Just had my first car accident

[Lilani]

I backed into a pole and a parked car once, but the business had no problem with the damage to the pole and the lady I backed into actually new my dad and when he came down and looked at it, we decided together there wasn't enough damage to call insurance. So I don't really count those as my first "accidents" since nobody filed insurance claims or police reports. Those were within my first year of driving.

My first, legit, "we should file a police report and call insurance" accident wasn't actually my fault. I was on a four lane road (two lanes going one way, two lanes going the other) with a turn lane in the middle. And note this is the US so we're driving on the right side. I was in the left lane passing a van, and the van starts to turn off into a parking lot. As the van starts to turn in, an SUV which was pulling out of this same parking lot decides to pull out right at that moment. The SUV couldn't see me behind the van, so he was in for quite a shock when I was suddenly there. I pulled into the turn lane trying to get away from him, but we were destined to hit. He struck my little Nissan Sentra on the right front passenger side.

Both of our vehicles were driveable afterward, in fact a police officer who was nearby and saw it happen said he was quite impressed with how well my car did against the other guy's big SUV. We exchanged insurance information and he ended up having to replace one panel, a hubcap, and pay to cover up a few more scratches in other places. I was 18 then, and it actually didn't inconvenience me too badly because a week from then I was going to another state for eight months, and we were flying down and so wouldn't need my car.

My most severe accident still wasn't all that bad. It was nearly a year ago exactly, on my last birthday. I was driving to my apartment from WalMart, when suddenly this huge Chevy Silverado merges right into me, so hard it pushes my car up onto the sidewalk. What happened was it was a four-lane road, but no turn lane in the middle. So when people want to turn left, they just have to stop in the left lane and wait. Three cars in the left lane had stopped to turn, and this truck didn't realize they had stopped until it was too late. His options were hit these cars and likely cause a domino effect to damage all three of them, or merge into me and only damage my car. He chose to merge into me.

This did an impressive amount of damage. My left mirror was hanging on by a cord, the driver door panel was thoroughly bent, both axels were knocked out of alignment, the wheel on the left driver's side was badly scraped, the hood and front bumper also had some damage, and when I was pushed onto the sidewalk the front passenger tire was blown (I didn't actually realize that until I got it to my apartment and really looked at the damage--I was only a few blocks away anyway). He shoved me so hard onto the sidewalk it severed the tire. Again, both vehicles were driveable (he hardly took any damage, and I was able to get my car to my apartment even with a totally flat tire). Honestly, so much more could have gone wrong there. He could have easily cracked my window glass, or if he had turned harder lost control and roll right over me. And luckily none of my airbags deployed.

So, again, not my fault. I feel like if I had been paying more attention I could have realized he was going way too fast to stop for those cars, but it was still his fault for going too fast in the first place. Ironically, not just a few weeks after this happened the city started work on that exact part of that road, to widen it and add a turn lane. So now that won't ever happen again. I was just one of the last, lucky victims of that road before they fixed it.

 

[Zetatrain]

Not sure if this really counts but last year I was backing out of a parking spot at my apartment, drove too close a pole, and up taking out my passenger side mirror. So yeah no biggie.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

I tend to have a lot of problems going in reverse it seems >.> The first thing I did wrong was backed up out of a gas station at night. I knew there was a wall behind me, but I didn't judge the distance well. I hit it, and it cracked my rear bumper. Oddly enough, I didn't even see the damage until a week later (The crack was under the lip of the bumper). The second time I was reversing in a parking lot and backed into a truck. My entire trunk couldn't close properly from being bent in so far, while he took a little scratch to the rear bumper. Greeeeaaat... I was so embarrassed from such an amateur mistake that I told my family it was a hit and run. I still paid for it, but I didn't have the heart to say "Oh yeah, I was a dumbass again and wrecked my trunk!"

 

[Elvis Starburst]

I've been into a lot of close calls. Ones that would have likely killed me. I don't have all of that metal between you'an me. I'm a cyclist.

