Close Encounters (of the crash kind)

[mustangman65_79]

I thought that I'd establish a place where anyone could post about their experiences coming close to or actually crashing their cars.

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I'll start off and I'll post one story per day.

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The first one is when I owned a '86 4x4 Ranger:

My friend was late getting home from my house so I had to drive fast to get him home as quickly as possible because his parents were the kind to ground him (at the age of 18) for weeks on end for something minor.

At that time I lived out in the country and the roads where narrower then usual. I knew how to take this road fast and not get hurt for I'd done it many times. Well, there is a part of the road where, when you turn right, you're going around a hill, only about 1 or 2 feet off the road.
The other side was about a 50 foot drop. In order to take this right turn fast, because it angled toward the hill, you had to cut the road by hitting a small patch of dirt that angled to the ground. This dirt was only about 1 foot wide, so it had to be done just right.

I was going a little faster then normal when I hit this corner. The speed wasn't the problem here, it was the approach. When I came to the corner my right front tire dropped off the road, (off of the dirt patch) then it hit the road again. The rear tire followed and did the same, but it bounced the bed of the truck in the air and spun the truck toward the drop off. I was able to feather the brakes just right and was able to regain control of the front of the truck, steering it away from the edge. The rear end, being light because it's a fairly small truck (a Ranger), swung toward the edge, forcing me to crank the wheel more and head toward the bank. Seeing this wasn't any better, I laid on the brakes hard enough to swing the rear end in a 180 and spun the front away from the bank. Stopping and looking the opposite way we had been going.

I then turn to my friend and said, "Lucky there were no cars coming" (two lane road, no wider the two F-250 side to side.)
Immediately after I said that, A van pulled up right behind me, almost hitting me (I had to gun it).

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I'll put another one on here tommorow, if I can get online.

[1969Mach1]

Well that is a pretty scarry story. I've had a friend almost call a good 10-15 stories off a cliff once. We were in Quebec in grade 8 and we were in this place (my whole grade) and it was like in a forest but they let us run around and check the place out well we all got to the end and it was a HUGE!! cliff I mean there were Trucks and big machinery at the bottom and they were tiny you could hardly even see what they were. Well this one guy deicdes to take a better look and in this one part it like goes down abit and he slips and starts slidding down this one part. Everyone was freaking out cause if he feel, he would of forsurely died a painful death. So a guy and I race down and end up pulling him up. From then on I will not go near any edges. lol Not a car story but reminds me of yours. My car story has it's own post. But that hill I was on I have done several fish tails in it. It's really fun, or atleast was tell I lost control. Well live and learn.

[Unit 5302]

Hmmm... Late summer. 1995.

I was crusin over to my friends g/f's place to do some more bodywork on her truck when I come up to this very fun set of twisties. 35s and 40s. I'm Ssing back and forth through them in my 1988 LX 2.3L auto, beating the living crap out of it. I had the GT wheels/tires on it, and it makes that little 2800 lb 4 banger corner like insane.

I was coming around a 35 mph corner keeping a perfect line for entry and exit (staying in my lane) of the apex. I was doing 85-90 mph, pushing the car to it's very limits and in and out of a 4 wheel drift. Suddenly, another guy in a Buick with his high beams on is trying the same thing, coming from the other direction. Only this guy is in MY LANE!!!! I just about ****.

I tapped the brakes to force the rear end to come around a little, got back on the gas and redirected the car to next to the curb on my side. I cleared jack but it threw my apex WAY off. I was going too fast to keep my position and I 4-wheel drifted 1/4 into the other lane. Thinking I was okay, for a sec, here comes another speed demon with high beams on, this time in the correct lane.

I redirected the car again, hopping over the curb on my side, and coming back down to avoid this dude. When I came back down I was VERY close to exiting the turn, but the shock to the suspension was too much to grip correctly. The rear end was coming around, and there wasn't much I could do about it. There was a pretty steep dropoff on the other side, and a grove of oak trees too. My heart just stopped as I locked up all 4's in an attempt to control my vector. I was going backwards (tranny in drive) at 80-90 mph. My car hopped the other curb, chopped off a couple 3"-4" diameter trees bordering the sidewalk, and came to a halt facing 180 degrees the opposite of the direction I would have been traveling.

I took a brief look around. Noticed my engine had died, and that I was seemingly in one piece. I turned the key, hoping it would start... It did. I put the car in drive expecting it to be shot, but it moved forward, and I turned around. The car was making an awful clunking noise as I drove the 500ft down the road to my friends g/f's turn off, and proceeded another 200ft to her place. I thought there was a pretty good chance I had blown my rear end and bent an axle for sure.

Turns out I just ripped the sidewall a nice full oval patch, and partially dismounted one wheel. I think 3 of the 4 wheels were very slightly bent, and the trees I chopped off left a small scuff mark on my bumper cover that I had JUST repainted to get rid of the yellow. Ack. I threw the temporary spare on it and drove it home a little while after the incident. I never found one of my hubcaps that went flying off though.

