# So I was in a car accident yesterday
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-a-car-accident-yesterday/146633
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [January 4, 2003, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-a-car-accident-yesterday/146633 "2003-01-04T17:50:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Vanyel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vanyel)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2003, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-a-car-accident-yesterday/146633/1 "2003-01-04T17:50:04Z")
Yes, that’s right, **Vanyel** was in an accident yesterday. I’m not (seriously) hurt, and neither is anyone one else, since I was the only one involved. All I’ve got are a few bruises, and a case of nerves. Here’s how it happened:
I was driving to work yesterday morning (well, 10:30 is still in the morning), and was cruising along in the left lane of I-71. It was snowing, and the wind was blowing the snow around so it was hard to see very far ahead. All of a sudden, a truck appeared in front of me going much slower than I was (~65mph), so I hit the brakes and tried to swerve around it. I started to slide, and ended up doing a complete 360° spin! Remember, I was in the left lane when this started. So I slid across 4 lanes while spinning around, and slammed into the concrete barrier in the right side of the freeway with the rear of the van (a '91 Toyota Previa, in case you were wondering). I think I might have blanked out a few seconds, because the next thing I knew, I was sitting still, with the van facing forwards; my glasses were gone, my seatbelt was off, and I was a bit dazed. I believe the seatbelt must have released, because I was certainly wearing it at the crash, or else I took it off and don’t remember. Anyways, I managed to get the cell phone out of the glove compartment, and tried to call 911. “NO SIGNAL”. So I tried again, and it eventually got through. I explained what had happenned, and they connected me to the Cleveland PD, but I was cut off while talking ot the PD. “CALL FAILED”. Great. Eventually, a very nice man pulled over (note: thank you very very very much, whoever you were!) and helped me get the van all the way off the road. He was going to give me a ride to the nearest payphone, but just then the police showed up. They wanted me to drive to the next exit so they could get some information from me, but I didn’t have my glasses, so I couldn’t see! One of them looked in the van, and said “Well, here they are!”, like he was thinking “why didn’t you just pick them up? (because I couldn’t see my glasses without wearing my glasses!)”. They took down my information there, though, and I didn’t get cited. I went on to work, and went to my grandma’s after work, since she lives close by, and my dad was coming down. We left it there overnight, and are going to see if we can get a temporary fix today to drive it back home.
The van is driveable, but I wouldn’t want to drive it across town. The back bumper is hanging by a few bits, and the muffler is almost falling off. The back door is bent upwards some, so it doesn’t close all the way. The lights all work, so that’s good. It doesn’t accelerate very smoothly, and it’s a lot louder (well, the muffler is mostly gone, so that’s not a huge surprise.) Still, I’m OK, and we’ll just have to see what happens with whether it can be repaired. I was just lucky there was no traffic coming, since I slid across 4 lanes!
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### Author:  [@irkenDoom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irkenDoom)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2003, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-a-car-accident-yesterday/146633/2 "2003-01-04T17:57:45Z")
Yeah, I-71 can be pretty terrifying in conditions like that. Christmas day, I was returning home from my parents’ house (in Orrville, about 20 min from Akron) on the way to see my fiancee’s family in North Ridgeville, and a Camaro spun out across four lanes, two cars in front of me. Luckily, noone was hit, but traffic was pretty heavy, considering the abnormally slow speed it was travelling at.
Glad to hear you’re okay, **Vanyel**.
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### Author:  [@Marconi\_Schmeese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marconi_Schmeese)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2003, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-a-car-accident-yesterday/146633/3 "2003-01-04T18:04:50Z")
Vanyel, I’m so glad you are okay. We were just in an [accident](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=147083), too - here are pictures of our [car](http://www.twinturbo.net/net/viewmsg.aspx?forum=general&msg_id=731338). It was awful. I feel for you!
{{Vanyel}}
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### Author:  [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2003, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-a-car-accident-yesterday/146633/4 "2003-01-04T18:09:49Z")
I did a 360 on an icy highway once, and I was just going about 15 MPH when I went into the spin - it still scared the beedoobies outta me! Glad you’re OK. Moral of the story - don’t drive faster than visibility allows - ya just never know.
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### Author:  [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2003, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-a-car-accident-yesterday/146633/5 "2003-01-04T18:09:57Z")
There must be something in the air (or water)…I was [directly involved in an SUV rollover on New Year’s Day](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=153885), although thankfully no one was hurt and my truck wasn’t touched.
It’s the kind of adrenalin rush we all could do without. As other posters told me, take a nice sit in a hot tub and watch something funny on TV. 🙂 Glad you’re okay.
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### Author:  [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2003, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-a-car-accident-yesterday/146633/6 "2003-01-04T19:05:31Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Vanyel \*
> \*\*They took down my information there, though, and I didn’t get cited. \*\*
You will probably get a surprise in the mail in the next few weeks. The officer was probably very busy but when he does his daily log he will have time to write a citation. This is a common method of citing folks involved in non injury single car accidents. Hate to be the bearer of bad news.
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### Author:  [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2003, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-a-car-accident-yesterday/146633/7 "2003-01-04T20:01:31Z")
I tell the GF when its snowing : " remember you can’t drive your normal speed now, you need to slow down" This stems from when she almost slid into cross traffic in snowy/icy conditions,she aproached a stop sign at her normal speed for dry roads.(I needed to change my bloomers on that one)
I catch myself also wanting to do the speed limit,when conditions dictate at least 5-10 or 15 MPH _under_…
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### Author:  [@Vanyel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vanyel)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2003, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-a-car-accident-yesterday/146633/8 "2003-01-04T21:42:55Z")
I’ll be getting some pics up in a little bit…
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### Author:  [@Vanyel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vanyel)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2003, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-a-car-accident-yesterday/146633/9 "2003-01-04T21:58:25Z")
OK, pics are up. They’re pretty low quality, but what can you expect from a $20 digital camera?
[pics](http://vanyel.teemingmillions.com/van/van.html)
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### Author:  [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2003, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-in-a-car-accident-yesterday/146633/10 "2003-01-04T23:36:54Z")
I’m glad you are alright. Just think of January 3, 2003 as the day you got a second shot at life. Easy date to remember: 1.2.3
( My Second Shot At Life anniversary is : June 5, 2001. Walked away from a head on collision I caused. Totaled two cars. What Fun! I’ve enjoyed every donut so much more since then.)