Bit of a story on this collision. The particular BMW I hit had splashed a co-worker recently. I remembered the license plate, and later keyed the car as we had confronted the bastard while he stopped to get gas. He response was "Don't want to get splashed? Don't go outside without a car. You can't do anything about it." So, I grabbed his license plate, I keyed the fuckwagon when I saw him later in MY parking lot.

Keying someone's car? Nice way of handling things... That sure showed him.

But not really. Why do this just caused you're pissed? That doesn't teach the guy anything, I'm sure. If the confrontation went as it did, then why not just leave it at that? There are just assholes that exist, and that's all that can really be done.

EDIT: Ok, certainly didn't mean to come off as an ass myself with how I worded that. I'm just really curious about what would compel someone to handle a situation like that? Just that angry at the person?

 

[devotedsniper]

My first accident was when I was 18, I'd only been driving 9 month (you can't drive till your 17 in the uk), a lady got her foot stuck on the gas and went straight into the back of me, luckily no one was hurt but my precious was written off.

Then last month I got into my second accident (23, so 2 accidents in 5 years isn't too bad), unfortunately there was an accident in front of me, a who was behind the accident panicked and bmw slammed on her brakes and a van went into her, and because the van hadn't kept his distance I ended up going into the back of him (if he had kept his distance so he could of stopped in time so could i). Unfortunately my cars damage and the vans rear damage was classed as my fault...

[http://s285.photobucket.com/user/DevotedSniper/media/2014-03-21073042_zpsbb496e88.jpg.html]

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The damage on my car alone was £3000 which the insurance paid for but I got left broke after a £550 excess (£250 of which is a hidden young drivers excess I didn't even know about). While the insurance company has left me broke with the surprise charge, I'm happy with the repair companies work, they truly care and now my baby is as sexy as ever!

[http://s285.photobucket.com/user/DevotedSniper/media/Megane/20140413_131657_zps9386140c.jpg.html]

[http://s285.photobucket.com/user/DevotedSniper/media/Megane/20140413_131702_zps049c87b2.jpg.html]

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Lesson learnt I guess the week after I got it back I fitted beefier brakes to make sure I don't get blamed when idiots can't keep their distance again.

 

[Happiness Assassin]

No car accidents, but I did drive an ATV into a pond. That was a long walk back to the house when that happened. Needless to say, I haven't driven the ATV much since then.

 

[Blow_Pop]

First accident: I had my phone under my leg on vibrate(cause it was one of those old Nokias that didn't have a silent function) and I was coming up to a stop sign behind a Honda Accord(I was in a Ford Taurus) and my phone vibrated and scared the crap out of me and I jolted, taking my foot off the brake temporarily and tapping my gas and rear ended him at like 5mph. He flipped out, my front end kind of crumpled a little(bad enough I had to actually replace my radiator after that), and his rear bumper barely had any marks in it. We settled it without involving the police.

First filed a police report accident: Was because I was exhausted. I was working and going to school full time. And my work was at least 40 miles away from my school. I was on almost 48 hours of no sleep driving home from my job and guess I fell asleep at the wheel. All I remember was seeing a turn coming up and thinking that I need to start getting over soon so I can switch interstates and then blinking. The next thing I know my car is flipping and then spinning and then stopped. Apparently, according to the 3 nice guys that pulled over and made sure I was ok who saw it all, I went across 3 lanes of traffic, took out a cement light pole, flipped my car 3 times, spun it a few times and the second light pole stopped me. Don't drive when you're tired kids. And anyone who wants to see the photos from it <a href =http://aprilmarie4203.deviantart.com/gallery/12080654>click here

And story to go with Redlin's: I was driving from my boyfriend's house to the school my mum was working at. Had to take the interstate to get there(since I was late leaving) and it was pouring down rain. I got to a turn on the interstate that I've done numerous times in the rain and hit it at about 55mph(which is slow for me since I usually go about 70 even in the rain) and I guess my tires hit a bit of water just right and it sent me spinning from the far right lane all the way across 5 lanes of traffic(which were luckily empty) and I stopped the correct way right before hitting the center divider. It was scary as shit.

