Skettios

How about a thread where we can discuss our near death experiences?

I'll start.

I was on Interstate 96 today, headed home to Grand Rapids, after a long day of substitute teaching. I have a 1993 Infiniti J30, rear wheel drive, with tires that had gotten pretty bald since I moved to colder climates, and got stuck all of the time.

I was going 75 mph, passing a slow moving van on a curve, in slushy weather, when I realized the car wasn't responding to me. I couldn't turn the wheel, I was hydroplaning at 70mph straight into the ditch. My life didn't flash before my eyes, in fact, I"m not even sure what happened, all I know is that I tried to brake, and steer the wheel so that I didn't hit the lane of oncoming traffic. I slid straight through the grassy median, almost into the traffic going the other way, and then did straightened the car out, and came to rest on the embankment on the side of the road I started out on.

I got out of the car, thought about crying, decided not to, instead looked at the car. It appeared to be okay. I walked up the road to see the mile marker I had just passed, and called 911. I almost broke down on the phone with the 911 operator, but she kept me talking. She called me a wrecker, I called my dad to let him know what happened, and got a credit card number for the wrecker.

The truck showed up, and pulled me out of the ditch, I drove 55 in a 70 the rest of an hour back to Grand Rapids, then spent the rest of the night fielding calls from relatives.

The car's fine, I'm fine,

It's just now hitting me that I could be dead right now.

Has anyone else been in this situation? Please share your stories in this thread.

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Stare At The Sun

Sure have. I flipped my truck going 75, however, for me, my life did flash before my eyes. And time seemed to move really slowly as I was crashing. The sounds were so overpowering, the crushing metal, the glass shattering, the cars going by. It was to say the least...intense.

I walked away w/o a scratch though. But i know where you're coming from.

SecretMethod70

eek, glad to hear you're OK. Thankfully I can't share any similar experiences really. I'd definitely get new tires ASAP though.

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spectre

I've been there a few times. Had surgery that I was told would either kill me or leave me a quadriplegic. Spent a month in intensive care and was told that there really wasn't anything they could do that was likely to keep me alive.

As I'm sure you're aware by now Skettios, coming close to dying tends to change your perspective on a lot of things. And I'm glad to hear that you're okay after that.

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irseg

Not trying to sound mean, but you were going 75 mph in slush with bald tires. What were you expecting?!

A friend of mine has had 3 different incidents where he was driving on a snowy road, then someone would pass him and spin out. Two went into a ditch, one went into his front bumper. That guy was lucky the road was so slick, as my friend's Buick punted his little Dodge a hundred feet down the road rather than crashing through his driver-side door.

hannukah harry

i T-boned a guard rail going 65 on the expressway. it was early on jan 20, cold, but no snow on the ground. i was going through a curving exchange between m-14 and us-23, hit a patch of black ice, lost control and BAM! flipped, and landed in a ditch. no life flashing before my eyes. nothing more than "oh shit, i just totaled moms car" when i landed. oh, and "hope i don't freeze to death". my cell phone got destroyed when the door crushed into my leg. i made a splint for my broken leg and a tourniquet for where the bone broke the skin. nothing too exciting. someone stopped about 20 minutes after the accident happened.

it was an "act of god" for me. you might want to look into new tires...

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Cynthetiq

I'm surpised I survived some of the stupid things I did as a youngster, young man, and even somethings as an adult. All of which made me wiser to the fact that life is precious.

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InTeGrA77

I agree...I used to have bald tires. And when I say bald, I mean BALD! The wire netting was sticking out of them, and it was in the middle of the winter. I don't think that I got above 35-40 in shitty weather.

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Averett

Glad to hear you're okay!

3 years ago my boyfriend at the time was driving my dad's car when he fell asleep at the wheel (not the first or last time he's done that). We hit a small retaining wall. He was fine, of course, and I broke my left arm above the elbow, left leg, and had a gash above my left eye from hitting the rear view mirror. Had to have surgery. I now have a metal plate running up my arm with screws holding it it in place. I also have a plate in my leg with screws, and two pins on the other side of my ankle. 40 staples to close the wound, don't know how many sitches to close the gash above my eye. If I didn't have my seatbelt on I would have gone through the windshield. And we were only going 40mph if that.

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Pacifier

This brings up a question, on my trip to the US i saw a lot more "crappy" cars than here in germany, not only when it comes to tires. Is that legal? do you have something like the "Technical Inspection Agency" that controls the cars from time to time?
Driving with bald tires would be illegal here in germany, so I'm just wondering.

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Averett

Some states have yearly inspections. I think that there are a few who don't do that.

I just got new tires. Good thing too, we just had a nice snow storm and those new tires really helped.

