And they walked away!

[Kruzin]

Today, when picking up my kids from school, my son was about 5 minutes late coming out. At the time, I was mildly annoyed. Little did I know that if he had been on time, we could very well have been a part of what we found when we got home...

We live in a townhouse complex, which on one side borders a 4-lane state highway.
Just minutes before we got to our complex, there was an 'incident'.
An older man and his wife where driving down the highway in their Ford Ranger pickup (from all indications WELL above the speed limit), when the guy blacked out.
He drove off the highway, flew off a 15' high embankment, and over a large drainage ditch. He then hit another vehicle on the service road (tearing it's rear bumper off), and headed for the 8' fence enclosing our complex.
Went through the fence, and hit a 2'+ thick wood power pole.
Cpmpletely sheared the power pole (took out a 7' section of the pole), and barreled into the opposite end of my building.
Nailed the corner of the brick building , damaging it over 8' high, when he finally came to a stop.

I got there after a few other neighbors, but before the cops/rescue workers.
The old guy and his wife walked out of the truck, only complaining of sore shoulders and arms. The lady in the car they hit was also uninjured.

Power was out here for 2 hours. They are still out there replacing the pole right now.
I have never seen a pole that large literally driven straight through. Normally a pole like that will stop any passenger vehicle in it's tracks.

Guess this is a testament to wearing seatbelts, and vehicles equiped with airbags...

[Jon P. Inghram]

When I become supreme overlord... all people who can't pass a basic physical and a reflex/coordination test will have to drive a vehicle that has "crumple zones" all the way from bumper to bumper, not just in the engine compartment.

[Chrono_Wanderer]

WOW! That's amazing... crashed on a pole and the couples were... walking out???? LOL... few years ago here a teen w/out lisense ran his car toward the pole, and eventually died...

I wonder what that pole is made of. An indication that they are using cheap materials. j/k

[Kruzin]

A guy like this should apparently not been driving at all.
From what he told my neighbors, this was not the first time he 'blacked out' behind the wheel.
I don't know if it was a medical condition that caused it, or if the old guy was drunk. But when you black out when driving, for whatever reason, you should not be driving. Period.
He's VERY lucky to be alive, or not have killed anyone else in this accident.
I immidiatly pictured my son being on time today, and us being on that service road we drive every day when that guy sailed off the highway, with us being in his path.
The lady he hit was quite fortunate it was just a glancing blow to the rear of her car.
This could have easily been a fatal situation for the old man, his wife, and anyone in his way...

[Lizzard[MPE]]

god damn

reminds me of the old guy that went through the Coral Springs post office a few weeks ago pinning a little kid under the car.

the employees lifted the car up to get the kid out of danger.

all the old guy said was that his car messed up when tryin to brake to park.

[Tempest]

I've got one new traffic story too.

As some of you know, my dad is a driving instructor. Well, ~a week ago he was teaching a woman to drive in our new, shiny red Toyota Corolla. They stop at a red light, and a few moments later a lorry pulls to a halt behind them.

Soon the light turns green again, and they prepare to continue their journey when - *crunch* - the lorry knocks into their rear. "Oh hell", my dad thinks, "not again" (this sort of thing happens every once in a while). He prepares to say a few witty words to the lorry driver, but then he realizes that the lorry isn't stopping but is instead pushing them forward!

Well, if he'd be the one driving he would undoubtedly floor the accelerator and leave the truck behind. But since the student is driving he only has the clutch and the brake pedal to play with. He locks the brakes, but the anti-lock brakes don't do much good... At this point the lorry behind them is well into third gear, and the lady that is supposed to be driving is pretty much paralyzed.

So my dad grips the side of the steering wheel in order to prevent the car from turning sideways. There is a wider part of the road (a bus stop) coming up, and as they slide past it my dad succeeds in steering the car into it. As the lorry passes he opens his seatbelt and reaches for the horn. Almost simultaneously the lorry hits its brakes and a shocked driver jumps out and asks "where did you come from?!"

My dad is pretty shook up too, but explains that they've been riding in front of him for the last 150 meters or so. The lorry driver knows this to be true, but just can't believe it. Since they have by coincidence stopped almost directly in front of a police station, they decide to go there to get the paperwork and investigation done.

Conclusion: The police do the tests and check the tachograph, but the lorry driver isn't intoxicated and has held his regulatory driving pauses. He just didn't notice a bright red, clearly marked driving school vehicle in front of him... He tells that he had heard some strange noises and thought that it'd been something wrong with his own car. There are plenty of witnesses and evidence in form of paint and glass, but they aren't needed because the lorry driver admits that he is guilty to the events. No one is hurt physically, except for our Toyota of course which ends up ~15 cm shorter, waiting to be fixed...

[Helevitia]

Crazy story there Kruzin. Glad you and your kids were no where near the accident.

Dave

[Dr Mordrid]

The craziest ride I ever had started out back in the early 1980's with my driving home from work.

I was driving a Cadillac Eldorado (502 CID V-8/front wheel drive and about 5,000 lbs (~2,270 kg)....your basic rolling living room) southbound on a two lane highway when I came to a traffic light. In the left turn lane was a semi, no traffic in front and no car in the right turn lane.

The light was green so I slowed a bit because of the restricted visibility due to the semi and proceeded through the intersection at about 35 mph.

POW!!

