There I was inching along in the right lane Saturday afternoon with 10+ cars behind me, waiting to exit the highway to go play golf, when I glance in my rearview mirror and see an SUV or minivan barreling in from the middle lane and heading for the Hyundai Accent behind me. My automatic reaction was to mash the gas and try to get out of the way to the shoulder...too late bucko! I'd almost managed to steer around the car ahead of me, but the impact pushed me into him and I smacked his right rear corner with my front left. You just never know what's sneaking up on you huh? I think it's safe to say that my car will be a writeoff. Good luck finding another 99 5 speed LSD SE with every option other than traction control.....I am so pi#$ed. On the bright side I just have a stiff shoulder, the guy in front drove his car home after giving the cops his report...on the horribly bad side,the Hyundai was crushed and a little girl in the back seat died, her mother is critical, and the mother's parents who were driving are seriously injured. The cops have yet to determine what caused the 86 year old gentleman and his wife in the SUV to swerve into the right lane at a speed estimated at 60+mph .

 

that breaks my heart to hear about that little girl i cant imagine being the parents and losing a daughter that way. glad at least your ok, say a prayer for that little girl and her family.

 

that is really unfortunate man....RIP to the little girl and hope her mother gets better...
n sorry about your max...cars can be replaced but a life can't...glad you're alright

 

That is very sad indeed........she is with god now....

Maybe the driver (old man??) had an AMI???

 

Sad day for sure, terrible. Makes my little fender bender seem like nothing at all. R.I.P. - for little girl.

 

I went straight to the pictures, and thought that poor max...

Then I read the post. It's so sad to hear that a poor defenseless little kid died because someone was being careless... So sad.

 

Breaks my heart, this is just awful..

 

OH GOD! I clicked the title expecting pics of a lowered car (shorter in the other direction). I was not adequately prepared for that story. This is the most depressing thing I've heard in a while, especially regarding the little girl.

Sorry for your loss as well. Sounds like your reflexes may have saved your own life, or at least saved you a lot of pain. That collision used up your whole rear crumple zone, so any more force on the car would have been transmitted directly to your body.

I really hope they never let that old man drive again so he can't hurt anyone else. This is just terrible.

 

:'(

 

this is too sad... me and my grandfather and uncle were victims of an 80yr old man cutting across a highway and slammin in to us... that was 6 years ago but i could never imagine losing a daughter at all but especially in such a tragic accident like this one... sorry to hear bout the max

 

Wow, if your car is that bad, I can only imagine how bad the Hyundai must be. Such a sad story too, RIP to the little girl.

 

i really hope that old man losses his licence some one like that should not be on the road let alone be able to buy an suv. sorry about the max. and my prayers go out to the little girl and her family needless to say this is definitely a tragedy.

 

Thanks for your comments. I regret my post heading didn't give fair warning about the event I witnessed (now edited). My car is an irrelevent detail in the tragedy of that child's death. For anyone who's ever been in an accident, you know things happen so fast. My head was ringing after the hit, and my first reaction was anger at the SUV driver, since I suspected it was just another aggressive Montreal driver maneuver to head for the exit lane. My car had come to a stop 75 or more feet from the 2 vehicles behind me, and it took me about 10 minutes to realize the severity of the damage to the Hyundai. So sad.... I know I'm extermely lucky since the SUV could have hit me instead. Maybe heading for the shoulder saved my bacon-I'm not even sure if I was in gear and managed to drop the clutch, of if I just steered to the right, but whatever I did avoided me getting sandwiched between the Hyundai and the car ahead of me...that wouldn't have been good for anyone. Too bad it didn't help that little girl.
One last thing. I don't know what happened with that gentleman, and I won't assume he was not fit to be driving because of his age, but if anyone who reads this has a parent or grandparent who is getting on in years and still drives, please be sure they are still alert and capable. My extremely independant and self-sufficient grandmother was still active and driving at 78. I was a passenger in her car when she almost rear-ended a semi on I85 coming back from Florida one Spring. I advised my family, who thought I might be exxagerating the severity of the event, and they somewhat reluctantly had her checked. She stopped driving shortly afterwards. It's no fun telling someone who is getting older that they can't drive anymore, but if you have any inkling it's unsafe for them to continue, and you have any say or influence in the matter, don't let the matter slide. The consequences could be unfortunate.

 

I'll pray for that little girl and her family. This shows us the impact that careless driving can have on others.

 

i had a great aunt sara who would get sauced and then drive me around sometimes when i was younger and would scare the hell out of me. as she got older and i needed a car i would offer to drive her w/e she needed to go and then we worked it out that i would keep the car so i could get to work. when she died she left me the car, ( 86 toyota camry ) and i remembed her when i saw this story. its a shame they dont aggresivley test people over 70 more often as they should.

 

I opened the posted expecting a lowered car, scrolled to pics and was like "HOLY DAM!!"
then I read the post :'( thats so sad about the little girl. People are in to much of ****ing hurry now days, and it pisses me off. Just yesterday this stupid ***** rode my a$$ for 15 miles, almost hit me 4 times, she was on the phone and not paying attention. Then when I was turning on to my road, another "genius" was flying down the main road, on the phone and not paying attention, she was doing a 55+, and ran all into a guy riding a bicycle. Luckily there was a cop right behind her. Can you believe she didnt even get out of her tahoe, she stayed in it and finished her conversation on the phone, while dude just laid there on the ground. I wanted to get out of my car and go "have a few words" with her, but that one cop was there already. I was like WTF?!?!?!?

 

Thats so sad . When will people learn how to drive!!

 

sorry to hear bout that man

 

Def tragic, good thing you saw it coming an managed to only end up how you did... Rip to lil girl, sucks when children are ones to pay for car accidents.

Good luck with new ride

 

thats very sad. for the girl and the other people.. hope that old fk goes str8 to hell...

glad your ok. is it just me? or have i been seeing more and more post of accidents lately on here? this year anyway?

 

This is a tragedy. I will pray for the family and the little girl. Very good example of reaction alertness and knowing the limits of your vehicle and yourself. Everyone on this Forum probably drives faster than the limits, but your reaction to situations and knowing how your car will behave to your inputs still makes you a safer driver than most. That cell phone thing is one of my pet peeves too. But anyway, glad you are still with us. Try to stay in the 4th gen forums too! 4th gen all the way.

 

so sorry to hear about that poor little girl. i agree with stevieb about judging the situation but yes i think they should test elderly people every so ofter when they reach certain ages just to make sure that they are still capable of driving "SAFELY" for their own good and others around them. my prayers go out the the little girl and her family.

 

Very sad .... glad you are ok. It could have been worse and I'm glad it wasn't. Prayers goin out for eveyone!

 

OMG, thats really sad. Both for the child that had to pay for someone's stupidity with her life and for the cars damaged in the process. Glad you're ok but too bad the mom and the little girl had to take such a hard hit. Hope she at least went quick and free of pain. RIP

 

It really saddens me to hear stories like this. it happens every day and is so hard to deal with. I hope it all works out for you insurance wise for your max, but the poor little girl , I cant even imaging what I would do if my daughter was taken like that. I'd probably be going to jail for a long time...

 

Sorry to hear about it. Know exactly what you feel. I was standing on the intersection waiting for green light to come on, talking to my wife. All of a sudden, somebody hits me in the back. I come out, there is this old man behind the wheel of the old Toyota Camry. It tool him 5 minutes just to get out of his car. What can you do when you see somebody like that!? The hit was big, but the damage was minimal. Some paint scratched around license plate. I let him go.
Really sorry about little girl.