Been in an accident? - Any lessons learnt?

[adinfinitum]

Hi guys

I was just wondering if anyone here has been in a car accident and then changed their driving behaviour due to that?

I personally had been driving for about 15 years and thought I was indestructible. I drove arrogantly and took unnecessary risks. Until I was in a car accident.

Lesson learnt: Following distance ain't just a boring preachy motto - it matters. As I was told after my accident - I don't want to get into the specifics but I was rear ended on the highway not by 1 but by 2 cars after having to do an emergency break on the highway - it doesn't matter if you have ABS and EBD braking, it doesn't matter if you avoid hitting the guy in front of you if the guy behind you doesn't have a good breaking system and isn't abiding by a decent following distance and isn't paying attention!

I hope that anybody reading this who suffers from the same delusions I did - sitting on someone else's ass isn't just pissing them off, it is bloody dangerous.

 

[HavocXphere]

No accidents, but a couple of close shaves that certainly rattled me.

The one that rattled me the most was traction behaviour on wet roads. Aqua planing etc...that sudden realisation that you're a passenger & no longer in control is a bit of an eye opener. The combination of wet road + downhill + road surface worn smooth from use also raised my pulse once with an unplanned skid through a red robot.

Still drive rather aggressively, but now switch to ultra cautious mode the second things look even vaguely wet.

 

[HApyM3al]

Was in accident two weeks ago.

first lesson - when you are in accident, dont move your cars. leave and stop traffic and take bunch of photos of where and because photos have geo location and time you are covered if other party decides to spin own story.

second lesson - dont trust other drivers and always take in mind they might cut you off or cant see you. like OP said next guy might not be looking or have good brakes. In my case guy cut me off and I tried to swerve but went straight into him .sucks.

third lesson - take as much details from other party en photograph other parties vehicle completely. You might get stuck with something that isnt related to accident.

 

[Mortymoose]

HO's boet was killed in a car accident!
Mate from Hotel days was killed in car accident! (I was there that night)
Friend killed his son on road to our town, because he was tired and fell asleep at the wheel!
Hostel friend from my town, lost his leg in car accident, because of reckless driving!


..... lesson learnt , everyone else on the road behind a wheel is a complete feckin dick!

 

[Haterade]

HO's boet was killed in a car accident!
Mate from Hotel days was killed in car accident! (I was there that night)
Friend killed his son on road to our town, because he was tired and fell asleep at the wheel!
Hostel friend from my town, lost his leg in car accident, because of reckless driving!

Gotta love Namibian roads.

 

[goldfritter]

Small lesson from a small accident. When you're turning right into a road with a stop sign, take the corner nice and wide. People don't stop behind the white line (if they stop at all).

Also make sure to check all your mirrors for parked buses before reversing.

 

[Mortymoose]

Gotta love Namibian roads.

3 out of those four accidents occurred in the Republic!

 

[Mortymoose]

Gotta love Namibian roads.

Just seen that you are in Windhoek,

The one Namibian accident occurred when we all got gesuiped at "The Chinese" in Klein Windhoek after nightshift work atthe hotel....our mate was meant to drive in our car to the old Joe's Beer House , but he climbed into the other okies car instead of ours.... We followed them, 20 minutes later he died in the back of the ambulance on the way to Katatura State..... This was back in the early 90's.....

 

[dlk001]

7 accidents ( 5 as a driver and 2 on a bus)

- 2 accident at intersections/robots, lesson : regardless of a green robot, I always check to make sure
- 3 accidents at night (a cow, truck tire, pothole) lesson : limit night driving and no long distance night driving

- 1 bus accident at UCT. Golden Arrow Double decker bus drove down a decline road at high speed, lost brakes and hit 5-6 cars parked on the side road. lesson : Be vigilant when you are a passenger. Bus was overloaded with students, travelling at high speed
- 1 bus accident while travelling on Greyhound. lesson Be vigilant when you are a passenger, Driver was sleepy because second driver was sick. Also limit night driving and no long distance night driving

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

When in doubt, hoot!!!!

If other drivers dont see you, they could easily drive straight into your path, and theres nothing to do except crash into them,

Also taxis are completly and totally unpredicatable give them a wide berth,
Wherever you are, taxis are deathtraps.....

 

[adinfinitum]

+1

Taxis also have an annoying habit of stopping in front of you all of a sudden to drop of passengers. Again - keep to following distance and be vigilant. Had tons of close calls due to this.

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

+1

Taxis also have an annoying habit of stopping in front of you all of a sudden to drop of passengers. Again - keep to following distance and be vigilant. Had tons of close calls due to this.

That sticker on some taxis means a LOT
"this taxi stops anywhere at anytime you have been warned"

 

[redarrow]

A couple..

