What was your first car accident? - Page 2

jcresciSTS · #16 (**permalink**) 07-29-09, 09:39 AM

Only major accident I was in was a few months ago when I wrecked my 91 Caprice.

1220am, just got off work and entering the freeway (101) in Menlo Park, CA. As soon as I get on some guy, in a newish Corvette with no lic. plates on it, who was already on the freeway moved slightly into my lane about 1/2 a car distance in front of me then back into his lane and did this a couple of times as well to other drivers. My aggression got the best of me and even though I was on almost and empty tank and was going slow to make it to the gas station I gassed it and sped up behind him. I backed off immediately after but for some reason he decided to slam on his brakes to brake check me. He got me. I was about a car to car and 1/2 behind him doing 65 and slammed on my brakes, a delivery truck was next to us, and smashed into him. My bumper dipped under his rear and caught my whole hood/grill/headlights and pushed them in, his car barely even moved. My car was non-operable. I pulled to the side as he sped off.

Now I have my 99 STS...I guess something good came out of it.

**Playdrv4me** · #17 (**permalink**) 07-29-09, 05:25 PM

I'll leave minor parking lot incidents (the things I seem to get myself into more than anything) out of it, so my first REAL accident was in 2006.

I was driving home late at night on the 275 Expressway in Tampa and there was construction just over the crest of a hill on the other side (these "hills" are just one reason I hate 275 to begin with). We all had to stop so I sat there patiently waiting for traffic to ease up. Out of no where I hear the screech of car tires and right at that moment a sixth sense within me knew that sound was coming straight for me.

Sure enough, guy crests the hill with his brakes on, and slides right into the back rear quarter of our new (to us) 2002 Jaguar X-Type sedan. Unfortunately, I had not yet turned on full coverage insurance at the time it happened AND the idiot kid's (who had very obviously been drinking even though the stupid Highway Patrol officer let HIM off the hook with a reckless driving ticket and gave ME a ticket for not having the car registered yet) insurance policy was ALSO lapsed.

Repair ended up being nearly 10,000.00 so I sold the car AS-IS to a wholesaler in Tampa for 5,000.00. A couple of months later I found the car in a repaired state at Cars Unlimited in Tampa being sold for $13,000.00. That is more by the way than we paid for the car in the first place ($10,888).

aamusls06 · #18 (**permalink**) 07-29-09, 06:20 PM

Got hit by a 1999 Freightliner merging out of the turn lane at low speed with no turn signal in a 95 Chevy Corsica. No one was hurt, and he was faulted, but it definitely taught me you have to drive for others and just not yourself.

submariner409 · #19 (**permalink**) 07-29-09, 06:25 PM

Hah !!! 1953. 14 years old. Rolled my Dad's Willys Jeep (a real Jeep) over twice at the farm by trying to drive around the side of a steep hill instead of over it.

Next one was at 17, destroyed an Austin Healey 100-4 during a class race at old Marlboro Racetrack in Maryland. Went into a chicane way too fast. Real mess. Broken arm, 2 ribs, and totalled car. Dad kicked my ass for that one, too.

ETC4ME · #20 (**permalink**) 07-29-09, 07:05 PM

KNOCK ON WOOD! Been driving now for 30+ years, not yet!

Night Wolf · #21 (**permalink**) 07-29-09, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by submariner409

Hah !!! 1953. 14 years old. Rolled my Dad's Willys Jeep (a real Jeep) over twice at the farm by trying to drive around the side of a steep hill instead of over it.

Next one was at 17, destroyed an Austin Healey 100-4 during a class race at old Marlboro Racetrack in Maryland. Went into a chicane way too fast. Real mess. Broken arm, 2 ribs, and totalled car. Dad kicked my ass for that one, too.

