Racer1ab wrote: To be fair, it wasn't just rain on the roads. A wintry mix was falling in this area at this time, and a slight buildup was depositing on the outside edges of either lane. I saw quite a few cars turn a bit too hard into the fast lane and fishtail because of the conditions. Its too bad this lesson had to be learned the hard way.
Fatal accident = lesson forever unlearned. Here's hoping his friends will think long & hard about it.
I used to live on rt 52 along the Ohio River, out in nowhere land. Every wintery/icy morning I'd get passed by 4x4 trucks and Jeeps blasting along "invincible", till I found them 3 miles down the road on their roof. I waved as I passed them standing on the side, trying not to spill my coffee.
Horrible way to go, but a horrible way to live, with a hooker's name & all...
The photos are easy to dismiss. See it in person and it is very different.
This is an accident I witnessed that even almost 20 years later it still bothers me a bit.
It had just stopped poring rain and I was poking along in my 87 sable with my now older kids in the car (they were 4-5? and the time. When all of a sudden a Dodge 2500 4x4 comes roaring up the left lane hydroplanes comes across 4 lanes of traffic and hits the guardrail in front of me. I would estimate there speed at between 80 and 90. The truck then does a pierowet and goes end over end about 30 feet in the air and lands flat on its roof in my lane facing me. The windshield goes pink as the roof is crushed down so there is about 6 inches of crushed pink glass left of the windshield (this happened kind of in slow motion to me). Now it is sliding on its roof and I am slowing down trying not to hit it. I get it under control and pull around the accident get out and I am 1st on the scene by a couple of seconds. I take one look through the slot that was the drivers window and lets just say there was no point in trying to help them.
A man that Identified himself as a doctor then comes around the truck and I just backed away got back in my car and drove off (I had my kids with me). The really gross part was I had to wash the car the next day as there were little bits all over the hood, grill and bumper of the car. Just nasty. Never knew who they were and there was only a quick blurb on the news about the accident with two fatalities.
In reply to dean1484:
I've unfortunately seen a few somewhat similar happen, I blame it for my morbid sense of humor.
dean1484 wrote: The photos are easy to dismiss. See it in person and it is very different. This is an accident I witnessed that even almost 20 years later it still bothers me a bit. It had just stopped poring rain and I was poking along in my 87 sable with my now older kids in the car (they were 4-5? and the time. When all of a sudden a Dodge 2500 4x4 comes roaring up the left lane hydroplanes comes across 4 lanes of traffic and hits the guardrail in front of me. I would estimate there speed at between 80 and 90. The truck then does a pierowet and goes end over end about 30 feet in the air and lands flat on its roof in my lane facing me. The windshield goes pink as the roof is crushed down so there is about 6 inches of crushed pink glass left of the windshield (this happened kind of in slow motion to me). Now it is sliding on its roof and I am slowing down trying not to hit it. I get it under control and pull around the accident get out and I am 1st on the scene by a couple of seconds. I take one look through the slot that was the drivers window and lets just say there was no point in trying to help them. A man that Identified himself as a doctor then comes around the truck and I just backed away got back in my car and drove off (I had my kids with me). The really gross part was I had to wash the car the next day as there were little bits all over the hood, grill and bumper of the car. Just nasty. Never knew who they were and there was only a quick blurb on the news about the accident with two fatalities.
Holy berk. I think I would have needed to see a therapist for a while after that.
As an ex-Commercial driver... I have seen some pretty horrible accidents. From things like above to people burned alive. It is one of the major reasons I got out from behind the wheel.
I've had a few EMT friends tell me stories....yeah.
The lesson that 4X4 or AWD just gets you deeper intio trouble was taught to me by my dad when I was still too young to drive. Thanks Dad, I remember it still.
That doesn't mean that I don't have fun in my WRX, I just pick my spots better. Multi-lane highways are one of those spots that you don't pick.
