how many minor car accidents have you had?

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Driving can be great but can also be s**t too even the littlest mistake can cost. A couple of weeks ago I arrived home to discover my neighbour across the road had parked in my driveway. I had said he could park there whilst I didnt have a car and told him the dates I would be having it (from 9th-21st November). I would have knocked on his door if he was there "SMILES" that would be the obvious choice but he wasn't there so I did what I thought was best.

Anyway my neighbour two doors up Michael said I could park on his lawn I did this but this morning I was backing off the lawn and ran into Mary-Ann (Mike's neighbours) brick letter box leaving a lined dint. I was going very slow and didnt hit it hard but it will cost $400 to fix. It is annoying but the guy said that most P platers (newly licenced) and some full licenced drivers do that kind of thing at least a couple of times in their driving career. If it was my car I wouldnt fix it but it isnt so I am lucky I have savings.

Also since I got my licence I have got honked at quite a few times for taking what the others driver thought was too long at roundabouts. I have noticed and been told by many experienced drivers who aren't from Melbourne (Mary-Ann, Ian from my aspie group etc) that Melbourne drivers are the most agressive, rude and impatient drivers in the world and this has been my experience with the honking for taking a split second to check things are safe.

To make matters worse I arrived at the garage to pick up the car only to discover that it wasn't ready. They lent me a huge station wagon, I was running late, got lost and had too much to do also clouding my judgement. I took a wrong turn and given I hadnt driven a station wagon before didnt leave enough room to turn around crashing into the side of a parked car. Like I said at least no one was hurt and I will get over it it is just expensive but I am not alone all inexperienced drivers have done similar stuff. I am taking the weekend to calm down, relax amd have some me time which I was lacking.

Therefore in my three and a half monts of having my licence I have had two what Americans call "fender benders" but no serious accidents. How many accidents have you had and how long have you been driving for?

A few times. I never counted. I almost got in one in Spokane last week and it would not have been a minor one. Because I didn't see a van coming and I saw it when I looked again and put on the break and the van just drove around me. It was a good thing I kept looking both ways as I was crossing. That is what you're supposed to do anyway. I would be very lucky if the van slammed on its breaks if I kept going.

Haven't had any in 12 years or so. I sure wouldn't want to get into any accidents with the way cars are made these days. Crunch crunch crunch! A guy who sometimes came to lunch to visit during my thesis work has a dent in his car that caused the back tire to rub. I pulled the deformation away from the wheel with my bare hands so it wouldn't rub so much, and I was surprised at how easy it was to bend the metal back. It shouldn't be that easy. I am convinced that design changes done under the pretense of saving energy are just making the cars flimsy.

I don't drive, but the few times I have attempted, I have scraped up the cars I was driving...nothing major..but concidering the number of times I have actualyl been behind the wheel..the odds are in favor of my being accident prone.

One just 2 weeks ago

Idiot was stopped in the #2 lane on the freeway.

Huge truck in front of me swerved around him..and I hit the bastage right in the back.

Gotta love the 3K covered by insurance

I have become pretty handy with a can of touch up and a tin of T-Cut

A few weeks after buying my car (my beautiful 1991 Fiesta) with NO BIG DENTS, some stupid woman reversed into me in the car park at work. I bet she was checking her mobile - she was just waiting there and wasn't doing anything so I went behind her and then she started reversing (duuuuuhhhhhhh idiot). She can't have looked. Anyway, the door is difficult to shut properly

When the brakes failed topic

When they did, I hit the back of a heavy chevy van (in 1995) at 20 k/h. My youngest was only four months old. i wa a student driver only. This turned me off at last, so when I went for my 20th test later that year I failed again but I did not care and never tried again.

Driving is not for me.

When I was learning to drive, I somehow managed to hit the swimming pool with my mom's car. Then a few months after I got my license, I hit the car parked next to me in the school parking lot backing out. After that, there were a few other minor things.
Then at the beginning of October this year, I totaled my car by hitting a pole, well, the wire thing that comes down from the top of the pole to the ground next to the pole on some telephone poles, I don't know what that's called.
I f-ing hate driving, but I live in the middle of nowhere where I have to drive 20 minutes to an hour to get anywhere, and I can't afford to move out of my parents house yet.

