor stuff. Worst one was going off the road in ice and skidding 180degrees into a tree just off the road. On the other side of the tree was a cliff-i still wave and say thank you to that tree when I go by it!
I've been a few accidents. The worst was when I spun out on the 405 at the 101 circa 1997...I was 20 something and didn't even have a license. The really cute rookie cop let me pretend to be the owner of the car I was driving. No one was the wiser. The car was totaled and my friend got a new one.
I have been in four while I was driving. Two resulted in minor damage and the other two were wrecks.
Now for a blind item of my own. In the first wreck, the other driver was a B-list (C? Enty's way better at this than I am) actress mainly in films. She was in L.A. for a meeting and was heading to the airport to fly back to New York. Was totally my fault, but she was very nice about it and felt real bad for me since my car was wrecked. The car she was driving barely had a scratch on it. Huge SUV vs Toyota Corolla, go fig.
We were hit head on on a two lane highway a year and a half ago. Drunk guy with his pet pig (yes, his pig ) riding shotgun. Thanks to how well cars are built now, we were able to get out on our own. My body feels like it has aged 10 years and my back and neck are always sore, but the fact we are alive is not lost on me. The time slowing thing is so trippy, when he was right in front of us I was thinking that we were going to stop before we hit each other because it seemed so slow, but really we were still going like 50 mph because it happened so fast.
I've been in 3. Only one was my fault. One very bad one where the little old lady ran a red light because "she had places to be and was late". She produced a business card for her proof of insurance and wanted to leave the scene repeatedly.
Hours later, I ended up with bruised kidneys and not being able to stand upright. I was miserable for days and still have back problems. This is why I believe old people need to retake the drivers test after 80ys. old.
Two. The first was right after I got married. A drunk driver crossed the yellow line and hit me and my wife head on. Luckily our seat belts saved us from serious injury. However I was quite pissed that the cop didn't test the other driver DESPITE having open beer bottles in his car AND the testimony of the woman behind him who said he was driving erratically.
The second was more serious. It was ten years later and we got T-boned by a kid who ran a red light. My wife took the brunt of the impact breaking her hip, her knee, multiple ribs and tore both her rotator cuffs. Fortunately, she happened to be the one sitting behind me in the car rather than our 9 year old godson who was riding up front with me. Four years, two surgeries on her hip, and LOTS of physical therapy later, you would never know anything happened to her. We wake up each day with a profound sense of gratitude and a very different sense of what's important in life than we did when we got married.
I've been in one, coming home from the dealership with a new Pontiac Firebird 400, It was raining, mud over the road from rain and recent construction. I lost traction at 35mph, went through six four by four mail box posts, a picket fence and a Peach tree.
The car had sixteen miles on it. The policeman spun in the same place I did, went through the hole I'd made in the fence.
No ticket, no serious injury. The insurance people were a nightmare though.
I was in a really bad one. I had my daughter and my Bouvier (160 lbs) with me. A man ran a Stop sign and hit me. I tried to turn to avoid it but couldn't get out of his way. It was all so slow. My dog got up and blocked my daughter from any injury. Even thought the EMT's insisted that she go to the Hospital. I felt my leg break a very loud crack and lots of pain. The man's brother ran over and asked what was wrong and I said call 911 he refused and then grabbed my leg when I said it was broken. I screamed then for someone to call 911, this was before cell phones. I had ended up in the man's yard he was in a hurry to get home and went through the Stop Sign. Luckily there were witnesses to the crash and one when to his radio in his truck and asked his company to call 911. At this time I had blood pouring from my head Scalp wounds bleed alot. They took my dog to the pound and this happened on a friday we had to wait until Monday to get her. I tried to walk her out she was screaming and made a mad lunge for my husbands truck and she landed in his lap, screaming. Her Daddy had to hold her for a good 1/2 hour before we could leave. The police met me at the Hospital and the blood made them leave the room untill it was taken care of. Broken Leg, Large gash in my scalp and my Dog saved my daughters life. I sued the guy then he started to follow me around had to call the cops on him and my lawyer loved it said it just made him more guilty. At the deposition when I said his brother grabbed my broken leg, his lawyer was threw and stopped the Deposition. I had to explain in detail what my Dog was. I could never return to work. My Dog lived 7 years later after a day at her favorite place just running and having fun. I remember in slow motion her getting up and keeping my daughter from going thur the windshield which I broke with my head.
