Show us your crash pics!!
Discussion
Really wish I had pictures of this but I once binned a hired Opel Insignia on a dark Swedish forest back road whilst chasing the WRC in 2014 I think it was. We were "making progress" 4 up and all was going well, just as I thought to myself "it's a doddle this snow driving" I slid wide (probably going a bit quick to be fair) and into a ditch, seemed to drag along for ages. Had my hands right on the outside of the wheel, thumbs out waiting for the inevitable tree stump to completely redesign the front end and wrench the wheel out of my hands.
Miraculously, we came to rest with it about 45 deg to the flat surface of the road, but unscathed, thankfully proper amounts of snow meant it was quite a soft landing. As we pondered what on earth we were going to do (not a car in sight), two VW passats arrived full of burly Norwegian rally fans - luckily one was a 4Motion - smooth as silk they got out, seemingly already had a tow rope attached to their car, and bounced/towed us out of the ditch. It was truly surreal, we went from helpless to rescued in about 2 minutes, there was no chance we would have got it out on our own.
In broken English, trying and failing to offer the guys any form of recompense, beer, money etc which they flatly refused, the Norwegian guy explained it's just something you get used to in that part of the world, you just occasionally come across daft young foreigners who have got a bit cocky and no experience of proper snow driving
I think after I'd driven a bit and melted the compacted snow from the bumper, I had to pop one fog light trim back into place and that was that, so lucky there was no other damage
Miraculously, we came to rest with it about 45 deg to the flat surface of the road, but unscathed, thankfully proper amounts of snow meant it was quite a soft landing. As we pondered what on earth we were going to do (not a car in sight), two VW passats arrived full of burly Norwegian rally fans - luckily one was a 4Motion - smooth as silk they got out, seemingly already had a tow rope attached to their car, and bounced/towed us out of the ditch. It was truly surreal, we went from helpless to rescued in about 2 minutes, there was no chance we would have got it out on our own.
In broken English, trying and failing to offer the guys any form of recompense, beer, money etc which they flatly refused, the Norwegian guy explained it's just something you get used to in that part of the world, you just occasionally come across daft young foreigners who have got a bit cocky and no experience of proper snow driving
I think after I'd driven a bit and melted the compacted snow from the bumper, I had to pop one fog light trim back into place and that was that, so lucky there was no other damage
LetsTryAgain said:
There are many tractor drivers who, for some unknown reason, are very reluctant to go on the grass.
They prefer the cars going right off the road, despite them having 2+ foot ground clearance, 4 WD, 16 gears (who knows, that might not be correct!) and 2 foot wide by 8 ft diameter wheels and tyres.
As a tractor driver we don't go in the side to prevent falling into a ditch or hitting a stone which will roll or bounce the tractor nicely on top of the car coming the other way. Due to a lack of soft suspension, this can happen in a heartbeat. They prefer the cars going right off the road, despite them having 2+ foot ground clearance, 4 WD, 16 gears (who knows, that might not be correct!) and 2 foot wide by 8 ft diameter wheels and tyres.
Not saying its the case in the referenced accident but car drivers can be a bit dim to the abilities of a tractor on the road and push on or overtake in really tight spots.
Despite big brakes, 10 tons of slurry and big bouncy wheels or a 14t of silage do not make great bed fellows in emergency braking situations!
That said there are a lot of younger drivers who drive far too fast for the road and weights they are dealing with. Not helped by tractors getting bigger and faster.
GIYess said:
Not helped by tractors getting bigger and faster.
The width of some tractors now is a problem even on B-roads.
I've no doubt they make farming a lot more efficient, and they're only on-road for as little time as possible, but there appear to be no regs regarding suitability for the roads they're likely to be on (unlike HGVs, who have clear restrictions, AND are most likely to be on wide, straight roads).
havoc said:
GIYess said:
Not helped by tractors getting bigger and faster.
The width of some tractors now is a problem even on B-roads.
