Had a kind of near severe accident experience (1 Viewer)

[TheIronSheik]

Not quite a near death experience.  I mean, I guess it could have been.  But tough to say.

Driving to work this morning on a road I travel every morning.  A back two lane country road.  Just driving along at 35 mph when I come to an intersection.  The crossing road has stop signs, but mine doesn't.  And there are farm houses on the corners, so you can only really see about 10 to 15 yards of the road.  As I'm just about to the intersection, a car probably doing about 50 mph (their speed limit is 25) barrels through the intersection, blowing the stop sign.  

I was still far enough back that I barely had to hit my brakes.  Honestly, I probably could've not hit the brakes and been fine, but I was close enough that hitting the brakes was pure instinct.  If I would have been just a second quicker on that road, that car would've plowed right into my driver's side.  It was weird, because I was literally shaking for the next 15 minutes of my ride.  But it wasn't like I was almost in an accident.  I mean, it was kind of close, but it wasn't like because I took evasive action, I kept myself safe.  

Just weird.  It seems so odd to be shaken up by something that wasn't really that close.  Again, it wasn't not close.  But it wasn't close.  It was in that gray, weird area.  Anyone ever have a similar experience?

 

[culdeus]

Had a guy on a rental electric bike in Austin nearly flatten me as I crossed a road in a crosswalk where he had a red light.  

Still not sure how he didn't either hit me nor not get hit by cross traffic and not completely wipe out doing 30+ with no chance of getting it stopped.  

He missed me by a foot at most and then missed two lanes of cross traffic by seemingly less.  What made it even crazier was he looked back. At me. When entering the intersection and never even saw the cross traffic moving till he was beyond them.  

Shook me up for awhile considering just how many ways that could have gone a lot worse.  

 

[mr roboto]

Yep. It gave me the nerves for a few hours. 

A Semi merged into me. I was in the far left lane on 35W (6 lane freeway in Minneapolis) heading south into downtown in college. Semi was in the middle lane and he wanted to come into the left lane and didn’t see me apparently. Just changed lanes and I was parallel w/his back tires so I had to slam on my brakes and I also turned the wheel to the left. Started heading toward the ditch so over corrected to the right. Got into a nasty back-and-forth of overcorrecting (across 2 busy lanes) and ended up going into the ditch in the middle between the 2 sides of the freeway. But... I missed hitting the end of a guardrail by about 18 inches. Literally, if I would have gone into the ditch another 18 inches farther up I would have probably been skewered on it. 

I was so freaked I just stayed there. I called my boss told him I’d be late and couldn’t move. Cop showed up about 5 minutes later to check on me. No real damage (front plastic bumper was pushed in) but he asked if I thought I could drive cause he saw how shook I was. 

 

[TheIronSheik]

Yep. It gave me the nerves for a few hours. 

A Semi merged into me. I was in the far left lane on 35W (6 lane freeway in Minneapolis) heading south into downtown in college. Semi was in the middle lane and he wanted to come into the left lane and didn’t see me apparently. Just changed lanes and I was parallel w/his back tires so I had to slam on my brakes and I also turned the wheel to the left. Started heading toward the ditch so over corrected to the right. Got into a nasty back-and-forth of overcorrecting (across 2 busy lanes) and ended up going into the ditch in the middle between the 2 sides of the freeway. But... I missed hitting the end of a guardrail by about 18 inches. Literally, if I would have gone into the ditch another 18 inches farther up I would have probably been skewered on it. 

I was so freaked I just stayed there. I called my boss told him I’d be late and couldn’t move. Cop showed up about 5 minutes later to check on me. No real damage (front plastic bumper was pushed in) but he asked if I thought I could drive cause he saw how shook I was. 

Wow.  That seems a little closer to a near death than mine.  I'm sure yours felt like it lasted a lifetime.  That would scare the hell out of me.  Mine lasted a split second.  Didn't know it was coming.  ZOOOOOM!!!!!  Then it was over.  

 

[mr roboto]

Wow.  That seems a little closer to a near death than mine.  I'm sure yours felt like it lasted a lifetime.  That would scare the hell out of me.  Mine lasted a split second.  Didn't know it was coming.  ZOOOOOM!!!!!  Then it was over.  

If it was me now I would never have ditched it. Classic over steering in a skid. 

But yeah - i was already dealing w/some anxiety so this didn’t help. 

 

[Otis]

In my 20s got my motorcycle lesson and a sport bike as I’d always wanted, despite protestations of older and wiser family members.  One chilly fall night I took it out on the Grand Central Parkway, which is just a nasty and congested Queens parkway, to head to a friend’s house.  My helmet fogged up a bit in the weather, and I couldn’t see very well. I also didn’t know the road or route very well—was my first time going there.  I got confused at a point where the road splits, and it becomes two stone overpasses with basically a stone wall between them. I ended up right in the middle, and I could feel the road surface get bumpy due to the Belgian block divider. I finally realized what was happening and a quick look to me right, saw the lights of a Mack truck, but had no choice as there’s no way I could have stopped in time. Instinctively hit the gas, slipped between the stone wall divider and just ahead of the tractor trailer. It was the nearest I’ve ever come to dying. I got off at the next exit and from my friend’s house took side streets all the way home, despite it adding a ton of time onto the trip. I’d have walked it home if I could have.