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kutulu

In Arizona all you need is you emissions test and that's only in Maricopa County and that is only applicable after the car is five years old. Everywhere else, if you can make it move, you can dirve it anywhere....

It's a nice proactive safety policy

irseg

It varies dramatically from state to state. In Maryland, my car flunked for things like having a few drops of condensation in a headlight, a burned out foglight (nevermind that most cars don't have fogs and you're not supposed to use them in normal driving anyway!), and a serpentine belt that was perfectly fine but the idiot mechanic claimed was dry rotted.

When I moved to Florida, I found that the "inspection" consisted of a DMV guy walking out and making sure the VIN number on the car matched the one I put on the papers. I love the south.

skysooner

Yes several times in fact.

In 1986, I was in a car with my girlfriend and we were just about to go through an intersection when a car crossed the red light in front of us. We hit the car going 40 mph but luckily kind of rolled off of it. We both weren't wearing seat belts. We were both lucky to get out with only a few broken bones.

In 1995, I was in the middle of an ice-filled highway with cars on my right and in front and back. The car two cars in front started spinning out. The next car spun out. It started a chain reaction with about 8 cars in the ditch. I couldn't really do anything but go forward and luckily I wasn't touched. That one wasn't really that much of a near death but it scared me.

Three years ago I was in Cancun with my wife, and we were trying to swim to a sand bar off-shore. The tide was pulling us sideways quite fast, and the sand bar was angling away from us. I was only about 15 feet from the edge of it when I just reached a point where I couldn't go any farther. My wife had made the sandbar and had to turn around to get me. I was just floating. She tried to yell for help but most of the people around us didn't speak English. Finally they figured out what was happening and all I could do was just try and relax enough so I didn't pull them down with me. They pulled me to shore and I had to stay on the edge of the surf for about 45 minutes before I could move. That was probably the scariest as I had basically almost given up, and it seemed to take forever.

drawerfixer

Woot woot! 1993 Infiniti J30 with shitty tires pride! I'm in the same boat as you. It's good to hear that no human harm came from the accident, and hopefully you will be driving your sport sedan again soon.

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zelda

Uhm,
Going 70 mph with bald tires on a wet surface bad.

you okay good

synic213

Same thing happened to me! I was off the coast of California, got caught up in a rip current and was slowly being dragged out to sea. I soon ran out of energy and had pretty much succumbed to my fate when my older cousin swam out and saved me. It was at this moment that I realised that I didn't have complete control over my own life (in the sense that I could not have saved myself if I had wanted too), and that my life in part depended upon the will of those people around me.

Averett

I've been caught in rip tides a few times. 3 times in Myrtle Beach (that beach is out to get me) and once in San Diego. It's no fun at all.

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twilightfoix

i was going around a turn in my '92 nissan sentra, doing about 55(speed limit was 45). when all of a sudden the back slid out and i jumped the curb. prolly would've died if there was traffic going the other way but luckly it was stopped at a red light at the other end of the curve. no damage to my car, no damage to anyone else, and no property damage, cept for some skid marks in the grass. now that i look back on it, i was so fucking lucky. that was my life.

twilightfoix

my boy esoteric got a story even better than that. hope he sees this thread and posts.

amonkie

I was going into a bookstore when a car pulled into a parking space directly in front of the entrance, and then decided to keep going, smashing into the front doors and going about 10 feet inside the store. I managed to get away with a bruise/bump on my head from the flying door and shaken nerves.

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Skettios

Awesome dude! I love my sport sedan so much that today I maxxed out my credit cards to buy it some new Yokohama T4s to replace the rear ones.

Amonkie,

That's crazy like something out of a movie.

Spectre, you're very right. Today was a nice day, and I've been practicing safe driving for most of it.

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degrawj

man. that sounds like a pretty freaking scarry incident. i'm glad you're okay though man. and seriously, even if the car had gotten majorly damaged, as long as your're okay, that's really all that matters.

Luki

It had been snowing, really bad, and my friend was driving. In order to get to his house you have to folow a road around the edge of a very steep hill.

Well, like I said it had been snowing really bad. And as he tapped the brakes it did nothing. The first thing I said was something like "shouldn't you be slowing down some?" I was trying not to be a back seat driver.

"I am." he told me, and a moment later the car slid into the other lane and into the guard rail. Needless to say we were both freaking out.

Finally his car got traction and we slowed to a stop, we both got out of the car and checked it out. We were both very lucky there was no one coming in the other lane.

It was freaky, and I wouldn't mind doing it again if it weren't for the fact there was an almost dead drop on the other side of the guard rail....