I've no doubt they make farming a lot more efficient, and they're only on-road for as little time as possible, but there appear to be no regs regarding suitability for the roads they're likely to be on (unlike HGVs, who have clear restrictions, AND are most likely to be on wide, straight roads).
much of the problems with tractors is young 16 year old lads driving them and their recklessness and mobile phone usage at the same time.
I should know I was one in the late 80's and 90s minus the mobile.
Case 1394? and MB Tracs!
Boy I was cool! Tries to impress the boss' nanny in Longstowe I can only now imagine that she was far from impressed!
I should know I was one in the late 80's and 90s minus the mobile.
Case 1394? and MB Tracs!
Boy I was cool! Tries to impress the boss' nanny in Longstowe I can only now imagine that she was far from impressed!
We had one boy who used to leave one at the end of his driveway from age 12 ( when he started riding the bus) to avoid walking the mile. Age 16 he started driving it to school on the days when he finished early/started late so he could drive home.
Tried ask my mum for one (countryside too) but I only got a moped
Tried ask my mum for one (countryside too) but I only got a moped
Slow said:
We had one boy who used to leave one at the end of his driveway from age 12 ( when he started riding the bus) to avoid walking the mile. Age 16 he started driving it to school on the days when he finished early/started late so he could drive home.
Tried ask my mum for one (countryside too) but I only got a moped
Did you try racing them? Which is faster, or erm, slower?Tried ask my mum for one (countryside too) but I only got a moped
My dad didn’t let me have a moped, said they were too dangerous, even though all my friends had one and I was there on my bicycle. My mum tried to help my cause by telling him her friend almost died in a car accident, surprised I was allowed a car! My first car was a 2007 and my dads only question was whether it had airbags, I said it’s 2007 and 1987. In fact it was a Ka with just a drivers airbag.
Think he was happier when I got myself a brand new 2016 corsa Limited Edition (chav phase) which had airbag labels everywhere, he would actually get in the Corsa
carlove said:
Slow said:
We had one boy who used to leave one at the end of his driveway from age 12 ( when he started riding the bus) to avoid walking the mile. Age 16 he started driving it to school on the days when he finished early/started late so he could drive home.
Tried ask my mum for one (countryside too) but I only got a moped
Did you try racing them? Which is faster, or erm, slower?Tried ask my mum for one (countryside too) but I only got a moped
My dad didn’t let me have a moped, said they were too dangerous, even though all my friends had one and I was there on my bicycle. My mum tried to help my cause by telling him her friend almost died in a car accident, surprised I was allowed a car! My first car was a 2007 and my dads only question was whether it had airbags, I said it’s 2007 and 1987. In fact it was a Ka with just a drivers airbag.
Think he was happier when I got myself a brand new 2016 corsa Limited Edition (chav phase) which had airbag labels everywhere, he would actually get in the Corsa
I had a 03 focus as my first road legal car, after a year it got swapped for a 1983 datsun cherry turbo, it had no airbags, no power steering, no abs, no rear seatbelts and was as fast to 60 as a astra vxr... safety was not a top concern in my household!
I bought and crashed my first car at 16, a honda prelude 2.3 vtec thing. A older friend was selling it after his wife crashed it and set off the airbag. Ragged it round a field with mates till it all collapsed and got jumped as a final send off. Many a car has been crashed and scrapped up at mine, had a stag doo that had 3 cars written off during the night when playing in the field - well one was a tree in the woods at the edge.
Thorburn said:
PH_77 said:
Joking aside, I once woke to find a drunkard tree caressing the rear end of my girlfriend's car.
If we're doing trees on cars then this is what happened to my dad's BMW 528i back in 2000 - the car was 3 months old and we were in Australia at the time - he'd parked it at his bosses house so it didn't get damaged in the airport car park!Incredibly it wasn't written off - it was completely reshelled by our local dealership. By the time he sold it it had over 250k on the clock.
RonaldMcDonaldAteMyCat said:
Did you survive?
No. (Shattered femur, and a broken ankle, plus took a while to be extracted from vehicle. Bit of a scar left today but otherwise okay (very lucky - Im quite tall...the seats moved back to their max setting to accommodate my lanky frame put me alongside the b pillar, which stood up remarkably well...))
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