Put it up for sale the next day. Haven’t ridden since. I concluded those things are just too deadly, and it’s not worth the risk. If I want to go fast, I’ll get a sports car. I did exactly that a few months later and picked up a new BMW M3. Blast of a car. And wasn’t putting my head at risk of career-ending or perhaps life-ending trauma every time I got into it. 

As is usually the case, my parents were right. 

 

[Otis]

I should note, I was a crappy rider, not naturally inclined, and too inexperienced for the situation I was in, especially on such a fast bike. It was amazing that I could maneuver out of it, but it still amazes me how time slowed for a few seconds there. Probably 5 out of 10 times I end up pancaked into the wall or under the truck. 

 

[mr roboto]

Yeah I’m never getting a motorcycle. I know myself too well. 

 

[Ron Swanson]

In my 20s got my motorcycle lesson and a sport bike as I’d always wanted, despite protestations of older and wiser family members.  One chilly fall night I took it out on the Grand Central Parkway, which is just a nasty and congested Queens parkway, to head to a friend’s house.  My helmet fogged up a bit in the weather, and I couldn’t see very well. I also didn’t know the road or route very well—was my first time going there.  I got confused at a point where the road splits, and it becomes two stone overpasses with basically a stone wall between them. I ended up right in the middle, and I could feel the road surface get bumpy due to the Belgian block divider. I finally realized what was happening and a quick look to me right, saw the lights of a Mack truck, but had no choice as there’s no way I could have stopped in time. Instinctively hit the gas, slipped between the stone wall divider and just ahead of the tractor trailer. It was the nearest I’ve ever come to dying. I got off at the next exit and from my friend’s house took side streets all the way home, despite it adding a ton of time onto the trip. I’d have walked it home if I could have.

Put it up for sale the next day. Haven’t ridden since. I concluded those things are just too deadly, and it’s not worth the risk. If I want to go fast, I’ll get a sports car. I did exactly that a few months later and picked up a new BMW M3. Blast of a car. And wasn’t putting my head at risk of career-ending or perhaps life-ending trauma every time I got into it. 

As is usually the case, my parents were right. 

I was a 10-15,000 mile a year rider for about 10 years in my mid 20's to mid 30's.  Sold all my bikes after I got TOO comfortable and had a couple near misses in City traffic caused by my lack of complete attention. Still miss it but don't trust myself.

 

[stbugs]

A guy hit a brick pillar that was the top of the street marker for my neighborhood growing up. Died on the scene and my friends and I saw the aftermath (no body). Pretty sure none of us have ever ridden a motorcycle. In a car, pretty good accident. On a bike, no chance of surviving.

 

[tri-man 47]

Years ago I was driving on an expressway outside of Chicago.  I had seen a bit of debris on the road, but didn't think much of it.  Got a little further along, riding in the left lane with a Yellow Freight truck ahead of me a bit in the right lane.   All of a sudden, half of a brake shoe comes out from under the truck and two hops right into my windshield.  I had the A/C on, so the car was closed up, and when the brake shoe punctured part of the windshield, there as an explosion of small glass pieces throughout the interior of my car.  Fortunately, I had sunglasses on (and none of the glass cut me).  After the initial shock, I somehow had the wherewithal to get back to speed, catch up to the truck and signal for him to pull over.  When we did, I found that the brake shoe was heavy enough (15 lbs?) that after hitting the windshield, it came to rest on the roof of my car ...it was too heavy to blow or bounce away.  Trucker felt horrible about it, and we exchanged information.  I was able to slowly drive myself home (another 45 minutes) and proceed to drink copious amounts of scotch.  Maybe a year later, a near-identical accident happened in Chicago, but the brake shoe struck a slightly different spot, went into the car, and killed a woman.

 

[parasaurolophus]

Yeah I’m never getting a motorcycle. I know myself too well. 

Owned one for one week. Rode it twice. Quickly learned that somebody who grew up riding motorcycles in the desert quite regularly should not own one on the streets. 

 

[parasaurolophus]

Years ago I was driving on an expressway outside of Chicago.  I had seen a bit of debris on the road, but didn't think much of it.  Got a little further along, riding in the left lane with a Yellow Freight truck ahead of me a bit in the right lane.   All of a sudden, half of a brake shoe comes out from under the truck and two hops right into my windshield.  I had the A/C on, so the car was closed up, and when the brake shoe punctured part of the windshield, there as an explosion of small glass pieces throughout the interior of my car.  Fortunately, I had sunglasses on (and none of the glass cut me).  After the initial shock, I somehow had the wherewithal to get back to speed, catch up to the truck and signal for him to pull over.  When we did, I found that the brake shoe was heavy enough (15 lbs?) that after hitting the windshield, it came to rest on the roof of my car ...it was too heavy to blow or bounce away.  Trucker felt horrible about it, and we exchanged information.  I was able to slowly drive myself home (another 45 minutes) and proceed to drink copious amounts of scotch.  Maybe a year later, a near-identical accident happened in Chicago, but the brake shoe struck a slightly different spot, went into the car, and killed a woman.

This happened a couple years ago to a man that lived near me. I didnt know him, but I had run by his house countless times. They never found what truck it came from.