Accident in slow-motion...


- Heading north on a wet two-lane highway, doing 55, limit is 55...
- Approaching an offset crossroads (the road on my right is about 50 yard closer than the road on my left)
- Car pulls out of the road to my left leaving me about 100' to slow down from 55mph on wet road. Not good.
- I apply the brakes, but the wet road = slide (no abs) and there is no way I'm gonna stop, so I release the brakes and look for a way out.
- 3 choices: use oncoming lane for more braking room, hit the half-emerged car, pull into the ditch on the right.
- Option 1 means possible head-on collision with another car doing 55mph. Option 2 means gauranteed 50mph collision into back of vehicle. Option 3 means gauranteed collision with a bridge abutment.

- I choose option 1 because there's nobody in the oncoming lane try to use that lane for more braking distance, but because of the wet road and the swerving and having no abs I have to let off the brakes to swerve and can only brake when I'm going straight, so the stopping distance is greatly extended.

- I pass the b!tch minivan that pulled out in front of me without a collision. Doing ok so far.

- The hyundai in front of the minivan then started to make a left just as I was passing her and I hear the crunch as I brush past her.

- I pull back into my lane and the pull over. By the time I got out of the car and walke over to the accident scene the minivan had fled and I was left with a bemused and borderline-irate lady in the hyundai who thought I has tried to pass he was she was making her left.

- I explained the situation to her and she was really nice about it. Looking ta her car, the bumper cover was gouged and the headlight was smashed, but the fender and hood were not damaged at all. I guess about $500 on the bumper cover and $150 on the headight. No more than $750 total.

- I walk back to my car to look at the damage... There is ABSOLUTELY NO DAMAGE AT ALL!!! I mean I searched for 10 minutes after I got home and did not find anything but a tiny buffable scratch that may or may not have been related to this...


Anyways - I taked to my insurance agent (American Family) and he said that if her claim is more than $1000 then they will surcharge me $8/mo for 3 years. (total of $300). If it's less then they won't surcharge me.

I told the lady that it was totally her choice to call the police or not and that I would not try to discourage her - but that because I would likely get a ticket for the accident that I was not eager to involve them myself. She decided not to call them, so I didn't get a ticket.

Close, very close! lol

wow.. you are one lucky guy..

ABS would have helped though !

10 char..........................................

Didn't mean to offend anyone

BBK time

hell yeah

damn sorry to hear that but it could have been alot worse..
you should have chased down that van no matter what... hey B it$h!!

What is BBK? Remember I had absolutely no damage, so no excuse for replacement body panels etc.

Yeah - ABS would have helped. In order to swerver I had to let off the brake, extending my stopping distance by about 6 or 7 carlengths. If I had been braking via ABS during the swerve then I would have been able to stop.

BBK = Big Brake Kit!!!

Goood god your a lucky kid!!!

Well check to see if your rotors are warped from slamming the brakes in the rain....
You made a wise choice with your options and hope everything works out.

Nice work. Better get some better wet weather tires though.

Just because the speed limit is 55 doesn't mean you do it during wet conditions, at least your a smarter man today than you were yesterday, count your blessings, it could have been worse!!!

Think anger management...

i hope youre joking harris.....

LoL yeah Emma I am. Girls like you and Maxima Girl and other female car enthusiasts I highly respect .

you better, but i wont lie, i had enough car accidents to last me for the next 20 years before i even turned 19..... totalled 2 cars (only one at fault)

Knock on wood, 42 years old and NEVER totaled any car and I have gone through 11 of them . Channel your anger into your driving skills...

HarrisH,

There are plenty of idiots on the road, men and women alike, your post was a complete waste of bandwidth and time. Don't forget that without one of those "b*tches" you wouldn't be here.

Scruit...glad you're ok man...

wow your quick at making decisions, especially at that speed and limited amount of time. i wouldve rear ended that mother****a

shoulda gotten the plates on the B!tch-a$$ minivan driver.......but anyways, praise God, you ....your car...and your licsence escaped with little damage..

By the way, if you had nailed the brakes, and still hit the minivan, YOU would still be liable, since the law says in a rear-end accident the rear-ender is always at fault ....so you made the right move...

took me a long time to learn to drive sensibly. when i was driving slow cars, i was always hard on the gas, but now that i have a 13sec car, i tend to drive slow (well close to the speed limit). i hate the view that all people that hook up their cars are awful for racing around, and i try not to be one of them, and i work hard to drive like a normal person..... and chern, your car is so beautiful, i want it, but i think you need bigger rims lol it was great to see it at the meet on sunday.... sadly the two cars i totalled were my parents'. apparently there is something about the cars being mine that makes me drive more safely

Ok, but just for you, if I every wreak, I'll have bigger rims put on...

Great meeting you also...

i have some nice staggered 19's but i only got 3 lol.... theyre nice though hahaha... that is, IF you ever wreck (but i hope not)

re speed and my judgement... I had plenty time to stop for the people who were alredy on my road, and I only got into trouble when the lady ran a stopsign and pulle dout in front of me. My speed was not an issue - even at 25mph there was no time to stop. I've been driving for 13 years and this is the first tiem I've been in an accident that will be blamed on me.

If anything I'm happy that I had the presence of mind to regulate my braking (no abs) to allow me to serve in the wet. If the other lady had not turned left then Iwould have been fine (not that it was the left-turner's fault at all - she was the true victim and she was really nice about it)

oh man!! No abs??

ABS is my friend! i dont know how many times its prevented my front end from getting wrecked!
haha and ya didnt get a ticket! give me some of that luck!

( 14 more posts to go before i can post new threads - grr)