s/o dashcams # of accidents

[circa1978]

My DH jokes I am a magnet for car accidents and says no one has had as many as me. Here's my history - what's your count?

+ 16 (first car, brand new, about a week after I got my license) sideswiped by a friend who was trying to pull out next to me/follow me (Not at fault)

+ 16 (literally one week later, same car) Snuck out, drove to my boyfriend's in the city, panicked, I was late, flipped my car over three lanes of traffic (Kingshighway for my STL folks). Took out a city tree. Landed on the roof. (My fault, obviously. Car totaled. By everyone's account - first reponders, doctors, and me, after covering 100s of accidents as a reporter later in life, I should have died. Got an egg on my head and aced the pre ACT the next day.) My mom counts this as one of the three worst moments of her life.

+ 17 My cousin was driving her ancient bug convertible which did not have a speedometer (BTW) on a dark road after 4th of July fireworks. Kid ran out in front of her and flew up on the dash. Nightmares for life. Left a kid shaped dent on her hood. He had a broken arm but was fine. (Not at fault/super traumatized, cried so much the cops thought I was driving and we switched seats.)

+ 17 Same cousin and I snuck out to go into the city (yes, again). She was driving. Ended up very lost, got rear ended. The woman wouldn't let us leave until the STL police came which is very LOFL in the city in the 90s on a Saturday night for a rear ending. They did not come and 911 laughed at us when we called twice. We called my older cousin to come get us and he immediately narked on us and told her dad. Adults came to get us. Grounded forever. (Not at fault.)

+ 17 SAME COUSIN driving. Hit and run in her own brother's BMW's lot. Not at fault. Will never tell.

+19 Drove to NOLA with BFF/roommate (she was driving). Hydroplaned on the highway in pouring rain, spun out and ended up on the side of the road. No damage. Not at fault. Super lucky.

+22 Had another brand new (less than two week old car) sitting at a red stop light in Chicago. Got rear ended to the point that the back of my car was ripped off. Not at fault. 

+ 24 BFF Driving. Someone ran a red in a Chicago intersection and T-boned us. Totaled her car. I ended up on her lap. Fucked up my back forever. Not at fault.

+30 Rear ended a guy at an off ramp in Florida on a road trip while driving up to see a critically ill family member. He yelled at me until I sobbed and his wife made him stop. No damage. At fault.

+ 36 Forced off 55 by a semi in white out conditions south of Chicago. Ended up in the snow packed median, which was a very soft landing actually. The highway ended up closed because 30+ cars met the same fate,  and my SUV was fine. Spent a lot of time with the tow truck guy, who picked me up. Learned a lot about mid Illinoisan's opinions of Chicago drivers. Fault?

+40 Rear ended on my commute at a speed of maybe 15MPH. Negligible damage. Not at fault. 

 

[glw]

I've been in one accident while driving; I was 17. I bumped the car in front of me at a 4-way stop sign, caused no damage to that car but put a dent in my hood.

I was also once a passenger in the car when we were rear-ended at a stop light, but it caused no damage or injuries.

[eb777888]

I got rear-ended when I lived in Seattle in 2000.

I got rear-ended in 2008.

I got rear-ended while driving home from a friend's house in 2012.

All of these times I was stopped in traffic. The 2012 was caused by the person texting and driving, which she admitted at the scene.

[TR]

I've been in one accident. I was rear ended (hard) at 16. And then got in trouble because I was driving a friend home when I wasn't supposed to be (just because my mom said, not because I had a restricted license)

[sugarbear1]

I've been in two accidents.
One, was an open intersection and I didn't look carefully enough before I continued straight. Car on my right t-boned me.

And I was rear-ended on Hwy99 in downtown Seattle evening traffic.

[Susie]

I rear ended someone on ice when I was a senior in high school.  Fortunately I was going relatively slow, he was also a HS senior and we both drove shitboxes, so there was no discernible damage to either car, lol.  No police called/etc.

