Thank you for your honesty! I haven't had an accident for 5 years yet but had some close ones.
1) I had a close accident when a car made a lane change to my lane and stopped right there. I had to brake really hard and ended up with my bumper 1-2 inches behind that car. Luckily!
2) I had some small scratches at my car's corners (no, I didn't hit other cars).
3) I had a verbal warning for doing 68 mph in a 60 zone.

The only thing you can do to make your driving better is to practice driving. My car has 55k miles, so is my driving for 5 years.
- You may also try putting a pillow on your seat while driving and ask a shop to make an extension for your pedals if you can't see well. My friend, a short girl, has to do all of these.
- Please be aware of everything around your car. Know your weakness. For example, I know I'm bad at judging distance behind my car, so I always lower my window, stick my head outside, and look back whenever I need to do parallel parking.
- Please be patient and drive within 5 mph of the speed limit. The fact that you have turbo charge somehow means you lose patience easily and want everything to be fast. It's not good for a new driver.
- Try to get familiar with your car. It's a lot better to drive your own car and know its weakness. My car, for instance, has a 1-second lag when pressing hard on the acceleration suddenly, so I'm more careful to pass other cars and change to a higher speed lane.

I've never considered myself to be a good driver, but I try not to do some stupid things. Everyone makes mistakes, but we need to learn from them.

 

Thank you for your honesty! I haven't had an accident for 5 years yet but had some close ones.
1) I had a close accident when a car made a lane change to my lane and stopped right there. I had to brake really hard and ended up with my bumper 1-2 inches behind that car. Luckily!
2) I had some small scratches at my car's corners (no, I didn't hit other cars).
3) I had a verbal warning for doing 68 mph in a 60 zone.

The only thing you can do to make your driving better is to practice driving. My car has 55k miles, so is my driving for 5 years.
- You may also try putting a pillow on your seat while driving and ask a shop to make an extension for your pedals if you can't see well. My friend, a short girl, has to do all of these.
- Please be aware of everything around your car. Know your weakness. For example, I know I'm bad at judging distance behind my car, so I always lower my window, stick my head outside, and look back whenever I need to do parallel parking.
- Please be patient and drive within 5 mph of the speed limit. The fact that you have turbo charge somehow means you lose patience easily and want everything to be fast. It's not good for a new driver.
- Try to get familiar with your car. It's a lot better to drive your own car and know its weakness. My car, for instance, has a 1-second lag when pressing hard on the acceleration suddenly, so I'm more careful to pass other cars and change to a higher speed lane.


I've never considered myself to be a good driver, but I try not to do some stupid things. Everyone makes mistakes, but we need to learn from them.

I'm quite fine now and you are right being short has been challenging (although I love being short). Pillows are not necessary and as for pedal extentions they extend it too much and make it feel awkward. Naturally I have to use the pedals on tip toe if I have to apply them fully and this can be painful. The best solution I have found that makes me very comfortable is to drive in platform heels or wedges and that's what I do and wear most of the times when I go out. Only the shoes should be in good condition and the floormat should not be fibrous for this trick to work with stilettos. My sister and cousin (who drives a huge 4x4) have the same pedal problem as me and have found wedges and platforms to be the best.

The problem with extentions is I am not so short that I cannot reach the pedal so they feel too unnatural to use.

 

Crashing is one thing, there could be a variety of reasons why you crashed a car. For me the difference between the good and bad drivers is what did you learn from the crash? On the public roads I haven't caused any crashes, rather I ended up getting hit mainly from behind. At work, I crashed 3 cars in low speed instances.

#1 - At a GM dealer I was trying to maneuver a Dodge Durango around a badly parked Cadillac. I was impatient and while I got most of the Durango by, due to the car's poor visibility I couldn't see that the rear fender's large flares and that got caught by the Caddie's bumper. Despite the size differences, Durango was clearly defeated by the Caddie. A more agile or thinner car would have got by, this thing couldn't. If I were more patient I probably would've found out that the stupid Durango wouldn't have made it.

