My wife's ride after my daughter parked it creatively...

[HimileS15]

"Daddy I had an accident!"
"Are you hurt?"
"There's a lot of blood..."

I drove the twelve miles to the accident scene in about eight minutes, and found this:

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d19/mmd_ns/wreck3.jpg

A closer look:

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d19/mmd_ns/wreck7.jpg

By the time I got there, Gwyn had been taken to the local hospital, so I rushed there and walked in to the emergency ward to see this:

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d19/mmd_ns/Gwyninemergencyroom.jpg

But it turned out that she only had a sore neck and a cut on her finger. The girl with her had a nasty gash on her leg (source of all the blood) that required a dozen or so stitches to close. Pretty lucky girls.

"I'm OK, Dad."

Whew!

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d19/mmd_ns/GwyninemergencyroombutOK.jpg

[fastSdime]

WOW! I'm glad she is okay! How did it happen? I don't see a road in any of them pictures?
Ohhh take that back you were standing on the road. LOL

[Cameo_S10]

Lucky girl...Glad she's OK!:D

[dt4ts3]

glad everyone's ok. That could have been a ton worse. I've got a son close to driving age, it scares the hell out of me.

[HimileS15]

Gwyn was driving down a narrow, twisty country road at 80 kph (50 mph) and entered a sharp left-hand turn. A car coming the other way was crowding the centreline, so Gwyn moved to her right. The passenger side wheels dropped off the pavement onto the shoulder, which was about 6"-8" below road level , forming a sort of curb. (Poor highway maintenance - there was a similar accident in the same location the next weekend, in which a young lady was badly injured. The shoulder was repaired two days later.) When she attempted to come back on the road she over-corrected and veered left, hit a bad bump in the centre of the road off-line and barrel-rolled into the hinterland.

From what the accident investigator and I pieced together from witnesses and measurements, she rolled a bit more than 360 degrees mid-air initially, landed in the ditch on the right front quarter, pitch-poled mid-air once with a half-twist, landed facing the way she had just come from (now travelling backwards), then barrel rolled one-and-a-half times more, coming to rest upside down and leaning against a very large tree stump.

There are three impact points made during the tumbling (you can see one in the foreground of the first picture), each one within inches of either large granite boulders or large tree stumps. Had the vehicle deviated from its path by a few inches, those obstacles would have entered the cab and the story would not have ended so well.

Although the primary cause of the accident was outside influence (the on-coming car) and poor road condition, inexperience played a significant part in this accident as well. Gwyn had only been driving for about 10 months, so wasn't well-skilled at reacting to an emergency situation. She didn't know how to react to a violent, high-speed direction change. Maybe I could have recovered unscathed, but maybe not. And how do you teach these skills in a normal driving environment?

[fastSdime]

You can't. Believe me my son is only 3 and I'm already worried about him driving due to he is just like me. And when I was young I was bulletproof or at least I thought so. And it sucks that it takes 2 accidents for them to fix that road! Hopefully people will start complaining about the shoulders in that area when they start to go bad.

[lucy_blue_93]

that sucks, but im glad they were ok. it could have been alot worse. they were lucky. my mom was scared about me drivin when i first started, but now its not as bad as it use to be.

[HimileS15]

Hey, lucy blue 93, the truck in your avatar looks a lot like mine. What izzit, and can you post a bigger pic?

[Mikz86TA]

Not a good call to get. But lucky for her she wasnt hurt any worse.
Glad shes OK.

[lucy_blue_93]

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj107/lucy_blue_93/truck1.jpg
its a 93 s10. this is what it looks like now.

[LowSDime97]

wow thats a very nasty wreck there, def. glad everyone turned out ok!

[bespurcell]

Wow! Glad no one was hurt.

[plant.one]

First... i'm glad everyone made it out with nothing more than some stiches and a few bumps and bruises! God love them chevy's!


Although the primary cause of the accident was outside influence (the on-coming car) and poor road condition, inexperience played a significant part in this accident as well. Gwyn had only been driving for about 10 months, so wasn't well-skilled at reacting to an emergency situation. She didn't know how to react to a violent, high-speed direction change. Maybe I could have recovered unscathed, but maybe not. And how do you teach these skills in a normal driving environment?

