Your first prang
Discussion
Not sure if this thread has been run before but here goes with mine.
One year after passing my test I was on the way to college in January the morning after a heavy snow fall. Lost control on black ice and ended up parking my mum's Hillman Imp in someone's house - they were out at the time. Not a pane of glass left in the car and a big crease on the roof. Amazing I walked out with a little bit of whiplash and a bruised knee.
One year after passing my test I was on the way to college in January the morning after a heavy snow fall. Lost control on black ice and ended up parking my mum's Hillman Imp in someone's house - they were out at the time. Not a pane of glass left in the car and a big crease on the roof. Amazing I walked out with a little bit of whiplash and a bruised knee.
Soon after passing my test I reversed my Dad's Fiat Panda (which I later bought off him) into a hedge outside the house of a girl I was trying -- and failing -- to woo and caused almost £30 worth of damage to the rear light cluster. I ate so much humble pie my parents actually felt sorry for me instead of bollocking me and they didn't even make me pay for the repair.
>> Edited by Bonce on Thursday 5th December 14:38
>> Edited by Bonce on Thursday 5th December 14:38
Maybe you should have sued them for leaving their house in your way
Not sure if this thread has been run before but here goes with mine.
One year after passing my test I was on the way to college in January the morning after a heavy snow fall. Lost control on black ice and ended up parking my mum's Hillman Imp in someone's house - they were out at the time. Not a pane of glass left in the car and a big crease on the roof. Amazing I walked out with a little bit of whiplash and a bruised knee.
or sued nature for letting it be icey 
Wrote off my Moms Hillman Minx Estate at age nine, I used to be allowed to drive up the drive around the house and in to the garage. On this occasion the throttle jammed open and as I was between my dads legs he could not get to the pedal quick enough, went straight thru the 9 inch back wall of the garage and stopped due to a three foot overhang!
Worst thing was, my bike was leant against the wall I went thru!
Nick
Worst thing was, my bike was leant against the wall I went thru!
Nick
-had been driving a while so decided to have a head-on with a taxi on a quiet country lane to spice the experience up a bit.
Was in my first car...a Hillman Imp in red with Starsky 'n Hutch style white lines down the side. Impact caused the seat to slide and jam me under the steering wheel. Not nice but no injuries and no claim against my insurance. -obviously I should have sued Hillman for dodgy seat mountings
Was in my first car...a Hillman Imp in red with Starsky 'n Hutch style white lines down the side. Impact caused the seat to slide and jam me under the steering wheel. Not nice but no injuries and no claim against my insurance. -obviously I should have sued Hillman for dodgy seat mountings
Now I see what my parents were going on about. Being 18 and owning a 4wd 350 BHP Sierra Cosworth turned out not to be as good an idea as I had hoped.
Lost control of the car at around 90mph at night on a country road. Ended up upside down in a field. I am actually glad that happened as it taught me the lesson that many young drivers never get the chance to learn. You are not invincible, it CAN happen to you!
Deester...
Lost control of the car at around 90mph at night on a country road. Ended up upside down in a field. I am actually glad that happened as it taught me the lesson that many young drivers never get the chance to learn. You are not invincible, it CAN happen to you!
Deester...
A strange and worry number of the previous posts have included a Hillman 
Managed to roll my first car 2.5 times into a ditch. Not a straight panel or pane of glass remained.
Entirely a case of young driver not reading the read and anticipating traffic movements.
But no 3rd party was involved, and it was a Nova, so that's OK
And went out and bought a Mk2 Escort after, which was the car I wanted originally until pressured into buying the Nova by cautious (can't think why) parents.
Cheers, Phil
Managed to roll my first car 2.5 times into a ditch. Not a straight panel or pane of glass remained.
Entirely a case of young driver not reading the read and anticipating traffic movements.
But no 3rd party was involved, and it was a Nova, so that's OK
And went out and bought a Mk2 Escort after, which was the car I wanted originally until pressured into buying the Nova by cautious (can't think why) parents.
