Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

How Often Do You Witness An Accident?

I've seen a lot of deer related accidents and snow related. I've probably seen a more than the average joe.

My favorite was last winter I was driving home with my mom and it was snowing. There were four cars in front of me going down a slight hill. One car hits the brakes and slides and hits a guard rail. The car behind it slams on its brakes and spins out. The car behind that hits the brakes and swerves into the oncoming lane and ends up hitting the spun out car. The car in front of me slams on its brakes and slides and hits a guard rail. It was pretty catastrophic. No one got hurt and there wasn't huge damage done to the cars.

I almost got in two accidents the other day. I was getting onto a curved onramp, coasting at 35mph. and I am turning and the car just keeps going straight (hydroplaning). I it the brakes and the ABS kicked in but I just going straight. So I floored and had the trusty QuadraDrive AWD pull me out of the sliding. Then that night driving home I almost hit a guardrail because the bridge to my street was covered in ice. The next morning I saw a crew replacing the guardrail because someone had hit it.
 
I saw one in the past month, with two SUVs filled with high schoolers, one thought it would work to turn right as the other turned left and they hit and spun in the intersection, luckily everyone was okay, but my friend and I called 911 to make sure.
 
I hapen to see a lot of accidents happen. A few years back, my family and I were on our way to Gulf Shores, Alabama, and on some highway in central Alabama, we were in the canter lane and I happened to be looking at the car to the right of us. The car in front of the car I was watching swerved suddenly and the car I was watching swerved off the roadway. The car flipped on it's side and flew down a hill. The driver unfortunatley died instantly. :(
 
I see accidents on a daily basis... Then again, I live in two large cities (school and home), and when I'm home, I'm driving frequently.

I see major accidents (serious injury/fatal) about every month, sometimes more.
 
Plymouthbreezer said:
I see accidents on a daily basis... Then again, I live in two large cities (school and home), and when I'm home, I'm driving frequently.

I see major accidents (serious injury/fatal) about every month, sometimes more.
Click to expand...

Same here. I was surprised at how infrequently people were saying they witnessed accidents. I think it's just that the two of us both live in Massachusetts!

Steve
 
Steve1496 said:
Same here. I was surprised at how infrequently people were saying they witnessed accidents. I think it's just that the two of us both live in Massachusetts!

Steve
Click to expand...


Depends...by witnessed do you mean just drove past one on the side of the road that the police were already taking care of, or actually see it happen?

It it's the former, yeah, I witness one every day. But as far as actually seeing one happen, that's rare.

My definitions are that just driving past it and looking is rubbernecking, and seeing the accident take place is witnessing.
 
I don't know, maybe once every couple of weeks, I really don't pay much attention, except for when it makes me late for something.

But come to think of it I have an affinity for getting in near accidents. At least two *******s came very close to sideswiping me on the highway in the past month. One was driving one of those "Tonka" trucks, blue with flames talking on his cellphone on the highway, at 70MPH. When I looked back it was a guy that was definitely overcompensating and thought he looked "cool." The other was a cheap Kia Sedan (in that glittery goldish color) with a "Baby on Board" sign :eek: who didn't understand the concept of "Your Lane isn't Exiting" nor "Needing to switch to an exit lane doesn't grant you right of way."

I drive an '05 Civic, so it's not a tiny ground-hugging car that is impossible to miss.
 
I've seen a lot of accidents...I've actually seen two stop-light squeal-crunch incidents this week, and got hit by a car about 6 weeks ago while crossing the street. At home my house is on a rather well trafficked road with a dangerous turn that has an accident just about every time a hot sunny day turns rainy and the road gets slippery. Last summer I think 7 cars went through our neighbor's picket fence.

The scariest are accidents that happen near you on the highway at speed, so you just hear it and your head spins around. :eek:
 
Well, I saw another one just now (and by "seeing" I don't mean I simply passed an accident that already occurred). I was parking across the post office when directly to my left, in front of the post office, a car coming out of the parking lot hit a pickup truck. It was a minor one.