I've had my license for less than two years, had one very minor fender bender. Some turdburglar in a Jeep decided to make a right turn from the left lane, and there I was in the right lane in my little sunfire. "Sorry, I didn't see you", he said. Um, that's why we shoulder check, fucknugget.
I find it amazing when people say they've never been in an accident. It also makes me think there's always still time for a first one. In any case, I was in a few accidents in my younger years. The day after my 17th birthday, I ran off an embankment and flipped my car. It totally ruined my summer that year. Then, when I was 18, I pulled out in front of someone where I had thought there was a 4-way stop. I Also rear-ended my dad's boss that year, in the middle of a three-lane road that construction took down to one lane. After that, I didn't have any accidents until just after I moved up to the Chicago area. I pulled out at a green light and had to stop for someone running the red light. The car two cars back didn't stop and pushed the car behind mine into me. I had let my insurance expire, and had to have an SR-22 (Illinois' proof of insurance) for two years after that. The last one was in 2004, when I was rear-ended trying to get onto 88 from behind a construction barricade. There is a more recent accident on my record, but I won't comment about it.
When I was 17. I was driving in the rain to work. I tried to slow down to make a right turn, but my tires weren't gripping the road very well, and I ploweed into the side of a minivan. My car wasn't hurt at all (damn that thing was a beast), but the minivan had a pretty significant dent. It was a Sunday afternoon, and the minivan family was coming back from church, iirc. There was a kid (maybe 4-5) in the backseat, but she was napping and the wreck didn't even wake her up.
I totally blocked it out, probably because it was my fault. It was late and dark and I was looking for a friend's house. I turned right from the left lane when I saw the street I was looking for but didn't see the guy in my blind spot. Big ooops!
I lived in DC at the time and this huge, African American cop arrived on scene to take the report. This was the sweet part. I was bawling (even though I was like 21) and that man just gave me a huge bear hug until I stopped crying. Cops can be good guys.
probably 5 or 6 accidents all but one minor. i totalled my parents car on my 16th birthday on my way to get my license---skidded on the ice and went into a telephone pole---they were letting me drive with my dad in the passenger seat to "practice". Took 4 months to get me behind the wheel again.
Otherwise pretty minor fender bender type accidents--only one my fault in about 30+ yrs of driving.
December 23, I sent my husband on a short errand (three blocks) for a last-minute Christmas gift and it nearly killed him. He doesn't remember any of it, but someone turned left in front of him, and his pickup was totaled and thrown three lanes and onto the boulevard grass, and he would have gone through the windshield if he hadn't been wearing his seatbelt. As it was, he still broke the windshield with his head and the glass nearly scalped him. He was knocked unconscious and taken to the hospital by ambulance with lots of blood loss and a head injury. Stitched up he looked like frankenstein. Other guy, with an arrest record pages long including prior driving without insurance/license, various drug arrests, and false information to police cases, was allowed to leave the scene after giving a statement, since of course he was fine (why I don't believe in karma). Turns out he didn't have insurance again and all the info he gave police about where to find him was false, so now there's an arrest warrant out for him and our insurance is having to cover it. 18 previous cases in 6 years and no real jailtime, also never manages to pay his fines and fees. We don't think anyone should be found guilty but let off with time served if they have not met the burdens of their previous cases. We also don't think anyone with his history should have been allowed to leave the scene of an accident they caused until information they provided is verified.
We tried our best to still "have Christmas" but it was a very bad time, and I'm sure our guy didn't care at all, because that's the life he lives.
I've unfortunately been in so many car accidents (driver and passenger) that karma hit hard one year and got my truck into an accident...while it was parked, in front of my house...I was nowhere near it.
2 so far; I wasn't driving in either one because I actually haven't really learned to drive & don't have a license. (Yes, I know, it's totally unAmerican of me, but when the lowest grade of your entire academic career is a D+ in driver's ed--oddly enough, it was the written work that dragged me down--Not Driving just seems like a good idea.)
