Discussion
I'm guessing that no one here can speak German, or didn't bother to translate the article into English(more like pigeon English)...as it does state that no one was injured in the incident. And that the McLaren driver was picked up by a friend in an AMG SL Mercedes, not the usual mode of tranport for an injured person after an accident.
Though it does say that the McLaren is valued at € 1 million... If only they were that "cheap".
Though it does say that the McLaren is valued at € 1 million... If only they were that "cheap".
inb4thekill said:
Sway said:
Rich_W said:
No. if you cause an accident. f
king off is fairly low down on my list of desirable traits. Makes no odds if it's a £300 Micra or a £2M Veyron.
The article quotes the Autobahnpolizei that the other driver didn't stop but to me it sounds like it's not clear if he noticed that he caused a crash. It also says that he (the other dirver) changed lanes to avoid the tail of a traffic jam.king off is fairly low down on my list of desirable traits. Makes no odds if it's a £300 Micra or a £2M Veyron.Edited by inb4thekill on Saturday 31st July 19:19
I've had incidents (invariably on the M25) where someone decided to stop up ahead, and caused plenty of accidents behind, only to then toddle off blissfully unaware of the carnage behind. Thankfully I've been lucky with the incidents and just grazed the side of the car.
If they did cause an accident, and then bugger off, then I hope that someone can track them down.
Flemke, I hope those involved are not hurt.
I know you have in the past allowed others to drive the F1. I imagine if it is the case here then the person driving must be feeling pretty terrible.
In any event, I wish you the best for sorting this out.
Edited by Soovy on Monday 2nd August 16:22
On the plus side:
It'll come back better than it's ever been
It probably could have used the nose respraying
Now's a good time to try a new colour if you fancy it
and most importantly
No one was hurt. Accidents happen, we pay the insurance cost each year so we don't have to worry about them. You do your best to avoid them but statistically, over a long enough time scale, it's going to end up pointing the wrong way at some point.
Wishing for a speedy fix though
It'll come back better than it's ever been
It probably could have used the nose respraying
Now's a good time to try a new colour if you fancy it
and most importantly
No one was hurt. Accidents happen, we pay the insurance cost each year so we don't have to worry about them. You do your best to avoid them but statistically, over a long enough time scale, it's going to end up pointing the wrong way at some point.
Wishing for a speedy fix though
Justayellowbadge said:
Just seen this.
It must be truly awful to have a relatively minor prang lead to stories, pictures and speculation across the web.
Whilst I envy the machine, I'm happy to avoid such associated costs of ownership.
This.It must be truly awful to have a relatively minor prang lead to stories, pictures and speculation across the web.
Whilst I envy the machine, I'm happy to avoid such associated costs of ownership.
It makes you realise why anonymity is something most of us have, and don't appreciate.
Not that I speak for him, of course, but he shares his experiences with the car willingly whilst retaining a relative degree of anonymity. I wouldn't say his privacy is intruded or he is compromised. While it isn't nice to have your car splashed across the web for the 'wrong reason' I am sure that as an intelligent bloke it is something flemke knows and accepts may happen and I'm sure he cares more about getting it sorted than listening to a few faceless people on the internet...
I want to say a sincere "Thank you" to everyone who has kindly expressed his or her support.
As one can imagine, I was not pleased that the media would likely be unable to resist publishing a non-story about this, but I knew that publicity was nearly inevitable. Surely, I thought, a passer-by will use one of those blasted mobile phone-cameras and slap the images on the internet. That expectation was slightly wrong - images were published, but those were the images taken by the attending police. I cannot complain about them, however, as they were entirely fair and professional.
Also, although I eschew any form of publicity, ultimately I have to be willing for anything that I might do to become public. If not, then I shouldn't be doing it. Since school, I've always tried to live by that.
(Nb: not all the information published in the original German article is correct.)
The damage to the car is fairly superficial. Of course, carbon-fibre shatters under an intended force, so the aftermath of these events will often look much worse than the underlying reality. Also, it helps a lot that the car's nose is quite low to the ground. The impact is spread out across the front wing and bonnet, which wrecks them, but at the same time it spares the front of the tub, which is what matters.
I shan't bore anyone with details, but the basic story was that I was driving on a piece of Autobahn that I have traveled many times. My speed was reasonable and not out of line; I was in the 3rd ("overtaking") lane. It was a 3-lane highway, with lane 1 having just turned into a filter lane (mandatory exit slip). Ahead of me, my lane was totally clear. All 3 lanes fed into a left-hand bend, but it's a bend that any car in the world could get around at 100 mph. We were going down a rather steep hill.
