Car Accidents

[Vampiress_Miyu]

I was very close to getting into my first accident this morning as I was driving to an appointment. I consider myself a very cautious driver, especially since I only have my permit... And... DEFINITELY in comparison to most of my friends who drive. >.>;

Anyway... What happened was, I was driving through an interestion, and this Masshole didn't even stop at his stop sign, or look at all to see if anyone was coming.

Soo... I wondered how many people here had gotten into an accident before, or just nearly avoided one.

[Shinova]

I've been in one, but it wasn't overly major. Did a left turn and a bunch of Latino teenagers from the opposing lane tried to beat the red and hit me in the front, right bumper. I never knew airbags made that kind of smell when they popped.

[El Moose Monstero]

I'd be surprised if anyone has never been in a near-miss, your driving test is basically like a car health certificate - it says that at the time, you were up to standard, but even after passing your test you spend the next few years getting the experience of regular driving to make you a better driver.

I passed my test in the UK first time, but made several mistakes after that which resulted in near-misses which have helped me improve my driving. You never forget your blindspot again when you're in a double decker bus' blindspot, and it tries to pull out, so you go to pull out into the next lane, but there was someone in your blindspot too. That was a close one.

Other than that, there've been a couple of motorway ones which weren't my fault - some idiot made a stupid undertaking decision and I had to swerve onto the hardshoulder to avoid an accident, and the other one was someone driving with an unsecure load so that a large block of wood nearly smashed through my windscreen. If I'd been an inch further forward or backward, it would either have gone straight through the windscreen or made a mess of my bonnet.


EDIT: Just to clarify, I wasn't actually commenting on the poll numbers by this statement, it's early in the morning (just as day is dawning, postman pat etc.) and I'm still too bleary to grasp the concept of voting yet.

[Tolya]

It's not like nobody has been in a near miss. Everyone has, but the survey only allows one answer.

And pretty much everybody had a crash in their lives. There were a lots of near misses too probably, but when you have to vote for either one, its pretty obvious what will you chose.

[Jaepheth]

I've been in two minor fender benders. One of which was my fault.

The one that wasn't my fault was at an intersection where I didn't have a stop sign and the other guy did. He didn't stay stopped long enough and hit the back left corner of my car.

The time it was my fault, I was slowly cruising in a parking lot looking for a space. When I saw a van in front of me I slammed my foot down on the gas instead of the break and T-boned the van going about 4MPH. I had only been driving a few weeks at that point.

[Dark Flame]

Well, did another car have to be involved? Mine was just ice and a guy wire that scraped up some paneling. I slowed down more for the next turn I made...

[Mlenk]

I've been in two, both of which were not my fault and involved me getting rear-ended at red lights.

[weemadando]

I "rear-ended" someone not long after getting my provisional license. And by rear-ended I mean stopped just in time to have their tow ball (installed that afternoon) bend my bumper out of shape. Had he not had a tow ball I would have stopped with an inch or so to spare.

Since then I was rear-ended and my car written off while stopped at an intersection and also on the receiving end of a dumb bitch side-swiping the length of my car due to her speeding in the wet over a blind rise. Did I mentioned that I was parked at the time?

[phred]

Am I just accident prone?

1, Turned left in front of a guy I didnt see because his lights were off(technically my fault because I was turning, and the sun was still "up")

2, Rear ended someone in rush hour traffic

3 and 4, Lets just say high speed, winding mountain roads, and poor tires make a bad combo

[TrailerParkJawa]

I've been in multiple accidents most of them minor and 1 big accident. All together I've been in mabye 6 minor accidents, 3 of whom were my fault, the rest somone else was or I wasnt even driving. The 3 accidents I had that were all my fault happened in a span of 4 years when I just seemed to not have much luck or was so pre-occupied with other problems.

[PeZook]

One which was my fault, rear-ended a car at an intersection because I was a dumb fuck and got distracted.

One which was technically my fault, I guess. I was turning left on a one-way street, but forgot to change the lane to left. So I slow down, turn on my blinker, look and start turning. And then a car behind me starts overtaking me, and I drove into its door. The police decided it was my fault...but shit...overtaking at an intersection? Even on a one way street, it's a big no-no.

I've been driving a lot slower and more carefully since then, which probably allowed me to avoid two or three other collisions with complete idiots.

Oh, there was one near miss! I love this one.

A busy city street. I stop and turn my blinker on, wanting to turn left through a busy intersection. I see a gap and start turning, and then a motorcyclist overtakes me from the left (two way street this time), narrowly missing me.

And starts pumping his horn and cussing me out loudly. Yeah, because it would've been totally my fault if I hit him and ruined his bike.

