Car accident and/or rental car story thread

[Holdfast]

Please regale us with your tales of car accidents, courtesy car nightmares or hire/rental car shenanigans.

This post is brought to you by my mild irritation at having to drive a Volvo XC70 as a courtesy car for about a week while my Audi S4 gets a new wing and a few other little things done to it.

The Volvo is OK, I guess. It's reasonably nippy for a 4x4 estate/wagon, and being a new car has all the usual bells & whistles a car in this price bracket should have, but the suspension is well soft/floaty and I miss my own car's speed and general tautness. I did have a bit of fun playing with the Volvo's tiptronic gear change though (drive it like a rental, indeed!)

The story?

On my very last day of work before retiring from full-time work a few weeks ago, a friend and (now erstwhile) co-worker accidentally went into my car in the staff car park as she was reversing her car out. I leave others to ponder the psychodynamic symbolism of that, but in her words: "At least I left my mark on you".

Your turn. Any accident, any rental tale, any car story really. Amuse me. Or commiserate with me. Either will do.

 

[Crusher Disciple]

*pulls out couch*

And tell me, how did that make you feel?

 

[Holdfast]

*pulls out couch*

And tell me, how did that make you feel?

I'll survive, being the brave soul that I am...

But I'm having dinner with her and her other half later this week, so I'll be sure to complain mightily about how distressing it is not having my own car then.

To be honest, I feel a bit sorry for her; her insurance premium next year will not be pretty, I think!

 

[MANT!]

Accident story...
Was about 6 years of age, parents had a 62 Buick Invicta Station Wagon (Estate in the UK)

I was playing in the cargo area with my brother...in a supermarket parking lot,we got rear-ended and I ended up in the front seat..sitting like I was there all the time...(hey seat belts were newly introduced not all that long before that car was made...)... no harm done..both cars ended up almost undamaged with minor scratches on the bumpers...

in 1984, I went to up-state New York to go through a course for the new B-52 OAS system..2 months at Griffiss AFB in winter..., I rented a Ford Escort and one weekend, I did some Ice Racing with it...and scratched up the passenger side a bit...

When it came time to return the car, I parked it as far as I could from the rental place, and waited till it got really busy.. the manager looked over the car and didn't notice the scratched side under the layer of road scum I had built up on the side (one can't wash a car in freezing weather)..and I got away scott free...

 

[the 4th hanson bro]

When I was traveling regularly for business, I rented a car nearly every week and had quite a range of vehicles and experiences. One of my favorite cars to drive was the 6 cylinder Mazda 6. Zoom-zoom, indeed!

I had to drive from Tulsa, OK to Dodge City, KS on one leg of a trip. On a long, straight stretch of Kansas highway I came up on a cattle truck. I flashed my lights and moved to pass, pushing down the accelerator as I did. I looked in my rear view mirror and thought "did he stop?" and then looked at the speedometer. I went from 65 to 95 in a flash.

If any future trips involved long, straight stretches of open road, I tried to get a Mazda 6.

 

[eastman23]

Several years ago, I was backing into a parking space at the new hydro office in town with my dad's Avalanche. Felt a little bump and decided to keep going a bit more. Got out of the truck and realized that I backed into a power outlet pole and it was bent over just a bit. 6 years later, it's still bent and the one in the spot next to it is also bent over.


Earlier than that, I was 15 and a half and just learning how to drive. Still had my learner's permit. Dad was sitting in the passenger seat and we were heading home after some practice in the town where I'd be doing my driving test in a few weeks. Was going about 50-60 kph and approaching a (notorious) intersection. It was only a two-way stop and the road I was on didn't have the stop signs. About half way through the intersection, a car was suddenly on my right front corner and we were stopped.

Old lady gets out of her car and immediately says "Why didn't you stop?!" To which my dad gets out of the car and tells her that's it only a two-way stop. Since it's about 5pm or so and there's a bit of traffic all around the intersection, he tells me to just get the car out of the way. So I put it in reverse and start backing up. Her car starts going forward across the other lane of traffic. Without anyone in it.

She starts running after it, my dad is running after it, and they manage to stop it on the other side of the intersection. We all make our way to the local RCMP station to file the report and just as we're waiting, my dad subtlety says "Well, what are we going to use for your driving test now, kid?" The lady just starts apologizing even more, now that she knows she was completely at fault.

 

[thestrangequark]

Oh, I've the best! Though it doesn't fit perfectly into the category of "accident" I suppose it's close enough.