As I said, my lane was totally clear ahead, to beyond the distance in which I could brake to a stop. There were 3 cars in the middle lane, going more slowly than I. As I neared the back of the 3rd of them, with no warning its driver swerved directly in front of me. The speed differential meant that I would crash into the back of him, so I could only avoid by going into middle lane. The problem now was that, for some reason unknown to me at that moment, the 2 cars in the middle lane, which were already going a good bit more slowly than I had been, slowed very sharply. I braked hard whilst trying to see whether there was scope for me to get across to the lane 1 exit slip. As one can see from the images, exit slip was a very narrow lane with Armco right at the edge of the asphalt, so trying to slot into it whilst avoiding anyone coming down it from up the hill was always going to be iffy, with a result potentially much more destructive to life and limb than the alternative rear-end shunt would be. Hence the actual result.
It was one of those things that could only have happened because of a number of separate, rare/unlikely factors coinciding. Yet they did, and it did.
As I said, the police were fine, and the 3 people in the 2 cars that got banged were super. The focus of their concern was on my health (and vice versa).
The guy/chick in car that caused it all (metallic darkish grey hatchback) did not stop, but rather sailed blithely onwards. I would be surprised if, having failed to take any notice of my car when it was about to enter the space that he chose to usurp, he had the foggiest notion that he had just caused a 3-car collision.
The Germans are usually quite good at giving plenty of warning of significant traffic impediments ahead. In this case, however, the cars were slowing because, around the bend, the full width of the carriageway was closed for resurfacing, with all vehicles being diverted to a minor side route. If this had been the UK, there would have been a significant temporary reduction in the speed limit starting at least a mile beforehand. In this case, however, there was none.
I'm not going to press the issue, but they should never have closed the motorway in this planned fashion without any real warning to motorists coming down that Autobahn hill.
The car will be fine. More important, for everyone involved, life will go on.
Thanks again.
As one can imagine, I was not pleased that the media would likely be unable to resist publishing a non-story about this, but I knew that publicity was nearly inevitable. Surely, I thought, a passer-by will use one of those blasted mobile phone-cameras and slap the images on the internet. That expectation was slightly wrong - images were published, but those were the images taken by the attending police. I cannot complain about them, however, as they were entirely fair and professional.
Also, although I eschew any form of publicity, ultimately I have to be willing for anything that I might do to become public. If not, then I shouldn't be doing it. Since school, I've always tried to live by that.
(Nb: not all the information published in the original German article is correct.)
The damage to the car is fairly superficial. Of course, carbon-fibre shatters under an intended force, so the aftermath of these events will often look much worse than the underlying reality. Also, it helps a lot that the car's nose is quite low to the ground. The impact is spread out across the front wing and bonnet, which wrecks them, but at the same time it spares the front of the tub, which is what matters.
I shan't bore anyone with details, but the basic story was that I was driving on a piece of Autobahn that I have traveled many times. My speed was reasonable and not out of line; I was in the 3rd ("overtaking") lane. It was a 3-lane highway, with lane 1 having just turned into a filter lane (mandatory exit slip). Ahead of me, my lane was totally clear. All 3 lanes fed into a left-hand bend, but it's a bend that any car in the world could get around at 100 mph. We were going down a rather steep hill.
As I said, my lane was totally clear ahead, to beyond the distance in which I could brake to a stop. There were 3 cars in the middle lane, going more slowly than I. As I neared the back of the 3rd of them, with no warning its driver swerved directly in front of me. The speed differential meant that I would crash into the back of him, so I could only avoid by going into middle lane. The problem now was that, for some reason unknown to me at that moment, the 2 cars in the middle lane, which were already going a good bit more slowly than I had been, slowed very sharply. I braked hard whilst trying to see whether there was scope for me to get across to the lane 1 exit slip. As one can see from the images, exit slip was a very narrow lane with Armco right at the edge of the asphalt, so trying to slot into it whilst avoiding anyone coming down it from up the hill was always going to be iffy, with a result potentially much more destructive to life and limb than the alternative rear-end shunt would be. Hence the actual result.
It was one of those things that could only have happened because of a number of separate, rare/unlikely factors coinciding. Yet they did, and it did.
As I said, the police were fine, and the 3 people in the 2 cars that got banged were super. The focus of their concern was on my health (and vice versa).
The guy/chick in car that caused it all (metallic darkish grey hatchback) did not stop, but rather sailed blithely onwards. I would be surprised if, having failed to take any notice of my car when it was about to enter the space that he chose to usurp, he had the foggiest notion that he had just caused a 3-car collision.
The Germans are usually quite good at giving plenty of warning of significant traffic impediments ahead. In this case, however, the cars were slowing because, around the bend, the full width of the carriageway was closed for resurfacing, with all vehicles being diverted to a minor side route. If this had been the UK, there would have been a significant temporary reduction in the speed limit starting at least a mile beforehand. In this case, however, there was none.
I'm not going to press the issue, but they should never have closed the motorway in this planned fashion without any real warning to motorists coming down that Autobahn hill.
The car will be fine. More important, for everyone involved, life will go on.
Thanks again.
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