Cheers, Phil
erm, still young so have luckily not smashed anything up yet [touchwood] unless you count numorous bas attempts of getting my mums rover in our garage!!!
but i did manage to spin my astra on some ice, the front end went into the verge and i spun a full 610 degrees (1 and 3/4 i think)...
the problem was they had stopped salting on the creast of hill which was on a corner so i shot round this corner over the hill and the backend just went on me, even pulling up the handbrake didn't stop me!!!
where they had stopped salting the ice was so bad that when i came to a halt facing down the camber of the road i had my foot on the brakes, and the handbrake up and i was still slowly sliding forwards!!!
methinks that was a bad place to stop the salting but fully admit i was going to fast for the conditions!!!
but i did manage to spin my astra on some ice, the front end went into the verge and i spun a full 610 degrees (1 and 3/4 i think)...
the problem was they had stopped salting on the creast of hill which was on a corner so i shot round this corner over the hill and the backend just went on me, even pulling up the handbrake didn't stop me!!!
where they had stopped salting the ice was so bad that when i came to a halt facing down the camber of the road i had my foot on the brakes, and the handbrake up and i was still slowly sliding forwards!!!
methinks that was a bad place to stop the salting but fully admit i was going to fast for the conditions!!!
filmidget said: A strange and worry number of the previous posts have included a Hillman
Exactly what I was thinking. also I only passed my test in February but I have had two very minor prangs that did hardly any damage. Touch wood that's it for me for the forseeable future
Edited to add my mom had a red Hillman Imp about 20 years ago. Must have been an 80's thing!
>> Edited by Mrs Fish on Thursday 5th December 15:38
The year I passed my test... in my first Chevette, bombing along a mile-long straight in the early morning half-light, approaching a bend which Nicky Grist would probably describe as "3-left-minus-tightens-into-4-left-caution."
So I approached it at about 60 (having slowed considerably). Smifffy in the passenger seat is making "arrrggghhh we're not gonna make this corner" noises... "shut up you nonce" says Ayrton Senna here..
No question of understeer - more like "steer? no chance mate".. the car went straight on, over verge between 2 telegraph poles, dukes of hazard stylee over a 6ft ditch and put 50ft of new furrowing into farmer Barleymow's field...
"Can we do that again?" said Smifffy when we came to rest..
"Umm.. okay - how do we get out of the field?"
The collected minds of two of Sale Grammar's smartest concluded that reversing the car back through the furrows and up the ditch we'd just flown over was the way forward.
It was a matter of days before we figured out that we should have driven into the farmyard at the other edge of the field an back out on to the road.. so after persuading Smifffy's sistem to cover her mum's new car in mud trying to pull us out of the ditch and eventually having to bung Barleymow a fiver to pull us out, all that was required was a couple of new wheels from the scrappy to replace the buckled ones..
Ahh.. happy days
So I approached it at about 60 (having slowed considerably
). Smifffy in the passenger seat is making "arrrggghhh we're not gonna make this corner" noises... "shut up you nonce" says Ayrton Senna here.. No question of understeer - more like "steer? no chance mate".. the car went straight on, over verge between 2 telegraph poles, dukes of hazard stylee over a 6ft ditch and put 50ft of new furrowing into farmer Barleymow's field...
"Can we do that again?" said Smifffy when we came to rest..
"Umm.. okay - how do we get out of the field?"
The collected minds of two of Sale Grammar's smartest concluded that reversing the car back through the furrows and up the ditch we'd just flown over was the way forward.
It was a matter of days before we figured out that we should have driven into the farmyard at the other edge of the field an back out on to the road.. so after persuading Smifffy's sistem to cover her mum's new car in mud trying to pull us out of the ditch and eventually having to bung Barleymow a fiver to pull us out, all that was required was a couple of new wheels from the scrappy to replace the buckled ones..
Ahh.. happy days
Passed my test and six weeks later was travelling along in my Dad's second car,a little Citroen Visa (the one before the AX)it was a steaming hot summer and it had just started raining. Had a big lorry in front of me and he stopped suddenly, I was going to fast and too close to him and proceeded to career into the back of him and totally destroy the Citroen in the process. Broke a couple of ribs and invoked the wrath of my Dad. 
It all worked out well though because he replaced the battered and written off Citroen with a brand new Peugeot 205 XS. I was the envy of my mates!!
Even now, fifteen years later he still reminds me of that day!!
