Have you ever had a serious car accident?

[nzwasp]

What happened?
Your fault/their fault?
What were you driving?
Any injuries?
What happened in the aftermath i.e charges laid; insurance to buy new car?

My only serious accident happened when I live in NZ. In 1999 I was driving my parents 1994 Toyota Corolla Sedan, 3 of my friends were passengers and we were driving to a SAIT type institute.

I was driving approx 100 Kmh along a highway and I was coming around a blind corner. A truck filled with gravel had stopped blocking both lanes of the highway I was on, after coming around the corner I had about 50m to react, naturally as a 19 year old I just slammed on my brakes which locked up and slammed into the side of the truck. I only remember saying the word fuck before hitting it. Next thing I remember the car had spun around 180 degrees and the entire front end was all squished up. Luckily we were all wearing seat belts and 3 of us including me escaped with just the seat belt marks. My friend in the front passenger seat had that and a sore neck from whiplash.

The driver of the truck was at fault and ended up getting a careless driving charge, and the govt closed the section of road that allowed traffic to turn there.

We ended up using the insurance money to buy a used 91 Mazda 323 which about a year afterwards I drove off a 5m cliff into a field and broke all the axles...no injuries that time.

[ercchry]

hrm... nothing super crazy, but i do still have chronic pain... lets see... where to start

16 years old, one week after my birthday, one week into being licensed, 3 days in to successfully being able to operate a standard:

'95 cavalier, rain, 2 or 3 passengers, last corner before the school coming back after lunch under-steered into the island that separates the turning lane. no injuries, at fault (duh), limped the car down the hill to the school shop. $1500 in used parts later and it was fixed. needed a new sub-frame, some arms, new fender, new rim, two new tires

after a summer of fucking around in that car, and very little tread left on the tires, that winter i was a block from home on the way to school, ass came out, tried to correct it with the throttle (fucking hate fwd) but kept over correcting... was doing maybe 40km/h if that and clipped some woman's mini van with my front passenger's side into her front driver's side and it spun around and both quarter panels hit. she claimed soft tissue damage, cavalier was written off, was my dad's car and i was the secondary driver on it. so i took the insurance hit and he kept the payout

then i made it allll the way to the spring semester of grade 12 damage free! ...well... technically i was on my way to my math final for the fall semester... but i stopped for a redbull at the petro cause i was super tired... lets blame it on studying... i dont remember ever doing that... but it makes for a better story!

so im waiting to turn left at the lights in my '90 240sx, which since i am 17 and already have a ding im struggling to pay the $5k/year for basic coverage since this is pre-grid, see a gap, there is a buick in the curb lane, and it only had the right side marker light illuminated, well half asleep i think its turning... nope, old lady plows right through me and keeps driving all the way through the intersection before her cat like reflexes kick in... no injuries.. my car is fucked... if i had a passenger they would of never walked again, best case. i now have no car since i only had liability... and i still wrote my exam

thats the end of at faults for me, but just the beginning of the injuries...

at 19, a couple months into my first full time job im driving a single cab ~'93ish chevy 1500 down ogden road, i see this twat in a mobile tire truck who almost blows through a red as im driving through the green, then i come up to some bridge maintenance and they have it down to one lane and its stop and go, i stop... the asshole that almost blew the red ended up turning right... and he doesnt stop... smashes right into me without even touching the brakes. my head goes through the back window, and thanks to WCB representing both sides (since we were both working) i had no recourse and was "fixed" just enough to get back to work... that happened in june, i was back to work by november. the truck just got a new back window and they installed some head rests after that... was a POS anyways so they didnt even use insurance.

so the following february the woman and i are in her 1 week old gmc canyon sitting at a red light and this fucking woman with one leg again, without braking just plows right into us! she apparently was having issues with it staying in place... and already had a damage sticker on her car, just a top notch driver all around. truck needed a new bumper.

spent the night on a back board, blah, blah, blah... herniated disc in the thoracic spine.... blah, blah, physio, shitty "independent" medical exams... etc, etc... long story short back is still completely fucked...

then i had a good stretch for a while... made it till i turned 25! had this little buell blast motorcycle, was in the process of selling it, dude came to look at it, we made a deal, had to wait till the next day for the bank to open so i figured i'd go for ONE more ride... yeah, made it from inglewood to 17th ave and 14th... had a green light, was in the curb lane, car turning right in front of me, he clears, i go straight and this chick who is going down 14th and has a red does a double laner onto 17th right in front of me... i see her rolling the stop and starting the turn, so i go tot he left, but she kept coming over... by the time i hit the brakes she had clipped me and i hit the ground, landed on my hip and shoulder, ended up separating the shoulder and for a solid 6+ months i had a bruise and a big bump full of fluid on my leg right under my hip... was super. bike was destroyed, huge fight with insurance since i didnt have full coverage. off work for 6 weeks, more physio, more MRIs... found out my lower back is also a mess after that one

but yeah, nothing major... but they do start to compound after a while

240sx was back during the car domain days... they are still hosting the aftermath photos: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/141423...photo-gallery/

[E46..sTyLez]

This thread is going to have some serious tldr haha

When I was 18 or so, I was driving SB on Deerfoot approaching the Douglasdale Blvd lights (they were a set of lights back then). The turn lane to get on 24th street (Douglas Glen) was jam packed so only the left lane was backed up almost to the bridge.