I've been lucky so far. Only had my P's for 6 months. Maybe because I don't live in a city, so the traffic is pretty sedated where I live.
I DID get the finger from a guy while driving on the Brisbane Gateway last week

Two. But then I live in the Middle East where nearly everyone drives like maniacs in huge 4x4s and they drive them like they're tanks.

Someone stopped right in front of me suddenly, and so I slammed on the brakes and just missed the car in front by a few inches. And just as I was feeling very smug and thinking, ooh, that was close, my reaction times are fast, 'whump' the guy behind smacked into me. He hadn't left a safe braking distance, so the rear bumper needed replacing.

And then a few weeks later I was driving round a roundabout, I was in the middle lane and was driving past one exit trying to take the next when some stupid idiot in the innner lane tried to take the exit I was just driving past and they smacked into my door and it crumpled on the exterior, luckily no dents on the interior I wasn't touched. Car door needs replacing though.

I *heart* my Saab. I feel fairly safe-ish in it, it's got 5* European crash test safety ratings. I can't justify a 4x4 on environmental grounds, although I must admit I was almost tempted because everyone drives them and it might have felt safer driving round in the same kind of humungus vehicle most other people drive. Couldn't bring myself to do it though. And my car's quite fun to drive as well, it's a convertible.

You probably need a new door skin rather than a new door.

I've narrowly avoided loads. When I recently passed my test, a small van driver was at the lights and as they had decided to stop over the line and I was not very close to it. The van driver decided to reverse and upon seeing this, I slammed my car in reverse very quickly. I believe if I was any one else, that would have been a hit and a write off.

There was one, long story being, he decided to turn in the middle of the road in an unsafe spot, and I went to go past. He reversed into me doing £1,930 worth of damage. The B-Pillar was damaged.

I had bad brakes and I wasn't aware at the time but as a result I went into the back of a BMW X5 I think it was. I jut hate stop-start traffic, I find that harder than anything else. Managed to chop a connection to one of my angel-eyes on my car. My brakes were so bad, I was grinding metal on metal, so much so there was rusted disc and pad all inside my front wheel well.

There was another incident where another driver just decided because of impatience to jump the queue, I let off the first two, but more? Nope. OK, I shouldn't have had full beam on, but I have a thing about not being seen. People always pulling out in front of me. They start to do, change their mind, (whilst I'm closing that same gap) then decide to take it after all and I have to slam on the anchors because I thought that initial stop was the decider. There really are some bad drivers out there.

Six times I think. I've been driving since 1996, my first accident was in 1999, I was trying to merge over from the off ramp and didn't know there was a red light ahead, when I noticed the car in front of me stopping my foot slipped and went under the brake, I recovered in time to hit the brakes, but it was too late, her rear bumper had a scratch, my front was banged up a bit.

Second one was my fault, I ran a stop sign on a rainy night trying to deliver the stupid pizza in time, saw a car coming fast so quickly stopped threw it in reverse and a tank creamed my front end. I say tank because he was driving an old car and only got some scratches while my car was smashed. Not so bad I couldn't drive but there were little pieces everywhere and my driver side front lights were out, the engine was shifted over a little, my bumper was hanging from one side, and my hood bent.

Third one I reversed into a van.

Fourth one I was sideswiped. A van hit my door. Luckily I saw it coming so moved my body away from it. The door was jammed and damaged badly, had it replaced.

Fifth one I was rear ended.

Sixth one I backed into the hitch part of a long dumpster, it was one of those used for throwing construction/large debris away in, the hitch for it hung down from the top and I didn't see it in my side mirror, dented the trunk lid.

I haven't been in an accident in around four years or so.

1 major one where I got severe whiplash and the damage were in the thousands of dollars, and 3 minor ones. I was always the passenger because I don't drive. I used to fly planes though. How weird.