bigblockz8
Pre-takeoff checklist
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2011
- Messages
- 429
- Display Name
Display name:
Gore
Partially aviation related. I had this syndrome when learning to drive and in the two days prior to this accident. Had my first accident three days after getting the darn license!
Luckily I'm alive and learned and the car is...fixable.
Here's what happened:
Driving home from the airport my stepfather calls and he needs a ride to his cousin's house, he has had a few beers so I don't mind. (This was the 25th by the way, at 930pm.) I pick him up and cops are everywhere, it's memorial day weekend! I drop him off and head back home. The same street I used to get there now has a FRESH, still steaming accident, two cars head on! Fire/EMS pulls up and I get detoured. I know a back road so I plan to use it.
On the back road the lights are out. My car's lights need to be repositioned and I make a mental note of this. The speed limit is 35, I'm doing 30, dumb and happy. Windows down enjoying the quiet. I then hear a floored crown vic's engine roar...Don't see anything. As I round the corner a Cadillac's grille is heading head on toward me and a Crown Victoria is racing it! These guys were blacked out, in black cars and doing no less than 60 or more. I can't pull over, no room! The Cadillac was still coming so I steered toward the Crown Victoria and into the ditch. By the time the two cars passed I was still nosing into the ditch. All of this happened so fast that when I realized what had happened and that I was now in a ditch I just began shaking.
Car dies. I smell coolant's sweet smell, turn the engine off and get a gallon of water to put out any grass fire. I get out, look around, look for witnesses...found an older guy that saw it. He yells out that I had," about a foot to spare" (referring to the near miss). I then look across the street...there is a tree to my right. If I had turned right I would have hit one of the trees or fire hydrants. If I had went another 2-3ft left or right in the ditch, trees and roadsigns.
Got lucky!
I call my mom, cry, blah blah blah, then try to get the car out of the ditch. I see police lights at the end of the street so I figure I'll talk to them once out. I tried taking pictures with a cell phone but the car was dead so no headlights. Here's the damage:
This was taken at home.Note the side of the bumper! The bumper refuses to be pushed back under the car body. Bumper fell off on the left driver's side and a bracket broke as well. Mud on the tires from the ditch.
You can kind of make out my skid into the ditch. Lighting was poor.
You can see the sign and the ditch looks shallow but it is not! The shoulder like area starts about 5ft behind where I took this picture and ahead has parked cars rendering the road a normal one lane in each direction type of road.
Bumper mount that fell off (below)
Another bumper shot:
The Cadillac did not move at all and did not even attempt to brake. My personal rationalization afterward was if I got T-boned by the crown vic I might have survived but if I turned right I would have hit a tree and/or fire hydrant. If I had stopped the Caddy was going too fast and would have hit me head on.
In the end I filed a police report with another victim. The lights that I saw at the end of the street was from the same Crown Vic causing an accident. This car however was in brush and had a large scene going on. The officer said he lost two honda's an hour earlier that were street racing. He warned me to be extra careful on my way home. Those two idiots are still out there and I hope that they don't kill anyone! Pretty F'ed up stuff right there. Playing chicken while drag racing.
In the end I learned:
Obviously the car was not this nice but that chrome bumper saved me! I saw that first.
As for our car I will be working on it this Monday during daylight! Drove a bit today and was shaky at first but got over it. Just amazing to think and then realize how easily you could have died. A few seconds slower and that curve would have killed me. Or the sign would have...or the trees.
Luckily I'm alive and learned and the car is...fixable.
Here's what happened:
Driving home from the airport my stepfather calls and he needs a ride to his cousin's house, he has had a few beers so I don't mind. (This was the 25th by the way, at 930pm.) I pick him up and cops are everywhere, it's memorial day weekend! I drop him off and head back home. The same street I used to get there now has a FRESH, still steaming accident, two cars head on! Fire/EMS pulls up and I get detoured. I know a back road so I plan to use it.
On the back road the lights are out. My car's lights need to be repositioned and I make a mental note of this. The speed limit is 35, I'm doing 30, dumb and happy. Windows down enjoying the quiet. I then hear a floored crown vic's engine roar...Don't see anything. As I round the corner a Cadillac's grille is heading head on toward me and a Crown Victoria is racing it! These guys were blacked out, in black cars and doing no less than 60 or more. I can't pull over, no room! The Cadillac was still coming so I steered toward the Crown Victoria and into the ditch. By the time the two cars passed I was still nosing into the ditch. All of this happened so fast that when I realized what had happened and that I was now in a ditch I just began shaking.
Car dies. I smell coolant's sweet smell, turn the engine off and get a gallon of water to put out any grass fire. I get out, look around, look for witnesses...found an older guy that saw it. He yells out that I had," about a foot to spare" (referring to the near miss). I then look across the street...there is a tree to my right. If I had turned right I would have hit one of the trees or fire hydrants. If I had went another 2-3ft left or right in the ditch, trees and roadsigns.
Got lucky!
I call my mom, cry, blah blah blah, then try to get the car out of the ditch. I see police lights at the end of the street so I figure I'll talk to them once out. I tried taking pictures with a cell phone but the car was dead so no headlights. Here's the damage:
This was taken at home.Note the side of the bumper! The bumper refuses to be pushed back under the car body. Bumper fell off on the left driver's side and a bracket broke as well. Mud on the tires from the ditch.
You can kind of make out my skid into the ditch. Lighting was poor.
Bumper mount that fell off (below)
Another bumper shot:
The Cadillac did not move at all and did not even attempt to brake. My personal rationalization afterward was if I got T-boned by the crown vic I might have survived but if I turned right I would have hit a tree and/or fire hydrant. If I had stopped the Caddy was going too fast and would have hit me head on.
In the end I filed a police report with another victim. The lights that I saw at the end of the street was from the same Crown Vic causing an accident. This car however was in brush and had a large scene going on. The officer said he lost two honda's an hour earlier that were street racing. He warned me to be extra careful on my way home. Those two idiots are still out there and I hope that they don't kill anyone! Pretty F'ed up stuff right there. Playing chicken while drag racing.
In the end I learned:
- Idiots Drive
- Same idea applies to flying. I can stall and spin to my death even if I think it won't happen to me
- Close calls are one misstep away from a tragedy
- Don't drive on Memorial Day Weekend after dusk!
- Align the headlights.
- Be even more aware of surroundings
- Don't trust other drivers (or pilots, or ATC)
- Crash in a controlled fashion if possible
- Choose to take action instead of waiting for someone else to do so
- Most importantly- Gut feelings should not be ignored. My mom didn't want me to get him and I had reservations about doing so when I realized what weekend it is.
Obviously the car was not this nice but that chrome bumper saved me! I saw that first.
As for our car I will be working on it this Monday during daylight! Drove a bit today and was shaky at first but got over it. Just amazing to think and then realize how easily you could have died. A few seconds slower and that curve would have killed me. Or the sign would have...or the trees.
Last edited:
At first I was happy that the bumper wasn't badly damaged. Then I realized that the damage was not superficial. A car should not just die after a good jolt. If the block is cracked the car is basically totaled. The transmission on a Trailblazer usually goes at about 125-160k miles. Ours has 154k so replacing a block, getting new tires, a new bumper, finding the new steering issue, plus waiting for a transmission to blow is a lot more expensive than the $4800 blue book value (more like scrap now) the thing is worth. 
