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WTF?!? Car accident (1 Viewer)

T

Tom Skerritt

Footballguy
Driving to an out-of-town lacrosse tournament this weekend. Wife and I are driving separately because I have to come back Sunday, and I left much earlier than my wife and kids. Tournament goes through Monday. 

I noted a stretch of construction while on my drive. I texted my wife to be aware of this area. The highway is tight and dangerous. And I'm assuming that my son, with a learner's permit, will be driving. 

Just got got an unexpected email from my insurance company about a claim. Lo and behold it is a claim regarding an accident in that exact spot!!!

WTF?!?

 
That blows... everyone ok? any details on the accident? tournament for your son? who does he play for and where is the tournament?

 
16 yo male on a learners permit.  Having 2 daughters, I can only imagine what your rates are going to be once he is licensed. 

start hiding money now

 
I'll guess that your wife was driving and poo-poo'd your warning.

Either way, get your belt ready.  :deadhorse:

 
A couple months ago I was driving to an out-of-town baseball game. I had used the map program on my phone, but once I got on the freeway I put the phone on the passenger seat and forgot about it.

About an hour into the drive, my phone suddenly said "WARNING! THERE IS AN ACCIDENT IN THE LEFT LANE, ONE MILE AHEAD. PLEASE SLOW DOWN."

I looked down the road, but everything was clear and I couldn't see any signs of an accident.

And then, at that exact moment, the car in front of me slammed on its brakes and rear-ended another car, causing it to spin out and hit two other cars.

All 4 cars ended up in a pile on the side of the road....blocking the left lane.

Spooky.

 
Joe Summer said:
A couple months ago I was driving to an out-of-town baseball game. I had used the map program on my phone, but once I got on the freeway I put the phone on the passenger seat and forgot about it.

About an hour into the drive, my phone suddenly said "WARNING! THERE IS AN ACCIDENT IN THE LEFT LANE, ONE MILE AHEAD. PLEASE SLOW DOWN."

I looked down the road, but everything was clear and I couldn't see any signs of an accident.

And then, at that exact moment, the car in front of me slammed on its brakes and rear-ended another car, causing it to spin out and hit two other cars.

All 4 cars ended up in a pile on the side of the road....blocking the left lane.

Spooky.
Click to expand...
Like a free ride when you've already paid.

 
my 19yr old son 'lightly rear ended' a car in front of him a couple weeks ago...he's down in San Diego, we're up north about 8 hours away.  He calls us, says it's all good, he talked to the lady in front of him, it's all cool, no major damage to either vehicle, they exchange info and off they go, laughing and smiling all the way....next day USAA calls me to let me know a claim has been filed to include BODILY INJURY...then, to top it off, my son says his 08 Elantra is 'sounding funny'...long story short, $600+ to repair some front end damage, and of course I have a $500 deductible.  This being his second accident in 18 months and USAA declaring him 100% at fault, our premiums are going to skyrocket.  I told him at the end of the year I'm transferring title to him and he'll be responsible for insurance and he can drive any way the hell he feels after that.  

 
So the story is...

Two-lane highway. Son is in the right lane. A VERY short on-ramp merging into the right lane traffic. An 18-wheeler is barreling in from the on ramp. Coming so fast and leaning toward him. 

Option 1: Slam on the brakes and get rear-ended. 

Option 2: Get smashed by the semi. 

Option 3: Drift to the left and hope for the best. 

He chose option 3. And luckily the vehicle that he hit was a pickup truck with WIDE wheels. According to my wife, most of the damage is black circular streaks on the driver's side of our car. 

And apparently the other driver was a big **** about it. Wife put the hammer down though. Cop came out to fill out an accident report. But looks like it will be my son's fault, as the driver of the 18-wheeler did not stop. 

 
That sucks. Glad they are ok, it sounds like.

And option 3 is not good. They are lucky and hopefully he learned that. 

Braking is always an option if need be, and more importantly, not just looking directly in front of you, but being aware of what's around you at all times. In other words, he should pay attention what's to his left or right always for exactly this scenario to know if a car is there or if it's open to make an evasive maneuver. It also would help to see the situation coming up, even if difficult.  

Good learning experience for him, I hope.

 
Yeah going into the oncoming traffic lane is not a good option at all.  The possibility of getting rear-ended is way better than the possibility of getting front-ended or hit in the drivers side.  

 
And while being a #### is rarely helpful in these situations, it is pretty easy to see why the other driver was upset. I know if i'm driving along on my side of the road and instead of giving ground and letting somebody merge, another car decides to come into my lane and side-swipes me, I'm not going to be real happy about the situation.  