1st one: I was 2 years old and my paternal grandmother was driving; my mom was in the shotgun seat, my severely handicapped older sister in the back, and I was standing up on the front seat between my grandmother & my mom. Apparently Grammie was feeling around for one of my toys on the seat, got distracted, and went off the road into a ditch. Sister was fine, nothing significant for either Grammie or Mom, but yours truly got thrown to the floor of the car under my mom's feet (she instinctively yanked her legs up and grabbed onto them so she wouldn't crush me) and was knocked out for a minute or so until I came back around and started crying. I was apparently rather quiet for several weeks after that...come to find out, when I was 9, the school nurse sent me to an audiologist to be checked out, and I'd sustained some fairly significant inner ear nerve damage due to being knocked out like that, and I was probably trying to learn to hear again during my quiet time. According to the doc, if I hadn't already been talking so well by that age, I could easily have ended up w/a speech impediment; as it is, the hearing loss has been a problem my whole life, although it's only been in the last 10 years or so that I've realized just how much of a problem it's really been. Could theoretically get hearing aids now, but they run around $3,600 and insurance won't cover them. :-(
Second accident was w/a bunch of friends during the winter, coming home from a movie; everyone but me had a beer w/them in the car (emphasis on A beer, none of us were even remotely tipsy), and as we were heading up the road, we saw a car coming over the crest of the hill right at us--I remembered thinking at the time that it looked just like the Close Encounters poster. ;-) Fortunately, both drivers swerved in time, and the other driver hit the rear left bumper of the car, taking out the light. As soon as we pulled over, the first words out of our driver's mouth were "GET RID OF THE BEER!!!" You've never seen windows rolled down and beer cans go flying so fast in your life...anyway, turns out the other driver was a totally shitfaced young woman home visiting her parents and driving their car; I think it was determined to be her fault. No one was hurt, but we all did plenty of twitching on the rest of the way back home...
A few, couple of them my fault, one end of last year where a huge SUV reversed into me as I was driving past looking for a park. None serious and I have always been good about giving details when I am at fault.
I've been in several, but only one was my fault. Usually I get rear ended by someone who is too busy switching radio stations or talking on their cell phone to pay attention to the road. When I was my fault, I pulled in front of car that was solidly in my blind spot. I had an irritating passenger running her mouth and I didn't look over my shoulder before I changed lanes (I did have my signal on, though). I wanted to stick her with my deductible; I always look over my shoulder before I switch lanes. Needless to say, she doesn't ride with me anymore.
I read once that the average person gets into a car accident every 4 years. Not sure if that is accurate but interesting to think about.
ReplyDeleteI was in one when I was 10, my mom was driving. My mom & sister were hurt but I wasn't as I was in the middle seat of the mini-van.
Second was 6 days after I got my license - still had the paper permit. I totaled my car and broke a finger.
Third was at 18 when someone sideswiped me on the expressway going 75. Flipped my car but was okay.
Since then..and now I'm 27 I haven't been in any...I like to think my driving skills have improved some :-)
I don't drive - never have - but about 25 years ago I was in two almost identical accidents in the same year. In both cases a car pulled away at an intersection at the wrong time and came headed right toward the front passenger seat - which is where I was seated. The first time, the driver I was with pulled out of the way fast enough to lessen the impact. The second time, there was a great deal of damage to the car I was in, but only a minor scratch to my right arm..
ReplyDeleteI've been in 3, maybe four. I was driving in only one of those but they were all pretty minor.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you are safe, Enty.
April 3, 2009 - I was driving my car down an on-ramp where the off-ramp was right next to it - no barriers. The off ramp had a hairpin turn at the bottom. A lovely young man in a pickup truck decided to take the off-ramp at about 45 mph. He slammed into my driver's side door. I went into a weird bumper car spin and was stopped by a telephone pole. I had to be cut out of the car. No broken bones, but my neck and left shoulder are in constant soreness/pain. But I'm still here. Sorry, SE.
ReplyDeleteBeen driving for 34 years. I've been hit 4 times. Two hit and runs. Once hit in stopped highway traffic when I couldn't get out of the way of the guy behind me fast enough when he failed to stop with the rest of us. But the best one was when I was hit by a cop and they said I was at fault by running a non existing light. I won that court case. Never caused an accident.