Probably the best thing you can do is to re-create some less than normal traction conditions and use a little speed and teach her how to be used to a vehicle in a bit of a slide. Obivously.. its going to be nearly impossible to react to everythign in a training scenerio... within safety margins at least.

In my family we were all taught how to respond to less-than-ideal situations on the frozen lakes here in michigan winters and (later with a little more expierence) on the back gravel roads. I had my firest experence with this around the age of 13 on Houghton Lake...i was also allowed to drive on the hayfileds in the winter with snow coverage before i had my liscence.

If you dont live in an area with snow and frozen lakes... find someone who has a nice smooth ASPHALT parking lot and find out if they'll let ya wet it down and put some dish soap out. Again.. in the effort of reducing some traction and allowing to learn how to respond to less than ideal road conditions... it can sometimes be helpful. We use this method here to practice/teach drifting during the summer months without tearing up tires/axels, etc hehehehe

Mind you.. none of this would actually simulate whats going on with this peticular accident.. but it can begin to teach some awareness as to correcting these types of issues correctly. You may also wish to contact your local (if any) racing orgnizations to see if they offer any advanced driving courses for a more closed track enviroment.

HTH.

[Zygoat]

geez man, that was a really bad wreck, ive been in a few in these trucks and know some others that were in really bad ones as well, these things are tanks. and i promise i didn't mind the bad fuel economy when i was hit and ended up in a 3 car pile up on the highway. im sure you feel the same way, and are glad she wasn't in a prius when it happened. glad she is ok, thats nutz!

and i second the above, you have to teach them to drive in crazy conditions so that when something comes up they can be ready, thats why when i was learning i was always looking for places to "safely" push the envelope and learn.

racing schools and other such places are perfect places, that are safe to push the limits and learn what to do when "you don't have time to think about it"

[oldS10dude]

I'm glad shes OK ... shame about the car

tell your little girl that the brace on her head is not very fashionable ;) :D

[crazzyyredneck]

Woah glad every1s ok

[HimileS15]

She's all better now, a better driver for it, and about to graduate high school in the top 2% of the grad class. She has been offered scholarships at several noted Canadian universities and is set to win enough academic awards, bursaries and scholarships that her first year of university will be paid for. She intends to study marine biology with the future goal of researching the impact of climate change and human activities on coastal mammals in the high arctic. We are, of course, very proud of her. Here she is being silly in her grad photo, taken about a month ago:

http://s32.photobucket.com/albums/d19/mmd_ns/th_sillyone.jpg

['94 Big Blaze]

wow im glad everything worked out...soo about the blazer whats gonna become of the vehicle getting another or what ?

[HimileS15]

Big Blaze, the Jimmy has gone to the Great Crusher In The Sky. I instructed my wife (I was, and still am, on contract to a shipyard about 150 miles from home so I am away through the working week) to buy it back from the insurance company after they declared it a write-off, but she didn't. I wanted the motor, seats, & other selected bits to put in my S15, but that ain't gonna happen now.

We replaced it with a car - Maureen doesn't need as large a vehicle now that Gwyn is about to go off to university and she no longer coaches at the school where she teaches. Got us a go-faster car, too; a 3.5 litre Nissan Altima with all the factory go-fast options and a few extra to boot. Running about 290-300 hp in what looks like an upscale grocery-getter. Fun car.

[jspear]

Glad to hear everyone is ok, that looked like quite the bounce! As for the Jimmy, I'm also sorry to hear that you couldn't salvage any of the goodies.

['94 Big Blaze]

Big Blaze, the Jimmy has gone to the Great Crusher In The Sky. I instructed my wife (I was, and still am, on contract to a shipyard about 150 miles from home so I am away through the working week) to buy it back from the insurance company after they declared it a write-off, but she didn't. I wanted the motor, seats, & other selected bits to put in my S15, but that ain't gonna happen now.

