Discussion
Nothing really bad, so far any incident which involved insurance was stupid low speed idiocy (like reverse torpedoing my Focus straight into the flank of a volvo). I do have a fair number of almost-wrecks though:
My first properly fast car, an alfa mito 155, especially with it set in dynamic mode, was a proper hot hatch. I was going to a local mall to pick something up, mustve been autumn/winter, as it was quite dark quite early. Now this mall had a very big parking deck on top, which was good fun to drive on, short sprints and tight corners abound. Now on this night, i was speeding along a straight bit as i usually do, only to spot in front of me a newly fitted sleeping policeman, and not the kind low grade incline things, no, a proper high and short hump.
I slammed on the brakes, trying not to hit this thing with the 50-60 mph i was probably doing, which in retrospect might not have been that smart, as the nose of my car dove down further.
As i hit the damn thing, a big CLANGGGGG reverberates through the car, in a "some crucial part of your metal just hit something else HARD" kind of way. My heart sunk as i stopped the car some distance behind the hump, expecting to get out and see the 1.4 turbo having dropped its oil through a shattered sump... Luckily nothing of the sort had happened, so i got off with a scare..
Different mall, different parking deck, this one with non-heated or covered up-down ramps. We had gone there in winter, with a good amount of ice etc.. on the roads. Now for some stupid unknown reason, the pillocks in charge of the parking deck had only cleared the up-ramp of ice, the down ramp was basically a hockey rink at a 20 degree down incline.. at the bottom of which was a blind traffic junction where i would need to yield to others.. Made it halfway down the ramp before i figured id need to slow it down a bit, ended up standing still, but VERY sideways, had another car come up at the same time i wouldve collected it.
And then there is a collection of cases where i, while totally in control, might have overestimated a few gaps, or the judgement of other road users, and narrowly avoided writing off two cars in one go by a few inches.
My first properly fast car, an alfa mito 155, especially with it set in dynamic mode, was a proper hot hatch. I was going to a local mall to pick something up, mustve been autumn/winter, as it was quite dark quite early. Now this mall had a very big parking deck on top, which was good fun to drive on, short sprints and tight corners abound. Now on this night, i was speeding along a straight bit as i usually do, only to spot in front of me a newly fitted sleeping policeman, and not the kind low grade incline things, no, a proper high and short hump.
I slammed on the brakes, trying not to hit this thing with the 50-60 mph i was probably doing, which in retrospect might not have been that smart, as the nose of my car dove down further.
As i hit the damn thing, a big CLANGGGGG reverberates through the car, in a "some crucial part of your metal just hit something else HARD" kind of way. My heart sunk as i stopped the car some distance behind the hump, expecting to get out and see the 1.4 turbo having dropped its oil through a shattered sump... Luckily nothing of the sort had happened, so i got off with a scare..
Different mall, different parking deck, this one with non-heated or covered up-down ramps. We had gone there in winter, with a good amount of ice etc.. on the roads. Now for some stupid unknown reason, the pillocks in charge of the parking deck had only cleared the up-ramp of ice, the down ramp was basically a hockey rink at a 20 degree down incline.. at the bottom of which was a blind traffic junction where i would need to yield to others.. Made it halfway down the ramp before i figured id need to slow it down a bit, ended up standing still, but VERY sideways, had another car come up at the same time i wouldve collected it.
And then there is a collection of cases where i, while totally in control, might have overestimated a few gaps, or the judgement of other road users, and narrowly avoided writing off two cars in one go by a few inches.
Early twenties, Vauxhall Astra Mk1. Out with the then girlfriend, driving one handed with the other hand on her. Intimately on her. Driving down a lane for the first time in a while, suddenly realise that a new traffic island had appeared since my last drive, hit the brakes hard and those days were pre ABS so they promptly locked up. Smoke curling up over the bonnet, the car starting to yaw out of control. Just when I need both hand on the wheel, Kelly (name changed to protect the guilty) braces for impact. With my left hand trapped. Somewhere intimate. The car veered left, over the verge, spins and takes the first exit off the island finally coming to a halt facing towards the island. The engine had stalled, for some reason the cassette player stopped and after Kelly stops screaming it is deadly quiet.
I thought I was in for the mother of all telling offs, she was going to say she never wanted to see me again and that I was a f
king idiot. No! Not a bit! After a few seconds of panting she says "Can you do that again?"
Turns out that while the car was moving over the earth, the earth was moving for Kelly. We did try it again but not while we were driving........
I thought I was in for the mother of all telling offs, she was going to say she never wanted to see me again and that I was a f
king idiot. No! Not a bit! After a few seconds of panting she says "Can you do that again?" Turns out that while the car was moving over the earth, the earth was moving for Kelly. We did try it again but not while we were driving........
Not so much a 'watch this' moment but certainly the closest I've ever come to a crash.
Driving in very heavy rain but only in a 30 so all is well. I'm driving a 1993 Clio RT which was my daily runabout at the time, so no ABS and I suspect naff tyres.
So a good way in front of me was a relatively new Punto which I could see slowly down, next thing you know it's done an emergency stop and caught me off guard (my fault I know). I can only assume it thought a car in a junction to the right may be about to pull out as there really was no need and I was by no means tailgating.
Next thing I know the tyres are locked up completely, no response from the steering wheel obviously but I'm approaching the back of this Fiat knowing I'm not going to stop in time. Torrential rain has that effect it would seem. I'm left with two choices, go round it to the right and risk that car pulling out or go left effectively hitting a telegraph pole but I'd rather demolish a £600 car on it's own than hit another car.
