Not the best day of my life....or was it?

[jtaylor]

I decided to spend a couple of days in Cumbria, enjoying a nice hotel, some nice roads, and some great views.

Enjoyed taking a few photos, roads were pretty clear, no ice.....or so I thought.

Came up a slight rise on a gentle left, near Wast Water in West Lakes, and the north-facing-gets-no-sun-at-all-at-this-time-of-year bit of road had some black ice on it - back end let go, front end hit the wall, car flipped, landing upside down facing the wrong way on my side of the road - still can't quite work out how.....

Bad news - I crashed the car.
Good news - I walked away with a slight bump to the head (which I only noticed today, 1 day later!) and a few scratches.
Bad news - I'm embarrassed, and feel like an idiot.
Good news - the Police didn't feel I was particularly at fault (although obviously there's a large element of my fault)
Bad news - I'm going to get SOOOO much stick at work for this....
Good news - the Police breathalised me, but I hadn't touched a drop for at least 3 days, and never drink when I'm driving at all.
Good news - I've got GAP insurance, so should get the full cash value back
Good news - I walked away.
Good news - I walked away.
Good news - I walked away......I keep telling myself this over and over again, especially when I look at the pictures.......

Can you tell I'm trying to be optimistic and positive about this??!

Here's a couple of pics (click on each for bigger versions):-

[Katharine]

You lived to tell the tale - it must have been a good day. The car can be replaced (you've even got the insurance!).

I remember spinning on sand in Brunei one day - I bet your whole life flashed before you as it happened and if it was like our spin it was almost slow motion while it happened.

Great to have you with us, Julian!

[midget]

Glad you're still with us, Julian
Maggie

[jtaylor]

Thanks!

Yes, it was all slow motion in the fraction of a second it took to slide into the wall, then I just remember a sort of roller-coaster ride feeling being bumped about a bit, then hanging upside down in a very tight seat-belt.....and thinking "If I undo this now, my heads smashing into the tarmac".....and trying to work out how to safely undo it!
With hindsight I'm glad the roof was down and I didn't have the hard-top on - the only way out was over/under the seats and boot....Although once out I managed to open the passenger side door.

[Jo]

Ouch.... very glad you walked away from it safely. It sounds like a scary experience.

Just out of interest, how did you undo the seat belt safely without dropping head first on to the ground??

[jtaylor]

I don't have perfect memory of it - all I remember doing was trying to brace myself against the ground with one arm (bear in mind my head was very close to the ground anyway...) and then undoing the seatbelt with the other hand.
The engine was still running, so I was somewhat keen to get out........one of those fight-or-flight situations I think....

[englishangel]

Someone was watching out for you, though God helps those who help themselves and you DID have your seatbelt on.

There was a similar situation round here about 6 months ago involving two cars where one pulled out at a roundabout in front of another. The car already on the roundabout ended up in a similar position and condtion to yours on top of the roundabout making for spectacular photos in the local paper. I bumped into the woman who had been in the car a couple of weeks later and she also had emerged virtually unscathed.

[Foureyes]

bumped into the woman who had been in the car a couple of weeks later

perhaps not the best choice of words when talking about an accident?

[englishangel]

bumped into the woman who had been in the car a couple of weeks later

perhaps not the best choice of words when talking about an accident?

Choice of words was deliberate, I DID bump into her, in the bank rather than on the road fortunately.

[cstegerlewis]

I did something very similar in an MX-5 about 10 years ago, and all I managed to hurt was cutting my finger on broken glass as I climbed through the window. It was upside down, and the only problem (I can remember it as clear as day) was releasing the safety belt, beacuase when it has 16+ stone hanging from it it is very tight in the catch. The actual falling down bit wasn't bad as you are only a couple of inches off the ground. That was the week before christmas as well (in fact 21st December 1997 - 10 years ago today)

However mentally I was shaken up and didn't drive again for a couple of weeks.

Good to see you are sorted for insurance, just may have to pay a little more on your excess

[J.R.]

Glad you're alive and fit and well to enjoy Christmas.

A similar thing happened to me the day before Christmas eve a few years ago, when I encountered black ice on my way home from work.

The car was a write-off, with the engine alongside my feet.

I was lucky enough to walk away unmarked !

[marty]

Congratulations on surviving your crash, Julian! Can we call you Hamster from now on?

I was in a car crash with my dad a couple of years ago (funnily enough it was on his birthday) and I know exactly what you mean about the slow motion thing. We were in Scotland going round a bend, not fast, and all of a sudden my dad inexplicably lost control of the car and we spun round ending up on the verge facing back the way we came. Although it took only a couple of seconds it seemed like ages as my dad tried to control the car. It was only when we got out the car we realised how lucky we had been that a) there wasn't a car behind us and actually no other car involved and b) the car ended up about four feet away from an embankment (with no guard rail) which had about a 20 feet drop on the other side onto another road. If we'd gone over that.....

[cj]

Thank goodness you are OK, jt. A little warning for us all to take extra care on the roads before Christmas.

My husband crashed the car a few weeks after I'd had Cora and broke his foot (mutter, mutter, mutter). I nearly had an apoplectic fit when I saw the state of the car in the garage, but I guess that the material is designed to take the brunt of an incident rather than you, so is bound to look worse off. Still shakes you up though. He thought about it every time he passed that stretch of road for ages after.

[Great Plum]

Thank goodness you are alright Julian - those little Hondas must be made of stern stuff!

[jtaylor]

I'd certainly hoped I'd need to experience the strength of the roll-bar hoops and the windscreen frame - both seem to have stood up pretty well. RE. the seatbelt - with my weight, plus I'm assuming the pre-tensioners fired to pull me down into the seat, it was quite a pull on the seatbelt - rathen like being strapped into a fairground ride, only tighter!

Have sorted a new car today - a humble Civic 2.2 TDi - can do my bit for the environment for a bit, claw-back some money from the Chancellor (who is he these days?) and save on fuel bills - a bit boring, but the insurance will be cheaper and I don't fancy a sports-car again for a bit.....