Fifty Plus (50+) - 50+'rs - How Many Auto Accidents in Lifetime

ANSWER TWICE AS APPROPRIATE

50+'rs - How Many Auto Accidents in Lifetime

(Of course, some of you have had about 20 more years to have accidents than others!)

We have had several posts about auto accidents of kids.

I am curious -

How many significant auto accidents have you had over your lifetime of driving?

How many significant auto accidents have you had where it was your fault?

Don't worry, the results are confidentail.

I said 1-2 that were my fault, although I really don't remember, and I'm not sure how significant they were. They happened before I was 18, so that was a long time ago. But I remember once where there had to be body work done, and I remember a guy opening a door in front of me and me taking it off. I didn't think that was my fault at the time, but looking back I think it was.

So, can't remember, but I'd say I had enough minor mishaps (hey! Punny!) to add up to 2 major mishaps.

1 accident only. A 250lb deer in the windshield at 60mph. The people who saw it said he tried to jump over the cars in the opposit lane and came down on me from above. I thought we had been hit by a crashing airplane.

All my other accidents were on the race track and don't count for this poll.

OOps, forgot one, not sure if its an accident. Hit from behind at a red light. My hitch rack gutted the hitting car but it never made contact with my car. Fortunately no bike on the rack at the time.

I had an crash when I was 17 that was my fault. It banged up the cars but everyone inside was safe, thank God. Not so much as a fender bender since (knock wood).

Age:
19 - turned a fire truck I was driving over in the middle of a fire - official cause "excessive smoke"

42 - VW creamed from behind by a lady who failed to stop - I was stopped in a freeway jam. Totaled. I asked her why and she said, "I just forgot to stop." She got ticket.

60 or so - A man in a near diabetic coma turned in front of me with no warning and no time to stop. I flipped his truck and totaled mine. He got ticket.

67 - While stopped at traffic light, got creamed by young girl (17) who failed to stop. Totaled, she got ticket.

And one other I can't remember right now.

I've only had two tickets in 56 years of driving - both minor. One when I was 17, and one when I was 40. I started driving when I was 12.

Wife had her car totaled twice by being hit from rear at red lights.

33 years driving company vehicles - 2 accidents that were not my fault (no injuries).

51 years driving personal vehicles - 0 accidents. (I started driving illegally at age 14 :eek:).

1978 - Rear-ended a car that slowed abruptly to turn left from the 2-lane highway we were on. Normally, a rear-ender is always at fault but I pointed out to the police officer that her tail and brake lights were completely covered by snow, even though it had not snowed for about a week.
2004 - I was southbound and hit a northbound lady who turned across my path into a gas station. While waiting for the police, she told me she had been in a big hurry to get to the bathroom.
Body work required both times but no injuries or citations or insurance problems. (for me)

Only one accident that was my fault and it was a spectacular one. The car was totaled and I wiped out most of a city park doing it:eek: No injuries except a bruise on my ankle.

You really should have defined "significant". How insignificant can an accident be and still be called significant?

None of the choices work for me.

I was a passenger in a serious crash when I was 25. Should have killed me but as it turns out, it only trashed my left hip.

The incident? Get this....we hit 3 cows laying in the road at night while we were traveling about 70 mph.

Dodge van, motor between the seats, nothing but windshield and metal up front, no seat belts on, numerous flips and we both lived to see another day. Go figure.

Oh, this was on open range. The cattle had the right to be there. The driver had to pay for them.

I rearended a car once driven by an older woman with an older man in the passenger seat. I got the ticket and accident report and when I called the insurance company, I noticed that the report said the man was driving. I reported the error. I later got sued becuase the man claimed a whiplash, and they alleged under oath that he was driving, not her. I figured she must have had a suspended license or something, so they lied to the police to cover it up. Turned out they were Iranian, and it was demeaning for the husband to be driven by the wife. They never acknowledged the lie.

Fun poll. I am happy to report my only nighttime cow incident did not result in a crash and I survived being hit from behind at high speed while sitting at rest on a motorcycle waiting to make a left turn. The young DUI driver left the scene of the crime but, alas, left her front plate behind. Bummer.

The accident where I was at fault was elegant in its simplicity. Emerging from an urban alleyway I made a full and complete stop, looked carefully in both directions, using extra care because it was raining, and then pulled out RIGHT in front of a nice lady in her new car. I was a teen at the time and she was such a nice lady that she told both my parents and the traffic court judge that she had seen me stop fully. Even though I had date the judge's daughter, I was allowed to exit with record, dignity and wallet intact.

This was an excellent lesson for both driving and riding. As a driver, I am alert for that invisible car (or truck or bus or fire truck) and as a rider consider myself totally invisible to all.