[Death from the Sea]

Am I just accident prone?

1, Turned left in front of a guy I didnt see because his lights were off(technically my fault because I was turning, and the sun was still "up")

2, Rear ended someone in rush hour traffic

3 and 4, Lets just say high speed, winding mountain roads, and poor tires make a bad combo

not accident prone, but you are prone to crashes because I am betting you don't pay attention to the road very much when driving. If you have only been in these 4 crashes and they are all your fault, then that says something about your driving.

[atg]

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

The first involved the other drive doing a right-turn accross my path at a set of traffic lights when my lane had the green light, missed having my leg crushed by about 6 inches when the front of the van caved back from the impact. Screwed up my back good and proper.
The second was a basic getting rear ended, was three months to the day after the first crash, and exasperated the original injuries.

[Big Phil]

One which was technically my fault, I guess. I was turning left on a one-way street, but forgot to change the lane to left. So I slow down, turn on my blinker, look and start turning. And then a car behind me starts overtaking me, and I drove into its door. The police decided it was my fault...but shit...overtaking at an intersection? Even on a one way street, it's a big no-no.

You tried to turn left NOT from the leftmost lane, and it's only "technically" your fault?

[Alferd Packer]

Never been involved in one, thankfully. Almost got smeared all over the road once when I was 18. Driving home on a stretch of four-lane freeway from my girlfriend's house at around 2 AM, I was puttering along in the right lanein my '86 Camry. The road's otherwise empty, when all over a sudden, a car roars by me in the left lane. As in, the left lane that, were I not a responsible driver, I could've been in.

I had CB radio back then(this is before cell phones became ubiquitous, and it was out in the sticks, so), so I popped on channel 9 and got a hold of the police. I never did find out what happened, but there was no report the next day of a horrific accident, so I assume the guy managed to get onto the right side of the road.

[Turin]

I've been in two very minor accidents and one more serious one, although it didn't involve another car.

The minor ones I've been in were both while stationary and within the first few years of having a license. I was once gently rear-ended while sitting at a stop light when someone skidded on ice. The other was a real gem. I was stopped in the gateway to a parking lot and had my attention focused on the parking attendant, who I was in the process of paying. And some idiot backed her SUV right into my tiny little '86 Dodge Colt. She couldn't have been more than 5' high and driving this beast of a vehicle, and she couldn't see for shit behind her. I had about a half-second's warning from my passenger calling out, which was just barely enough to hit the horn before she tapped me. Fortunately that wasn't much more than a dent in the bumper.

The major accident was pretty awful, although it's a good story. I had about a week left until my last day of high school, and my parents had just moved out into the boonies, so I was driving to school for a week or so (same tiny little '86 Dodge Colt, mind you). I had my younger brother in the passenger seat. We were heading along one of those little country roads with a field of tall grass along one side, and I was doing ~50mph. A big fucking deer came flying out of the grass and aimed right for me and all I ever saw was a brown blur in my peripheral vision. She clipped the driver's side mirror and hit her head on the driver's window (which then fragmented into a million tiny pieces of safety glass and slammed into my face and neck). The impact spun her around so that her ass end went through the rear driver's side window, putting a huge dent in the panel, into the back seat (:shock:) and then through the rear hatch window and out onto the road. With a good part of her still in the rear seat, she took a half-leap and managed to cross the road before dropping dead.

I manage to avoid driving into the giant ditch on the right side of the road and pull over. My brother is having an instant asthma attack come on, and I turn to him and say "you okay?" He takes a look at me and his eyes go wide, and then he says "no!" and gets out of the car and wanders off in a daze. Fortunately, the person behind me on the road is a nurse and she stops. She nabs my brother and then comes to get me, as by now I've gotten out of the car but I'm going into shock. (Funny/weird memory: I distinctly remember locking my car door despite the fact I no have no windows on one side.)

Turns out the outer edges of safety glass still sometimes become pretty good shards, and I got a 2" piece in my neck and my face was a wreck from all the little tiny bits -- which is what freaked out my brother. Got a nice ride in the ambulance and got a chance to freak out my mother too by the end of that. Fortunately, my dad was really great and cleaned up all the deer guts out of my car for me while I was in the hospital. Also, despite all the glass, I had very little in the way of real injury and only ended up with the one big scar on my neck.

Good thing I had my window closed, otherwise that fucker would have hit me in the head. Needless to say, to this day I really fucking hate deer.