 

[Lilikins]

First of all, glad your ok and no one got hurt in any way. On to the story, it wasnt my car accident, Ive luckily never been in a proper one, managed to bonk into my garage door once whilst backing up and not paying attention properly, but thats about it. Nevertheless, twas actually a friend of mine, we live in Germany so of course we have..the Autobahn. He got strafed by the left of his car and the car managed to literally 'fly' over the mid railing and rolled completely over 3-4 times, he was in the hospital for about 3 months after that and was in the...donno the english word tbh, intensive ward? for about 2 and a half weeks. The guy who strafed him drove off and we never found out who it was, which I find a bit ermm..yeah? if I saw a car do 3 barrel rolls behind me and know it was my fault...I dont think I could just 'drive on'. Luckily, my friend and I are both usually positive thinking and I found a t-shirt which had the picture from the german Autobahn traffic sign on it along with the words 'I went to Germany and survived the german autobahn.' I absolutely had to buy that for him, which I did and he did wear it in the hospital often then haha.

Nevertheless though Im glad everything turned out good for you and you didnt get injured.

 

[busterkeatonrules]

Right, I'm not going to count those instances of 'lightly dinged random car while backing out of parking space', as those are pretty dull (and, for me, too common to really be noteworthy.)

That leaves the following doozy:

It was the dead of winter. The road was covered with hardened snow (like ice, but still white, and as hard as the tarmac underneath it - but, naturally, much more slippery.) On each side of the road was a solid rampart of snow, helpfully swept aside by Mr. Plow. The white, ice-like substance completely covered the center-markings which separated the two lanes, and the plow mounds reduced the width of the road by... I would say about a quarter.

In my lane were two pedestrians, recklessly walking next to each other, thus taking up two person-widths worth of space. They also had a dog with them. No leash, and the creature was bouncing around like a small child on an epic sugar rush. In the opposite lane was an oncoming car. I had no idea how far I would need to cross into the other lane in order to safely pass the peds, and I had no idea where the dog was going to be the next split-second. All I knew was, this was going to get messy one way or the other. My only bet was to slow down to a complete stop until the other car has passed.

That's when someone hit me hard from behind. My glasses flew off and disappeared (my friend, who was with me as a passenger, eventually found them - on the hat shelf behind the back seat. Neatly folded and everything.) The entire rear of my car was pretty much just one big dent, and the rear hatch was completely jammed shut. The front of the other car was in similar shape, and leaking coolant like a little, blue waterfall.

The insurance people labelled this as the other driver's fault. Of course, the accident would never have happened in the first place if the pedestrians had exercised some basic common sense, but they were not actually involved in the accident - and pedestrians don't have license plates.

 

[snappydog]

I've only had one (apart from one occasion where I just sort of mildly dented the side of some guy's truck because he'd parked it so close to the edge of his space that it was, in fact, in my space) real incident, and no other vehicles were involved. I was just trying to turn around in a car park which happened to be outside a mental hospital, and the roundabout that was needlessly in the middle of the space was too tight for me to make without hitting a stone ornament just by the entrance of the building. A few patients saw it and... well, it would be an understatement to say they were distressed. Still, the insurance company didn't need to know; all I really did was dent my front bumper, luckily leaving my headlights intact.

 

[DanielBrown]

No accidents yet, luckily. *knock on wood or whatever*
I was close to being responsible for a crash once though, which could've killed my mom and probably myself as well. This was before I had my drivers license, so I wasn't that experienced. To explain; in Sweden we can practise drive as much as we want as long as we got a green sign on the car that says "övningskör"(practise driving) as well as having an experienced driver in the car(usually a parent). You gotta take a one hour course before you're legally able to do it as well. It seems this is pretty unique to us. At least a Danish friend of mine was completely baffled by it.

