...And how much bother was it to sort out afterwards?
I hit a loose dog on the A38 near Burton in 2003.
The animal belonged to some local travellers and was roaming around a dual carriageway stretch.
I hit its rear hindquarters with the front offside of my Focus hatch at about 70mph.
The dog ran off, and as far as I know, survived.
Damage to my car was limited to a cracked bumper, although it was still firmly attached.
Phoned the local police who told me to go on my way if the car was driveable, which it was.
Phoned the insurance, who more or less said go ahead and get it fixed.
It was a Saturday and I took it to the supplying dealer on Monday.
They loaned me a Fiesta and turned the job around inside the week.
The bumper had to be painted, and they did a good job.
No one ever spotted it, despite me challenging one or two people to 'name the painted panel'.
So everything was sorted out fairly easily.
I suffered a tiny bit of delayed shock, and was a bit wary of driving at motorway speeds for a while.
Plenty of drivers have much worse experiences.
So, assuming it's not too painful to recollect, what happened with your last accident?
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First week with my then employer back in 2003, driving a hired Peugeot 206SW while my company car (Focus) was on order. Narrow-ish, but arrow straight B-road, road was wet.
I was making progress, but within the 60 mph speed limit. An artic on the opposite side of the road was indicating left to turn into a side road, and had stopped to let out a BMW 3 series which was turning right out of the same side road. The 3 series driver pulled out without looking, straight across in front of me. The Pug had no ABS, so I probably only scrubbed off 30 mph by the time I T-boned him straight on the nearside front wing and door.
It was a mess, and wrote off both cars, but nobody was hurt, thankfully. What infuriated me was the artic driver, who had a lovely, elevated view of the whole thing, turned into the side road and drove off, never to be traced.
Never did hear the outcome of that one. The Beemer driver contested liability saying I was speeding (I wasn't) and the fleet manager said it would probably go to court. Then it went quiet. I left the company a year later, and never heard any more about it.
Two hours after the accident, I was driving a delivery mileage Focus 1.6 Zetec at no cost or inconvenience to myself. The joys of company cars.
Last edited by: DP on Thu 5 Aug 10 at 10:07
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Car accident... Just recently! A car went into the rear door/quarter panel of mine on a roundabout when the driver changed lanes without looking first... as there are no witnesses its likely to be a 50/50 which makes me bloomin' angry as its the first since '85 and that was someone elses fault as well!
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Touch wood (!) especially with todays insurance premiums, i like my £300-odd a year for a 25 year old.
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Never had one really, just a few scrapes. Took the door mirror off a BMW with the transporter's back end somewhere on a roundabout in West London. He didn't stop.
Cyclist jumped a Give Way and hit the side of the flat bed at some speed, landing on it.
He was scratched and bruised and he wrecked his bike....I was OK, that's the main thing !
Had a couple of near miss pontential nasties. A couple of girls in a Fiesta hopped a Give Way as I was seconds away, almost brushing my front bumper and someone in a Clio jumped a Stop sign protecting a very busy main road but a better distance in front of me. He didn't even slow down, found a gap and made it safely ! Just didn't see the sign, I guess.
Last year's 180 spin on ice in the Vitara left me facing the way I'd come and on the other kerb.
A lucky gap in the traffic meant I just docked gently against the kerb rather than into the front of a Stagecoach bus !
Ted
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I had a couple of near misses, one of them would have been my fault other than that touch wood the only accident I have had is with a kerb.
My clio friend has had another accident so her car is being repaired again. A car quickly changed lanes and pulled in front of her. They are both blaming each other but she was in the left lane, he was in the right lane, he suddenly pulled into the left lane. I suspect the blame might be 50/50.
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2003, failed to see a giveway junction in time, and slithered out into a B road to be t-boned in the drivers door by a single deck bus doing an estimated 40mph. THe laguna ended up 20 yards away in a ditch, written off, and the bus ended up up a tree
I had three broken ribs and the bus driver was trapped in his cab, fire brigade, ambulance, air ambulance and army rescue arrived on scene.