My mother owned a pale aqua '62 Dodge Dart when I was a kid. It was a true Piece of Shit Car, but she couldn't afford a new one, so every morning our wonderful bodybuilder neighbor would pull it out of the driveway (the reverse didn't work), and off we'd go. One day, as she was driving my older sister and I home from preschool, pieces started to fall off the car, one, two, three. There happened to be a patrol officer behind us, and when the transmission fell out he pulled us over. He walked up to the window. My mother tried to roll it down, hammering on the glass to try to jimmy it loose, but it always stuck. The officer waited patiently as she struggled with it, and stepped back as she finally decided to open the door. Which fell off. At that point the cop burst into hysterical laughter, my mom burst into hysterical tears, and he drove us home after calling a tow truck to haul the pale blue abomination away.

 

[sojourner]

This is also not an accident....

back in 2002 I was working for a cruise line so only need a car for about 2 months out of the year. Not wanting to rent a car I purchase a 1986 Acura Integra on it's last legs for $1000. Come my next vacation period I decide to visit some friends in Los Angeles, CA. So I drove. From Orlando, FL. The car did Great! good gas mileage, cold AC through the desert. 3000 miles, no problems. On the way back I decided to stop by and see some friends in Colorado. Now, this car was a 4 speed automatic crossing the Rocky Mountains. It did amazingly well. In fact, I was impressed when on a steep up hill grade I watched a brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee spew it's transmission all over the highway as my little $1000 car kept on going. Unfortunately the car did not escape the Rockies unscathed. My transmission lost 4th gear. I had to do the remained of the trip in third. At highway speeds. By the time I left my friends in Colorado the car no longer had reverse as well. So where ever I stopped on the trip I made sure I could pull through forward or I was parked on an incline so the car could roll back in neutral. Did I mention third gear at highway speeds?

So, I make it as far as Georgia when I get a cooling leak. I pull into a gas station, wait an hour or two for the engine to cool down enough to work on and proceed to use black electrical tape to wrap every hose I could find. Problem solved. I then manage to make it the last 8 hours of driving to Orlando with no further incidents. I promptly pull the car into the drive and it pretty much dies - won't start anymore.

I call a salvage company to pickup the car. They pay me $250 for the salvage and I never see that Integra again.

6000 miles for $750 and some electrical tape! A trip I will never forget.

 

[TrekkieMonster]

How 'bout a rental car accident story?

In Feb. 2009 I went to visit family in Oregon for a week. I rented a Toyota 4-Runner for the trip. Took a little jaunt to the beautiful Oregon coast four a couple nights. On my way home, mid-morning and a bright sunny day, I rounded a corner in the highway just as a minivan traveling the opposite direction hit a patch of black ice and skidded toward me. That was one of the most sickening feelings I've ever known: doing my best to veer out of the way and knowing I wasn't going to make it.

We hit nearly head on, most of the impact on my driver's side. Then it was just all explosive sound, grinding metal, and white with an acrid smell. I literally had time for only 2 thoughts when it happened: I'm going to die; and I should've purchased the rental company's insurance. Seriously. Guess that's just how my mind works.

Once the car had stopped and the airbags deflated (and I realized all that white wasn't what death was like), I crawled out the passenger side and was even more freaked out when I saw the damage to both vehicles. Even the cop (who arrived rather quickly) said when she was approaching the scene she expected at least 1 fatality. Fortunately, I escaped with only an ankle injury, a few cracked ribs and bruises everywhere (it also screwed my back up, but wouldn't realize that for a few days.) And the other driver and her 4 KIDS were fine, as well, again with only minor injuries such as mine.

I have to say the other motorists were amazing; stopping to helps is all, stopping and diverting other traffic around the accident, etc. The rental agency's and the other driver's insurance companies were actually pretty easy to deal with, but my own insurance (which really had almost nothing to do with the whole thing) has been a big pain in the arse. It's 18 months later and I still haven't gotten the promised settlement from the other lady's insurance company SOLELY because my insurance company has been dragging their feet about providing necessary information.

Needless to say, when I was up for renewal this past spring, I went with another company for my car insurance.

Other than that, I've been very fortunate; I'd never had an accident in my life. But, boy did I make it a doozie when it finally happened.

 

[CmdrAJD]

About seven years ago on my way home from work, I ended up stuck at the end of a line of traffic. I looked in my rear view mirror and saw a white car coming up on me a wee bit on the fast side. I don't what the driver was doing, but he didn't seem to be slowing down at all. I had enough time to process "I don't think he's going to be able to stop" and start trying to get my car out of the way, when I was slammed from behind and pushed across the median into southbound traffic where my passenger side was hit. I came to sometime later with the fire department cutting me out of my car. My seat had broken, so I was laying on my back, which was more than a little disorienting. Luckily, the only injuries I had were broken glass in my ear, a gash in the back of my head from the passenger side head rest (it snapped off on impact, and the support pole went into the back of my head a little bit) and a LOT of bruising. The car, a Saturn SL2, was totaled, but since I survived relatively unscathed, I'd say it did pretty well.