I got t-boned in an intersection when I was about 21.  Car was totaled, but I was not at fault.  I went to the hospital to get checked out, but nothing serious.  Just bruising and some minor chemical burning from the air bag, and seat belt bruising.  The accident looked more gruesome than it was, because I had 9' long beach patrol oars in my car from a patrol rowing event, which ran diagonally from my trunk to the front passenger seat.  They hadn't been secured, so they flew forward and shattered the windshield right where an unsecured front passenger's head would have hit.  First responders were super relieved when I said I'd been alone in the car.  The other driver was a brand new teen driver in mom's minivan, and ran a stop sign.

I hit a coyote on an interstate once, and a deer ran into the side of my car on another occasion.  Both of those were in my mid/late 20s.  No fault.

I was in the car when H rear-ended someone in traffic on an interstate, a few hours away from home.  Car was not drivable but wasn't totaled.  Logistical PIA, but otherwise not too bad.  Nobody injured.

That's all I can really think of!  4 where I was driving, plus a 5th as a passenger.

[dexteroni]

omg I would never get in a car again if I were you!

I’ve been in two accidents that were my fault, both in my early 20s, both because my flip flop caught on a pedal and I wasn’t able to brake in time. Fortunately both were minor, but to this day I don’t drive in flip flops.

I’ve been in two that weren’t my fault, also in my early 20s. One was in my BFF’s car and a drunk driver rear ended us. We had a couple minor injuries that could have been so much worse. Her parents (justifiably) pursued charges / damages, there was a trial, it was a whole big unpleasant thing.

The other was a teenage driver who didn’t know how parking decks worked and came around a blind corner going the wrong direction. We were both going slow so the damage was minimal. She was apologetic and sobbing, and my car at the time was a beater, so I never pursued it in any way.

[cjcouple]

16 - rear-ended leaving school

16/17 - I was cut off and hit a car and pushed them into a store window. I was not at fault or cited since I had the right of way and they cut me off and I didn't have time to stop.

46 I bumped into someone backing up. Only accident that was my fault. Still irritated that they were parked illegally

47 rear-ended at a stop light

[mae0111]

At 16, I was the passenger in a friend's car when she lost control and hit a guardrail going 65mph in the fast lane. Bounced off and crossed 3 lanes of traffic to hit the other guardrail, no one hit us on the way across. Several broken bones for me and one other passenger (we were roomies in the hospital for a week), concussion for the driver, bumps and bruises for the other passengers.

At 18, my boyfriend was on the highway at about 60 mph when the traffic in front of us stopped suddenly. He was able to stop but the guy behind us couldn't. He smashed into us and sent his Mustang into the pick-up in front of us. Car was totaled, just whiplash and bruises. He was still going probably 35mph when he hit us, so it really could have been a lost worse.

At 21 my car was sideswiped by a city bus while it was legally parked. Not my fault, no injuries, PITA to deal with the state and insurance.

At 33, we were t-boned when a guy ran a redlight. DH was driving. Our SUV flew up and landed on the hood and started rolling. We landed right side up and facing the wrong direction. The whole roof on my side caved in. DH broke a rib. I had bad whiplash and had to get the glass removed from my hand when the passenger side window smashed. The other driver was fine. I can't believe we all walked away.

[lavenderblue]

I didn't get my license until I was almost 20, thank goodness, because apparently I'm unlucky as well. I've identified which accidents "weren't my fault" but my state is no fault, so they all counted against me regardless. I was the driver in every single accident, so maybe I should just find someone I'm not related to to drive me around LOL

22-ish - New-ish car, about a year old, side swiped on the drivers side while I was sitting at a stop sign. Not my fault.

22-ish - same car, about two weeks after the first one while I was trying to come up with my deductible to put my car in the shop, I got side swiped on the passenger side while sitting at a red light and someone coming from the right, making a left turn, totally misjudged and hit me on the right. Not my fault.