Anyways, I was turning left at an intersection. The traffic lines on the opposite side had a green light to the left and straight ahead at the same time as me. I crawled out slowly. The line that were going left was long and the one straight ahead was completely empty. Couldn't see any cars coming through the windows of the other cars, so I took my chance and started rolling.
Halfway through a car shows up out of fucking nowhere, going at least 30 km/h over the speed limit(to a total of 80 km/h or something) - most probably because I assume his light was turing to red. The universe froze up, his light were right in my eyes, I panicked and slammed the gas pedal into the floor.
Pretty sure that fucker missed my car by a centimeter. If I hadn't reacted the way I did we could've been dead.

Dat adrenaline kick I got afterwards.

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

Happened when I was 21. I was parked, checked my rear mirror, totally clear, started reversing and then bumped into someone who was also reversing out of their parking at EXACTLY THE SAME TIME. Urgh.
Luckily our insurance companies got things sorted out on their own.

No accidents since then. Ironic how the 1 time I had to crash was in a parking lot and not on the actual road -_-

 

[BeerTent]

[...]

Keying someone's car? Nice way of handling things... That sure showed him.

But not really. Why do this just caused you're pissed? That doesn't teach the guy anything, I'm sure. If the confrontation went as it did, then why not just leave it at that? There are just assholes that exist, and that's all that can really be done.

EDIT: Ok, certainly didn't mean to come off as an ass myself with how I worded that. I'm just really curious about what would compel someone to handle a situation like that? Just that angry at the person?

Defined by Canadian law, Splashing someone on the road is considered reckless endangerment. A rock could be put up, and the force of the water, if weak enough, can knock the person over. Which is something I've seen.

My co-worker was not young. In fact, he looked like an old man. Thankfully, he's physically fit, but that bridge is astonishingly notorious for a deep pool of water, and a notable amount of force. If someone is knocked off that bridge, it's a good 20+ foot drop to gravel, metal and wood. There's a railway below the bridge.[footnote]Back when I rode on the sidewalk, because I was learning the bike...(Which, is illegal. Yes, I know...) I was almost knocked off my bike on that very bridge, as a result of such an incident. I didn't pick the bike back up for a month. We're talkin' a pretty low railing on that bridge too.[/footnote]

Will the police do anything? No. While I'd love to crack something about that involving work, it's an obvious case of "he said, he said." if brought to the courts. An officer would need to see the act in order to do anything.

My thought process? I had already logged the license as I planned to assist my co-worker. The driver shows absolutely no empathy during and after the act. Expensive car meant that he likely loved the shit out of that thing, so why not make him pay? Complaining never did me any good and I'd said I'd help him, so I might as well take action myself. It's the only way to get anything done in this world. He parked in my parkade, so he knows damn well about the stores and "cheap labor offices" in my area.

It works out better if the target believes in Karma. Another co-worker's got a thing ongoing too, but that's out of scope of the topic. :3 For the record, I don't think you came off as an ass.

 

[Astoria]

Well I was waiting in line at a petrol station on a perfectly normal Saturday morning. The person in front of me eventually started up their car so I began inching forward and got ready to drive in like normal. All of a sudden this person goes into reverse and slams into the front of my car. I seriously have never seen anyone reverse that fast in my life. I originally thought it was a mistake and she hadn't realised she was in reverse but when got out she just 'oh, didn't see you there'. The ***** of it was that her car was fine apart from a few scratches but the whole front end of my car got bent out of shape and had to be replaced. We swapped info and it was all sorted ok but never once did she say sorry to me or acted like she was in the wrong which really annoyed me because I was just a kid at the time and was devastated about my car. Fortunately that's the only drama I've had and I've never caused an accident and I hope I never will.

 

[Ieyke]

Been in all sorts of car accidents.
16 lane freeways, flash floods, city of 6 million people in 5am rush hour traffic, most aggressive drivers in the country, perpetual roadwork, and the general fact that most people just can't fucking drive.......

If you have an off day, there's a good chance a load of different things can catch you off guard.