 

[Holdfast]

I rented a Ford Escort and one weekend, I did some Ice Racing with it...and scratched up the passenger side a bit...

When it came time to return the car, I parked it as far as I could from the rental place, and waited till it got really busy.. the manager looked over the car and didn't notice the scratched side under the layer of road scum I had built up on the side... and I got away scott free...

I remember doing almost exactly the same thing once some years ago. I can't remember for sure, but I think I got away with it too. Hey, if they still sign it back in as OK, that's their decision, right?

I looked in my rear view mirror and thought "did he stop?" and then looked at the speedometer. I went from 65 to 95 in a flash.

I feel the need... the need for speed.

Several years ago, I was backing into a parking space at the new hydro office in town with my dad's Avalanche. Felt a little bump and decided to keep going a bit more.

You have to stop when there's resistance!

(seriously, been there, done that, kicked myself for stupidity aftwards...)

My mother owned a pale aqua '62 Dodge Dart when I was a kid. It was a true Piece of Shit Car, but she couldn't afford a new one, so every morning our wonderful bodybuilder neighbor would pull it out of the driveway (the reverse didn't work), and off we'd go. One day, as she was driving my older sister and I home from preschool, pieces started to fall off the car, one, two, three. There happened to be a patrol officer behind us, and when the transmission fell out he pulled us over. He walked up to the window. My mother tried to roll it down, hammering on the glass to try to jimmy it loose, but it always stuck. The officer waited patiently as she struggled with it, and stepped back as she finally decided to open the door. Which fell off. At that point the cop burst into hysterical laughter, my mom burst into hysterical tears, and he drove us home after calling a tow truck to haul the pale blue abomination away.

That will do. That will certainly do!

6000 miles for $750 and some electrical tape! A trip I will never forget.

Great story. Good deal too, though the constant "hmm, is it going to break down now or in an hour's time" might have got me a bit tense.

How 'bout a rental car accident story?

That sounded really scary. Your former insurer sounds like a pain in the backside too.

I remember having an accident in a rental car some years ago.

My own car was in the shop for weeks following my trying a stupid undertaking manouever on a dark and stormy night on the M4 while I was feeling sick and just trying to rush my way home in heavy traffic. Did a 720+ degree spin and ended up facing the wrong way down the carriageway after bouncing off the central reservation arnco. Seeing oncoming headlights rushing towards you is an experience you don't forget.

Anyway, I got a crappy little courtesy car which I had for weeks. The last weekend before I was due to pick up my own car, I ran into another car. Traffic jam, pretty girl walking by, not concentrating and just ended up moving forward in the assumption traffic was moving when it was stationary. D'oh!

Fortunately, it was just a little fender-bender...

I had enough time to process "I don't think he's going to be able to stop"...

God, I hate that feeling. So far, I've been lucky, and somehow they did (or I moved out of the way), but still... nasty feeling.

 

[T'Bonz]

Scariest non-accident for me.

I was in Orlando, going up some dinky two-lane road, with my mom as the passenger. Those of you who remember RevdKathy from here, we were en route to pick her up at the Orlando airport.

The road was narrow, and on the right, there was grass, or construction stuff or even a ditch, depending upon where one was on the road.

Well, Mum and I are yip-yapping about God knows what when I saw a vehicle doing something very strange. At a very high rate of speed a small truck (type that regular drivers have, not some industrial one) was crossing over the center line and aiming right at me!

Without missing a word, I swung hard right and prayed it was enough. I didn't even know if I would go into construction stuff, grass or a ditch. No choice. It would be a head-on collision if I didn't move.

He missed me. I went into grass, thankfully. He missed the guy behind me who also slued over. He creamed the car behind that. I heard the impact, but due to the logistics of driving on that busy road, couldn't even look in the rear view mirror.

Didn't start to shake 'til I was rolling up to the airport. LOL.

Found out at the airport when chatting with someone else waiting that the guy had totaled whatever car he hit and that he ended up hanging out of his truck. I don't think anyone died, as it never made it in the paper.

The worst part was having to go back DOWN that road, and after sunset yet. The funniest part was when I jerked the wheel hard to the right to avoid him. I could hear my mom saying, "What in the hell are you doing?" She didn't see the guy coming head on.