25 - brand new car, less than 6 months old, was rear ended while sitting at a red light. I was driving an Elantra and was rear ended by a Dodge Ram pick-up which then pushed me in to the car in front of me. Car was less than $500 away from being totaled. I was actually extremely lucky. While I was sitting at the light, I had unbuckled my seatbelt to pick up something that had fallen on the floor on the passenger side. As I sat up, I looked in my rearview and saw the truck coming at me. I sit up and turned my steering wheel to the left so instead of being smashed between the truck and the car in front of me, he ended up pushing my car so it hit the back corner of the car in front of me and just kind of pushed me down the side instead. Somehow I was not injured. Not my fault.

ETA: I remembered that at around 26 I rear ended someone. We were sitting at a light turning right. I thought they had went and was looking left when I hit the gas and ran in to them. Their vehicle had no damage, and I just had a square shaped hole in my bumper where their trailer hitch had punched through. 

26-37 - I'm blanking, but given my record before and after this age, I'm sure there were a few I'm not remembering.

38 - I was driving my exH 4 wheel drive truck in the snow, slid on ice, took out a bank of mailboxes and then head first in to a tree. Luckily I wasn't going very fast, truck only had a few scratches. My fault.

40 - totaled my Honda Pilot. I don't actually remember the accident, but according to the car behind me that saw the whole thing, I hydroplaned off of the road first hitting a mailbox and then a telephone pole that I literally sheared in half. I hit it so hard that after I sheared it, it landed upright again. I walked away with only a bruise on my neck from my seatbelt and a couple of blackeyes from the air bag. Not technically my fault, but honestly since I don't remember the accident, it's kind of a toss up.

41 - I backed out of my driveway in to another car. It just so happened to be the car of the person who use to own my house who was visiting my neighbors. Definitely my fault.

42 - rear ended while sitting at a red light, but damage was very minor as I was in front of the car that took the brunt of the hit. Not my fault.

43 - a school bus ran in to me when I was trying to merge. Kind of both of our faults.

I'm 49 now so it's been several years since my last accident, I'd like to say that I'm a better/safer driver in my older age. Hopefully.

My kids seem to have inherited my bad luck. My oldest was once hit by a car when crossing the street. Ended up with just a bruised tailbone thankfully. He was in a pretty bad accident around 24 when someone hit him and totally his car, he walked away uninjured. When my daughter only had her permit she backed in to a parked car, luckily she was going slow so there was no damage to either vehicle. When she was barely 17 she was t-boned by a car that ran a stop sign and totaled her car, she was uninjured other than some bruises. About 6 months later she ran in to a concrete pole in my car causing several thousand dollars of damage, her fault. I'm kind of terrified of DS getting his license in 6 months.

[penguingrrl]

I got rear ended at a stop sign at 23. I stopped, the car behind me stopped, I crept forward to see if I could go and they decided I meant to go and rammed into me (it wasn’t clear)

I had a minor accident at 26 as well. I was turning left at a t, I didn’t see the car turning left onto my street. It was dusk, their car was black and their headlights weren’t on. @@@ and my oldest was 8 weeks old and crying in the backseat. 10 years later I showed up to close on my house (which is on that block). The seller was the guy I hit!

[wildrice]

That is a lot! I've only been in 2 accidents:

28 years old - I t-boned someone who blew a stop sign, I did not have a stop sign so he was at fault. Both cars were totaled, but thankfully injuries were very minor (whiplash).

Maybe 32 years old? I was rear ended at a stoplight. I believe the guy behind me was drunk or high. It was really pretty minor damage.

I was also carjacked at 37 and my car was found totaled. So I wasn't in the accident, but my car was! My H had been in 2 accidents - neither his fault - in that same car in the year prior to losing it.

[shauni27]

in HS and college I was a terrible driver and totaled my car the day I got it (aged 16), then flipped my new car in the snow about a year later (car was fine because snow cushioned it). A couple years later I also totaled a car.

Thank GOD no one was ever hurt and they were all accidents that only involved my car.