We replaced it with a car - Maureen doesn't need as large a vehicle now that Gwyn is about to go off to university and she no longer coaches at the school where she teaches. Got us a go-faster car, too; a 3.5 litre Nissan Altima with all the factory go-fast options and a few extra to boot. Running about 290-300 hp in what looks like an upscale grocery-getter. Fun car.
ohh soo you got one of those go fast cars huh...

Stillen is your friend with a nissan..i hate to work on nissan's replaced the engine in a 350Z and twin turbo'ed it...man i hated that car..lol

[fastSdime]

Big Blaze, the Jimmy has gone to the Great Crusher In The Sky. I instructed my wife (I was, and still am, on contract to a shipyard about 150 miles from home so I am away through the working week) to buy it back from the insurance company after they declared it a write-off, but she didn't. I wanted the motor, seats, & other selected bits to put in my S15, but that ain't gonna happen now.

We replaced it with a car - Maureen doesn't need as large a vehicle now that Gwyn is about to go off to university and she no longer coaches at the school where she teaches. Got us a go-faster car, too; a 3.5 litre Nissan Altima with all the factory go-fast options and a few extra to boot. Running about 290-300 hp in what looks like an upscale grocery-getter. Fun car.

Altimas are nice cars. To bad it was either the truck or the Altima when we split up. I only had the 2.5 but it was a really nice car.

[Streetrat]

That was a bad wrech, glad she was ok.

[89BLAZE]

that was a pretty bad accident. glad that her and her friend made it out of that. its a shame 3 people had to get hurt for them to realize it was time to fix the road though.

[woody6725]

glad everyone came out ok. as for the truck, i think that'll buff out

[SCredneck]

She's all better now, a better driver for it, and about to graduate high school in the top 2% of the grad class. She has been offered scholarships at several noted Canadian universities and is set to win enough academic awards, bursaries and scholarships that her first year of university will be paid for. She intends to study marine biology with the future goal of researching the impact of climate change and human activities on coastal mammals in the high arctic. We are, of course, very proud of her. Here she is being silly in her grad photo, taken about a month ago:

http://s32.photobucket.com/albums/d19/mmd_ns/th_sillyone.jpg

You have a lot to be proud of there. Sounds like she is as smart as she is beautiful. She must get it from her mother.:D Glad she and her friend came out of that OK.

[Auto-x]

And how do you teach these skills in a normal driving environment?[/quote]

I took my nephew to this for driving skills training.
http://www.tirerack.com/features/motorsports/street_survival.jsp
I would recommend it to any new driver.

Glad everybody is OK.

[Slacker1357]

When I had my accident (bald tires in a iced parking lot) I called my father and his words were "dammit...... you okay?"

with my '88 Jimmy the only damage was the bumper was pushed back in from the first woops with a concrete pole.

second time was with my fathers truck ('00 Expedition) one driver slammed his brakes to make a turn onto a street in rush hour traffic. I stopped in time but the Ford Taurus slid under the rear bumper just fine.

My father reaction? "****! son-of-a-*****!.... you okay? the other person okay? have you called 9-1-1?"

I started avoiding even more accidents by driving more and also a little bit of off0roading, playing in parking lots and practice driving those narrow roads... drive them slow or at least the recommended speed and then try it faster to your comfort zone... get used to your vehicle and the environment. At the same time look at the surroundings so you know what to do when something happens... where to vear off to for example.

Be one with the vehicle... oooohhmmmm......

[Zephyr2oo5]

Very Glad to hear that everyone was ok. I graduated high school in 2005 and in late Sept. senior year a very close friend and myself were hit by a silverado, we were taken to the hospital, but I was the only one who came home. The guy in the truck was fine I guess, but we were in a Monte Carlo and when I came to before I was taken out of the car we were about 30 feet from where we were hit and now facing the opposite direction. It was a rough way to start off senior year.
Very Good to hear that they made it out ok. and are doing well.

[hero dave]

glad all is good with her! i fear for my kids when they get older.....I'll teach them how to drive....that will make me feel alot better!

