Car Accidents

[DMKA]

So no more than an hour ago, I was on my way home, business as usual, going down a 45mph road, it's not a very busy road, and I was driving the speed limit, when I come toward the intersection as usual, it's a two way stop, while the cross road (which I was driving on) is continuous, with no stop. Anyway, there was a woman in a red mistique stopped on the left side at the stop sign, nothing in the world that would make you expect her not to stay stopped, when out of nowhere at the very last minute she decides to pull out in front of me and then stop across both lanes. I thought about swerving but there really was no where to go where I wouldn't have hit someone or something.

She was very nice and immediately apologized and said it was her fault, and the police agreed to this, so it was all really simple, which I guess I should be thankful for, and that no one was hurt. I also got the lesser end of the damage, seeing as her entire rear passenger wheel fell off. But now my precious little Scion has headlights that point toward the ground and a passenger side door that won't open right. Off to the shop it goes.

Have you ever been in a car accident? Were you the driver or a passenger? How bad was it?

Discuss the wonderful world of car accidents!

[Tigmafuzz]

I've never been the driver in an accident, but I was once in an accident where a friend of mine was driving and a drunk woman slammed into our right at an intersection where she had ignored a stop sign. I was in the passenger seat but didn't get hurt, thankfully...
I know it could have been worse. My first "girlfriend" when I was eleven years old was hit and killed by a drunk driver.

[Necronopticous]

I drove for years in beater cars and never got into any car accidents, then I bought a brand new Honda Civic two years ago and have since been rear-ended four times, the third of which was on the way to the body shop to get my car fixed from the second. You can't make stuff like this up.

[Jessweeee♪]

Once when I was little someone ran a red light and hit our car as we were crossing the intersection. No one got more than small bruises, but our car was completely totaled. I myself have hit a few things trying to park, but thankfully that is it. I am a terrible driver and it's only through the quick reaction of the other drivers around me that I have not "merged" right into someone.

[Yar]

I was rear-ended last September. At first I thought I'd be fine not going to the hospital. Then later that night I sat down to do my homework, opened my book, and couldn't read. I went to the ER and found out I had whiplash. My car was totaled.

One of my friends was killed last week in a car accident. Going to his memorial tomorrow. It's going to be really tough, but I want to get my sadness out and give him one last hoorah.

[Rostum]

In 2009 I came off my motorbike, sliding all the way through the intersection. Completely my fault for misjudging how hard I should break, especially when the road was wet and had oil on it.

I only hurt my leg and my bike cost a lot to fix, but I felt bad for the mum and young son in their car watching the whole thing. They seemed more shaken up than I did.

[rubah]

A couple of months ago, a semi pulled directly in front of the truck my mother was driving the two of us in. I still feel a little uncomfortable riding as a passenger on the freeway.

[NorthernChaosGod]

Once when I out having lunch with my mom and my sister we were hit pulling out of our parking space. Dumb bitch in a Mercedes was on her phone and hit my mom's car on the back passenger side just behind the door.

It was funny when they gave my mom a minivan loaner though. xD

[GrimmReaper]

I respond to a lot of these. I've only been in an accident once (i was 9 i think..) and driving around the DC/MD area is a hazard in on it's own; but every accident i've responded to, I've only come across angry drivers about an average of 1 to 10 accidents. Most the accident's I get are usually caused from roadside hazards and/or texting while driving, but every so often i'll respond to a multiple vehicle collision. Usually, everyone likes to play victim because people are either shaken up from being in an accident, or don't want to take blame. Either way, from the perspective of being on the responding side of traffic collisions, it's astounding to see the number of horrible drivers out there.

^-- on that note also,
I happen to be in a support group on facebook called the "Maryland Driving Institute For Learned Drivers Who Drive In Maryland"

[Crop]

One time I was heading back to the office after lunch, and I was halfway through crossing the road when out of nowhere a car clipped the curb right in front of me going about 40mph and launched in the air, crashing into a powerline and bringing it down. The phone lines all came falling down right above me so I had to throw myself out of the way to avoid being hit by them.
The guy was alright, and I told the police he was going the speed limit even though he wasn't because his really nice BMW had just been totalled and I didn't want to add to his woes.

Also, just a couple of months ago in America me and some guys were road tripping to D.C. and the sat nav took us through the worst part of Baltimore at midnight, and as the (rented) car was turning a corner some crazy women came speeding through a red light and crashed into the side of our car. As you can imagine us white British tourists were extremely scared and as soon as the police came they told us to drive what was left of the car out of here as fast as possible.

Yeah, good car crash experiences. No more please.