 

[Ood Sigma]

^ That's eerie... I once had almost the exact same situation happen to me several years ago. Only I was on my way back from the airport, picking up my then-fiancee's grandmother. I swerved hard off a windy and wooded road and somehow managed to completely miss the car and not crash into anything. I immediately pulled back onto the road and kept driving. Fortunately, he didn't run into anyone else, and I could have sworn he turned around and followed me to make sure I was ok, but I just kept on going. And the grandmother had no clue that anything bad had happened (she had poor hearing, but I don't know how you miss something like that).

After that, I took that road very carefully. And I always looked for that spot where the side of the road wasn't a ditch, or wooded, and oddly enough I could never find a spot that seemed to be safe. Don't ask me how I survived it, but I got very very lucky that day.

 

[sojourner]

So this one time I'm in my small pickup truck leaving Orlando airport...

 

[Finn]

Few days after my high school graduation, I totaled my mom's van. And the van wasn't even moving. Taking a turn, the car in the front of me stopped. I couldn't back up because there was a car right behind me as well. At this time, I couldn't do anything but sound the horn. The incoming truck (which had more than enough time to stop) didn't start to stop (going only 30mph when about 1000 feet away and in full view of the van). He banged in the van, snapping the axle.

Oh, and there's a tidbit a friend told me recently. Apparently, it took place in Tennessee, when his mother was at a red light. She suddenly had a big sneeze. In the process, she accidently pushed the gas pedal with her foot, and she hit the car in front of her. A cop saw the whole thing. The driver got out and starting yelling like crazy. But the cop couldn't stop laughing at the whole thing and wouldn't cite her at all.

 

[RobertVA]

My scariest incident driving was the time I was driving along a flat two lane road (one lane in each direction) and an oncoming car passed me with at least three feet of altitude. Yes, it was actually airborne. At the time I thought it was a good idea to keep driving.

 

[T'Bonz]

So this one time I'm in my small pickup truck leaving Orlando airport...

YOU are banned! Forever!

 

[Aragorn]

The vehicle I was in was on the receiving end of a car accident, but it wasn't anything major. Some guy making a right turn somehow failed to complete that turn and smashed into the side of a car. Although he wasn't going very fast, he severely damaged the door of the car, which was pushed back and bumped the vehicle I was in.

A reckless driver weaving through freeway traffic during the rain did kill my grandmother though.

The closest I personally came to an accident was when some stupid lady saw the lane she was in was backed up because the vehicle at the front was waiting for pedestrians to cross before turning right, so what did she do? Immediately switched right into my lane without even looking to see if there were any other vehicles!!! I had to hit the brakes and honk at her.

A LOT of reckless drivers in my state seem to have some knee-jerk reaction to immediately switch lanes without looking the moment they see that the vehicle in front of them is slowing down to turn. Doesn't even matter if that turning vehicle doesn't have to stop, they'll still switch lanes and immediately switch back.

 

[Jan]

I got rear-ended by a semi a few years ago and ended up with a case of reverse whiplash; it fixed a problem with my back.

I was stopped at a light with the semi behind me and a big (I think) Hummer in front of me. All of us were completely stopped and had been for a minute or so. Suddenly I was hit from behind and my car was pushed into the car in front of me. The combinded impacts pushed me firmly into my seatback but no airbags inflated or anything. The semi driver's foot had slipped off the brakes and the truck had rolled forward into my car.

The trunk of my Chevy Cavalier was mashed in and I had a little dimple in the front bumper from the Hummer's tow ball. We all exchanged information and that was pretty much it. Except that a weak place in my spine between my shoulder blades that had been a low-grade source of pain since I'd fallen down some stairs 30 years before suddenly *stopped* hurting, almost completely. So I'm the only person I know who got hit by a semi and ended up better off for it.

Jan

 

[Captain Ice]

I rented a car for a business trip in Lubbock, TX a few years ago to transport myself and five others. When I rented the car, I opted for the Loss Damage Waiver for the car (something I usually opt for for peace of mind). One night I had to go back to the hotel after dropping the rest of them off at a restaurant in order to get something we needed that evening. On the way back to the restaurant, I took the freeway. Getting off the freeway, I had a yield sign in front of me when I went to make a right turn. Since I wasn't sure the car I had rented would fit in the hole in traffic that I saw, I stopped at the yield sign. The lady behind me didn't.

Afterward, the rental was driveable, so we drove it the rest of the trip. I also found out that the company normally frowned upon picking up the extra insurance on rental cars. However, I also found out that after that incident, when all that I'd had to do with the rental car was drop the keys to the damaged car on the rental agency counter, they insisted that everyone take the extra insurance on all rental vehicles.