When I rounded the corner, I saw the backed up traffic and everyone slamming on their brakes. I slammed on em too, and stopped short of the guy in front of me. I then looked to see if the guy behind me was going to stop, and what I saw was one of those old jacked up Bronco's doing the wobble. He went sideways, then his front end hit the median and he flipped...rolled...and stopped.

I ran out of the car back to his truck, he was upside down and gas was pouring into the cab. I pulled the guy out once he undid his seat belt, and leaned him up against the median. He complained of neck pain etc, I told him not to move etc. Called 911, and could hear sirens within 30 seconds. Filled out a statement, and went on my way...

It has always been a crazy memory cause in the moment, I didn't even realize what I was doing...or what was happening. When I think back, if anyone had of smashed into his overturned truck in the fast lane...we would have both likely died.

the end.

[vengie]

Every nice vehicle I have ever owned (7) has been rear ended, varying levels of damage.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

Only accident I had was a low speed collision with the back tire on a semi trailer when I was 17. Dual turn lane, I was on the inside, was turning fine (winter driving conditions and I was going maybe 20km/h) and the front just started washing out. Bounced off and the semi driver didn't even know I'd hit him so he took off. Had to buy a bumper, fender and headlight for the car out of my own pocket.

[ExtraSlow]

Back in 2004 I was rear-ended by a pickup truck in a 2001 Pontiac Sunfire. (rare sedan and manual transmission ). Was coming back into town on 16th ave in bowness. I stopped at a crosswalk for a pedestrian. Guy behind me didn't. Luckily, he did hit the brakes before he nailed me, or we would have been much more seriously injured.
Some whiplash and neck damage to both myself and my girlfriend. Car was shorter by about two inches, and was written off.

[riander5]

Originally posted by ercchry

Good on you for admitting all those without any shame but holy fuck!

[speedog]

40 years of driving now - no.

[ercchry]

Originally posted by riander5


Good on you for admitting all those without any shame but holy fuck!

yeah, im a pretty fucking jaded driver now... i also have a serious phobia of being stuck on the road near other users. seriously cant do it, i have to get away from the pack

[88CRX]

14 years of driving and no accidents.... knock on wood!

I got bumped, if you could even call it that (at maybe 2km/hour) in a parking lot once. Two or three close calls but no accidents yet.

[Redlyne_mr2]

Streetracing as a teenager, got cut off while racing, launched my car into a parking lot, was high enough in the air that I went over the cars in the parking lot and had a clear landing.

Got the typical pink tickets, charges were dropped after some hilarity in the courtroom, even though I got off easy it certainly slowed me down.

[XylathaneGTR]

Yup.
2005: purchased a hopped up '91 240SX from beyonder Nosegrindr as my first car. Soon after, I wrapped it around a light post at around 120kmh in some poor weather. I was 18.
Diagnosis: I was a hooligan and at 18 years old, thought I was in control of the whole wide world. I was wearing a seatbelt, was sober, and was alone in the vehicle, but still thought I could take whatever risks I wanted and consequences wouldn't apply to me (some other guy sure, but not to me! oh, to be young again).

Broke prety much everything, but avoided head injuries beyond a concussion...spent many months in the hospital and two years in rehab. Do have a few longer term health concerns as a result, but they're pretty minimal compared to what could have been. Should have died but did not. No one else was killed or injured, and there was no private property damage.

Was facing criminal dangerous driving charges, but received a significantly lesser charges due to an otherwise clean history and the fact that no one else was impacted by my actions (family and taxpayers aside, obviously). Had another been injured or if there was private property damage, I would have received full charges (rightly deserved).

There was a big thread about it on here from someone who drove by either just before or just after the road was closed to clear the scene and assess.

[ercchry]

Originally posted by Redlyne_mr2
Streetracing as a teenager, got cut off while racing, launched my car into a parking lot, was high enough in the air that I went over the cars in the parking lot and had a clear landing.

Got the typical pink tickets, charges were dropped after some hilarity in the courtroom, even though I got off easy it certainly slowed me down.

saw this the other week/day/at some point on my FB feed and i instantly thought of you

[Ca_Silvia13]

Just recently, December 2014 on my way to go pick up my Stagea in Vancouver. I'm with my buddy and my dad, kind of made it a boys trip. Anyways we have to pull an all nighter to go get the cars and get back to Calgary in a 3 day weekend.

Anyways, litterally just outside Lake Louise at 11:30pm some young girl in a 4 door Alero tries to make the off ramp but, changes her mind? She goes squirrly, loses control cuts back across our lane. We were doing 120km, happen so fast my dad who was driving didn't even hit the brakes. BOOM T-bone her at 120km.

I've never been in such a hard hit, airbags (TAKATA BAGS WOOO) go off cabin fills with smoke.

