Taking the "Kerbal way" a little too far in the real world.

[NecroBones]

Thanks for all the well-wishes. Yeah, it's a pretty terrifying thing to have happen. Basically what happened was that I was just changing lanes. The snow and wind had backed off a bit, so traffic started picking up speed a little, and I decided to get out from behind the car I was following. A larger truck than mine was behind me, and clearly getting irritated and wanting to go faster, but I was already moving over first. As I moved half-way between the lanes, I hit ice and all four wheels lost their grip, and NOTHING I did made any difference, steering, braking, nothing... So I kept going in a straight line, right off the road.

I was very fortunate. Six feet to the right, and I'd have missed the barrier and gone down a hill, possibly tumbling the entire way, or catching air first. Instead, I got deflected upward, and then rolled to the left, with two distinct impacts (first the barrier, then landing on the side).

I'm a little sore now, but it's not bad at all. At the time, I felt perfectly fine. Some passers-by stopped and helped to pull me out (the door was at neck-height).

I guess the main lesson here would be to always bring enough boosters and struts, and don't forget the parachute.

I've learned a bit too much from Eugene and Werner Von Kerman. Caught my lab on fire with a jet, blew up an experimental hydraulic pump, exploded some really big capacitors, and blew up a side of ham in a centrifuge. I'm a happy guy.

Wow those sound like some great stories... or just one, epic story. But ham in the centrifuge?? I need to understand what happened there.

[SubzeroSpartan7]

I have been in a car when it hit ice only going 20 MPH (get over the customary unit) and the car started spinning, hit another car, plowed down a mailbox, went into a yard ht a bolder and rolled onto its side. That wasn't fun at all.

[A-Stax32]

Looks like that was pretty scary. Glad you're okay though, wouldn't want to lose a good community member and day of the week.

One time I was riding my bike in the rain and took a sharp turn without my hands on the bars. Lack of friction, reckless daring, and the fact that I was wearing sandals all came together to give me nothing more than a small scrape on the toe after I flew off the bike and tumbled over the pavement a couple yards. I also had a collision once when I was checking my front shifter. I looked down to see the sprocket, I look up and the next thing I know I hit a fencepost, good thing only the bike got hurt.

[MartGonzo]

I've not been in any traffic accidents more than the occasional nudge, but I do seem to have a knack for dodging death in other ways.

So glad you're ok NB

[richfiles]

I once hit a patch of ice (I was much younger and stupider) in Minnesota while I was doing 75 MPH (120 KPH). Spun a full 360°, got out of it, facing forward, and continued driving, with my speed coming out of the spin at 45 MPH (72 KPH). I was at least apart enough to know to kick it into neutral, so the wheels would not fight the momentum. I also once hit a patch of spilled gravel at the entrance of an interstate on ramp, and slid right over the edge, and rolled down the ditch, and just kept on driving through the grass and merged right into the highway.

[Pixel of Life]

I've also somehow managed to avoid getting in any serious accidents during the 18 months I've had my licence. The worst thing I've had happen to me was accidentally reversing into our mailbox, leaving a dent on the rear fender. It wasn't that bad, but fixing it turned out to be surprisingly expensive because the fender is part of the pillar structure located above the side windows so nearly half of the car's left side had to be repainted.

I've had lots of near misses though, not only with other cars but also with pedestrians and bicyclists.

[LordFerret]

I've been in a few car wrecks in my life, none of which were my doing. Two of them, I don't know why I'm still alive (and have legs). Most notable about all of them is how 'time stands still' while you're in the midst of such things.

Good to hear you're ok!

[viktor19]

Sorry to hear about something bad like this. I'm going to repeat this for a millionth time: nobody is hurt, and that's a huge positive side.

My late grandfather had a rather bizarre (almost) accident. One afternoon in the late 90s he got into his car. The car was parked on slope that ended with a 6-7 metre wall. In a weird course of events the car rolled down and ended up with forward half hanging in the air. He managed to exit the car and road assistance got there real fast so there was no damage. Too bad they couldn't take a picture...

[Samniss Arandeen]

Obviously the time my brakes failed going into a blind turn at 30 MPH, and getting T-boned as a result, has nothing on hitting ice at highway speed.

But not even Kerbals are stupid enough to back out of a parking space into the side of a car stopped behind them. As someone with a shiny new Camaro once did to me.

[livefree75]

Glad you're OK. Once when I was riding in a school bus, we hit a patch of ice just as the car in front of us stopped. Needless to say, the bus rear-ended the car. Nobody on the bus was hurt, but the guy in the car walked out holding the back of his neck, like he had gotten whiplash or something.