ReplyDeleteI'm 33 and have been in 3, all not my or my driver's fault. First two were as a passenger, both junior year of high school. In the first one, an ancient man came barreling out of a driveway, making an illegal turn into my friend's car as we drove home from high school. No one was hurt, but since he was old and we were young he was a dick and tried to tell the cop it was our fault. He was not successful. The second was about a month or two later on a weekend night, my friends and I were out driving around and a drunk crashed into us. Car totaled, but no one was hurt and the drunk driver was arrested at the scene. Finally, about 5 years I was driving to work in a brand new car, and an old lady came barreling of a driveway, illegal turn again, and crashed into me, again totaling the car. Again no one was hurt though, which I suppose is the most important part. That and having good insurance which replaced my car in full within a week.
ReplyDeleteKnock on wood it's been years and years, but I've had three. Never my fault of course, which is a miracle because my driving skills are not improving with age. I've had lots of close calls.
ReplyDeleteDid anyone else feel the sensation of being in slow motion as the accident was taking place? I know it's only a few seconds, but it felt like time stopped for me.
I've been in 5, but only 1 was my fault. All pretty minor fender benders and everyone walked away. I still have neck pain from the first one at age 12. Those backseat lap belts were shite.
ReplyDeleteHave slso had several near misses in rush hour traffic when people at speed come to a sudden stop. That freaks me out the most.
@Califblondy - I absolutely know the feeling. As if you're spinning out and you have all the time in the world to think about what is happening, and how you could have avoided it, and what will happen when you finally stop spinning...such a strange, out-of-body experience.
ReplyDelete@ califblondy The slow motion thing happened to me every time and i a common phenomena in these types of events.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was 18, a school bus hit me while I was stopped at an intersection. Thankfully there where no kids in it at the time. The bus driver was going fast enough to pick up my car and drop it a few feet away. A couple of thousand dollars of damage to the car, but I was ok. Yes, it seemed like slow motion, and images of my life did flash across my mind.
ReplyDeleteI was in a really bad accident in high school. Thankfully nobody was killed. I did talk to Sammy Hagar as a result of it, though. :D
ReplyDeleteI was only in 3 fender benders in Korea. All cabs, all the other guy's fault, all cabbies left their meters running. With the way people drive over there, it's a fucking miracle I was never killed.
I've been in 2 - and I totally remember the "time stopping" thing. One was not my fault - in traffic on the highway, an 18 wheeler hit the back of my car. He wasn't paying attention and basically rolled into me at 20 mph. Well when you're a Hyundai and the other car is a Semi, even at 20mph there's damage. We exchanged info and he never reported it to his insurance company. They cut me a check for the repairs.
ReplyDeleteThe second was partially my fault, but had the other guy not been speeding in a 35mph zone, it would not have been as bad as it was. I was making a left hand turn and hit the car. He proceeded to hit another car. He tried to sue me three days before the statute of limitations was up. My insurance company played hard ball and he didn't get nearly what he thought he was going to. Greedy SOB. When you refuse to show your tax statements when you are claiming lost wages, you aren't going to win.
ha @Vicki Cupper, my ex was stationed in South Korea, near the DMZ and I remember him telling me how terrified he was riding in the taxi's over there. Sounded like it was a madhouse, glad to hear you were ok!
ReplyDelete@Lisa--Ugh! THAT is why I don't always have the greatest impression of cops sometimes. I know there must be good, honest ones, but it's stories like these that make me think they're all corrupt. Sad. Just like politicians, power is dangerous. Glad you won the case!
ReplyDelete2 fender benders and 2 slightly bad ones. None my fault.
ReplyDeleteThe worst was my ex was driving at night and a light was out, so he and the other driver hit each other at the intersection. The car flipped over twice and landed on it's top. I had to be cut out. I had 3rd degree burns on my breasts from the dome light, and kidney bruising. It sucked bad. It took about a year to heal.
Califblondy YES, that's exactly what it felt like!
Been in 5 car accidents. Only one where I was driving and it ended up not being my fault..the woman in front of me decided to make a left out of the right lane.
ReplyDeleteNone of the accidents left me debilitated except for a broken limb or glass in my scalp.
I do hate the sound of a car crash and sometimes even the squealing tires pre accident. Brings back too many bad memories.
Oh and if you consider minor fender benders a car accident, change my total to 9. Been in 4 fender benders.
ReplyDeleteI have never been in a car accident. Been driving for 15 years now.