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Esoteric

Heh, glad to know you're all okay. My story involves myself and my cousin. We were driving a Camaro Z28 and doing 95 mph when the accident happened. We were coming up to a yellow light and another car was waiting at the intersection for his green. The light turned red and the car waiting got his green and started driving. My cousin swerved too early so that he could avoid hitting the car and the rear left tire hit a sewer drainage. The car flew into the air, landed on my side first and rolled 3 times. We would've kept rolling but the car got stuck on a telephone pole. I was wearing my seatbelt and I had to be on crutches for about a week for a bruised foot bone. My cousin wasn't wearing his seatbelt and he came out with some scratches and that's about it. The cops when they arrived said we were VERY lucky to be alive. I believe him...

Also, I have a few pictures of the car if anyone would like to see them.

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Bossnass

In a 93 mazda mx3 precidia. I had just dropped off a friend and was trying a new route that would have taken me back to my parent's place. I was driving at about 1130 pm on a somewhat unfamiliar gravel road at about 70 kmh (local limit being 80 unless otherwise posted). I just crested a small hill and saw a deer in front of me. I swerved to miss the deer, hit his friend with the car at 45 degrees, swung into the ditch where my back tires immediatly hit the embankment for a field-access approach.

I don't know how many times I rolled, best guess it 2.5 and spin. I'm not sure how long I was knocked out, but long enough for my blood to pool and mostly cover the dome light. I was upside down, covered in blood, and I had no idea where I was. I eventually kicked out the remaining portion of the passengerside window. At about 4:00, after limping, stumbling, and passing out, crawling, I made it to a farmer's house. Scared the hell of the old guy. He took me to the hospital.

Wrote off the car, the tow truck driver was sure it was a fatality, as did the RCMP officer the contacted my parents shortly after the farmer did. Six stitches on top of my head where my head and the back of the seat stopped the roof of the car from caving in. Uncountable scrapes and cuts. Huge concusion for weeks. Pissed blood for weeks too. But hey, anything you can walk away from, right?

Best part was, the insurance company didn't beleive me that I wasn't drinking (I was 17, it was a Friday) and that there was a deer. Fortunatly, my mom had taken pictures of the trashed car, the dead deer, and the literal trail of scuffs and blood leading away from it.

TopRamen66

Wow, this thread is right on time. I almost died tonight as well. I was driving my Baja Bug down to the river this afternoon, when the tire separated from the rim, sent me out of control, flipped over once on the road, the THREE times down steep hill, landing against some trees. I'm glad to be on the TFP right now...

aurigus

Reading these stories makes me feel like I'm a boring driver. Closest I've come to an accident was trying to make a right turn on a gravelly road and there was a car waiting to turn... almost t-boned her but stopped about 1 foot away. Should have seen the look in her eyes...

I always drive pretty close to the speed limit and I drive safely during snow and rain. I guess I'm just paranoid.

icksters

My mom and I were coming home from NYC, and we were on a highway that had 4 lanes. We were in the furthest right lane (slow lane) and she wanted to pass some body, so she signals left, checks her blind spot and all that, and as shes moving across the lane this car comes out of the lane furthest to the left and got in the lane that we were switching to, we almost got side swiped. My mom, as an instinct, slammed her brakes and she must have turned the wheel, it happened so fast I dont remember, all I remember is that the car was perpendicular to on coming traffic, across the 2 middle lanes and you could see the cars behind us slamming their brakes because their wheels were smoking. My mom got over to the shoulder and we just looked at eachother and almost cried. we just sat there for about 5 minutes, gained composure, I offered to drive, but she was ok. That was the scariest moment of my life, you really dont know how much we take things for granted, that definately made me realize.

KUGR

Dont think I have ever had a near death experience actually,

BTW - Props on being from the best city in Michigan! I also hail from the great GR

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ladyadmin

I use extreme caution when driving on any road conditions. The speed limit was 45mph, I was going 25 - 30mph due to two inches of fresh snow. I went to turn a corner and the car wouldn't come under my control and spun out doing 360 degrees in the opposite lane that I was driving in. When the car stopped spinning I was faced head-on with oncoming traffic. I was fortunate that the traffic was far enough away that they slowed down and allowed me to get into the appropriate lane.

I've missed a stop sign/light only twice and both times scared me straight. It's never smart to be distracted while driving and I've learned my lesson.

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VF19

I was bored on a long road trip a year ago, and I wrapped my seatbelt around my neck in a position where it could not slip off, and if I tried too hard it would break my neck. I didnt notice and we stopped I unbuckled but that made it worse I tried to go out the door but it was like I was getting hanged. Luckily my buddy had a knife on him :-D

Its a bit ironic that all these involve water or cars.