If "seeing" an accident meant simply passing one that already occurred, most people who drive 20 miles per day for work will "see" one often and it would be an unremarkable thing. I thought it might be unusual to see so many occur in my presence because maybe only 3 or 4 cars might see an accident the moment it happens but 1000s might pass by it afterwards .But I suppose I'm belaboring the point.
 
once in school, i heard a loud crash (the classroom window was open). a hummer crashed a sedan at a traffic light

this is not exactly a traffic incident (nor was it witnessed by me), but my math teacher once saw paramedics at a diner-thing resuscitating someone who overdosed on heroin >_<
 
I didn't actually see anything happen, but today on my way home from work, I believe a school bus rear ended a SUV (very lightly, dont think there was any damage). I did hear something though.
 
I saw a Corvette get t boned once. There were pieces of that car all over the street. The last time I saw an accident happen was a car git rear ended at a light.

I see lots of accidents after they happen. There is an intersection that gets accidents all the time. One week there was an accident everyday for three days. A car always turns left in front of an incomming car and the victims car always ends up on the sidewalk, it never fails!
 
I had a truck which was an accident magnet, replaced it with a car that reversed that polarity providing a cushion.

aka, instead of cars running into the car, they happened 15-20 times always close enough to get fresh glass and fluids on the paint.

Always fun to see people frustrated enough with me to honk, bang on the steering wheel, pull out to go around me using the shoulder or turn lane and get whacked by the car I was avoiding.
 
I am the Unbreakable to your Mr.Glass. You've statistically seen way too many accidents, and yet I've never seen a single accident happen. Not that I can recall anyway. I've seen the wreckage a second or two after I hear the crash, but I'm pretty sure I've never actually seen the impact.
 
unfortunately wayyyyy too often for me, i swear, my friends have an inside joke to always be very careful when they are with me because it seems i am always around when accidents happen.. I have in this year alone seen:
- a guy fell asleep (i think) and hit the guard rail on the highway going at about 120 km/h after picking up my aunt at the airport at about 2am, it was a tow truck pieces of his car went flying and scratched my car , i was right behind him)
-A guy on a motorcycle get hit by a Corolla, broken leg and the bike hit a pedestrian
- A car get t-boned on a left turn, he tried ot get out thru his window i helped him and he fainted on me, only to realize afterwards that his little daughter and pregnant wife were on teh back seat (unscathed by the way)
-helped a lady get out of her flipped car on the side of the highway she was absolutely fine and relaxed she aske dme for help because she couldn t get the seatbelt off...
-calmed down a teenager who flipped her car of fteh highwaya nd was trapped by the legs by the steering wheel and he boyfirend was unconcsious beside her, tehn he "woke up" and she calmed down.
-helped a dude get out of his truck who was hit from behind on teh highway and fippe dhis truck on the middle of teh highway (broken fingers)

I am sur ethere is more tahst just top of my head...
 
itcheroni said:
I seem to witness accidents more often than I would expect to occur statistically. I have seen more accidents than I can remember. I would guess within the last 5-6 years I've had at least 20 accidents occur within a 30 meter radius of me. I see one every couple months. This summer, I was eating a kebab in Vienna and was watching the cars go by when I saw one get rear ended. I was staring right at the first car before it happened.

Yesterday, I was looking up something on my phone in a parking lot when I hear a crash from the street. It was a car and motorcycle. After a moment, I heard a women screaming through sobs, "I can't move! I can't move!" I was very unnerved and left as the ambulance came.

I know logically that I couldn't have anything to do with these accidents, but I seem to see them regularly, especially considering the fact that I don't work and am rather reclusive. In fact, yesterday was the first time I left the house in 3 or 4 days. In 2 months, I probably cover less ground than the average working person does in a week. Is this a normal frequency of accidents or am I a dark omen?

I'm not a spiritual or religious person, I just find it hard to believe it's normal to see so many car accidents.
Click to expand...

Stay the **** away from my car! :eek:
teflon said:
It was going at least 100kmph in the city, and it had really bad brakes. It started braking at like 25 feet away, and it still kept going at an alarming speed. The tires screeched and there was smoke because the tires were rubbing on the road so hard. I ran back to the sidewalk, and it just glided right past me.
Click to expand...
Almost every production car requires over 100 feet to stop from 60MPH (which is just under 100kmph), so that 25 feet wouldn't have slowed them down too much.
juanster said:
I am sur ethere is more tahst just top of my head...
Click to expand...

You can say that again. ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back