Modern car safety

The story begins with a friend and I deciding to go to the cinema, for a nice quiet Saturday night out. We left home with the intention of making an evening of it - pizza, cinema etc - you know the deal.

Anyway, the journey began as usual, uneventful, then about half way there, after we had slowed down to go past a speed camera (wonderful invention that they are), a car began to join the dual carriageway that we were on, from a junction on the left, nothing unusual there, you might think, we pulled out into the second lane to allow him on to the road and to go past him, when suddenly, from nowhere, he decides he wants to take a turning on the right and cut across two lanes right in front of us leaving my friend, who was driving, no option but to hit the brakes and hope! We hit the other car doing about 60mph!!

I can remember a loud bang, smoke and steam all over the place and seeing the car we hit spinning to the junction in the middle of the road!

Having seen the damage to my friend's car, it mystifies me how we both were able to get out and be walking about, frantically phoning emergency services, relatives and insurance companies, long before anyone turned up to help!

When the ambulance arrived, they decided that, just to be sure, my friend needed to be strapped down to a flat board, which he now assures me caused him far more pain and discomfort than the accident did!

So our quiet Saturday night out hasn't happened yet, but thanks to some miracle neither of us, nor the driver of the other car (to the best of my knowledge) was hurt any more than a bit of whiplash, and suffering a bit of stiffness today!

It is a testament to the safety levels in modern cars that we were not seriously hurt or killed last night, and I can now say from personal experience that seat belts are definitely a life - saver!!

Apologies if this account is a bit rambling, but we are both still a bit shakey about the whole ordeal - as I'm sure you can understand!

oh i'm so sorry that happened!! i'm glad you guys are ok though!

I always though that at that sort of speed we would have been goners!!

i guess my guardian angels were on overtime last night!!

and I always work on the theory that anything that doesn't kill you, makes you stronger!

That level of car safety dates back to the early volkswagon bug models, Ofcourse consumer reports liked to bash it for folding up like an accordian and crushing the drivers when it got in front end collisions, the problem was the spare tire was part of the frame, when it was removed it was missing a huge chunk of it's structure and was indeed a death trap. The only thing it was missing that modern cars have is depowered airbags (normal airbags IMO actually cause more harm) and a 2 point harness (volvo invention, is present on many latter models volkswagon bugs)

Car safety hasn't actually improved a whole lot (excludeing the [censored] models that barely pass the impact rateings which are still being made)

PS-Glad your ok

Glad you came out of it unscathed. I still have a dent in my shin where the engine ended up in my lap when my (expletive editied) ex decided to show off his skid control skills which turned out to be nonexistant.

Cars are scary at the best of times. Two tonne lumps of mobile death that we let 17 year olds drive. The best drving advice I was ever given was to consider everyone else as an idiot who will do stupid stuff, turns out you got one.

good to hear you're okay mr bird

out here you take you life in your own hands everytime you deciude to go down the shops, people tail gate you at 120, safely strapped in with their kids juping round on the back seat then cut up three lanes of traffic so they can make their exit (even though theres another about 5 mins down the road) a coulpe of weeks ago it was in the newspaper that 52 people had died in road accidents which in a wee country like this is rediculous amount! on time on the way home from school about 8 yrs back it had been raining and on our 15min bus ride we counted 32 crashes!! i dont know what these people expect to happen its all 'gods wish'!!! i have to do a road saftey campaign and to be hom#nest i dont know where to start!! Joe six steps will back me up on all this

1) Thank heavens you are OK!

2) Take a photo of the wreck and send it to the car company with a little thank you note. The safety engineers love to get those.

3) My parents were in a horrible rollover accident that involved the car flying 50 feet through the air at 70mph (about 110 km/h). It was a Ford Explorer. The engine compartment was mangled beyond belief, as was the cargo compartment, but the passenger compartment was intact, the seatbelts held, all the airbags went off and my parents lived.

They were badly hurt, which I don't think can be helped with any sort of rollover accident at that speed, but they lived. Ford got a thank-you note and some photos of the crash scene from me. All the note said was "To whom it may concern: My parents are alive. Thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Oh... glad everyone was ok.

My dad recently (last week) Was in a horrible accident, his car went off the gorge, landed 15 foot down, rolled over and crashed into a tree.

He was ok luckily and crawled out and climbed up the wall and walked for 3 miles to the nearest phone, when the people came to recover the car they couldn't believe he was the driver they thought the driver died or something. Luckily he was ok, if he was unconscious he would have died, the road gets used like once, twice a day and it pitch black, even if someone did go down that road no one would have been able to see him as he was 15 foot down the gorge.

I believe in miracles

that wasnt the devils punchbowl or whatever they call it was it??

Kids not strapped in and the adults with THEIR belts on is instant road rage for me . Its the one time that I will pull up next to another car and be negative.