I get hit by a vehicle coming from the left who was hidden by the semi in the turn lane. It was a fully loaded 1 ton Dodge B-350 cargo van going ~55 mph. Such a vehicle fully loaded can easily run over 6,500 lbs (~2950 kg).

The van hammers my Caddy in the left front fender, spinning it 2 full rotations. During the spin the drivers door comes open and I, restricted only by the seat belt, was hanging out the door all the way around due to the rotational forces. If the belt had given way I'd have been run over by the rear-end of my own vehicle.

When the car finally stopped I was still hanging out the door suspended only by the seat belt. This was before air bags.

After my brain un-scrambles slightly I pull myself back up to a sitting position & look around.

About 200 meters down the cross-street I see the van stopped on the wrong side of the road with its right front fender, passenger door, side cargo door and half its right rear quarter panel ripped completely off and laying on the road between me and it

The Caddy was totalled but all its front sheet metal was still on the vehicle, though the entire front end was shifted about 2 feet to the right. Good ole' Detroit HEAVY IRON in that Caddy...and a huge set of beams in its frame

Both myself and the other driver claimed the green light was on in their direction. This was causing some confusion for the officer who came by less than a minute later.

Suddenly another police officer from a bordering city came by who had witnessed the accident but had stopped to check on the other driver.

She saw with her own eyes that the light had malfunctioned and was green in both directions. Later investigation by the County found an electrical fault in the traffic lights controller.

The only injury I sustained was a slight muscle strain in my back (DUH!!).

The only injury the driver of the Dodge B-350 van sustained was a small cut on his cheek from flying glass.

We were both luckier than SHIT.

Dr. Mordrid

[Chrono_Wanderer]

@Tempest: OMFG I dunno what to say...

@Doc: 90mph relative to each other... lol... you guys are very lucky. small back injury + a cut on cheek... while the van flew across the road having all its door ripped off

Also proves caddies are well built Worth what they are asking for

[Dr Mordrid]

Cadillac Eldorados were built like tanks back then, but today they're like most other cars in that they use uni-body construction; meaning no separate frame rails except for those that hold up the motor.

Dr. Mordrid

[Umfriend]

Drove to work this mornin....nuthin' happened, phew!

[GT98]

I was involved in a pretty nasty accident when I was stationed in Germany while in the Army. My friend and I where stationed at Baumholder and we wanted to go to the AF BX down the autobahn at Ramstein AFB. It had been raining pretty heavly all day (lovely German weather ) and to the best of my knowlege German Roads aren't crowned like they are in the States for water runoff. My friend was hauling ass in his 97 Civic on the autobahn doing about 80-90 mph in the left hand lane. Well we hit this puddle and he lost control of the car. We started off in the left hand lane then started to skid into the right hand lane...got some traction which made the car accerlate into the left hand guard rail, then bounce off it across the autobahn where the rear end of the car came into contact with right hand side guard rail and we started to slide across that, for a spilt second I felt the back end of the car lift up and thought to myself....please don't flip! the car eventually slowed down but we winded up in the middle of the autobahn and luckly didn't didnt get hit by anyone hauling ass down it afterwards.

The only thing that happened to me was that my hat got knocked off my head from the airbag, since I had the seat all the way back and I had my seatbelt on (which I never felt locking into place) and I pulled a muscle in my neck. The car was Totalled. It had all four wheels bend under it and a nice crease in the floor pan from the b-pillar on the passenger side to the drivers side where the gas and brake was. The front end was smacked up a little bit, same with the rear due to the glancing blows we took.

Needless to say I never really rode with him again and he Layed out is his bike a couple months after this

[Gurm]

Well, the Volvo finally got a little hurt this past weekend. I was driving with two friends, Logan, and one friend's child down a residential street in Manchester, NH. Well, this street intersects with "Maple Street", which turns out to be a euphemism for "Route 28", and people FLY down it.

So I pull up to a stop sign. I'm not being a nut, because there are two kids in the car. I look left, then right, then glance back left before going... nothing, nothing, and a big ol' heap o' nothing.

So I start into the intersection, and up and over the hill (the intersecting road ran left to right, one way) comes this guy, going WAY too fast (no way to prove that of course). I hesitate... my undoing. If it were just me in the car I would have just nailed it from the stop sign, and never come close to the guy. But with kids, I was driving "carefully"...

Anyway, after a moment's hesitation I floor it, which prevents said ****ole from hitting the door with Logan behind it (thank GOD), and instead he hits my rear driver's side quarter panel.

So, the cops show up, everyone is fine... he didn't even brake! He must have been doing 45+, and the total damage to the Volvo, beyond cosmetic stuff (new bumper cover, and dented rear quarter panel), is a bent wheel-guide-arm and a little wrinkle in the floorboards that may or may not have been there before.

THAT'S IT.

Once again, the solid steel car saves us all from injury, and I DROVE IT HOME.

- Gurm

[The PIT]

I think these show classic examples of why some people should lose their licenses striaght away.
Older people should have to take a driving test every year to make sure that their perception and reactions are up to it. One the main problems for older people is many of the shops have been closed down or they live in isolated communties with no amenties. Since public transport is poor or doesn't exist they're left with no alternative. But if they're dangerous they shouldn't still be allowed to drive.
People who also show a complete lack awareness should also have there eyes tested, medical tests to see if there is a medical problem and foced to retake their test again.

[az]

Maybe everyone should take a yearly test, and, if needed, training. Extreme driving situations training should also be standard, IMHO.

AZ