[Braedley]

I got rear ended as I was waiting to pull into the driveway of sisters friend. I had the car (station wagon) loaded with all my stuff 'cause I had just finished third or fourth year. The guy barely hit the breaks and didn't swerve at all before ramming me. Due to the age of the car at the time (at least 10 years old, probably more like 15 or 20), the insurance company decided to write it off.

[PeZook]

You tried to turn left NOT from the leftmost lane, and it's only "technically" your fault?

By "technically" I meant part of the blame could probably be placed on the guy who overtook me on an intersection. I mean, I had my blinker on, and there's the thing called "limited trust" rule, but he still buzzes right past me. While speeding, too.

I still admit I was a careless idiot, of course, and the insurance company reamed me well and true for that.

[Lancer]

Alternatively, he sees you driving though an intersection in one of the middle lanes with the blinker on, and thought that maybe you had left the blinker on by mistake, rather than try to turn through a lane of traffic in the middle of an intersection.

[The Grim Squeaker]

I've never been in an accident myself. Although I have almost been hit by speeding dolts a large number of times, emergency braked to a screeching skid due to power braking idjits, and almost hit a dog's head off (It jumped out from behind a parked van in front of my lights at night, and I barely stopped in time. A good thing I was going 20 KPH Under the speed limit [of 50], and the nameless mutt was fine).

I'm a reasonably cautious driver, if inexperienced, and my best trait is probably my worst in life - being totally unaggressive (He overtook me from the right fast? fine!. He speeding to stop me from passing down a lane? Allright, I'll slow down even more and wait for the next car. etc'), and treating most laws (mainly red lights, and pedestrian right of way, when not in the middle of some horrible driving maneuver) as god.
That, and I tend to see myself killing someone by mistake almost every other time I drive, or whenever I need to brake hard, or get startled, etc'. (Paranoid, cautious fear and dread ).

[PeZook]

Alternatively, he sees you driving though an intersection in one of the middle lanes with the blinker on, and thought that maybe you had left the blinker on by mistake, rather than try to turn through a lane of traffic in the middle of an intersection.

Alternatively, yes. As I said, I was a careless idiot. If I'd just taken one more look before turning, nothing would've happened.

[Icehawk]

I have never yet been in a collision as the driver of a vehicle... Yet... I have had a few pretty close calls, typical dumbfuck stuff like forgetting to check my blindspot on a pass or almost rear ending someone when they unexpectedly hit the breaks, but thankfully nothing yet. Only "accident" so far was once late at night this past winter during a heavy snowfall. I was on my way to a friends place. I didnt hit anything, not even the curb, but the rear end of the car just suddenly cut loose and slowly spun around untill I was stopped sideways in the on-coming lane, luckilly there where no cars coming in that lane at the time because I had no way of stopping the slide once it started.

Years ago as a passenger, I was in the front seat of my dads car as he plowed into a small pickup going atleast 50 mph around a turn up in cottage country. Was not a particularily good point in our lives, dad was totally at fault, he had gotten really pissed off at his parents up at the cottage on the day we were leaving it and had an open bottle of beer at the time and was driving aggressively and above the limit. Well wouldnt you know, he caused a bad accident that nearly killed himself, me and my brother and sister plus the woman in the pickup that we hit. Thankfully on our side only my dad got seriously injured in that debacle, myself and my younger bro and sis had no broken bones or serious injuries aside from bruised/pulled chest muscles from the seatbelts and some minor glass cuts from the shattered windows and windsheild.

[General Zod]

I've been in a couple of weather-related skids and accidentally dinged someone up in a parking lot before. But beyond that I've never been in anything serious personally. On the other hand, I have seen a number of wrecks as they happened, and was in a train once when some idiot tried beating it across the tracks only to ram headlong into the side of the front car, completely totaling the front of his pickup. So that's probably the closest I've come to being in an actual accident.

[Jaevric]

Several wrecks, none of which were my fault. My favorite was the lady in a movie theater parking lot who totalled my car when I was making a left turn to go down an aisle and she cut around me. As she put it, "You slowed down! I pass people when they slow down!" When I said "We're in a PARKING LOT!" her argument was "I thought you were stopping!"

The fact we were in a parking lot and I had my turn signal on is a non-issue, apparently. As is the fact that I was "stopping" not in front of the theater where I might have been letting someone out, but at side parking lot entry...where I had been thinking to myself, "I'll park over here way out of everyone's way, less likely to get my car dinged up."

I hate irony.

[aerius]

Yeah, had a few, none of them my fault. The best was some dumbass idiot who tried to make a left turn from the right turn lane and took out my front passenger side door. The best part? My car was stopped since it was a red light. That's right, Mr. Jackass was trying to make a left turn from the right turn lane on a red light. Fucking unbelievable.