Wow, did you have any sort of roll bar on the Willys? Only rollover protection those had stock was the steering column.

orconn · #22 (**permalink**) 07-29-09, 09:21 PM

Labor Day weekend Summer of 1967, I had driven my restored, and in really nice condition, 1958 Jaguar XK 150 Drophead Coupe from Pasadena, CA to Decatur, IL on my way back to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for my senior year. My Uncle Bob and I had been driving each other's cars out on the prairie corn fields of central Illinois. Uncle Bob had a MGB that we had pretty much taken it to its limit about an hour before. We had changed cars and I was driving the Jag when I pulled out from a stop sign only to see a 1955 Plymouth Savoy sedan headed straight for in my lane. The fool in the Plymouth was passsing blind on a hill and I was unlucky to be in his way. I avoided a head on collision by swerving toward the right shoulder, but it wasn't good enough and the Plymouth caught my left front quarter and spinning me into a ditch. Fortunately my uncle and I weren't seriously hurt (we both had on seat belts). The Jag wasn't so lucky, it was totalled as was a road sign that I had wiped out as I spun. The Plymouth didn't fair very well either.

As it turned out the driver of the Plymouth was drunk and had empty beer cans scattered on the front floor and seat of his car. He had also been released from prison two days before and had been drinking in a local bar just before the accident. The car was his unemployed wife's and of course did not have current insurance.

Now for the good news ...... good old Uncle Bob was one of the top tort trial lawyers in the state of Illinois. The state of Illinois had just passed the "Dram Shop" law which held bars liable for damages of customers who had too much to drink in their bar. The case became the first case brought under the new "Dram Shop" law and I was the first person to be awarded and collect a judgement. The bar's insurance company paid me $2200.00 for the loss of the Jag. For years after the accident the state of Illinois tried to collect $250.00 from for destroying stae property ...... the sign my car had destroyed. I never paid them for it and didn't set foot in Illinois till after the statute of limitations had run its course (no big sacrifice for me!) [/i]

submariner409 · #23 (**permalink**) 07-30-09, 10:37 AM

What roll bar ???

This was a real Jeep, not one of today's toys.

orconn, Nice Jag. Was yours that gorgeous Jaguar Gray ??? I had an earlier XK-140MC, black. The largest, heaviest, noisiest, hardest to work on DOHC straight 6 on earth !! Wire wheels balanced with wrapped 50/50 wire solder. SU carburetors that went out of tune when the moon rose. Great car.

Jag-you-arr

orconn · #24 (**permalink**) 07-31-09, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by submariner409

What roll bar ???

This was a real Jeep, not one of today's toys.

orconn, Nice Jag. Was yours that gorgeous Jaguar Gray ??? I had an earlier XK-140MC, black. The largest, heaviest, noisiest, hardest to work on DOHC straight 6 on earth !! Wire wheels balanced with wrapped 50/50 wire solder. SU carburetors that went out of tune when the moon rose. Great car.

Jag-you-arr

I have had several Jaguars over my lifetime and the cars and I have had a rather charmed co-existence. I have never really had a problem keeping them running up to snuff. However, with the exception of my XK150 and the Series I E-type I just sold last year (I owned and enjoyed it for over 20 years) my XJs were bought new and sold after three years. But I know what you are saying Sub, a lot of people had trouble keeping the SU in tune and yes the wire wheels needed to be trued and maintained. I will also say that with exception of the E-type all my Jags were owned and maintained in Southern California where I had a very good mechanic and friend who made my the enjoyment of my foreign cars a reality.

Having had the E-type back here in Virginia, I will say I have not been impressed with abilities of the vintage sportscar mechanics here ...... accept for their ability to charge!!! I think I have mentioned before that I have been active in the Virginia Jaguar club for over 5 years and was the chairman of the Virginia Jaguar Concours d'Elegance for three years running so I am familiar with Jaguars of all ages and have come to believe that a person should never buy a Jag that "needs work" only buy the best maintained car, the worst buy is a clapped out Jaguar!