It all worked out well though because he replaced the battered and written off Citroen with a brand new Peugeot 205 XS. I was the envy of my mates!!
Even now, fifteen years later he still reminds me of that day!!
Mate of mine had a moggy-minor as his first car. Age 17, we headed out to see some mates... went round a bend... and the car elegantly rolled over... and landed on a lamp post.
Said lamp post was bent (god knows how) over by the moggy, with us still in it. We ended up the right way round... shoved the car off the lamp post and carried on... with a few scratches on the roof.
As for the lamp post... well it was literally 6 inches off the top of a gravestone... illuminating it for all to see...
...local rag never found the "vandals" that did it..
Said lamp post was bent (god knows how) over by the moggy, with us still in it. We ended up the right way round... shoved the car off the lamp post and carried on... with a few scratches on the roof.
As for the lamp post... well it was literally 6 inches off the top of a gravestone... illuminating it for all to see...
...local rag never found the "vandals" that did it..
Mines is a bit crap compared to everyone elses. 19- Fiat Uno, driving for two years on a raod i have been on a thousand times. Approached a corner - not even speeding- broke, car locked up and i slid into the curb wheel first. Something was pushed through the engine block in turn writing the car off. To add insult to injury some scally tw*t threw a brick through the window.
Police next day couldnt figure out why i skidded and blamed it on black ice. Still, it gave me an excuse to get a new car.
Police next day couldnt figure out why i skidded and blamed it on black ice. Still, it gave me an excuse to get a new car.
Just bought a brand new golf ( 1.8 Mk 1) and, as you do, off to the pub to show the mates. After a few drive off, shouting friendly abuse at mates, so too busy to notice the bend in the road. Mount the kerb, hit brakes, skip ever so slowly into a stopsign pole hitting it ........................right in the middle of the VW badge. No major damage except to my ego.
Driving from Anglesey to Bristol through Kidderminster.
New brake pads on the Renault 12 TS. Young inexperienced driver. Brake. That sinking feeling when you know you aren't going to make it.
Straight into the back of a poor young lad's Metro.
Insurance fixed his metro. The TS was totally and completely undamaged.
Two weeks later second accident. Copper runs into the back of me...in Kidderminster.
Avoided the place like the plague for *years* after that.
New brake pads on the Renault 12 TS. Young inexperienced driver. Brake. That sinking feeling when you know you aren't going to make it.
Straight into the back of a poor young lad's Metro.
Insurance fixed his metro. The TS was totally and completely undamaged.
Two weeks later second accident. Copper runs into the back of me...in Kidderminster.
Avoided the place like the plague for *years* after that.
"My first 3 prangs were all going backwards and minor compared with others here. First one was in my dad's Triumph 1300 in a car park, I went into the side of an Anglia as it went past the slot I was backing out of. Minor damage only but major damage to pride as I had been at a school swimming event and was witnessed by school mates and teachers.
Next 2 were in a ratty old Bedford CA van that I bought with a bunch of mates to go on holiday. It was very high at the back when unladen and had very small rear windows. I backed it into my brother's MGB GT with nil damage to the Bedford but a severely dented rear panel on the B. My brother was speechless, he couldn't manage to say anything to me for a week. Then a couple of weeks later one of the co-owners of the van was in his Mini when we were racing back from the pub. I was trying to back into a parking slot in front of my house but Tony drove straight in with his Mini. Same problem, I backed into his Mini and smashed a headlight, no damage to the Bedford again.
Being a slow learner, it was after that I decided it might be helpful to look behind and use the mirrors before reversing. Doh!
Next 2 were in a ratty old Bedford CA van that I bought with a bunch of mates to go on holiday. It was very high at the back when unladen and had very small rear windows. I backed it into my brother's MGB GT with nil damage to the Bedford but a severely dented rear panel on the B. My brother was speechless, he couldn't manage to say anything to me for a week. Then a couple of weeks later one of the co-owners of the van was in his Mini when we were racing back from the pub. I was trying to back into a parking slot in front of my house but Tony drove straight in with his Mini. Same problem, I backed into his Mini and smashed a headlight, no damage to the Bedford again.
Being a slow learner, it was after that I decided it might be helpful to look behind and use the mirrors before reversing. Doh!
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