Sky_Render wrote:dean1484 wrote: The photos are easy to dismiss. See it in person and it is very different. This is an accident I witnessed that even almost 20 years later it still bothers me a bit. It had just stopped poring rain and I was poking along in my 87 sable with my now older kids in the car (they were 4-5? and the time. When all of a sudden a Dodge 2500 4x4 comes roaring up the left lane hydroplanes comes across 4 lanes of traffic and hits the guardrail in front of me. I would estimate there speed at between 80 and 90. The truck then does a pierowet and goes end over end about 30 feet in the air and lands flat on its roof in my lane facing me. The windshield goes pink as the roof is crushed down so there is about 6 inches of crushed pink glass left of the windshield (this happened kind of in slow motion to me). Now it is sliding on its roof and I am slowing down trying not to hit it. I get it under control and pull around the accident get out and I am 1st on the scene by a couple of seconds. I take one look through the slot that was the drivers window and lets just say there was no point in trying to help them. A man that Identified himself as a doctor then comes around the truck and I just backed away got back in my car and drove off (I had my kids with me). The really gross part was I had to wash the car the next day as there were little bits all over the hood, grill and bumper of the car. Just nasty. Never knew who they were and there was only a quick blurb on the news about the accident with two fatalities.Holy berk. I think I would have needed to see a therapist for a while after that.
The not so funny part is that this is by far not the worst thing I have seen.
I'm glad I got my "high speed Audi highway driving" out of my system without any incidents. Now I'm low speeds Miata back roads!
Lucky for me the 4Runner tops out at 80mph.
Handled case yrs ago where passenger was partially ejected thru the sunroof in roll-over accident and it was very ugly but the worst interior of all time was the deer that landed alive in the drivers lap thru the windshield. EWWWWWWWWWWWwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
Racer1ab wrote: To be fair, it wasn't just rain on the roads. A wintry mix was falling in this area at this time, and a slight buildup was depositing on the outside edges of either lane. I saw quite a few cars turn a bit too hard into the fast lane and fishtail because of the conditions. Its too bad this lesson had to be learned the hard way.
Yep. The older I get, the easier it is for me to settle into the right hand lane and just deal with driving slowly in the slick stuff.
This thread got really ghoulish. Granted, it started out ghoulish. The first one on scene must've seen something pretty horrible. 
22... Damn.
How I survived my "backwards off the road at 60" when I was 20 still amazes me.
gamby wrote: Yep. The older I get, the easier it is for me to settle into the right hand lane and just deal with driving slowly in the slick stuff.
Isn't that the truth. I'm almost embarassed at how long it's been since I've gotten a speeding ticket. As well the number of times I glance down and find I'm driving below the speed limit. Yeesh!
And I've become quite the snow sissy and such. No longer do I feel the need to get to work to prove...something. If it's icky outside, forget it. I'll wait until it clears tomorrow or such.
I suspect there's a correlation between this, the number of accidents I used to get into, and my insurance rate....
GameboyRMH wrote: Wow I like how he cleanly peeled the side of the car off.
It would be interesting to take a thickness caliper to that sheet metal. I would not be surprised if it's barely thicker than a modern refrigerator/oil drip pan.
I'm sure it is much thinner than the old 1960s freezer I'm using for a firewall.
Jerry wrote: I've had a few EMT friends tell me stories....yeah.
I have a nephew who's an EMT/Fireman and yeah he has a few stories as well. I don't mind the one's with good endings but sometimes the ones that ended badly are mostly the result of stupidity.
Worst I've witnessed was a close friend of mine nearly splitting a buick(which wasn't using a turn signal) in half with a CBR600RR.....
foxtrapper wrote: Isn't that the truth. I'm almost embarassed at how long it's been since I've gotten a speeding ticket. As well the number of times I glance down and find I'm driving *below* the speed limit. Yeesh!
I'm not quite that bad yet, but I'm usually the slowest car on the road. Driving a 90hp diesel with 300K+ miles on it doesn't help. I still have trouble sticking to the speed limit on back roads...
Snow won't keep me home, but I'll admit I'm a more sedate driver than I was in my 20's driving my Toyota 4x4 pick-up... where I'd be doing 60 up the un-plowed lane...
I will say, the years of auto-x completely changed my attitude toward snow driving. Car control is car control, regardless of surface. If anything, things happen slower in the snow vs. balls out on an auto-x course, so there's more time to react.
I actually LIKE driving in the snow (on winter tires). It's the other drivers that give me pause.
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