I've been hit by a guy speeding to take his dog to the vet.
I've hydroplaned into an SUV during a sudden 5am rushhour thunderstorm on a 16 lane freeway because some jackass cuts off the lady in front of me and makes her suddenly slam on the brakes.
I've been stopped at a red light and had a Mustang slam into the back of me and knock me into a Suburban.
I've taken a right turn where a dumptruck had spilled some loose gravel and lost all traction right into a telephone pole.
I've been hit by people in the drive-thru at Taco Bell.
etc
etc

Luckily I drive a '99 Jeep Wrangler, and it just gives no fucks.

 

[Kolby Jack]

I've only ever touched bumpers with someone in a parking lot. No damage, just a little tap, we both noticed in time to stop. So far, I'm the only member of my family that hasn't been in a car accident yet (been driving 9 years now). I'm extremely cautious when I drive, which sometimes irks passengers. But why wouldn't I be? Driving is dangerous, especially when most people don't drive like I do.

That being said, I also paradoxically prefer to let others drive if given the choice. I don't let anyone but my parents drive my car (my Dad actually wrecked my last car, yet he still talks like he's the best driver in the family or possibly ever), but if carpooling is brought up, I'm much happier letting someone else drive me around in their death-mobiles. I guess it's the nervousness I dislike the most, rather than the actual fear of getting killed.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

[...]

Keying someone's car? Nice way of handling things... That sure showed him.

But not really. Why do this just caused you're pissed? That doesn't teach the guy anything, I'm sure. If the confrontation went as it did, then why not just leave it at that? There are just assholes that exist, and that's all that can really be done.

EDIT: Ok, certainly didn't mean to come off as an ass myself with how I worded that. I'm just really curious about what would compel someone to handle a situation like that? Just that angry at the person?

Defined by Canadian law, Splashing someone on the road is considered reckless endangerment. A rock could be put up, and the force of the water, if weak enough, can knock the person over. Which is something I've seen.

My co-worker was not young. In fact, he looked like an old man. Thankfully, he's physically fit, but that bridge is astonishingly notorious for a deep pool of water, and a notable amount of force. If someone is knocked off that bridge, it's a good 20+ foot drop to gravel, metal and wood. There's a railway below the bridge.[footnote]Back when I rode on the sidewalk, because I was learning the bike...(Which, is illegal. Yes, I know...) I was almost knocked off my bike on that very bridge, as a result of such an incident. I didn't pick the bike back up for a month. We're talkin' a pretty low railing on that bridge too.[/footnote]

Will the police do anything? No. While I'd love to crack something about that involving work, it's an obvious case of "he said, he said." if brought to the courts. An officer would need to see the act in order to do anything.

My thought process? I had already logged the license as I planned to assist my co-worker. The driver shows absolutely no empathy during and after the act. Expensive car meant that he likely loved the shit out of that thing, so why not make him pay? Complaining never did me any good and I'd said I'd help him, so I might as well take action myself. It's the only way to get anything done in this world. He parked in my parkade, so he knows damn well about the stores and "cheap labor offices" in my area.

It works out better if the target believes in Karma. Another co-worker's got a thing ongoing too, but that's out of scope of the topic. :3 For the record, I don't think you came off as an ass.

I see. It all makes sense, and I do understand the reasoning. I guess I was just raised differently. In my family, we believe that we'd be the one being the dick if we went and did that to someone's car cause we didn't like something they did. Boils down to "being the bigger man" and dealing with it, rather than stoop down to their level of dickery. At the same time though, I'm not gonna say how you handled it is inherently wrong. I just won't say it was better. Either way though, I guess that's a different form of karma some believe in. And if it gets shit done, then so be it~ That is where I put my hands up and say "Alright, fair enough"

 

[Ieyke]

my Dad actually wrecked my last car, yet he still talks like he's the best driver in the family or possibly ever

You'd be surprised how true that can actually be.
Wrecking really doesn't mean anything in reflecting driving skill unless you factor in WHY.