[jinkies]

Holy crap circa1978, I am pretty traumatized from a single bad accident, I am not exaggerating when I say I'm not sure I would ever drive again in your situation!

Anyway, I guess I've technically been in 3 accidents:

1. At 17, car (over) full with friends, was waved out by a stopped car, and hit by a car coming up around them. Was technically at fault, and very lucky no one was injured.

2. Sometime in my college years, pulled up to a gas pump, immediately realized i was on the wrong side, threw my car in reverse and backed into the car that had pulled in behind me. No damage but the lady insisted on calling the police who basically laughed at her.

3. 30-ish, came around a blind corner in the fast lane of highway, and traffic was at a dead stop in front of me. I managed to stop, and looked in my rearview just in time to see that the car behind me wasn't going to stop. I tried to steer my car slightly to the left so that the driver could go right. He hit me anyway, with force, and I went up a concrete barricade and landed in front of the car that had been in front of me. Had to wait in the fast lane of a highway, on a blind corner, at dusk, for 20+ minutes before cops arrived. I was terrified and so afraid that it would pile up more cars behind us. I still get very jumpy when I have to come to an abrupt stop.

[nicolewi]

Yikes circa1978 that is a lot!

Also, this makes me worried about what my girls and their same age local cousins might do some day!

[fernweh]

1. 17 - I rear ended the vehicle in front of me

2. 33 - I was rear ended. We were stopped at on a highway and the vehicle behind me didn’t get the memo. Luckily traffic in front of me started moving just as I got hit was it wasn’t a chain reaction because I got hit hard (she was going about 70mph) so I definitely would have hit someone else.

3. 39 - rear ended at a red light.

[tacokick]

One almost 20 years ago where I was turning and someone sped through the intersection and drove into my passenger side door. It took forever to get my car repaired and when I got it back they said it probably should have been totaled. I’m still driving the same car though so it worked out!

[SusanBAnthony]

I rear ended someone in traffic in Houston at age 20. They slammed on their brakes in stop and go traffic and i couldn't stop fasr enough. I was trying to figure out where i was going pre-GPS and was stressed out and looking for strewt signs. My first time driving in a big city. And since I was under 25 I couldn't get a rental car. I worked 50 miles from my apartment and had to get rides with coworkers while my car was fixed.

But I haven't had a single accident since!

[picksthemusic]

Several rear-ends, a spin-out in the middle of an intersection due to rainy conditions, and a t-bone most recently. One of the many reasons I have chronic neck and upper back pain. lol

[cmeon]

Uh, that is an impressive record, circa1978 - sheesh!

I have been in one wreck. I was 24 or 25, on my way home from work to let my puppies out at lunch. I was behind a pick-up truck for a couple miles on an otherwise empty road, and we came to a double laned 4-way stop (no other drivers here, either). He got into the right hand turn lane, and I got behind him. Instead of making his turn, he threw the truck into reverse and slammed into me.

He was nice- he told me he was trying to change lanes because he realized he needed to go left (there was no one else on the road- he could have just gone) and he just didn't see me.

The cop that showed up took my statement first- he was a dick and didn't even pretend to believe my explanation. That guy absolutely could have lied and walked away from this whole thing- but he didn't.

Eta; I was hit as a pedestrian crossing in a crowd in a marked crosswalk at 23 or 23yo. My BF at the time and I were going to a movie.

A 16yo girl just plowed into me. Thankfully she was driving a VW beetle and not a monster truck, because I just kind of rolled off her round hood. I was bruised and had some road rash (was wearing a dress with bare legs), but was otherwise ok.

She, on the other hand, was a sobbing mess- I felt so bad for her! She said she was trying to check movie times (on the board over ticketing, before smartphones).

We made her call her parents to come get her, and waited with her until they got there. Then we said good-bye and I limped off into the movie, haha.

