My First Car Accident

izcool

Hello everyone,

Over the past week I was on my vacation to meet a good friend of mine that I met online over in Ohio (I'm two states away, I'm in Illinois, near Chicago) where he's around the Columbus area. I've been planning the trip for a couple of weeks and everything seemed to be going according to my plan.

When the time came for leaving, I was more than ready. I had all my clothes, several methods for me to sleep (in case my air mattress didn't work, I had my sleeping cot from my camping trips), I had a roll of quarters (that's $10.00 in quarters, or 40 quarters) to keep me OK with tolls and rest areas that require smaller change at hand. I was bringing some computer equipment with me for him (since I have too much of it and decided to give some to my friend), just to be nice. I was pretty much all set, there weren't many fine details that I missed out on for me packing. I had a bundle of cash (I think I had $500.00 on me, just to be safe). I had the maps and everything printed out and it looked like that my trip was going to go smooth.

So I left on Monday (that's the 10th of July) at 2:00AM Chicago time, I was going to arrive in the late morning (I arrived at his place at 10:00AM Columbus time, since it's an hour ahead where he is to where I am) and return back to Chicago on Thursday night, the 13th.

Well, apparantly things didn't go that way. Everything went fine for the first few days of my trip until the evening of the 13th (Thursday). We were heading out to his local Best Buy to buy a DVD/VCR combo player since his VCR broke. We were taking I-270 to get there and a guy behind me tapped my car and spun me out, similar to like what goes on with on the Cops TV show to take out criminals on the chase. It was an H&R (hit and run) and I did not get a glance on what kind of a car it was or even the color. The car spun out and the back of the car hit the concrete barrier on the middle part of the expressway, and my friend and I were completely shocked. I walked out OK, but my friend had to go to the hospital for a few tests since he said he did not feel OK.

I had to spend some time with the state police and the Columbus police to get everything taken care of. Since I was not specifiying what kind of a car or what color the car was to the police (I told them I did not know that information) that they wrote me a ticket stating that I was "Failing To Control" my car and that I need to show up in court 2 weeks from this last Thursday with a parent (which will more than likely be my father) since I'm only 17, and considered as a minor. I called my dad up after I was finished with the police and told him what happened.

He was saying to me before I left for my trip that if anything happened to the car, he would hitch up the company trailer to the back of his truck, drive out to wherever I am in Ohio, load the car onto the trailer, and drive me home. That's exactly what happened on Friday morning, because he came out and slept overnight in Ohio and had to get the car in the morning.

I was trying to stress to my friend that it was not intentional for me to ever do something like that, it just happened. And I'm not sure of his condition at the moment since I hadn't seen him since Friday morning. I'll keep contacting him via eMail or on his cellphone to see how he is, since he's much more frail than I am.

When we tried to claim the car at the pound on Friday morning, I had to fish out $220.00 out of my pocket money to bail the car out and to pay for the tow. (My dad says that was expensive, but what the heck else could have I done). We got the car on the trailer and got it back home to Chicago on Friday evening.

On Friday evening, I was at my work snapping a lot of photos of the damage to the car on the trailer, since my dad and I had to clean off the front of his truck from all of the bugs. (Just so you all know, we both work at the same place, a car wash).

I heard from one of the people at the hospital that I might get a "$600.00 fine and my license revoked for 30 days", but my dad doubts if that will happen since all that I really done was that I spun the car out into a "curb" (his interpretation for a concrete barrier) and that I did not hit any other cars. (The H&R person just left the scene very fast).

At first, the moment the incident happened, a person pulled over to the side of the road to make sure that both of us were OK. I thought that I had hit him, but it was not the case. They talked to the police and were told to "go free" which means that they were not involved, and were there nothing more than to be good samaritans.

I just hope that I can get out of any fines for this (I paid $220.00 on it so far) where my dad is fixing the car himself (he's a mechanic for his own personal cars mostly) and is not going to claim it on my insurance, since it will make my rates go right through the roof.

Any comments on this, and if you'd like to share YOUR first car accident, I'd be more than willing to read them. I want to keep this discussion interesting.