You really should have defined "significant". How insignificant can an accident be and still be called significant?

And deny you the pleasure of defining it yourself?

I think I am being baited here.

We've been rear-ended twice, both times on wide open roads in good weather conditions. One time we were stopped at a stop light, the other time at a 4-way stop, where we were the 2nd vehicle from the stop sign.

In one a driver talking on a cell phone while driving an SUV rammed us. We were sitting right under a red stop light, with my brake lights on, at a full stop. And had been stopped for a good 6-8 seconds before they hit us. Totaled our van.

The other time, a guy in his 30s out for the first ride on his new motorcycle rammed us - before he had even bothered to get insurance on his already existing car insurance plan. He was seriously injured. We had slowed approaching the four-way stop, coming to a full stop for a few seconds, when he hit us almost like we weren't even there. Just drove right into us, no tire skid marks from his bike until he got to within about 10 yards of us. I guess he thought he had wonder brakes, that could instantly stop him.

In both cases, none of us were injured in even the slightest way.

No accidents, ever. Knock wood.

I answered 0, with the following caveats:
1) During my high school years, I was a passenger in a collision which resulted in minor-to-moderate injuries to the driver of the other vehicle. My debating partner had lost his right eye at age 6, and the other car, which had the right-of-way, approached from the right as he was launching from a two-way stop sign.
2) In 1976 I was left-crossed whilst cycling down a hill, resulting in a concussion, a double fracture of the left clavicle, a permanent "dueling scar" across my left cheekbone, and two bent Reynolds 531 tubes in my first 1960 Capo.
3) In 1979 our Ford Pinto station wagon was struck from behind while my wife was driving (not her fault). No significant personal injuries, but minor-to-moderate damage to both vehicles. This was NOT a close call to the infamous Pinto flameout, because the wagon had almost a foot more rear crush space than the sedan.

No accidents, ever. Knock wood.

Is this akin to declaring that one has never had a flat?

33 years driving company vehicles - 2 accidents that were not my fault (no injuries).

51 years driving personal vehicles - 0 accidents. (I started driving illegally at age 14 :eek:).

Shame on you:rolleyes:

I started driving farm equipment when I was 13. Most of it was tractors but occasionally they let me drive the Jeep.

Is this akin to declaring that one has never had a flat?

Yes.

The good news is, since I started wrecking my MTB, I stopped having accidents with my car.

Only one accident that was my fault and it was a spectacular one. The car was totaled and I wiped out most of a city park doing it:eek: No injuries except a bruise on my ankle.

Now there's got to be a story behind this one. C'mon Bev. Spill the beans! :D

I've never been in a significant accident. And I hope I never am!

All the "my fault" accidents in my '66 Mustang Hardtop (my first car).

1. Backed into my father's Chevy in the driveway (didn't know he'd come home, didn't look first!).
2. Ran off the road in the rain, simply cornering too fast for conditions (bias ply tires too . . . )
3. Ran off the road on an ice-slick interstate highway, down the ditch, up under (and almost hitting the roof) an overpass, down the embankment (gun engine, I think we can make it . . . ) up the ditch and back onto the shoulder. Lost a wheel-cover and bent the end of the front bumper.

In the not-my-fault column, got hit in the front fender of my '81 Corolla by August Busch's (yes the beer family) Grand-daughter Katy, when I lived in St.Louis. She is a lawyer. First thing she said was that it was her fault. Second thing "Are you injured?" No, I wasn't and her insurance paid to fix my Corolla.

Out here in CA a young Mexican (maybe legal, maybe not) hit me from behind, but my receiver bike rack took all the punishment, car wasn't damaged. He had no money, no insurance. I bought a new bike rack.

Oh, and when I had the MG I spun out a few times (cornering too fast) but didn't hit anything, so that doesn't count, right? The Miata sticks very well; never spun it!

Rick / OCRR

Not my fault, 1967: I was entering an intersection on a green light when a girl in the oncoming lane ran her red light & turned left in front of me...almost. No serious injury, totaled my car. Police officer witnessed the crash & wrote her a citation.

My fault, 2001: Driving into late afternoon sun glare, thought I had a green light & entered an intersection against a red light. City transit bus had the green, turned left into a head on collision with me. No serious injury, totaled my car. Police decided not to cite me.

Only one accident, trying to avoid a deer on a winding mountain road in Colorado. Ran my '60 Willys Universal Jeep into a house-sized boulder. Totaled the jeep but I stumbled away, nothing broken but my glasses. I was badly bruised and sore for days. Scared the beejeebus out of me, and I became hyper-aware of my good fortune.

Jeez, I am the worst driver so far. At least I have not had one in 16 years! Sorry for the high insurance rates for you all. :o

edit - In fact I've crashed my car more times than my bike.