ReplyDelete2 head on collisions while I was driving. The first was a hit and run by a drunk driver after he had already hit and ran 3 other cars ahead of me! The second was a college kid not paying attention and smashed right into the front of me with his truck. I was pregnant at the time. Fortunately, with both accidents there weren't any injuries and baby was fine. Scared me silly though, I must say.
ReplyDeleteGlad you are ok, Enty!
ReplyDeleteI've only been in minor stuff. Worst one was going off the road in ice and skidding 180degrees into a tree just off the road. On the other side of the tree was a cliff-i still wave and say thank you to that tree when I go by it!
I've been a few accidents. The worst was when I spun out on the 405 at the 101 circa 1997...I was 20 something and didn't even have a license. The really cute rookie cop let me pretend to be the owner of the car I was driving. No one was the wiser. The car was totaled and my friend got a new one.
ReplyDeleteI have been in four while I was driving. Two resulted in minor damage and the other two were wrecks.
ReplyDeleteNow for a blind item of my own. In the first wreck, the other driver was a B-list (C? Enty's way better at this than I am) actress mainly in films. She was in L.A. for a meeting and was heading to the airport to fly back to New York. Was totally my fault, but she was very nice about it and felt real bad for me since my car was wrecked. The car she was driving barely had a scratch on it. Huge SUV vs Toyota Corolla, go fig.
I guess I should add a little more. Actress mainly in films but currently starring in a cable drama.
ReplyDeleteClaire Danes?
ReplyDeleteWe were hit head on on a two lane highway a year and a half ago. Drunk guy with his pet pig (yes, his pig ) riding shotgun. Thanks to how well cars are built now, we were able to get out on our own. My body feels like it has aged 10 years and my back and neck are always sore, but the fact we are alive is not lost on me. The time slowing thing is so trippy, when he was right in front of us I was thinking that we were going to stop before we hit each other because it seemed so slow, but really we were still going like 50 mph because it happened so fast.
ReplyDeleteI've been in 3. Only one was my fault. One very bad one where the little old lady ran a red light because "she had places to be and was late". She produced a business card for her proof of insurance and wanted to leave the scene repeatedly.
ReplyDeleteHours later, I ended up with bruised kidneys and not being able to stand upright. I was miserable for days and still have back problems. This is why I believe old people need to retake the drivers test after 80ys. old.
Two. The first was right after I got married. A drunk driver crossed the yellow line and hit me and my wife head on. Luckily our seat belts saved us from serious injury. However I was quite pissed that the cop didn't test the other driver DESPITE having open beer bottles in his car AND the testimony of the woman behind him who said he was driving erratically.
ReplyDeleteThe second was more serious. It was ten years later and we got T-boned by a kid who ran a red light. My wife took the brunt of the impact breaking her hip, her knee, multiple ribs and tore both her rotator cuffs. Fortunately, she happened to be the one sitting behind me in the car rather than our 9 year old godson who was riding up front with me. Four years, two surgeries on her hip, and LOTS of physical therapy later, you would never know anything happened to her. We wake up each day with a profound sense of gratitude and a very different sense of what's important in life than we did when we got married.
I've been in one, coming home from the dealership with a new Pontiac Firebird 400, It was raining, mud over the road from rain and recent construction. I lost traction at 35mph, went through six four by four mail box posts, a picket fence and a Peach tree.
ReplyDeleteThe car had sixteen miles on it. The policeman spun in the same place I did, went through the hole I'd made in the fence.
No ticket, no serious injury. The insurance people were a nightmare though.
I'm 36 and was in my first accident last summer. Got rear ended at a red light. In a brand new car... Thankfully no one was hurt.
ReplyDeleteThree, but only one as the driver. The other cars were at fault. None of them were particularly harrowing.
ReplyDeletebeen in a few. The slow motion thing was written-up in scientific american years ago, if I'm not mistaken.