As I was saying before, I took a load of photos, that I'm willing to share with you guys and gals on here :

The first photo I took at a rest area in Indiana somewhere, on my way over to Ohio from Illinois. The car's fine in that, but the rest on from that are from after the wreck and before any repairs. My dad started on the repairs today and put in a new rear axle assembly and put on a new rear bumper. He says that the frame might need to be taken to a body shop to be "tugged" since he thinks that it's a bit crooked from the accident. The bumper needs to be painted blue (since the one that he put on it today is green), and that the 2 fenders need to be bent back into place. I don't have any photos from today of what the car looks like with the new bumper and the new rear axle on it, but possibly soon. He says that the damage to the car is very minor (he was glad that I didn't hit any other cars [well, except the H&R person] or get the front of the car instead of the back).

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As you can imagine, that's the reason why I was a bit inactive on FriHost for the past few days, because I had to deal with my vacation and with what happened with the accident.

EDIT :
After thinking about this, I remembered that it was raining out HEAVILY the night that happened, which made the roads a lot more slick than what they would be when they're dry. I was going the speed limit too, so I was not speeding at the time. That's all that I had to add to this.

- Mike.

cfackler

Wow, sorry to hear about the accident, and I hope everything turns out OK. My first (and only) accident happened a few months ago. I was driving on Front street in Harrisburg, PA, next to the Susquehanna River. There are a few side streets which turn out onto this street. At one of them, a cop stepped out into the middle of the road with a handheld STOP sign. I was in the right-most lane, and a van with no windows in the center lane kept me from seeing the cop, so I had to basically slam on the brakes after I saw him. I had just been stopped at a red light, so I wasn't going faster than 15 or 20 mph. The guy driving behind me didn't react quickly enough, so I got rear ended. It was basically just a tap and neither of our cars were damaged thankfully.

Nothing in comparison to your accident, but if you were rearended it wasn't your fault. The person behind you should have been paying attention and you shouldn't get a fine for it.

kung_fu_stu

That can't be fun. I have never been in an accident while I was driving , but I have gotten stuck in the snow in the middle of nowhere for a couple of hours, and that sure wasn't fun. Neither was telling my parents that I got stuck and needed their help.

I have been sideswiped when I was in the back seat.

dz9c

ha yea well getting hit by a DHL van while on a bike will hurt a lot more...which only happened to me a month ago. im so happy to still be alive Surprised

Blaster

Wow that was a lot to read. First its nice to hear your ok. Hopefully your friend is ok too. I have never been in a car accident. I cant' even drive yet. Razz

My suggestion to you is if you are having the fine problem maybe if you have someone from your family that is a lawer talk to them and see what they have to say. You should have taken pictures at the accident scene. That would have possibley given more evidence. This could be a court matter. You can tell you where hit from behind on it and its unlikly you would have lost controle from the back unless you where making a high speed turn. So where you like turning there or anything? Its hard to say with out being there but you could have a law suite there.

THE11thROCK™

Nice story and good thing you're still ok.

LostOverThere

The main thing is you're okay.
Oh and, Nice Car. Smile

poisonhzkj

im sorry to here that,but it's nice your OK.....

Andrew426

Iv never been in accident - but I did get hit by a bus on my way home from school a few months ago.

From what Iv just read, Id have to say that either your getting treated very unfairly, or theres something your not telling us.

HoboPelican

Glad your ok, but sorry about your friend. Is he in St. Ann's or Riverside?

I couldnt pull up all of your pics, so all I could see was the damage to the rear left wheel and the impact/abrasion on the rear right corner(is that the initial impact?). That corner impact looked a bit odd.

Anyway, get a complete copy of the police report before he court date. See if you can get the names of the people in the car that pulled over, they might be able to back you up (don't rely on the police getting everything in your favor). Good luck, man.

izcool

I thank everyone for their comments. I'm just fine, but I've been calling my friend on his cellphone almost every day to check up on his condition. It looks like that he's getting a little better, but he was saying that he was taking a lot of time relaxing and resting when he gets home from work.