I was rear ended, at a high speed, on an I-10 entrance ramp in Houston while nearly at a standstill in traffic.I was pushed into three lanes of traffic where I was hit by two other cars. I was in a 67 Ford, wearing a seat belt. I don't want to think about what would have happened in today's plastic cars.

I hit a cow or deer (not sure, and can't remember much of the accident) at only about 30 mph at night in freezing rain/ice storm while driving a full size Blazer. The Blazer flipped twice as it went off the road and was totalled. I was buckled in snug and, though knocked unconsious and suffering hyporthermia when I came to about two hours later, I had only a puncture on one arm and small bits of glass in my legs. Oh yeah, and a huge bump on the side of my head. I was wearing my old leather USAF flight jacket, which saved me from a lot of damage. I still have the jacket and wear it most every day with jeans in the winter. It has a small hole in the back of the left arm to remind me of the accident.

Wear your seat belts!!!!

I've had 1 significant accident that was my fault, and 5 that weren't. The one that was my fault was when I was 20, in a 1975 Granada; a car two in front of me suddenly stopped to turn left without a signal; I hit the car between us (a 1970's Cadillac, so it was a tank!) hard enough to push it into the car that stopped. The first one that wasn't my fault was a deer running into the side of my 1991 Tempo - $1700 damage to the car, but fatal to the deer. The next one was driving down the street when the genius parked at the curb decided it was time to pull out of his (her?) parking spot. Just to add to my aggravation, after damaging every body panel on the passenger side of my truck, they completed their turn and raced off down a side road. I tried chasing them, but decided as I hit 50+ on a residential street that I was better off dealing with a hit-and-run accident than killing someone myself trying to catch them. The other three were all more or less identical, even to being at the same traffic light. All three times, I was stopped at the light (and not the first in line, either) in nice, bright daylight in a big red F-250 crew cab 4x4 pickup when I was rear-ended; in all three cases, I heard the tires squealing and looked up in time to see a shocked face with a cell phone plastered to the side of a head, which was quickly whipped down out of sight after they hit my hitch receiver. So far, that hitch receiver's claimed the front ends of a Volvo, a Saab and a BMW, with only scratches in the paint on it. None of the "accidents" (as far as I'm concerned, if they're yapping on a cell phone, it's not really an accident!) were hard enough impacts to set off their air bags, or even move my truck more than an inch or two (one of the advantages of driving a 7500+ lb vehicle, I guess). The first two were very embarrassed and apologetic; the BMW driver was insistent that the police be called and that a ticket be issued - after 10 minutes of listening to her, the police officer who responded was very happy to comply with her demands. The only thing that didn't work out for her was that SHE got the ticket - who knows why she thought hitting a vehicle stopped for a traffic light meant that the stopped vehicle's driver would be the one ticketed...

I just remembered my 5th "not-my'fault" auto accident.

My car was parked in front of my home on the street.

A sick "Nyquil permeated" neighbor drove up the street straight into my car, pushed it from one side of the driveway to the other, totaling it, and then drove off.

When I went to get the paper, the car was nicely parked on the other side of the driveway, and I never even noticed.

The lady who hit it came back just as I was getting the paper and said she was sorry. Sorry for what? It took me a minute or two to figure out what happened!

That reminds me of the days I drove a tow truck. I was called to a house to pick up a new Seville (1977?). The driveway was "L" shaped and there was a large, car sized hole in the house, and the damaged car was in the garage, to the right. As I was hooking it up, the wife cam out in her robe and asked her husband, who had scrapes on his face, "What's wrong with the car?" Hard to imagine she was home and slept through the impact of him driving through the kitchen wall.

My only "at fault" accident was when I rear-ended someone with my dad's car when I was 17. I rode motorcycles on the road for 35+ years without any accidents. In fact, my only personal "road" injuries have come while running and bicycling, and I have the scars to show for it!

But it's nice to see so many essentially accident-free people around here. I have one friend who seems to accept that getting into an accident about once a year is "no big deal". :eek:

2 significant (as in cars totaled) -

At 18, I was rear ended while stopped at a light. Took out me and the 3 cars ahead of me. Driver-at-fault's comment, "Dude, I just got new rims and didn't want to jump the curb and mess them up!" He was led away in cuffs.

In my 40s, a car that was stopped at a red light suddenly decided he was tired of waiting and pulled out in front of me. T-boned him.

Other accidents were minor. I've been rear-ended 3 times with only one resulting in damage to the vehicle I was driving and they weren't my fault. Once I backed into a car (I was parked at the curb and backing up so I could pull out and the other car was coming out of an alley behind me) and it was determined to be my fault.