My hand is fucked, i anticipated the crash and stuck my hand out to brace the impact. The airbag forced my hand/arm up and my thumb broke the windshield from inside. Had a big greasy smudge mark right at the epicenter of the shattered window. The smoke from the bag was beyond gross to breath, i'll never forget it.

We ripped the rear door/wheel/quarter panel and trunk off the Alero. The Frontier still drove ahaha


In summary, 16k damage to the 2015 Nissan Frontier, a written off Alero, a bunch of physio for us and the girl we hit. A local from LL, her second major impact in 5 days. The RCMP guy recognized her, she was an emtional wreck but survived

[Redlyne_mr2]

Originally posted by XylathaneGTR
Yup.
2005: purchased a hopped up '91 240SX from beyonder Nosegrindr as my first car. Soon after, I wrapped it around a light post at around 120kmh in some poor weather. I was 18.
Diagnosis: I was a hooligan and at 18 years old, thought I was in control of the whole wide world. I was wearing a seatbelt, was sober, and was alone in the vehicle, but still thought I could take whatever risks I wanted and consequences wouldn't apply to me (some other guy sure, but not to me! oh, to be young again).

Broke prety much everything, but avoided head injuries beyond a concussion...spent many months in the hospital and two years in rehab. Do have a few longer term health concerns as a result, but they're pretty minimal compared to what could have been. Should have died but did not. No one else was killed or injured, and there was no private property damage.

Was facing criminal dangerous driving charges, but received a significantly lesser charges due to an otherwise clean history and the fact that no one else was impacted by my actions (family and taxpayers aside, obviously). Had another been injured or if there was private property damage, I would have received full charges (rightly deserved).

There was a big thread about it on here from someone who drove by either just before or just after the road was closed to clear the scene and assess.

that's crazy, I had no idea you went through that.

[Redlyne_mr2]

Originally posted by ercchry


saw this the other week/day/at some point on my FB feed and i instantly thought of you

haha forgot about that vid. Now imagine my car going 6 times the speed with a hill 10 times bigger.

[spikerS]

Only 1 real bad one.

Stopped at a set of lights, and had a crown vic slam into the back of my truck doing 70kph. Then, a BMW X5 slammed into both of us doing about 60kph. Both times I took the brunt of it because the crown vic crumpled into the back of my truck and sort of "fuzed". The second impact knocked my head into the back glass/B pillar so hard it knocked me out. I came to only to hear my ex screaming and a paramedic holding my neck and head still while in a brace and 4 firemen trying to put me on a stretcher.

[JustinL]

Flipped a Subaru wagon into the ditch as a 16 year old. All by myself on a country road. Moved over for a wide piece of farm equipment and dropped a wheel off the road and couldn't recover. Cause was inexperience. It's a pretty intense feeling that you never forget as the accident is happening. I realized the world was upside down and the car was filling with water so I GTFO in a hurry.

[gwill]

I drove to long beach in grade 9 with 3 friends. Weather In Montana was pretty crappy... It was late at night as we are driving through the super hilly areas... I want to say mountains but it was so late at night you couldn't see far at all and the trip was a long time ago..

The Roads were super icy from a storm as we are driving up and down some sketchy hills... Small 2 lane roads... Impossible to see anything and we are almost out of gas as we hadn't seen a gas station in forever... We get to the top of a hilly road when we see a semi truck has Jack knifed in front of us and blocked both lanes. As we descend down the hill it's sheer ice and we couldn't stop..

We hit the jack knife semi trailer at high way speeds... We couldn't veer off the road or avoid hitting anything as we had no where to turn. All I remember is everyone yelling and screaming as the ice prevented our rental car from stopping. After the accident I came too crawling out of the car on the ice... Apparently I was screaming about a fire and asking everyone to get out. It took a while for me to snap back to reality.. At first I couldn't see much but lights.

I ended up sitting in a truckers vehicle as we waited for ambulances... But the jack knifed trailer made it impossible for them to get to us quickly. While sitting in this truck we watched a couple other vehicles hit the Jack knifed semi trailer as well. We were very fortunate we didn't get decaptiated as our car went far under the truck. Thankfully We ended up hitting something that prevented it from being much worst.

I learned a lot about Montana on my trip to the hospital as the emt kept trying to chat with me the entire time. They doped me up and released me eventually but I remember puking my guts out at the hotel a police officer dropped me and my friends off at. Too many pain killers probably lol.

We had to wait for a replacement rental car. When it came we continued our drive to long beach.

[AndyL]

Well...

Dumbass drove under my 5ton delivery truck once... He ran out of yield - but that didnt stop him. Civic had dually prints from drivers mirror to dead centre of grille... (Let's not discuss that too much - boss had me WAY overloaded, like double...) No injuries, trucks rear axle snapped in 2 driving back to the shop...

My old yamaha FJ is still lying at the bottom of kickinghorse canyon I'm told... Having fun pre bridge - front tire went flat... Speed may have been a factor... Doing just fine... Poof... Rim on asphalt ... Andy on asphalt. Guardrail!

Hitch hiked into town, signed the bike over to a tow company (it cartwheeled over the barrier) - bought a pair of sweatpants at saan (leathers were trashed) - took silver bullet home. I had a horseshoe up my kiester that day.