DUMBEST Accident You've Ever Had

[Porsche Chick]

The dumbest accident I ever had happened as I was driving home. I was in my old Celica (it was a speedy little manual, loved it). I was into the winding, twisty roads of the development, when I see some kind of little Ford hatch slow down in front of me. It was about 200 feet up, but then it stopped. I slowed down. It put on it's reverse lights. I stopped, puzzled. It started backing up. I honked, but it was pretty far away, still 150 feet. But, wait, it was still backing up, faster now! As it got closer, I started honking hard, couldn't back up, some idiot was behind me. By now, I'm standing on the horn, and it's still backing, about 20 feet. Then it hits me.

Two teenage girls get out, looking shocked. I got out, yelling at them (I am a mom, so I am well-versed in yelling at teens). They just looked sadly at their mangled car. My car, at a stop, had pushed half their trunk in. My bumper had a small scratch. I let them go, since I figured their parents would pick up where I left off with the yelling.

So, yeah, they backed up 150 feet to hit me. I suspect they NOW understand "objects in mirror are closer than they appear".

What's the dumbest accident you've ever had?

[dmairspotter]

I'd really rather not talk about it!

[BYprodriver]

I guess mine was soon after I got my 1st car, a 1971 Firebird Formula with a transplanted 455 engine, missing carpet & console $1,000. I was 17 & spent all day cleaning & waxing it in preparation for my 1st date with the car. While backing out of my parents garage to go pickup my date, I had the drivers door open. I forget why but probably listening for some noise, the drivers door hit the wall & bent back into the front fender. I almost drove it that way but decided I better call her & have her drive her car. Some what good outcome was a couple months later I had enough money to have Maaco fix damage & paint the whole car. :ah:

[stephen wilson]

Funny, I did the same thing with mt '65 Mustangs backing into the garage. Luckily I stopped before I completely folded the door back!

I had another incident with my first car, a '69 Mustang. I went blazing into the driveway too fast, didn't make the turn, and ran the front end straight up onto a boulder. The car was mostly OK, but the hit was hard enough to make the 302's timing chain skip a few teeth.

[thstone]

Beautiful sunny day and I'm driving around in my 1971 Triumph TR-6 with the top down. I glance down to change the radio station but can't see the display due to the sun glint. My attention is diverted just long enough to not notice that traffic that has stopped in front of me. Can't stop in time and rear end the car in front of me. Cop laughed when I told him the story.

[ProjectM96]

It was not dumb on my part.
Truck behind me forgot I was in front of him at traffic light. He pulled up too close. Because the truck is high, I disappeared from his sight being blocked by his front hood.

He accelerated at the green light thinking there was no one in front him.

[particlewave]

20 years of driving, 0 accidents.

[Parrot356]

I was stopped at a stop sign waiting to turn right into a construction zone no one behind me. An opening in traffic opens up, I take my foot off the brake, roll forward maybe 1'-2' and then hear a big thump and then see a guy laying on my windshield. Apparently he was biking across a parking lot, jumped a curb and wanted to cross in front of my bight red car (not in a cross walk etc). He hit right at my A-pillar, busted up his bike pretty bad and hurt his shoulder. He had to have been doing 15-20 mph coming up diagonally from behind me from private property and for some reason, even though I wasn't at fault, my insurance company decided to pay him for hitting me....

[WhipE350]

Been driving since 76' and haven't caused an accident yet. Was hit twice but no good story with them except the one at a stop light the lady's husband was in front of me (she hit me from behind) in another car and begged me not to tell the cops she was drunk. Somehow I got between drunk and dumb at a stop light. Go figure. My truck had a scratch on the bumper, her hood was trashed.

My most embarrassing ding was pulling in a parking lot I was checking out a girl and my Dodge truck hit one of those very solid yellow posts. Ya laugh!

[Meir]

Originally Posted by WhipE350

Been driving since 76' and haven't caused an accident yet. Was hit twice but no good story with them except the one at a stop light the lady's husband was in front of me (she hit me from behind) in another car and begged me not to tell the cops she was drunk. Somehow I got between drunk and dumb at a stop light. Go figure. My truck had a scratch on the bumper, her hood was trashed.

My most embarrassing ding was pulling in a parking lot I was checking out a girl and my Dodge truck hit one of those very solid yellow posts. Ya laugh!

Hey, at least you wasn't looking at a guy

[1olddude]

Originally Posted by particlewave

20 years of driving, 0 accidents.

Better knock on wood after that one! Pretty amazing record and I am sure the insurance company loves you.

[ferrytrip1]

Mid December - grey, damp misty day. Took a boxster for a test drive with a view to buy. Wet road, booted it off a roundabout, it spun and I went sideways over the grass into a lamppost.

Police came and arranged a flat bed to nearest garage.

Found I was not insured so I bought the car for the asking price and sold it on line to a restorer who collected it from the garage.

quite an expense for the car that I never drove after I bought it.

[CoBeerToad]

I've had some dumb ones that I don't feel like sharing. Mostly rear-ending people that I don't think are going fast enough. But my favorite one was driving on a 30 mph road that my friend lived on. I didn't have any turn signals so I slowed early and signaled with my arm out the window making a right hand turn. All of a sudden I feel this big bump and when I turn my head I see this Mustang spinning out with several pieces of the car in flight right behind the car. (I can still see it in slow motion in my head). I continue to pull into my friends driveway and get out of the car to check if the other person was all right. Before I can get out of my car this girl comes at me screaming, "I hope you have insurance!" My buddy had come out of the house by then and I just looked at her, then looked at my buddy and told him to call the cops and I wouldn't acknowledge her. She was belligerant the entire time the cops were filling out the report.