The only comback on me was a charge of driving without due care, 9 points and 400 quid fine. My accident management company dealt with all the other bits.
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What were the 9 points for? Seems a bit harsh, thought this was usualy a 6 pointer. If that I was me I would have been banned out right and told to go back to L plates :(.
It is one of those things which due to a moment of madness could happen to us all.
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>> What were the 9 points for? Seems a bit harsh, thought this was usualy a
>> 6 pointer.
So did I. You can actually cop a ban for without due care.
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My dad once ran a red light in Salford, panic on the streets of Ordsall but luckily it wasn't a double decker bus or a ten tonne druck he crashed into it was a 106. The Punto murdered it, but the poor 106 driver was carried of in a stretcher.
At interview the cops said the junction was poor and he can see how he missed the light. Result no points or anything. If it was another cop doing the interview he could have been banned.
In your car case, its your injuries and 6 points should have been enough punishment. I think this is my biggest fear of driving causing an accident like this.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Thu 5 Aug 10 at 13:21
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I'm not tempting fate by answering that one :)
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(Links are for Google Maps)
Circa September 2005
Heading along Whesseoe Road out of Darlington in my 1999 (T) Laguna towards Burtree lane, where the road bends to the left and goes over the railway bridge.
tinyurl.com/2wb7bvc
Conditions where dry
Before you get to the railway bridge the road goes up and bends sharply to the left onto the bridge (you cant see round this corner)
tinyurl.com/3akbnv8
I have been up this road and round this corner 1000’s of times, and as I’ve always done dropped the car into 3rd and slowed to around <20 mph.
As I went round the lst hand bend the back end slid out to the right, I applied the brakes and as I tried to correct it as the car went all the way to the other side of the road, I tried to steer it back it skated back over the other side of the road and hit the crash barrier - it was like a ice rink.
Airbags set off cabin filled with the explosive smoke this is what frightened me. Dazed, shaken and confused I managed to pull into a little lay-by thing and got out. bumper came off, wing dented, headlamp smashed, inside dashboard lit up like Blackpool illuminations.
Phoned my mam (in tears) to come and get me, Dad drove the car home (nothing mechanical wrong with the car – insurance company wrote the car off.
Next day the council put a road sign just on approach – slippy road!
What amazes me is that, that road at that time of the day is fairly busy – when this happened there was not a sole in sight it terrifies me that there could have been fortunate that there was not.
Last edited by: Redviper on Thu 5 Aug 10 at 13:30
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edit (too add)
Insurance company where helpfull although when the recovered the car on the sheet they gave me it was remarked that the "car is filthy" it wasnt that bad!
They sent out a chq and gave a not bad price I didnt argue with it
Last edited by: Redviper on Thu 5 Aug 10 at 13:45
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My last accident was about as bad as it can get.
It was in September 2004 and I was driving a bus between Southport and Liverpool on a route that takes in a lot of narrow rural A-roads. It was a lovely evening, nice and sunny and, despite it being rush hour the roads weren't too busy. I was running a little late but I wasn't too bothered as I knew that I had plenty of time to get to the next timing point so I was pootling along. I came to what is known locally as a bad bit of road, where the road narrows considerably. The driver of the lead car of the column coming towards me braked very sharply as he (wrongly) thought that he couldn't fit between me and the kerb on his side. This, obviously, caused the other vehicles to brake sharply which surprised a motorcyclist who had to jam on harder than the rest. This unseated his pillion passenger who hit the side of my bus and went under the rear wheels. She was taken to hospital by air ambulance, but passed away shortly after she arrived. She had three young children under the age of six and only decided to go out for a ride with her friend before work as it was such a nice day.