[6T9PONY]

Holy crap Unit.....I would have ****......

I posted about my wreck on here a while back....but just for the hell of it I'll post it again...

It was about 12:15, on August 8th of this year. I was leaving my cousin's house with 2 of my friends....There is a hill with an S curve on it that we had to go down. I idled it all the way down the hill....going about 15 or 20 (speed limit 25)....I got about 2/3s of the way through the last turn, which was about a 45 degree curve to the left...I got on it a little bit, didn't floor it or anything, probably about 1/2 throttle, maybe.....Got up to about 25-30 and the butt end just came around, spun about 90 degrees, slid for a ways.....hit the opposite curb with the front right wheel, the back end whipped around even more then, and the whole car went up the curb about 150 degrees from the normal direction....after it went up the curb there was about a foot raise of dirt, the right side tires caught in the dirt....the driver's side tipped up, stalled, then just "gently" rolled onto it's top...


Here's the weird part....I ended up underneath the passenger seat, and the guy originally in the passenger seat ended up underneat the driver's seat....he kicked the driver's side door open, and we all crawled out of it....I called the police station right away....a girl drove by and saw the car and saw him, and his hand was covered in blood. She took him to the hospital and he got 17 stitches.

Me and the other passenger didn't have any injuries. I just had some cuts on my back from glass and he had a bruise on his shoulder.

I accept TOTAL responsibility for it. I knew I wasn't driving right...although if it would have been 2 days earlier, nothing at all would have happened....

That road was just "armor chipped" the day before.....The City Crew lays down a coating of tar and then spreads small rocks on it, they are about the size of marbles. It's a lot looser than even gravel. I did not drive right for the road conditions, I know that.

I did hate it when they City Crew did that to the roads, mainly because the rocks flew up and were a danger to my paint job! Now I just hate it for an additional reason.

I never thought I'd wreck that car. Ever. I never got a ticket. I only got pulled over twice. Both for stupid reasons. The first was because this girl, who is in my grade, had just turned 16 that day and was driving around. Some girl that doesn't like her called to the PD and said there was someone driving around a yellow Mustang that was under age. Well this girl had just gotten a '00 Mustang (V6).....but the cop saw ME first, so he pulled ME over...he checked my license and realized I was 16 and said sorry and left...

The second time was because I had my parking lights on, with out my headlights, at about 6 in the evening in the summer. It was still VERY light out, so I didn't need my headlights. And I didn't think it was illegal to drive with your parking lights, because I've seen a ton of people do it. And for some odd reason, that night I just felt like turning them on, just for sh!ts and giggles. Well I get pulled over by a State Trooper...tells me it's illegal because people might think your car is parked.....ok that's cool...just gives me a written warning no big deal....But I bet you anything if I wouldn't have been driving a nice, loud, bright yellow old Mustang I would never have gotten pulled over for it....Oh well...no ticket no fine no biggy.....

That was really long....holy crap....I'm sorry...I ALWAYS do that to you guys.....SORRY!!!!

[Unit 5302]

Yeah it was a little freaky, but I never lost sight of what's going on. I know a few people who just "freeze." Can't do that or you're relying totally on luck. I prefer to keep doing what I can.

[mustangman65_79]

Sorry about no stories from me for a while, I haven't been on, been too busy, hope to get one on soon.

[silver_pilate]

Good thread....

July 2, 1996.

I was late for a meeting in Plainview (about 20 miles away). I have been driving these roads since I was 12 with my dad when I would work summers for him, so I've got all the short-cuts down pat. Well, this day, I wasn't feeling too well. I had just eaten some McDonalds and it wasn't setting too well. Also, I had just taken some Benadryl (no biggie...I popped those things like candy and never had problems). Well, I guess the combination of the two piled up this day.

I decided to take a road I hadn't traveled in a while to cut the time to town. The road was a dirt road, and aside from a few intersections where I'm always careful, it was a fast and straight shot to town. I knew there was an S curve ahead in the road, and I knew it was fairly sharp from driving it countless times. However, this day I was a little out of it, I hadn't driven the road in a while, and I had Jars of Clay playing loud through my portable CD player and tape adapter through my cheap-A 10" subs behind the seat.

Anyway, I was cruising along about 80-85 mph (VERY STUPID to do on a dirt road) and I suddenly came up on this curve. It comes up very fast without much warning if you're not looking for it. Anyway, I knew I wouldn't make the curve, and it was way past too late to slow down, so I tried to cut the curve on as straight a line as I could. I let off the gas, and just feathered the brake to ease through the curve, but the speed was WAY to much for my little F-150 to handle. The wheels turned, but the truck went straight head on into the ditch on the other side of the first curve. I hit the ditch HARD and remember thinking to myself, "Here we go!" When I hit the ditch, my hands were thrown off the steering wheel and both went through the windshield, shredding my finger tips. The next thing I know, I'm watching the horizon very slowly and smoothly turning upside down. It was smooth because I was flying through the air. The next thing I remember for a while was watching the truck land upside down and a giant mass of dirt coming through what used to be the windshield.