ReplyDeleteI was in a really bad one. I had my daughter and my Bouvier (160 lbs) with me. A man ran a Stop sign and hit me. I tried to turn to avoid it but couldn't get out of his way. It was all so slow. My dog got up and blocked my daughter from any injury. Even thought the EMT's insisted that she go to the Hospital. I felt my leg break a very loud crack and lots of pain. The man's brother ran over and asked what was wrong and I said call 911 he refused and then grabbed my leg when I said it was broken. I screamed then for someone to call 911, this was before cell phones. I had ended up in the man's yard he was in a hurry to get home and went through the Stop Sign. Luckily there were witnesses to the crash and one when to his radio in his truck and asked his company to call 911. At this time I had blood pouring from my head Scalp wounds bleed alot. They took my dog to the pound and this happened on a friday we had to wait until Monday to get her. I tried to walk her out she was screaming and made a mad lunge for my husbands truck and she landed in his lap, screaming. Her Daddy had to hold her for a good 1/2 hour before we could leave. The police met me at the Hospital and the blood made them leave the room untill it was taken care of. Broken Leg, Large gash in my scalp and my Dog saved my daughters life. I sued the guy then he started to follow me around had to call the cops on him and my lawyer loved it said it just made him more guilty. At the deposition when I said his brother grabbed my broken leg, his lawyer was threw and stopped the Deposition. I had to explain in detail what my Dog was. I could never return to work. My Dog lived 7 years later after a day at her favorite place just running and having fun. I remember in slow motion her getting up and keeping my daughter from going thur the windshield which I broke with my head.
ReplyDeleteI've had my license for less than two years, had one very minor fender bender. Some turdburglar in a Jeep decided to make a right turn from the left lane, and there I was in the right lane in my little sunfire. "Sorry, I didn't see you", he said. Um, that's why we shoulder check, fucknugget.
ReplyDeleteI find it amazing when people say they've never been in an accident. It also makes me think there's always still time for a first one. In any case, I was in a few accidents in my younger years. The day after my 17th birthday, I ran off an embankment and flipped my car. It totally ruined my summer that year. Then, when I was 18, I pulled out in front of someone where I had thought there was a 4-way stop. I Also rear-ended my dad's boss that year, in the middle of a three-lane road that construction took down to one lane. After that, I didn't have any accidents until just after I moved up to the Chicago area. I pulled out at a green light and had to stop for someone running the red light. The car two cars back didn't stop and pushed the car behind mine into me. I had let my insurance expire, and had to have an SR-22 (Illinois' proof of insurance) for two years after that. The last one was in 2004, when I was rear-ended trying to get onto 88 from behind a construction barricade. There is a more recent accident on my record, but I won't comment about it.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was 17. I was driving in the rain to work. I tried to slow down to make a right turn, but my tires weren't gripping the road very well, and I ploweed into the side of a minivan. My car wasn't hurt at all (damn that thing was a beast), but the minivan had a pretty significant dent.
ReplyDeleteIt was a Sunday afternoon, and the minivan family was coming back from church, iirc. There was a kid (maybe 4-5) in the backseat, but she was napping and the wreck didn't even wake her up.
Ooops! I forgot one. So it's really 6.
ReplyDeleteI totally blocked it out, probably because it was my fault. It was late and dark and I was looking for a friend's house. I turned right from the left lane when I saw the street I was looking for but didn't see the guy in my blind spot. Big ooops!
I lived in DC at the time and this huge, African American cop arrived on scene to take the report. This was the sweet part. I was bawling (even though I was like 21) and that man just gave me a huge bear hug until I stopped crying. Cops can be good guys.
probably 5 or 6 accidents all but one minor. i totalled my parents car on my 16th birthday on my way to get my license---skidded on the ice and went into a telephone pole---they were letting me drive with my dad in the passenger seat to "practice". Took 4 months to get me behind the wheel again.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise pretty minor fender bender type accidents--only one my fault in about 30+ yrs of driving.
OMG. Enty is Lindsey Lohan!
ReplyDeleteold;ady - Your story made me tear up a bit about the dog. Glad you all were ok & you won.
ReplyDeleteI've been in 3 total, 2 as a passenger and 1 as a driver, all three well over a decade ago.
