first wreck

I always assumed it would happen in a race car, but it happened in an 07 Elantra...which the dealership happened to be selling.
I was driving it to set the readiness code for the inspection because I put a battery in it, and hydroplaned around a sharp highway entrance ramp. spun partially, hit the right hand guardrail with the left front, which spun the car the rest of the way, across the other lane to hit the left guardrail with the left front. this was at probably about 50-55mph. somehow the airbags didn't deploy, but then the car wouldnt start. front end is completely muffed up, hood is permanently open, battery moved over a few inches, but otherwise the engine bay looked fine. assuming the left front wheel is bent beyond repair, but its just a steelie anyway. back bumper got scraped and dented a bit, I guess it clipped one of the rails or a curb or something. but yeah..
Luckily noone else was involved, people drive crazily around there. saw three full brake lockups while I was there waiting because of people slamming on their brakes. Happened in a very dangerous part and it was wet as all hell out today.
I don't think I lost my job (workign tomorrow, at least) and I don't believe the cop gave me a ticket for it either, unless they are mailing it. all he gave me was a card for the police report...
Got very lucky today, in many many ways..
so thats my story, just had to vent/share/whatever.
The boss man and I shared our "first wreck" stories lol.

Assuming you aren't hurt, that's good news. My father was driving a customers car when three deer ran across the highway and the vehicle. He had to drive back with his head out the window. The dealer fixed it for free.

You hydroplane at 35 mph, so 50-55 hitting a decent puddle is like driving on ice. There is no reason for the police to give you a ticket.

That's why dealers have insurance.

Glad you are OK.

N Sperlo wrote: Assuming you aren't hurt, that's good news. My father was driving a customers car when three deer ran across the highway and the vehicle. He had to drive back with his head out the window. The dealer fixed it for free. You hydroplane at 35 mph, so 50-55 hitting a decent puddle is like driving on ice. There is no reason for the police to give you a ticket. That's why dealers have insurance. Glad you are OK.

thank you, when I got back one of the salesmen showed me pictures of the brand new forester he totalled during a test drive last year lol. it was a burned out hulk. so I felt a little better about it.

"Hey Bob - mount a set of wets on the '07 Elantra, will ya? I need to take it for a lap round the block..."

corytate wrote: somehow the airbags didn't deploy, but then the car wouldnt start.

Fuel pump inertial cut-off?

Glad you're alright. I got clipped and put into a guardrail on an on-ramp once. I was amazed at how much those things can berkeley a car up.

Any crash you walk away from is a good thing. BTW, front airbags are designed to deploy within a pretty narrow envelope of a relatively high-speed and very straight frontal impact, so I'm not surprised they didn't pop in your crash.

MG Bryan wrote:

corytate wrote: somehow the airbags didn't deploy, but then the car wouldnt start.

Fuel pump inertial cut-off? Glad you're alright. I got clipped and put into a guardrail on an on-ramp once. I was amazed at how much those things can berkeley a car up.

yeah i assumed it was a crash sensor or something of the like. If we fix it an sell it then hopefully he'll let me fix it so I can find the screwdriver bit that dissappeared during the crash lol. snap on mini power drill: check, bit which was in the drill: ummm......... . .. ...

Probably better to crash a used elantra, than a used porsche. Glad you are ok. If the boss shared crash stories, that's probably a good thing. Probably be wise to be a model employee for a little while.

N Sperlo wrote: You hydroplane at 35 mph, so 50-55 hitting a decent puddle is like driving on ice. There is no reason for the police to give you a ticket.

onset of aquaplane is not fixed. it depends on vehicle weight, tire width, tire inflation pressures, and depth of water. perhaps also on tread depth, but i don't remember for certain.

in a similar circumstance, i was ticketed for "driving too fast for conditions". in another similar circumstance, the car still ran and drove halfway OK so I beat feet before anyone else came along!

The first time I spun a car I was driving with my father on a snowy night. He wanted me to get the experience, as I didn't have a license yet. We did about a 275 degree circle and wound up about 1 or 2 feet from a bridge abutment (not really sure as it was a VERY snowy night. Absolutely no damage to the '64 Country Squire I was driving. Me? I was pretty shook.

My first spin/wreck came 7 years ago when I was coming home from a friend's house. The road circled in a shape similar to an egg. Wasnt going fast at all when my Ford F-150 hit a patch of sand that was stretched pretty much all over the road after a tree was felled after the Florida hurricanes in '04. Once the ass end of the truck hit the sand it was over. Being lighter than the front and it being rear wheel drive caused the tires to break traction and it slammed against a tree. What sucked even more was it was during the night hours. Couldve happened to anyone.

glad you're ok... sorry 'bout the customers car... E36 M3 happens... this is sounds as though it's exactly what it is ... and accident

as compared to an employee at Apple Tree Acura/Honda several yrs ago ... took a customers NSX for a test/joy ride .... you guessed it .... totaled ... totaled the job too

Glad you are OK. My first crash was when I hit a sand patch under power and the rear of my Falcon got loose. I thought I was going to be Billy Badass and turn it into a power slide; no such luck. Down a shallow embankment and into a tree.

When I was 18 I spun my F150 going arond a bend on a country road that had a very high crown (sometimes called turtle back roads in South Jersey). It was early in the morning and it had rained a bit that night.

Since I was 18 I thought nothing of going 50 mph into an off camber bend on a cold damp road in a pickup truck with cheap tires. Not surprisingly I found a slick spot and went bass ackwards off the road before I even knew what was happening. The really scary part was that I went backwards across the oncoming lane! Thankfully there was no oncoming traffic. I hit the soft sand shoulder so hard that the truck tipped up on two wheels and pulled the front tires outside bead off the rim. Thank God South Jersey is made from sand and mud because by the time the back bumper struck the tree that stopped me I was probably only going around 10. mph.

thethe

I almost forgot to mention that I didn't have to make any stories to explain the bent bumper and tailgate to my parents because they were following right behind me in my Dads truck. I learned a lot that day, and not just about driving.

HappyAndy wrote: I almost forgot to mention that I didn't have to make any stories to explain the bent bumper and tailgate to my parents because they were following right behind me in my Dads truck. I learned a lot that day, and not just about driving.

I once crashed a car while my dad was following me. It wasn't a big deal and could mostly be written off as an effect of completely bald tires on a beater and rain. He pulled over and leaped out of the car with duct tape, didn't ask if I was alright or what happened, and said, "get it moving before a cop sees you."