A couple of days later, I get a message on my answering machine (remember those) from a guy. The owner of the car. Turns out he just finished restoring this car and he let his girlfriend drive it. He asked me not to report it to my insurance company and he would take care of my damages out of pocket. It left a paint streak on the bumper of my rusted out 1973 Caprice. I told him not to worry about it. He had enough to deal with.

[Porsche Chick]

Originally Posted by ProjectM96

It was not dumb on my part.
Truck behind me forgot I was in front of him at traffic light. He pulled up too close. Because the truck is high, I disappeared from his sight being blocked by his front hood.

He accelerated at the green light thinking there was no one in front him.

Ouch!

What, he had no short-term memory either?

[particlewave]

Originally Posted by 1olddude

Better knock on wood after that one! Pretty amazing record and I am sure the insurance company loves you.

Oh, I did
At $55 total per month for two vehicles, I'm loving my insurance company

[Perfectlap]

Originally Posted by WhipE350

Been driving since 76' and haven't caused an accident yet.

same here although I haven't been driving as long you.
I attended an EVO school at the Nassau Colliseum stadium parking lot one summer. I think it was the second advanced day class (all day) for like $300. It was pouring something unbelievable on my drive over to the class and the whole way over I was wondering if they would simply cancel it. When I arrived in the lot they were already running (and sliding all over). Windshield wipers working over time. I can honestly say I have never driven that hard in the pounding rain before. But by mid day I was a regular Ayrton Senna in the rain. Okay not quiet but I had real confidence to lay into the brakes in wet conditions. That simply never happened before because you take it easy when its raining on regular roads and if raining on autocross day my lazy arse would stay in the bed instead of chasing down cones.

So about a week afer the EVO school I'm on a three lane highway on another rain day and someone up ahead cuts off another driver and causes this chain reaction.
Like an idiot I wasn't totally paying attention but once I got my witts about me I reacted, I flicked the wheel, accelerated hard and missed two cars doing parallels directly in front of me by a cat's whisker. Probably less. I pulled over to the side, picked my marbles off floorboard, and quickly realized the EVO school was money well spent.
One way to avoid accidents on the road is to take part in some driving instruction with your local PCA or SCCA. It changes your 'field of view' of the open road.

[HAUSIDMT]

Trying to stay with my friends IROC camaro in high school, in none other then my mom's Saturn. Needless to say I slid right off the road down an embankment. Not a scratch to the car. Went to the closest bar(we were up in the mountains) bribe a guy $40 to use his truck and winch to pull the car up. All was good, not a scratch on the car . Then I started it and drove it home with the exhaust ripped in half, sounded like what ricers are doing to their cars on purpose.

Next day I begged my mom to drive it to school. She relented, and I had my buddy weld it up in auto shop. FREE and CLEAR, never got caught for that one, LOL!

[MNICEBOX]

Got in the car in my three car garage..... Opened the garage door with my remote......Started her up.....Goosed the throttle .......Let out the clutch....... Two seconds later my head slammed backwards as the car slammed into the front bumper ( a BIG OLD STEEL one) of a service truck that had parked on the driveway right behind my car.

I knew the service guy was in the house, I just didn't connect the dots- it was just one of those brain freezes. $4,500 in body and paint damage plus 3 years of higher insurance premiums. Yes, I am a dumbass.

[WhipE350]

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

same here although I haven't been driving as long you.
I attended an EVO school at the Nassau Colliseum stadium parking lot one summer. I think it was the second advanced day class (all day) for like $300. It was pouring something unbelievable on my drive over to the class and the whole way over I was wondering if they would simply cancel it. When I arrived in the lot they were already running (and sliding all over). Windshield wipers working over time. I can honestly say I have never driven that hard in the pounding rain before. But by mid day I was a regular Ayrton Senna in the rain. Okay not quiet but I had real confidence to lay into the brakes in wet conditions. That simply never happened before because you take it easy when its raining on regular roads and if raining on autocross day my lazy arse would stay in the bed instead of chasing down cones.

So about a week afer the EVO school I'm on a three lane highway on another rain day and someone up ahead cuts off another driver and causes this chain reaction.
Like an idiot I wasn't totally paying attention but once I got my witts about me I reacted, I flicked the wheel, accelerated hard and missed two cars doing parallels directly in front of me by a cat's whisker. Probably less. I pulled over to the side, picked my marbles off floorboard, and quickly realized the EVO school was money well spent.
One way to avoid accidents on the road is to take part in some driving instruction with your local PCA or SCCA. It changes your 'field of view' of the open road.

Though I did have some very close ones. More than once someone stopped fast in front of me, I knew the guy behind me would hit me and my teenage reflexes at the time allowed me to pull around the stopping car and give the guy behind me enough distance to stop. Lots of other close calls, with lots of fast reflexes, driving in the snow up north and dirt-bike crazy stuff will give one quick thinking...not so sure at my age now I would be able to pull it off...now I just keep my distance and use wisdom to keep me out of trouble.

Now why aren't my insurance rates low!? 37 years is a long time...ya'd think it was worth something...maybe time to shop around.

[Porsche Chick]

Originally Posted by HAUSIDMT

Trying to stay with my friends IROC camaro in high school, in none other then my mom's Saturn. Needless to say I slid right off the road down an embankment. Not a scratch to the car. Went to the closest bar(we were up in the mountains) bribe a guy $40 to use his truck and winch to pull the car up. All was good, not a scratch on the car . Then I started it and drove it home with the exhaust ripped in half, sounded like what ricers are doing to their cars on purpose.

Next day I begged my mom to drive it to school. She relented, and I had my buddy weld it up in auto shop. FREE and CLEAR, never got caught for that one, LOL!

I'll bet your mom knew.

Sometimes, as a parent, you just pretend not to know things, so you don't have to deal with it.