Once, I decided to start completely over and go though the opening sequence (I don't do that much anymore). Everything started out fine, but when the carts were just about to enter Helgen they freaked right the fuck out and started flying (an amusing if not worrying experience when one is trapped in the cart). Eventually the carts calmed down and pulled into the village. Alduin's scripting was a bit off, not breaking though the tower wall (it was already broken, so I didn't get stuck), but after that everything went like normal. I don't restart the game completely over anymore I just kept the first autosave, guaranteeing a stable start.