Podmore

I was coming home from a party not far from downtown Los Angeles and it was just starting a misty drizzle. I started the change from one freeway to another and, halfway over the left-curving interchange, my just started to go sideways towards the rail on my right. I had good tires, but it was the first rain of the year and the roads had a good layer of built-up oil and grease. I tried turning into the skid, like I had been taught, but that was taking me straight to the guard rail, with another freeway 20 feet below.

I really thought that was going to be it for me. But I did manage to get the car to drift left a bit. My front left tire drifted a bit onto the left shoulder, which was much rougher and not slick. That was enough to make it grab and the rear of my car swung around, making the right side of my car slam into the left guard rail, with me facing the wrong way on an LA freeway. Luckily for me it was in the wee hours of the morning on a weekend, so there wasn't much traffic. I was able to put it into reverse and get off the interchange so that I had enough room to make a fast U-turn. No damage to me or the car, but my heart was going so fast that my ears were literally ringing.

onodrim

When I was younger, I apparently tried jumping into a pool before I could swim, and I also ran in front of cars a few times. I wasn't trying to get myself killed, but I certainly could have. Good thing I apparently have such good luck.

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rockzilla

When I was 9 or 10, my mom was driving me somewhere in freezing rain. The roads were pretty icy, and we slid into an intersection at the bottom of a hill when we had a red light. The pickup truck in the oncoming lane was able brake early enough to only lightly bump into the driver's side, scared me, my mom and the other driver shitless.

Glad to hear you were as lucky as I was.

tangledweb

Tough rips are pretty standard at Myrtle Beach. I go there several times a year (3 hour drive) and I won't even swim there anymore.


As far as near-death goes, I am amazed that I survived my teen years at all. I have a very deep appreciation of waking up every single day and being able to roll out of bed...

Jam

if the car was fine, and you were fine... why did you call 911... whats the emergency? isnt 911 for emergencies? too many people abuse that.. if everything is all good and the cops need to be called then call the cops... not 911..

anyways glad to hear your ok

Poloboy

Last summer I was driving home on the highway ('88 Volvo but it has a '98 turbo engine because the old one burned out apparently) and I was making my exit off the right of the highway. It was a double exit lane, and I was in the left-hand one, closer to the main lanes that continue as the actual highway. I was going about 170 km/h (106mph) and was the only car in either of the exit lanes for some distance and I had plenty of time to brake before the upcoming light. I started braking slowly and was going about 160 km/h when a homeless guy on a bicycle on the side of the highway, taking the exit, decided he no longer wanted to take the exit and would rather continue with the highway. He was about 80 feet away. Without looking over his shoulder to see if any cars are coming, he swerves perpendicular to the exit lanes and begins crossing them, empty bottles and cans falling out of assorted baggage all the while.

Well, him being ~25m away, me going 160 km/h, gave me less than two thirds of a second to make a decision. Like I said I was in the left of the two exit lanes, and he was about half-way through the right hand lane with a plethora of recyclables in a halo around him. Since he was aimed where I was aimed, and certainly wasn't going to be able to stop and back up at any reasonable rate, I made the decision to swerve right, heading for the hopefully-soon-to-be-empty right-hand exit lane and the shoulder. Swerving left wasn't really feasible since there were cars in the main highway lanes and there wasn't much between me and them. E-braking wasn't an option, because my hand brake cable tension was shot, I knew it wasn't working.

I tried a gentle swerve to the right, and it worked ok, I was heading behind the drunk asshole nomad. I was also heading toward the shoulder at about 45 degrees though, and along the side of the shoulder is a high concrete wall since it's an uphill exit lane. Needless to say, I overcorrected when I steered left, ended up spinning 900 degrees and was sitting in the space of striped lines between the exit lanes and the main highway lanes, inches from the giant barrels of sand and facing, head-on, the traffic I had just been in. About half a meter farther and I would have been in the middle of it.

Here's the clincher - my windows and sunroof were open, because it was a hot summer day, and as the homeless fuck finished riding across the lanes and continued down the highway, he looked in and started laughing at me, grinning his 3-tooth grin. I wanted to get out of my car and push him into some more traffic, maybe one person can dodge him but surely a few dozen couldn't.

Granted I should have seen the wobbling hobo and guessed he would do something erratic, but I learned from it and haven't gone over 110 km/h since.

Jam

what the fuck were you doing taking an exit at 160... jesus christ obvioisly the police need to be harsher on insane drivers... its a fucking exit... the limits like 50 and they usualy turn...

Nhanced1

That's all true, but that 160 was in kilometers per hour, and that probably means that Poloboy isn't in the states where we have silly limits like the 35mph limit on a six lane road here in Tucson. Perhaps he was driving on the autobhan?

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