Have you ever been in a major automobile accident? By major, I mean one that caused a car to be undriveable or injured someone badly enough that they required medical attention.

no but i SHOULD have

Yes, but only one of my 25 accidents. My car was totally destroyed but no one required medical attention. And, this time, was not my fault.

When I was 3, my dad and I were in an accident that totalled the car (it jumped over a guardrail and rolled down a steep hill) and required medical attention for both of us. I wasn't seriously injured but I was scared of riding in cars for quite a while after that...

Here's the story, in all its humiliating detail: We were going to have a party, and I wanted to do laundry beforehand. I had a few days off leading up to the party, so when my husband (Hi Tom! Naif naif naif!) got home on Wednesday, I said that we should go and do laundry that very evening. It was snowing hard, and I knew that he wouldn't want to drive in it, so I offerred to drive. "I grew up in New England," I said. "Driving in the snow is no problem for me," I said. I got us to within sight of the laundromat, then slid in a turn. Since my choices were 1: into the oncoming traffic lane, 2: head-on into a brick wall, 3: into a parked car or two, or 4: bounce off the curb at a fairly sharp angle, I chose the curb. Not only did I flatten the tire and destroy the rim, I *broke* the axle, as well as the "camber" and the "toe", whatever they are. It was about US$600 worth of damage. Needless to say, I've never driven Tom's car again.

thankfully, no.

Couple of fender benders, but nothing too major and no injuries.

the car was pretty much destroyed but neither of us was hurt at all

no thank goodness

I managed to bend a '81 Olds Cutlass into a letter "L". Fault was pretty ambiguous since I was making the turn but he was travelling at about 55 on a 30mph road when he hit me. Not an experience I'm looking to repeat.....

While still driving on my "paper" (sort of probationary license Massachusetts used to issue after a Learner's Permit but before an actual picture license) license I managed to flip my Mom's car. Neither of us was injured in any way. Neither of us were wearing seatlbelts. **Steve, not that you really want to know: Camber is the angle that a wheel/tire is tilted top to bottom (// or \\) and toe is the angle a wheel/tire is tilted front to back. A decent explanation of Camber, Toe and why they're important can be found at The Miata Garage.

No, but my grandpa flipped over the divider of the freeway and crashed head on into on coming traffic. Neither he nor his wife were hurt, but this was back in the fifties when automobiles were more like today's tanks.

We were in a 1963 Chevy stopped at a light. A Honda bashed into us from behind. Both cars were totalled. I was the ony injury. I bounced off the front seat something like 10 times. Broken nose, whiplash, ripped lip. Yeah, I was wearing a seatbelt.

I was 16, and I "borrowed" my parent's spare car when they were out of town. My girlfriend lost control when driving it and we rolled end-over-end 4 times, utterly destroying the car. Oddly, neither we nor another couple were wearing seat belts; if we had been doing so we would have been decapitated by the rear window as it flew through the interior of the car! We all went to the hospital, and I was the only one without major injuries. Maybe that has something to do with why I don't mind not driving....

Several. My mother and I were rear-ended once by someone who fell asleep at the wheel and hit us at a stop light. We had whiplash - she was much more seriously injured. And I've been in a cab when a semi decided to take a right turn from the left lane at the Mass Ave/Boylston intersction and ran over the corner of the cab, crushing it. Cabbie and I were unhurt (by inches) but the cab was a complete loss.

No, but my friend rolled her truck after she hit a deer.

a few minor ones though...

Been in a few fender-benders, but nothing major. *** vanadium - been in the same situation, but the law claimed it was my fault. Nevermind the 100ft long skid mark he left or the fact that he was driving alone on a permit (during school hours, no less) and had about four accidents in the two months either side of this one... His dad volunteered at the same fire department as the officer on the scene, you see.

Completely destroyed my first mustang by falling asleep at the wheel. I ran into a truck and broke my nose, etc. etc.

Not that I remember. I've been in a few minor ones, though. Not as a driver, fortunately.

Not yet...

the deer in the headlights is so true.. the problem was as my friend swerved, the deer followed the light. it was *thump* and it was thrown forward, we then impacted it again, this time forward and up, and the third time it was thrown to the right. Good sized deer (100 or so pounds), the poor little subaru was totaled. I was unhurt (and not wearing a seatbelt), the driver was unhurt (and wearing a seatbelt).

I have never been involved in the accident, but have witnessed several and administered first aid and then driven the injured to the hospital (this was also in Tanzania where we didn't have ambulances).

It's amazing how much it can cost to fix a car that's still driveable!

I've been in four accidents which might be considered major depending on how you look at it:

• one where I was taken by ambulance to a hospital but had no injuries I could not have treated myself
• one where I did not go to a hospital despite having injuries that in retrospect should have received medical attention
• One in which the car I was in had under $1000 of damage done to it but was considered totaled because prior to the accident, it was only worth $600 (and it needed a bunch of other work too)
• One in which the car was towed away from the accident scene not because it couldn't have been driven, but because it was night time and both headlights were broken