 
Prince Myshkin said:
Yeah going into the oncoming traffic lane is not a good option at all.  The possibility of getting rear-ended is way better than the possibility of getting front-ended or hit in the drivers side.  
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It wasn't oncoming traffic. Sounds like it was a 2 lane highway and he drifted into the left lane going in the same direction. 

Still, that's a terrible option going at a high speed on a highway. And honestly, if he was able to do that, swipe the car, and not get slammed into by the merging semi-truck, then that means there was more room than he must have thought with the merging truck and/or could have safely braked hard.

Again, it's a lesson learned for a young, inexperienced driver with a relatively good outcome.  Hopefully, though, even with the semi truck's actions, you and him both realize your son was mostly at fault here.

 
Tom Skerritt said:
So the story is...

Two-lane highway. Son is in the right lane. A VERY short on-ramp merging into the right lane traffic. An 18-wheeler is barreling in from the on ramp. Coming so fast and leaning toward him. 

Option 1: Slam on the brakes and get rear-ended. 

Option 2: Get smashed by the semi. 

Option 3: Drift to the left and hope for the best. 

He chose option 3. And luckily the vehicle that he hit was a pickup truck with WIDE wheels. According to my wife, most of the damage is black circular streaks on the driver's side of our car. 

And apparently the other driver was a big **** about it. Wife put the hammer down though. Cop came out to fill out an accident report. But looks like it will be my son's fault, as the driver of the 18-wheeler did not stop. 
Click to expand...
Option 1 would have been the safest and correct option, and if you were rearended, the other driver would have been at fault for following too closely.  Good learning experience though.  Glad they are ok 

 
gianmarco said:
It wasn't oncoming traffic. Sounds like it was a 2 lane highway and he drifted into the left lane going in the same direction. 

Still, that's a terrible option going at a high speed on a highway. And honestly, if he was able to do that, swipe the car, and not get slammed into by the merging semi-truck, then that means there was more room than he must have thought with the merging truck and/or could have safely braked hard.

Again, it's a lesson learned for a young, inexperienced driver with a relatively good outcome.  Hopefully, though, even with the semi truck's actions, you and him both realize your son was mostly at fault here.
Click to expand...
whoops, misread that.  In my neck of the woods, 2-lane highway means one lane in each direction.  Reading again, it is clear from his use of right lane, left lane that this is 2 lanes going in same direction.  We would call that a 4-lane around here.

In that case, big lesson to learn here would be get over in the left lane if at all possible as you approach the on-ramp...now it sounds like that might not have been possible in this situation, but looking for a  spot to get left well before traffic merges keeps you out of a lot of those situations. 

 
Rubbin's racin' :drive:  

Glad everyone is OK. 

Also, if you have an at-fault accident with only a permit, does it delay when you can get your full-blown license? I've heard rumblings of that around, here but haven't checked to see if that is good intel. 

 
Nathan R. Jessep said:
Rubbin's racin' :drive:  

Glad everyone is OK. 

Also, if you have an at-fault accident with only a permit, does it delay when you can get your full-blown license? I've heard rumblings of that around, here but haven't checked to see if that is good intel. 
Click to expand...
I always thought the responsible licensed driver got the ticket.

 
I pretty much assume any car merging from an on-ramp into my lane is going to be a jackass and not pay any attention to where I am before trying to merge. Only thing you can do is anticipate it happening and make room for them. Good learning experience for your son - an inexperienced driver is just not going to be ready for that. Glad everyone is ok.

 
If the driver on the ramp has a yield sign he has to yield. People in the right lane that move into the left lane to avoid the car entering the highway are wrong and disrupt the flow of traffic. You keep driving in the slow lane, speed up or slow down. You only move to the left if there is no one in the left lane approaching. 

 
Prince Myshkin said:
whoops, misread that.  In my neck of the woods, 2-lane highway means one lane in each direction.  Reading again, it is clear from his use of right lane, left lane that this is 2 lanes going in same direction.  We would call that a 4-lane around here.
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That's the way it is everywhere, you are using the proper terminology. It was obviously a four lane highway and he just worded it poorly.

Glad everyone is ok. "Stuff" can be replaced.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
A little surprised the left lane driver didn’t anticipate that your son was in a bad place and either slow down to let him in or move onto the left shoulder. Not required by law but common sense and anticipation dictates. I’ve avoided tons of accidents where I was in the right. 

 
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