December 23, I sent my husband on a short errand (three blocks) for a last-minute Christmas gift and it nearly killed him. He doesn't remember any of it, but someone turned left in front of him, and his pickup was totaled and thrown three lanes and onto the boulevard grass, and he would have gone through the windshield if he hadn't been wearing his seatbelt. As it was, he still broke the windshield with his head and the glass nearly scalped him. He was knocked unconscious and taken to the hospital by ambulance with lots of blood loss and a head injury. Stitched up he looked like frankenstein. Other guy, with an arrest record pages long including prior driving without insurance/license, various drug arrests, and false information to police cases, was allowed to leave the scene after giving a statement, since of course he was fine (why I don't believe in karma). Turns out he didn't have insurance again and all the info he gave police about where to find him was false, so now there's an arrest warrant out for him and our insurance is having to cover it. 18 previous cases in 6 years and no real jailtime, also never manages to pay his fines and fees. We don't think anyone should be found guilty but let off with time served if they have not met the burdens of their previous cases. We also don't think anyone with his history should have been allowed to leave the scene of an accident they caused until information they provided is verified.
ReplyDeleteWe tried our best to still "have Christmas" but it was a very bad time, and I'm sure our guy didn't care at all, because that's the life he lives.
I've unfortunately been in so many car accidents (driver and passenger) that karma hit hard one year and got my truck into an accident...while it was parked, in front of my house...I was nowhere near it.
ReplyDelete2 so far; I wasn't driving in either one because I actually haven't really learned to drive & don't have a license. (Yes, I know, it's totally unAmerican of me, but when the lowest grade of your entire academic career is a D+ in driver's ed--oddly enough, it was the written work that dragged me down--Not Driving just seems like a good idea.)
ReplyDelete1st one: I was 2 years old and my paternal grandmother was driving; my mom was in the shotgun seat, my severely handicapped older sister in the back, and I was standing up on the front seat between my grandmother & my mom. Apparently Grammie was feeling around for one of my toys on the seat, got distracted, and went off the road into a ditch. Sister was fine, nothing significant for either Grammie or Mom, but yours truly got thrown to the floor of the car under my mom's feet (she instinctively yanked her legs up and grabbed onto them so she wouldn't crush me) and was knocked out for a minute or so until I came back around and started crying. I was apparently rather quiet for several weeks after that...come to find out, when I was 9, the school nurse sent me to an audiologist to be checked out, and I'd sustained some fairly significant inner ear nerve damage due to being knocked out like that, and I was probably trying to learn to hear again during my quiet time. According to the doc, if I hadn't already been talking so well by that age, I could easily have ended up w/a speech impediment; as it is, the hearing loss has been a problem my whole life, although it's only been in the last 10 years or so that I've realized just how much of a problem it's really been. Could theoretically get hearing aids now, but they run around $3,600 and insurance won't cover them. :-(
Second accident was w/a bunch of friends during the winter, coming home from a movie; everyone but me had a beer w/them in the car (emphasis on A beer, none of us were even remotely tipsy), and as we were heading up the road, we saw a car coming over the crest of the hill right at us--I remembered thinking at the time that it looked just like the Close Encounters poster. ;-) Fortunately, both drivers swerved in time, and the other driver hit the rear left bumper of the car, taking out the light. As soon as we pulled over, the first words out of our driver's mouth were "GET RID OF THE BEER!!!" You've never seen windows rolled down and beer cans go flying so fast in your life...anyway, turns out the other driver was a totally shitfaced young woman home visiting her parents and driving their car; I think it was determined to be her fault. No one was hurt, but we all did plenty of twitching on the rest of the way back home...
A few, couple of them my fault, one end of last year where a huge SUV reversed into me as I was driving past looking for a park. None serious and I have always been good about giving details when I am at fault.
ReplyDeleteI've been in several, but only one was my fault. Usually I get rear ended by someone who is too busy switching radio stations or talking on their cell phone to pay attention to the road. When I was my fault, I pulled in front of car that was solidly in my blind spot. I had an irritating passenger running her mouth and I didn't look over my shoulder before I changed lanes (I did have my signal on, though). I wanted to stick her with my deductible; I always look over my shoulder before I switch lanes. Needless to say, she doesn't ride with me anymore.
ReplyDeleteHmm, let's see...
ReplyDelete1. Over-corrected on wet road and went through fence. Only fence had damage.
2. Construction worked jumped in front of my car (he didn't see me). I managed to swerve so that I barely bumped his leg.
3. Turning into restaurant and got hit head on by someone leaving (it was dusk and raining, they didn't see me).
4. Turning into driveway, next door neighbor backed into me.