A lot of the "safest" drivers are bad drivers. Nervous, paranoid, way under the speed limit, ignoring big gaps in traffic when trying to make a turn in favor of titanic ones - these drivers would be fine if they were driving in a vacuum and not making an absolute mess of traffic.
A number of the most "reckless" drivers are among the best. Extremely skilled, super confident, fudging limits because they understand the ebb and flow of traffic, the ability to judge gaps in traffic and match speeds perfectly to slip through what appears to be gridlock - when these drivers get in wrecks, it tends to be because of some unforeseeable variable going wrong.

But at least those are both hyperattentive drivers.
It seems like half of drivers are barely paying attention at all.
They drive at normal speeds while on the phone, never using a blinker, txting, not paying attention to lights, u-turning in intersections, not watching the cars around them, cutting people off, having no concept of the flow of traffic, etc.

And then there are just...normal drivers.

 

[Kolby Jack]

my Dad actually wrecked my last car, yet he still talks like he's the best driver in the family or possibly ever

You'd be surprised how true that can actually be.
Wrecking really doesn't mean anything in reflecting driving skill unless you factor in WHY.

A lot of the "safest" drivers are bad drivers. Nervous, paranoid, way under the speed limit, ignoring big gaps in traffic when trying to make a turn in favor of titanic ones - these drivers would be fine if they were driving in a vacuum and not making an absolute mess of traffic.
A number of the most "reckless" drivers are among the best. Extremely skilled, super confident, fudging limits because they understand the ebb and flow of traffic, the ability to judge gaps in traffic and match speeds perfectly to slip through what appears to be gridlock - when these drivers get in wrecks, it tends to be because of some unforeseeable variable going wrong.

But at least those are both hyperattentive drivers.
It seems like half of drivers are barely paying attention at all.
They drive at normal speeds while on the phone, never using a blinker, txting, not paying attention to lights, u-turning in intersections, not watching the cars around them, cutting people off, having no concept of the flow of traffic, etc.

And then there are just...normal drivers.

My Dad wrecked my car because, according to him, he scooched around this truck hauling a trailer behind it at an intersection when the truck was trying to make a wide turn, invariably, the trailer tipped and fell on my car when it realized my Dad was there. It was purely cosmetic damage and my Dad wasn't hurt or anything, but it was entirely his fault. But he paid for apart of my current car, so it's all good. He's a good driver, more skilled than I am, but still, I've gotten into less wrecks than he has even in just the last 9 years.

 

[Vrach]

I've never collided with anything, but I almost hit a deer at 75 MPH. It was dark and it seemed to materialize out of nowhere about 10 yards in front of me. I hit the brakes and jerked the wheel to the left, lost control and fishtailed. Went into the other lane, spun 180 and ended up back in my lane facing the deer again, who only then decided to move. Left probably 50 yards of rubber on the road, I was lucky there was nobody else in either lane and that I didn't swerve into the ditch. Could have easily been a lot worse.

Now I never drive on a rural highway at night without my high beams on.

Fucking deer man, that could've gone wrong in so many ways, glad you got out of it ok. Although 75mph is a bit high, isn't it? That's about maximum freeway speed if I'm not mistaken, I wouldn't go that fast on a rural route if I were you :S

edit: Sorry, missed it, yeah, rural highway... still, I'd slow down a bit if I were you, that's 120 km/h and it doesn't leave any room for error.

OT: I don't drive myself. Got my licence a few years back, but I don't have a car and I've fallen completely out of practice thanks to my trial licence - we have a thing here where the first year you get a trial licence, which comes with a number of restrictions. Most of them I don't mind (driving 10% below speed limit at all times, stricter conditions for general driving stuff like blood alcohol level and such), but the one that said I can't drive between 23:00-05:00 really fucked me over as I could've gotten a lot of practice in my first year playing the designated driver when I went out with friends (I don't mind not drinking at all, would've been happier just with a chance to drive).