[boosted_4.3]

Gwyn was driving down a narrow, twisty country road at 80 kph (50 mph) and entered a sharp left-hand turn. A car coming the other way was crowding the centreline, so Gwyn moved to her right. The passenger side wheels dropped off the pavement onto the shoulder, which was about 6"-8" below road level , forming a sort of curb. (Poor highway maintenance - there was a similar accident in the same location the next weekend, in which a young lady was badly injured. The shoulder was repaired two days later.) When she attempted to come back on the road she over-corrected and veered left, hit a bad bump in the centre of the road off-line and barrel-rolled into the hinterland.

From what the accident investigator and I pieced together from witnesses and measurements, she rolled a bit more than 360 degrees mid-air initially, landed in the ditch on the right front quarter, pitch-poled mid-air once with a half-twist, landed facing the way she had just come from (now travelling backwards), then barrel rolled one-and-a-half times more, coming to rest upside down and leaning against a very large tree stump.

There are three impact points made during the tumbling (you can see one in the foreground of the first picture), each one within inches of either large granite boulders or large tree stumps. Had the vehicle deviated from its path by a few inches, those obstacles would have entered the cab and the story would not have ended so well.

Although the primary cause of the accident was outside influence (the on-coming car) and poor road condition, inexperience played a significant part in this accident as well. Gwyn had only been driving for about 10 months, so wasn't well-skilled at reacting to an emergency situation. She didn't know how to react to a violent, high-speed direction change. Maybe I could have recovered unscathed, but maybe not. And how do you teach these skills in a normal driving environment?


see, the question is not how you as a parent can teach yoru children to react and such. you can send her to hands on driving schools.

thats what my father did for me. and same goes for my grand father. they taught me so much and i had a blast doing it. i know its a $$$ option. and im not questioning how much you love your children, but it realy is worth the peace of mind.

when i had my bmw, my wife and i went to their (bmw) driving classes. it was a 7 day event. and i think i have learned more in 7 days than i have out on the public roads. the track/ facility is hightech and well maintained. and only the first day is in a class room. the rest of the time is all "stick" time. they do every thing from your basic power slide recovery all the way up to wet road, high speed emergency lane changes. there is no instructor in the car ether. they use wireless head sets. and its all done in brand new bmws. but, the point to saying all that is this, it was verry expensive. and from my experience; you get what you pay for. just a thought for us parrents

[12sws27]

i did all that stuff when i was a teen also. thats how i learned to drive. we used whatever we could start with a dent pulley or screw driver though. its amazing how high you can get a prelude off the ground when you hit some rail road tracks at 50 mph. something else i learn is, you can stand on the gas and clutch on a rx7 and it wont blow up. Oh and saturns take alot longer to sink than most cars. one more thing you know all those Toyota commercials with the trucks doing jumps and stuff? well every yota pick up truck i jumped never made it to the second. we'd end up walking after that first one. just a FYI thing. incase anyone was wondering. :rolleyes:

[dt4ts3]

I jumped our 87 S-10 Blazer once, scared the heck out of me, but drove away unscathed.

[boxcarracer963]

Ive jumped my truck at least 5 times, once on accident (was goin fast on a trail and there was a little jump I couldnt see till I already hit it)and drove away fine. Thats a crazy feeling being in the air in your truck :D

[dt4ts3]

1978 Buick Regal with a frame that looked like Tinks old Baja frame. Hit a dip in the road and lauched it pretty hard "for a car" STILL drove away!!! My once 3/4 ton Chevy took several jumps, it never even slowed. That truck was a stud. In fact it's still on the road, 300,000+ miles later. Jumping, and how'd I survive that stories rock!

[12sws27]

I hit the ceiling when a guy I used to know jumped his dad's Z71 over the rail road tracks. I talked him into taking it while his dad was sleeping. It scared the sh!t outta me, and I've done some crazy stuff in car/trucks.

[Noremac]

wow, she is really lucky! if i drove by that kinda wreck, of course i would stop, but i would be thinking the worst... glad she is alright!

any update on how she and her friend are doing?