I know it was a lot to read (I had to read it like 3 times to get it right, and it was a lot for me to type, believe me) because I was trying to hit every point from what I can remember with the accident. My dad spent some more time on the car today and got more of the pieces together, he was saying that the thing should be running by tonight (thank goodness, it's really hard without a car) and I can go back home for the evening. He wants me to come back by his house (my parents are separated, 2 of everything, like houses, beds, 2 step-parents) early tomorrow morning to get the more finer details worked on it.

My friend stayed at a place called Doctor's Hospital that was nearby. It was not fun to sit next to him in the bed. Sad

It made me feel very horrible inside since I wasn't expecting that to happen with my trip to visit him.

- Mike.

hlavco

I've never been in an accident with any injuries. I've only got my permit, so I was never driving. One time, with the whole family in the Windstar, we hit a deer that apparently went right up the hood and flew over the car, landing several feet behind us. Weird thing is, somehow after the accident, both window latches in the back were broken. My mom blames me and my brother. We didn't do it.

Another time we were driving home, my mother, my brothers, and myself, it was late at night, nearly midnight, and our front-right tire fell off. Wheel and everything. Luckily, our car scraped into a truck stop from the momentum, and there was a police station a short distance down the highway.

I'm pretty sure we got the same tow truck guy both times. I guess there aren't that many around.

Blaster

Now thinking about it i wasn't in an accident but one time actually really twice i was like drifting a car. The one we where going up a hill and it was curved and raining and the other time i was with my grandfather and we hit a patch of snow.

I've been in some atving accidents if they count. The first time i hit like a rut the bike did a 360 and i broke my right arm. After that i was going up on a hill and was going to shut off the bike the hill was angled and the bike was leaning and it fell and i went with it and landed under the bike. No injuries on that one. So i guess you can count them as accidents.

Anyhow its nice to see your friend is doing better.

lors

The most important thing is that you weren't hurt and it doesn't sound like your friend was hurt too badly. You're very lucky that your dad can do the work himself, that will save you alot.

nakoth

Glad that you are ok.
The topic made me laugh though... "My first car accident" .. i mean are you going to have more of them then ?

HoboPelican

<h1>

is it not inevitable for everyone to have at least one accident in their lifetime? i would think so..i would think that ppl should expect to have or be in a few accidents in their lifetime..and hope the accidents arent too bad.. ive been in a serious accident when I was young..the car flipped n rolled ...not very nice to be in an accident.. glad u ok man..

HoboPelican

Anyone else have the sense duirng an accident that time is slowing down? When the adrenaline kicks in and you seem to be thinking at twice your nornal speed? The first accident I avoided was like that. I came over a hill on a divided highway to see a car stopped in my lane. I was doing about 70 (legal) with a car next to me. Both of us jumped on the brakes so there was no where to go except into the car ahead of me. Time seemed to stop and my mind seemed to be seeing the situation as a problem and not the end of my world. I punched it and squeezed just ahead of the adjacent car which was still braking. I know on my side I only had about a foot to spare. Perfectly calm until a few seconds later when I started shaking like a leaf. Laughing

Big lesson learned that day, I'll tell ya. But it was that sense of time dilation that was fascinating. Anyone else experience that?

omg pickle

Wow,i hope i never get an accidant like that. What a stupid retard that guy was btw, driving off like that.. you guys could have been seriously injured!

I hope that they get that guy, guys like him make me sick!

yaashop

my first car accident happened when i was in China. people here have no sense what's called traffic rules. they ride and drive whatever they want. such as drive and ride backward on the opposite lane, stop int he middle of the road to talk with friend on sidewalk!, turn on high light at night (damn it's annoying), cross road without watching, etc.

it happened int he morning when i' rush t work. i drive on my lane and there was one motorbike riding in the middle of the lane. I put more accel in order to overtake it. while i was overtaking, suddenly it made a turn to my way! with out flashing turning light! i try to avoid it by push to the left. Unfortunately, there was another bike came from the opposite lane coming toward me. I had to avoid him again but this time i didnt do it fast enough. (and he's stupid enough to ride in the middle of his lane and didnt even avoid me!) I didnt hit him but his bike hit the middle body of my car. he fell down (i dont think he got a serious injured) I dont wanna have any problem so i FLED! i drove like mad to get out of sight. i didnt know what happened next at the site but i knew that i wont trust any driver and rider here again.