So I take option two, steer to the left, come off the brakes and the car grips and steers. Somehow I managed to drive perfectly up a dipped kerb, along the pavement, avoiding the telegraph pole and steer back down another dipped kerb. From the outside it essentially looked like I'd deliberately driven up the pavement to go round the car in front where in reality it was a real bum clenching moment that happened incredibly quickly.
I stopped a short way down the road to check my car over (and to take a deep breath) at which point my girlfriend at the time, who'd been looking down at her phone just said, 'What happened there' as she didn't even realise what had gone on.
Not only had I managed to not damage the alloys on the car, the tracking was fine and no one was hurt (including my minimal no claims at the time).
Certainly a lesson for me in that even with what you consider safe distances, if it's tipping it down with rain they may not be far enough.
Driving in very heavy rain but only in a 30 so all is well. I'm driving a 1993 Clio RT which was my daily runabout at the time, so no ABS and I suspect naff tyres.
So a good way in front of me was a relatively new Punto which I could see slowly down, next thing you know it's done an emergency stop and caught me off guard (my fault I know). I can only assume it thought a car in a junction to the right may be about to pull out as there really was no need and I was by no means tailgating.
Next thing I know the tyres are locked up completely, no response from the steering wheel obviously but I'm approaching the back of this Fiat knowing I'm not going to stop in time. Torrential rain has that effect it would seem. I'm left with two choices, go round it to the right and risk that car pulling out or go left effectively hitting a telegraph pole but I'd rather demolish a £600 car on it's own than hit another car.
So I take option two, steer to the left, come off the brakes and the car grips and steers. Somehow I managed to drive perfectly up a dipped kerb, along the pavement, avoiding the telegraph pole and steer back down another dipped kerb. From the outside it essentially looked like I'd deliberately driven up the pavement to go round the car in front where in reality it was a real bum clenching moment that happened incredibly quickly.
I stopped a short way down the road to check my car over (and to take a deep breath) at which point my girlfriend at the time, who'd been looking down at her phone just said, 'What happened there' as she didn't even realise what had gone on.
Not only had I managed to not damage the alloys on the car, the tracking was fine and no one was hurt (including my minimal no claims at the time).
Certainly a lesson for me in that even with what you consider safe distances, if it's tipping it down with rain they may not be far enough.
Alex_225 said:
Not so much a 'watch this' moment but certainly the closest I've ever come to a crash.
Driving in very heavy rain but only in a 30 so all is well. I'm driving a 1993 Clio RT which was my daily runabout at the time, so no ABS and I suspect naff tyres.
So a good way in front of me was a relatively new Punto which I could see slowly down, next thing you know it's done an emergency stop and caught me off guard (my fault I know). I can only assume it thought a car in a junction to the right may be about to pull out as there really was no need and I was by no means tailgating.
Next thing I know the tyres are locked up completely, no response from the steering wheel obviously but I'm approaching the back of this Fiat knowing I'm not going to stop in time. Torrential rain has that effect it would seem. I'm left with two choices, go round it to the right and risk that car pulling out or go left effectively hitting a telegraph pole but I'd rather demolish a £600 car on it's own than hit another car.
So I take option two, steer to the left, come off the brakes and the car grips and steers. Somehow I managed to drive perfectly up a dipped kerb, along the pavement, avoiding the telegraph pole and steer back down another dipped kerb. From the outside it essentially looked like I'd deliberately driven up the pavement to go round the car in front where in reality it was a real bum clenching moment that happened incredibly quickly.
I stopped a short way down the road to check my car over (and to take a deep breath) at which point my girlfriend at the time, who'd been looking down at her phone just said, 'What happened there' as she didn't even realise what had gone on.
Not only had I managed to not damage the alloys on the car, the tracking was fine and no one was hurt (including my minimal no claims at the time).
Certainly a lesson for me in that even with what you consider safe distances, if it's tipping it down with rain they may not be far enough.
At least it was only your GF looking down at her phone. The amount of near misses when you can see the person behind just look up in time.Driving in very heavy rain but only in a 30 so all is well. I'm driving a 1993 Clio RT which was my daily runabout at the time, so no ABS and I suspect naff tyres.
So a good way in front of me was a relatively new Punto which I could see slowly down, next thing you know it's done an emergency stop and caught me off guard (my fault I know). I can only assume it thought a car in a junction to the right may be about to pull out as there really was no need and I was by no means tailgating.
Next thing I know the tyres are locked up completely, no response from the steering wheel obviously but I'm approaching the back of this Fiat knowing I'm not going to stop in time. Torrential rain has that effect it would seem. I'm left with two choices, go round it to the right and risk that car pulling out or go left effectively hitting a telegraph pole but I'd rather demolish a £600 car on it's own than hit another car.
So I take option two, steer to the left, come off the brakes and the car grips and steers. Somehow I managed to drive perfectly up a dipped kerb, along the pavement, avoiding the telegraph pole and steer back down another dipped kerb. From the outside it essentially looked like I'd deliberately driven up the pavement to go round the car in front where in reality it was a real bum clenching moment that happened incredibly quickly.
I stopped a short way down the road to check my car over (and to take a deep breath) at which point my girlfriend at the time, who'd been looking down at her phone just said, 'What happened there' as she didn't even realise what had gone on.
Not only had I managed to not damage the alloys on the car, the tracking was fine and no one was hurt (including my minimal no claims at the time).
Certainly a lesson for me in that even with what you consider safe distances, if it's tipping it down with rain they may not be far enough.
Crazy stuff.
At least yours ended well
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