[circa1978]

lavenderblue, we should never get into a car together.

jinkies, I was really traumatized after the second one at 16, and didn't drive again until I was 20. In both that one and the snow one, I will say that I had the clarity in a moment to think I was going to die, and I wasn't scared, so in a way, that is comforting. It's hard to explain.

nicolewi, My cousin and I were meneces, truly. Somehow, even though she was driving in the two my parents knew about, we both got the blame! The first one really, truly was not our fault, though. The kid's parents called us the next day to apologize. He really did just run and jump out in front of the car.

[wanderingback]

I have no clue the ages. But I've been rear-ended 4 times. One in high school and the rest post-college. The most recent rear-ending resulted in the car being deemed totaled and I was so so annoyed! I just wanted to make it out of residency without a car payment. I no longer own a car and am thankful I don't have to deal with car stuff anymore!

[So_Fetch]

One. I side-swiped a car pulling out of a parking space. I had only had my license for a month, and my friend in the passenger seat said I had room. The car I hit was brand new, and the dude was BIG MAD. (at fault)

[beerlover]

4 total, I think.

I was not a great driver when I first turned 16. I scraped my friend's car backing out of the high school parking lot just days after getting my license, and then I rear ended someone a few days later and totaled my car. I was just driving too fast and not paying enough attention. I really don't think some 16 year olds are ready to drive and I was one of them. I STILL feel guilty about this because my parents were on a weekend trip to the beach while my grandma was watching us and she had to deal with it, and they came home early because of it.

I never had another major accident after that one 23 years ago. I did lightly tap someone's bumper while waiting for a stop sign, just cruised right into them at a very slow pace, but there was no damage, and I had a parallel parking incident about 10 years ago maybe, but nothing since.

[lavenderblue]

Oct 21, 2024 11:54:43 GMT -5 circa1978 said:

lavenderblue , we should never get into a car together.

True story. It sounds like we don't live anywhere near each other which is probably a good thing LOL

[sakoro]

I wonder if the area you’re living in is driving the trend towards accidents? I lived in Northern Virginia for 8 years and got rear-ended on multiple occasions (maybe 5 times)? The roads are designed for small town, low-traffic zones but Arlington/ Alexandria have become highly urbanized and congested.

I’ve had far fewer (maybe 1) incident in California.

[tiki]

My list of car incidents is short, but I didn't drive regularly until my late 20s & I still avoid driving in snow/ice:

- At 20, my boyfriend's idiot friend spun out his RWD Firebird across at least three lanes of traffic on the NJ Turnpike. Amazingly we didn't hit anything and neither of us was injured.
- At 24, our hatchback was rear ended and totaled by a pickup truck while stopped at a red light. Now-H was in the driver's seat and we both had very very minor injuries / soreness.
- We used to have a really tight parking situation and I crunched a wing mirror into the wall while reversing on two different occasions.

H has been in 3 additional accidents: he totaled a college girlfriend's parents' land rover while driving in Wales, he clipped another car changing lanes in stop and go traffic, and he was rear-ended by a cheerleader in the Bronx.

[chickadee77]

I was rear-ended once.

Slid into a ditch once (does that count? No damage)

Got hit by a deer (totalled)

Rear-ended someone.

Someone pulled out in front of me without warning (totalled)

[katfco]

--17, had my license for a couple of weeks and sideswiped a logging truck while trying to merge onto a highway. It was my fault, but it was a very short onramp after a curve, so you were expected to jump from 40 to 70 very quickly. Damaged my sister's car a bit, but not too badly.

--36--T-boned a car that ran a stop sign in a residential neighborhood. He admitted he was at fault. He was able to drive away; my car was totaled.

[expectantsteelerfan]

I've had 1 that I don't really count (I backed into my mom's friend's car that was parked behind me on our driveway...I was late for work and hurrying and just didn't register it was there, but it was just a slight bump and neither of our cars had damage that needed fixed).

So only 1 for me when driving. It was either last year or the year before where I cut a left turn too tight during a driving rainstorm and clipped the car at the stop sign on the road I was turning onto.