Been driving for about 15 years, had one major accident, a medium one and a minor "bump".
I was "lightly" rear-ended when traffic came to a stop suddenly on a busy street. I was able to brake in time, but the guy behind me couldn't. Impact was more like a big push, the kind you get in a rollercoaster when it starts. I had my VW Fox, so the bumpers were "real" solid bumpers, not plastic molded ones that cracks. Other guy had a Mk2 Golf, same kind of bumper here. No damages/injury on either party.
My medium accident was because of a deer. I had a '97 Jetta turbo diesel. It was a narrow country road, with tall grass (4-5 ft) on the sides. I had just crossed another car, I checked my speed (55 mph), and as I was setting my eyes on the road, I saw the deer crossing right in front of me. I hit it as it was halfway past my car. Luckily it didn't went over my hood and through my windshield - it was flown over the other side of the road, in the ditch. Car drove fine after that (well, up to the garage), radiator was pushed back and bent, but didn't leak at all.
And, my big crash... Again with the Jetta turbo diesel. I was with my GF, coming back from a day trip in Ottawa. It was 10pm, and I decided to fill up on diesel because of the 300 km of road ahead, and it was getting late. First exit's gas station didn't have any diesel left. So I stopped at the next exit. As I was coming back on the Highway, I had just merged in the right lane and was about to set the cruise control at 110 km/h (78mph) when I heard a screeching noise.
I looked at the rearview mirror just in time to see a pair of headlights shifting to our left. When I looked at my left, and there was this generic sedan, 4 wheels locked and smoking, passing me in the other lane! It nearly passed me, and as it slowed down it came back in my lane. I felt a *thud* behind... The other car had tapped my rear bumper on the side, just behind the wheel. If you ever saw COPS or a Police chase TV show you know what happens next. I lost control of the car, fishtailed.
We hit the grass on the side of the road still going, I'd say, 80 km/h. Sideways. The wheels dug in the dirt and we rolled over two and a half time. I was "okay", my girlfriend had a broken sternum and a "more alarming than it looks" gash on the forehead. Poor Jetta was totalled, after 475000 km (300 000 miles) on the road.
Sorry for the long story, I tried to skim some details out but also leave the important parts in.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cfg83
I have a theory. The longer you drive, the more "6th sense" you develop. Even though your reaction skills erode, your experience allows you to "intuit" how to drive safely. It's like the "flight hours" a pilot amasses in order to become certified.
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I'm with you on that one. Well, it works for *some* people at least. It's true that driving is way underrated (in term of danger), since the average people drive more and more miles per year and yet nothing happens. So we let our guards down. We plug the automatic pilot. Hey, I'm also guilty of this at times.
But about the '"6th sense", I got an "alarm bell" ringing for me a few weeks ago.
I was on a 4 lane wide "boulevard", without physical separation, just a yellow line. Two lanes in each direction. I'm in the left lane. In the right lane, a Pepsi truck is slowing down to turn right at the next intersection. At this intersection, I see a Taurus on the crossing street waiting at its stop sign, with its blinker set to turn left on the boulevard (opposite side of me).
The Pepsi truck is kinda blocking his view, but if I can see him, he should see me, right? But still, I think: "Don't you move from here, Taurus..." And I'm preparing myself to react (thumb ready to hit the horn, I lift my right foot a little). As I pass the truck, I can't see the Taurus anymore so I don't know if its staying put or what.
Then, oh lovely, I see the Taurus begining to cross the right-most lane, but it doesn't seem ready to stop! I hit the horn, swerved in the opposite lane (empty, of course). The Taurus' nose stopped past the middle of the lane I was in; it wasn't fast to react.
I don't know if I could have made it if I wasn't "prepared" for this... But the scary part is that I normally wounlnd't have noticed the waiting car... I was almost sure it would try to make it a go in front of me...