My first was when I was 17 on my first road bike (a Honda CG125), basically I was cocky and wild (still can be to be honest but much more careful nowadays) wasn't paying attention and ran through a 4 way stop into the side of a car, bounced in the air and landed on my butt, luckily no one got hurt other than my backside. Lesson learned was "pay attention".

Second one was in a car (Toyota Corolla) on a dirt road, I guess I thought I was a pro rally driver and could totally handle the dirt, I was wrong - lost traction slipped off the road and rolled the car, it was a write off. Once again I was lucky no real injuries just a bit of scarring on my right arm from the driver side window shattering, my brother was with me he was 100% and no other vehicles were involved. I definitely changed my driving after this, prior I was happy driving 140 on dirt roads now I never go over 100 and that's in a bakkie, I wouldn't even think of doing those kind of speeds again in a street vehicle like a corolla.

Third one wasn't my fault, my brother was driving this time I was sleeping and then he also fell asleep , luckily it was a long straight road and even though it was carrying quite a bit of traffic we somehow dodged it and left the road on the oncoming side taking down about 100m of fencing. Amazingly the bakkie still drove perfectly even though it looked a bit of a wreck, still drove it back from Cape Town to PE like that and it's still going strong now (300 000km+) . I don't really have a lesson from this other than stop immediately if you feel sleepy.

 

[silent_wolf]

December 12 last year - 3 of us in my friends polo vivo, my friend had just fetched us and we were going drinking. Right after we fetched the last person not even 20s later we were on our roof.

We went around a corner too fast, there was a car parked on the left on a yellow line before the corner and after the corner there was another car parked on a yellow line on the right. My friend had to try and weave around the cars and cause he was going too fast he lost control, we missed both cars, passenger side jump the pavement, we knocked an electrical box killing everyones power and clipped a tree. Drivers side tire burst and we flipped on our side then onto the roof.

None of us were wearing seat belts yet cause we had just gotten into the car, car was a write off, airbags didn't even go off though (we die like real men:twisted. Guy in the back lost the lens from his glasses and scraped skin off his arm, I cut my hand cause I was holding onto the underside frame of the seat, 6 stitches and 12 injections.

After we crawled out of the car everyone came outside to look what had happened the one guy still had the audacity to move his car from the yellow line before the police got there.

To this day I get called a poof by him cause I dont take chances like that and drive my car like I stole it (his car had done 45k km and he got it at 35k km, he already stuffed the gearbox with his driving)

Just wish I could have gone for a ride with that paramedic though

 

[mr_norris]

I've only had one fairly major accident where I was driving. The left rear brake in my old Uno had a habit of locking up. It locked up when I was on a freeway when I tried to slow down, swung left and hit a kombi.

No one was hurt. I took away two things:

- Following distance
- Being more observant

It was an expensive lesson but it did shape how I drive today.

 

[ichigo]

Only accident was during a severe hail storm going down a steep hill when my car aquaplaned at 40 km/h, luckily I went into a bakkie which stopped my car or it would have been worse.

There was no damage on the bakkie, but had to repair the front of my car and my driving hasn't changed much, still cautious in the rain and I don't brake as sharp incase it locks again.

 

[PseudZ]

None of us were wearing seat belts yet cause we had just gotten into the car, car was a write off, airbags didn't even go off though (we die like real men:twisted.

Airbags won't go off unless the seatbelts are on.

 

[Cicero]

1) 18yo - inexperienced, was used to a car with reverse at the bottom right and I was driving a car with top left reverse. Basically thought I was in first and promptly stalled in the middle of a blind rise, car came over and scraped my car. Minor but I learnt that inexperience counts.

2) 20yo - Slid out and wrote off a very cheap car of mine - doesn't take much. Lesson - Raining, some supposed oil, retreads and a very light vehicle is a recipe for disaster. Those ****ing retreads, just dont waste your money on that ****.

3) 21yo - Not my fault, girl skips stop street right into my lane. Lesson - dont just have third party insurance, because if you have the same insurance company they just wont pay even though its the other persons fault. Still bitter about this...

 

[saturnz]

1) 18yo - inexperienced, was used to a car with reverse at the bottom right and I was driving a car with top left reverse. Basically thought I was in first and promptly stalled in the middle of a blind rise, car came over and scraped my car. Minor but I learnt that inexperience counts.

2) 20yo - Slid out and wrote off a very cheap car of mine - doesn't take much. Lesson - Raining, some supposed oil, retreads and a very light vehicle is a recipe for disaster. Those ****ing retreads, just dont waste your money on that ****.

3) 21yo - Not my fault, girl skips stop street right into my lane. Lesson - dont just have third party insurance, because if you have the same insurance company they just wont pay even though its the other persons fault. Still bitter about this...

the third one is disturbing

 

[adinfinitum]

He was only insured for 3rd party. They won't pay to fix any of his damage regardless of whose fault it was.

Yeah agree re retreads. Avoid. Also when buying new keep safety in mind. I always get tyres with good road holding.