[Jiro]

Rear ending because some lady behind us wasn't paying attention to the rapidly slowing traffic in front of her (and us). The rear bumper on our car absorbed 100% of the damage and just... fell off. That was it. No other damage, anywhere else.

[fire_of_avalon]

I've been in two car accidents; one was my fault and the other wasn't. I was the driver both times.

The first accident I still feel so much guilt over. I was on Fordham Blvd going between Durham and Chapel Hill, NC (notoriously busy even on normal days) on Halloween, in my friend's car, on the phone, arguing with my boyfriend. I got pissed and chucked my phone at the passenger side window, looked to make sure I didn't break the window, looked up to see a white Buick dead in the water in front of me. I slammed on the brakes but still submarined them. I still talk on my phone while driving, but only if the roads are dead and I'm in a good mood.

Even thought it was clearly my fault I didn't get a ticket. My friend had great insurance that covered everything, but I was so upset that I'd upset her so much. If I ever have lots of money I'm going to buy her so many cars. Soooo many cars.

The second accident I was in happened in my beat-up Subaru last February or March. I was driving home on a backroad, probably a little fast for the road but not even going the speed limit, when a little old lady pulled out of her drive way in front of me. I slammed on my brakes, my e-brake and swerved left (her driveway was on my right) but we still met at the front fenders. I felt really bad for that one too because she hops out of her car in this really fancy purple dress and dancing shoes... she was on her way to a square dance. I wanted to let it go and file separately on our insurance but she tried to pin it on me for speeding (sorry lady, outside city limits the speed limit is 55) and insisted we call highway patrol. And ended up cited for not looking before she pulled out and was suggested to cut down the big bush that blocked her vision.

I've had a lot of close calls with other people almost running me down, merging into me or having to swerve to avoid rear-ending me. I'm a decent driver but I could probably do with more awareness of my surroundings.

[sharkythesharkdogg]

I've been in a few. The ones from racing were actually the safest.

[Del Murder]

I've been in 6 car accidents, all as the driver. The first 5 were my fault and all happened between the ages of 16-17. The last one happened last year.

#1 - I was driving to work and I saw a friend walking down the street. I turned to wave at her like a goofball and then crashed into the person in front of me.

#2 - I was at my friends house, parked on his driveway. Another friend was there and he was parked on the sidewalk. When it came time to leave I backed right into his car as he was pulling out.

#3 - At school I was trying to park in a tight spot and I ended up hitting someone else's car. A yard duty saw it or else I probably would have bolted.

#4 - This was the worst one. For some reason my dumb ass thought it was appropriate to make a u-turn from the [i]outside left lane[i]. Someone was in the inside left lane so of course they rammed right into me. This was the first time the police or insurance got involved. All the others were handed by cash transaction. This was in my mom's van, too. Also, we were actually on our way to a friend's house to go drinking so the car had a bunch of hard liquor in it, which we had to ditch in the bushes before the cops/parents arrived.

#5 - Kind of a partial fault here. I was driving in the school parking lot and decided to cut over through some empty spaces to the other side when another guy who was doing the same thing hit me.

#6 - I was sitting at a red light, completely stopped, when a guy ran right into me. He had a beat up old car and smelled like ass. His insurance ended up being expired so I never got my deductible from him. I tracked down his address and he lives in some ghetto ass halfway house so I probably would never gotten a cent out of him. So you better believe I made damn sure to check that uninsured driver's coverage box on my insurance renewal this time around!

[Miriel]

When I was 15, I would drive from school and back even though I only had my learner's permit and not my actual license. I was in the school's parking lot waiting in a line of cars to exit the lot when a girl just backed her car right into mine and smashed into the side doors.

At first she was apologizing and whatnot. And then tried to turn it around and say that I hit her, even though I pointed out that cars cannot move sideways. Anyhoo, she threatened to call the cops and all that jazz. I had a few friends who were Seniors and knew this girl and they convinced her that we should work it out without the cops.

The next day this girl stops me in the hallways and demands that I meet her after school. When I go to meet her, I see her standing there with two big guys. Her older brothers apparently. They start going off on me about how I should pay to get her car fixed and all that. Not cool, man. Trying to intimidate a 15 year old girl in a deserted part of the school with no one else around. Gross behavior, imho.

So then I called MY brother. Who promptly shows up with at least a dozen of his friends. Who were most likely very ready to throw down if they had to. At this point, the girl and her brothers mumble something about letting it drop and then just turn around and leave. Hurrah! That's the last time I talked to the girl, although I did see her around campus occasionally.

That was the only accident I've ever been in with another driver. I did have a bumper fly off the car in front of me and shatter my front windows though.