Words cannot convey how I felt at the time, and still feel. I'm not over it, and don't think that I ever will be. I was doing ok until a couple of years back when the motorcyclist decided, very belatedly, to launch a compensation claim against me and the bus company. This brought everything back that I had dealt with and very nearly tipped me over the edge. I still drive buses as I was determined that the accident (and I can use the word with confidence as the police said in their report that this was one of those rare RTCs where no blame can be apportioned) would not ruin my life as well as that of the poor girl that got killed.
Before this accident, I’d always wondered what it would be like to be involved in a serious crash and I can tell you that it’s not fun. The feelings of helplessness as people crowd around the injured person, the sense that all the passengers on the bus were pointing their fingers at me and blaming me (I doubt that they were, but even so…), the gut wrenching feeling when I was told that the woman had died and, worst of all, the feeling of utter loneliness as I sat by the roadside watching the police and paramedics doing their jobs. Many a day, I’d thought to myself that I’d love to have a little bump so that I could get out of work for a few days. I should have been careful what I wished for.
The day after I had to go into work to fill in the forms and they strongly recommended that I go out with the depot driving instructor for an hour or two. I’m glad that I did, but it was the most difficult drive of my life. I was off work for three weeks then eased back into things by being put on the Park & Ride service. When I finally went back onto normal service I lasted half a day before I had to come off the road. The company sent me to see a psychologist and a counsellor and with their help I was able to get back on the road.
Now, it doesn’t really affect me on a day to day basis, though I hate passing motorbikes. I have to drive past the spot where it happened every day on my way to and from work and I spare a thought for the woman who died every time. I have bad days though, and they can be really bad. But I’m not going to let it take over my life. It very nearly did this time last year and it scared me.
Sorry if I've depressed you, but ifithelps asked the question, so blame him!
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It can be worse Rob, imagine how it feels when you know you have knocked a school bus up a tree, but you cant turn round becuase you are trapped in the car, to see how many kids you have killed.
Imagine the relief when the copper tells you it was running empty.........
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>> It can be worse Rob, imagine how it feels when you know you have knocked
>> a school bus up a tree, but you cant turn round becuase you are trapped
>> in the car, to see how many kids you have killed.
>>
>> Imagine the relief when the copper tells you it was running empty.........
That must have been terrible for you, Zero. Stays with you, doesn't it?
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The feeling of relief does for sure.
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Zero, didn't realise that was 7 years ago??
Gawd, I have spent too much of my life on car forums!!
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Actually your right. it was 5 years ago
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friend of mine missed a give way in a 30mph council estate road maybe 30 years ago in a marina with new sills car got side boned and his girlfriend got a broken hip
ive never ever liked cars with new sills since
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>> THe laguna ended up 20 yards away in a ditch, written off, and
>> the bus ended up up a tree
honestjohn.multiply.com/photos/album/13/Laguna_Accident
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Awww I loved that car. Only the roof panel was undamaged, The cost of airbags alone (5 out of 8 went off) was enough to write it off.
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 5 Aug 10 at 21:04
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Oh and that crossroads was changed afterwards, its now impossible to approach it from the direction I came from. I still pass the scene from time to time. The tree the bus hit still survives, badly scarred tho.
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 5 Aug 10 at 21:07
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Never had one but still shudder at the experience 2 years ago in France when my friends were in an accident on the Autoroute. Scenic somersaulted across the road and they ended up trapped. Not easy having to watch as a bystander whilst the emergency services did their bit.
Also not good experience for my other friend who saw him somersaulting across the road in his rear view mirror.
Will never forget the scream of my friend having his head stapled in the hospital without any anaesthetic of any sort
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July 2006 near Milan Airport. HGV went into the back of the hire car on an Autostrada (no memory of how it happened etc.) Car a right off, us in hospital and lucky to be alive. Lorry driver thought he'd killed me (Although only have that second hand due to being unconscious).
Apologies to anyone on here that missed flights due to the roads being closed for a bit.
... and I took photos of the minor damage to the hire car before driving off. Only to have the rear shortened by a good few inches.
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When was your last accident? - DP