When I woke up, the truck was upside down, and my head hurt real bad. In fact, somehow, when the truck landed, I was thrown sideways and didn't get my head taken off. However, my head was through where the windsheild would have been and the truck was on top of my head and I had dirt piled up covering half of my mouth. I thought to myself, "yeah, I've got adrenaline pumping, I'll be able to get out..." Well I couldn't. I first undid the seat belt, which almost killed me because I was suspened upside down. When I released it, my body fell, but my head was stuck, and I just about broke my neck. My attempts to kick out the door were less than futile, and I couldn't get my head out anyway.

I screamed at the top of my lungs for what seemed like hours until two farm hands pulled up. I hear the gravel crunching under the tires in between the slow "drip, drip" of oil coming out of the intake. I hear the doors open and close, and this hispanic voice say, "OOHHHHH MANNNN!!" I was like, "GET ME OUT OF HERE!!"

The short of it was that they got a jack and lifted the truck off of my head and pulled me out of the driver's side door. The truck come to rest about 150 feet from where it initially hit the ditch, upside down, and facing back the direction I came from. I had a massive concussion, bruises bad enough to soak through the skin and scab on my temples, a few scrapes, and the top half of my ears were purple for about two weeks where the truck pinned my head. Aside from that....God saved me, without a doubt. Believe what you will, but I give God the credit on this one. Here's the pics:





If those don't come up for some reason, here's the URL:

http://www.geocities.com/silver_pilate/wreck.html

Take care, and God bless.

--nathan

[DemonGT]

i was also taken my freind home..i had just got the stang out and put FULL Mac exhaust on....anyway..to get there you have to go up a hill and over a bridge..and it had froze that night but the roads were fine..but i was going up the hill doing bout 50-55 and i hit that bridge and as soon as i did the posi kicked in and the back swung to the right almost cliping the bridge..i was trying to correct it..but then i hit dry road on the other side and it whiped the back to the left so i was going side ways i thought i was going to flip it..lucky stangs are low cars..then the back swung to the right again..back tires in the ditch front tires on the road i slid sideways bout 30 feet and for no reason at all it just poped back on to the road...i almost had to stop and get out and puke

its also the only time iv seen a rear wheel drive stang leave black marks with the front tires

next day had to take the pass side back tires off the rim and clean out rocks...right before i put her away for the winter that same tire leaked air and i had to use some fix a flat on it..rrrr
new rims and tires before i get it out anyway

[mustangman65_79]

Here's another one,



I was driving my '79 stang, (when it still had a 4 in it.) Well since it only had a 4 in it at the time, the front end was a little too light. I was going around a corner that was a short S-curve, pretty tight corner and had to be taken just right without slowing down. Well, I was going just a little too fast for it this time so when I hit the corner, the front came off the ground just a little. When the front grabed traction again, I had the tires turned to far and it made the rear kick out. Again, like my other Incident, I had a drop off on the right, and a hill bank on the left. The drop off wasn't bad but a metal fence would rip through the car like a can opener. Anywho, The rear kicked out and the car was just about to go off the edge. I had the gas nailed so when the rear finaly dropped off the edge, it grabbed traction and threw the car back on the road, so then all i had to do was correct the direction I was going.

[mustangman65_79]

Hey, silver_pilate your pics still don't show up.

[6T9PONY]

silver pilate.....you are one lucky dood......

[mustangman65_79]

I hope I got time to write this all out. If not, I'll finish it later.

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I was driving my '86 Ranger 4x4 and had two other friends with me at the time. Now if you've ever driven a Ranger, you know that three friends in the front is a tight fit. I was driving to another one of my friends House. Again, this was on a country road, and like my other stories, on one side is a hill bank, the other side is a drop off. (Where I lived, most roads were like this.)
As I was turning right and was going from a concrete road to a rock road. Well, not thinking I flew around the corner. The problem was that there was rocks on the concrete. I think everyone knows what thats like. Well, the sliding wasn't that bad at first and I could easly conrtol it. My fault was when I heard Paige(female friend of mine) Scream and grab my leg, I kept making the truck spin side to side fishtailing. Well, like I said earlier, there wasn't much room in the cab, so when the truck really started fishtailing(the rear passing the front) I couldn't spin the wheel far enough to correct it. Well the rear finaly passed up the front and all I could do was hit the brakes. We came up to a halt right infront of the hill bank, front tire in a ditch. The scariest part was when the front tire dropped in the ditch it made the truck do a sudden stop and also made it come up on two tires. I was looking out the divers side window right at the ground, when it slowly setteled back on all four tires. That was the closest I've been to fliping over, I sware, if I put my arm out the window, we would have been on our side.

[6T9PONY]

take my word for it man.....flipping something isn't very cool.....hehe.....like you didn't realize that!