So my brother wrecked his Jetta and I saw it happen.
Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 12:19 am
And it was nasty and horrifying to watch.
My brother and I drove out there to drive up Rocky point at about 7:30 this morning. Then I was to go back home and get my kids, and they were going to take pictures. That freaking simple.
He and my other brother were in his outragous Jetta and me in my wagon. We stopped at the bottom, talked for a second, confirmed me going up first with him following since he had never been on the road.
I led up the straight that starts the hill, took the two easy sweepers and into the first hard right corner which I braked plenty for.
And there was a damn pickup coming down the hill. All I could hope for was for my brother to have slowed way down. I was only about 35-50 yards up the road watching in my rear view mirror as he came around the corner, slid and his car exploded into the side of the truck. Plastic and glass went everywhere.
The jetta stayed right where it was with the tail end swung around and the truck off the road. The jetta hit the truck semi head on/T-bone style.
At first it was unreal, like a bad dream. Then I started yelling/screaming "Oh my God, Oh my God!", over and over. It looked really bad and since both my brothers were in the car, well, you can just guess how scared I was.
But.... Everyone walked. The airbags in the Jetta were miraciously still functioning and went off and the trucks front i-beam took most of the damage for the truck driver and he was fine as well.
The truck (nice old Hardbody Nissan) is probably totalled because it is 15 years old. Too bad because it was the guys since new and his baby. Took out the drivers wheel, door, hood, and messed up the front grill pretty good.
Then there is the Jetta. Sob. Destroyed the whole front drivers side. Wheel pushed back so hard it got stuck in the rear of the fender well. Destroyed the hood. No bumber or headlights. Bent the pillar front hood to roof, and buckled the roof. Broken windshield. And lets just say the rim and tire have seen better days. Both airbags went off. The battery was pushed back about 12" into the engine bay.
The actual engine and tranny didnt move and the turbo seemed located where it was supposed to be. But all the frame and body damage indicate there isnt much chance of saving it. This "was" a 335 whp 3.0 liter turbo VR6 with insane brakes, Quaffe differenttial, and all the goodies and looked awesome to boot. Now it is history. But my brothers are alive thank God.
And of course we all analyzed what happened and what it comes down to was A-too fast for conditions because of B-pea gravel on aspalt. But the suck ass part of this was that if the truck had not been there at that exact instance, he never would have touched the brakes enough to get the gravel skidding under the tires. Once those tires started sliding, it was over. We watched 4 trucks a few hours later while waiting for the tow truck, and they all took the corner at close to what the Jetta took it at, but they knew the corner and so didnt brake at the same place.
The skid marks even showed this to be true for the most part. They are only about 15' long but just go straight front the moment they hit the gravel. All the damage basically came from the fact it was a near head on so all that mass has to damage something!
We even had a state trooper pull up a few hours after it happened and ask what was up. We told him, he asked if everyone was licensed, and then drove off, but only after commenting there had been a few accidents on that corner.
Did we learn anything? Yeah, but only stuff we already knew, which was never drive in the rain, fog, night, ice and gravel. We werent driving crazy but combine not knowing the corner with the gravel and you get some bad situation going. In fact, after the road had been cleared but while we were still waiting for the tow truck, a woman in a little kia/suzuki thing took the corner faster than we did but since she knew the road, she hooked the inside of the corner with her front wheel and flew around the corner! But I must say it reiterates to me what I almost always do anyway, and that is SLOW WAY DOWN on corners I dont know or can't see around.
So kids, drive safe.
My brother and I drove out there to drive up Rocky point at about 7:30 this morning. Then I was to go back home and get my kids, and they were going to take pictures. That freaking simple.
He and my other brother were in his outragous Jetta and me in my wagon. We stopped at the bottom, talked for a second, confirmed me going up first with him following since he had never been on the road.
I led up the straight that starts the hill, took the two easy sweepers and into the first hard right corner which I braked plenty for.
And there was a damn pickup coming down the hill. All I could hope for was for my brother to have slowed way down. I was only about 35-50 yards up the road watching in my rear view mirror as he came around the corner, slid and his car exploded into the side of the truck. Plastic and glass went everywhere.
The jetta stayed right where it was with the tail end swung around and the truck off the road. The jetta hit the truck semi head on/T-bone style.
At first it was unreal, like a bad dream. Then I started yelling/screaming "Oh my God, Oh my God!", over and over. It looked really bad and since both my brothers were in the car, well, you can just guess how scared I was.
But.... Everyone walked. The airbags in the Jetta were miraciously still functioning and went off and the trucks front i-beam took most of the damage for the truck driver and he was fine as well.
The truck (nice old Hardbody Nissan) is probably totalled because it is 15 years old. Too bad because it was the guys since new and his baby. Took out the drivers wheel, door, hood, and messed up the front grill pretty good.
Then there is the Jetta. Sob. Destroyed the whole front drivers side. Wheel pushed back so hard it got stuck in the rear of the fender well. Destroyed the hood. No bumber or headlights. Bent the pillar front hood to roof, and buckled the roof. Broken windshield. And lets just say the rim and tire have seen better days. Both airbags went off. The battery was pushed back about 12" into the engine bay.
The actual engine and tranny didnt move and the turbo seemed located where it was supposed to be. But all the frame and body damage indicate there isnt much chance of saving it. This "was" a 335 whp 3.0 liter turbo VR6 with insane brakes, Quaffe differenttial, and all the goodies and looked awesome to boot. Now it is history. But my brothers are alive thank God.
And of course we all analyzed what happened and what it comes down to was A-too fast for conditions because of B-pea gravel on aspalt. But the suck ass part of this was that if the truck had not been there at that exact instance, he never would have touched the brakes enough to get the gravel skidding under the tires. Once those tires started sliding, it was over. We watched 4 trucks a few hours later while waiting for the tow truck, and they all took the corner at close to what the Jetta took it at, but they knew the corner and so didnt brake at the same place.
The skid marks even showed this to be true for the most part. They are only about 15' long but just go straight front the moment they hit the gravel. All the damage basically came from the fact it was a near head on so all that mass has to damage something!
We even had a state trooper pull up a few hours after it happened and ask what was up. We told him, he asked if everyone was licensed, and then drove off, but only after commenting there had been a few accidents on that corner.
Did we learn anything? Yeah, but only stuff we already knew, which was never drive in the rain, fog, night, ice and gravel. We werent driving crazy but combine not knowing the corner with the gravel and you get some bad situation going. In fact, after the road had been cleared but while we were still waiting for the tow truck, a woman in a little kia/suzuki thing took the corner faster than we did but since she knew the road, she hooked the inside of the corner with her front wheel and flew around the corner! But I must say it reiterates to me what I almost always do anyway, and that is SLOW WAY DOWN on corners I dont know or can't see around.
So kids, drive safe.
. Nasioc is retarded when it comes to internet warriors.