eXile · #25 (**permalink**) 07-31-09, 03:07 PM

Just this February... Sitting in my '02 Trailblazer SS pulling out a of a cultasack (wrong spelling lol) into a 4 way intersection with NO signs what so ever. When I go to pull out to go straight I see a pair of headlights crest the slight hill to the left of me, and I know its going faster than 25 (The speed limit in the neighborhood I was in). I look down at my tach for a split second (I know dumb idea, but my speed was 22) look up and hes almost in front of me, I hit the brakes full on - ABS kicks in. And then continue to turn the wheel 2 revolutions to the right so quickly one of my hands hit my passengers in the face. I figured Id rather go WITH the direction that this other SUV is going rather than against it to clip and spin out both cars. Well, it woulda worked great if all 4 wheels of my truck weren't on black ice.Yes 4 wheel drive was on, and we had had about 11" of snow 3 days before hand and then had a 50 something odd degree weather day that day. Then at night it dropped to 10 degrees, go figure just my luck. Anyways, my left corner impacts his pillar I guess I'll call it on his 02 Nissan Pathfinder. And because his car is going roughly 45-50 miles an hour causing me to roll twice and destroying my first car. The worst thing to me was that my parents stuck their necks out for me and I blew it, badly. Ill never forget the look on my dads face, the disappointment was unbearable for me. The Pathfinder found its way to the other side of the road on its driver's side, airbags were deployed in the pathfinder and none were deployed in mine. Weird.

But now Im sitting in a 99 Z rated Cadillac STS and am in love. I really really hope nothing bad ever happens to this car.

**Playdrv4me** · #26 (**permalink**) 07-31-09, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eXile

Just this February... Sitting in my '02 Trailblazer SS .

Is there any particular reason you always call it a Trailblazer "SS"?? The SS didn't come out until mid-way through 2006 but I think I've seen you mention this '02 TB SS before? Did you have some mods or an engine swap or something?

ewill3rd · #27 (**permalink**) 07-31-09, 09:31 PM

Actually my friend Tony from high school had the worst first wreck I know of... well, okay I know of worse but I'll spare you.

He was driving his little Dodge Colt back in the 80's. Somewhere around '84-ish.
He was flying down a gravel road doing about 50+ and he took a curve, well the little colt blew a tire and he lost control. Rolled the car like 5 times and his arm went out through the window. His sister was with him and she went for help, he blacked out several times. He said he had no feeling in his arm and he just could not stay conscious.
It severed all the tissue on his left forearm but the bones did not break. They got everything hooked back up but it was one of those things where there wasn't much to stitch together so they kept it wrapped while it healed on its own.
It was awful actually.

Sadly he learned very little from it. He and I had quite the adventures in our automobiles. I guess surviving that took the fear out of him because he was just totally insane behind the wheel of a car.
I have to confess I wasn't to chicken either but we both learned some valuable lessons over the years.
I haven't seen him since I got him to ask this girl that liked him out on a date.

hueterm · #28 (**permalink**) 08-04-09, 11:15 PM

Before I ever had my license, I was pulling my Dad's '62 T-Bird out of the garage, and hit his van.

I freaked. He didn't.

The damage was minor, but I got to hear the metal-on-metal crunching noise...

eXile · #29 (**permalink**) 08-05-09, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Playdrv4me

Is there any particular reason you always call it a Trailblazer "SS"?? The SS didn't come out until mid-way through 2006 but I think I've seen you mention this '02 TB SS before? Did you have some mods or an engine swap or something?

Yes it was modded, cold air intake, and a custom turbo kit installed, and a catback Magnaflow exhaust system.

It was a project for me and my uncle. We both enjoyed working on it together, and he supplied the money for the aftermarket parts. (I would never be able to afford to do those things to a car on my own.)

The thing flew for being the size vehicle it was. Sorry for not specifying, I just called it a SS cause many people mistook it as one. I really have no idea why...

Either way my old Trailblazer would still lose to my STS.

fierodough · #30 (**permalink**) 08-06-09, 02:37 PM

Not my first, but definitely my most interesting! A cab driver with road rage cut off my work truck (97 Suburban K1500 loaded with ladders and heavy equipment). The rear of his Impala was destroyed. then the guy attacked me! (He was upset that I was taking pictures of the scene) hehehe! We pressed charges and he was convicted.

All the info AND PICTURES can be found here: http://www.drivesbad.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=38