#2 - Scuffed a VW Jetta on a metal pole while reversing in a tight ally, a bad move by me for not adjusting the wing mirrors meaning I didn't see it. I could've avoided this one but I didn't. Never did that again.

#3 - Hitting a fire hydrant with a Nissan Altima. This was to a drive to one of our accounts, normally there's a way to drive through the parking lot there. That day a train derailment meant a lot of ambulance and police cars sat on their lot blocking much of it. I tried a complex set of driving maneuvers which meant I didn't hit any of the cop cars or ambulance vehicles, sadly the space I was reversing had a short fire hydrant, I hit that and the bumper was punctured, hydrant showed no damage. Next time, I'll pick the least complicated way out.

If I have to crash a car, crashing your work car seems better than your own. However if I suspect I was incompetent at driving, I'd gladly go back to driver's ed because clearly I missed something.

 

are we going on accidents where i was a driver, or in general? because i've been the passenger in a few.

the ones i've caused happened about 4 years apart from each other:
1 - rear-ended a full size pickup truck and nearly totaled the car. it was a hit and run - i hit her, she ran. her truck had a scratch on the chrome bumper.
2 - rear-ended a Forester, totaled my car. that was a mess...put me in the ER.

i was shoved off the road by an overzealous teenager, but the damage to both cars was minimal. made her call her father and tell him what she did.

was the passenger in the following:
1 - while my dad was driving the family minivan, we got rear-ended by a woman in a Miata. she went to the hospital, we were fine.
2 - while on a first date with someone, he got rear ended. popped his rear bumper cover off and screwed up his exhaust.

 

My really bad one was when a semi decided to change from the left lane to the center before I was clear. He caught the left rear fender and if I made a mistake it was probably slowing down as I brought the car under control. That allowed him to hit me again and this time I couldn't get away. I wound up with his grill pressed against my door(s). Then he swung back to the left and slammed me into the concrete median. So I found myself sliding backwards at 60-70 MPH with the semi inches from the front bumper. I flipped him off as I figured it was all over. But then I decided to risk cranking the wheel hard right and as it came around I began straightening it out. However, it slowed me too much and he impacted the rear which lifted it up and pushed it into a slide the other way. I got it stopped on the easement facing the other way. We survived and although the car was drivable once I pulled the fenders out a bit, it was totaled. Still, we made it to the funeral to which we were headed, and all the way home. Fun times. (Did I mention I still hate truckers?) :lol:

 

That is an incredible way to have an accident! unbelievable to impact so many times in one accident.

Just like you hate truckers, I hate buses as they basically caused my 2 worst accidents. Well sort of because I was at fault for rear ending and bad judgement while overtaking.

 

A young woman driving a red Mustang rear-ended me while I was sitting at a stop light. Before she hit me, I saw her coming up behind me and noticed she was looking down at her lap (probably texting). The impact just cracked the back bumper of my Camry, and almost completely tore off the front fender of the Mustang.

 

I've never been the driver of an accident that I caused, although I have been hit by a drunk driver 30 years ago that totaled my 69 Corolla. :headbang: I consider my accident record at zero since I've never been at fault in 34 years of driving. I can't imagine having all the issues the OP has had in such a short time. I'm also surprised that she still has a drivers license after all those accidents!

 

The police and insurance don't know about most of them. They only know about the totaled car and the time I hit the buses while overtaking. I normally arrange to pay drivers without passing through insurance.

 

'Nuf said. My first and only big accident. *Knock on wood* Long story short. I pissed off The Hulk.

Okay, if you really want to know how my car got Hulk Smashed. I flipped the car twice and the car rested on its side. I was literally hanging sideways in the air after it stopped. I was driving 1-2 mph over the speedlimit, took a blind bend around the corner of the road, big, raised Silverado comes out with his gigantic laser beam headlamps blinding me on my precious face, I get blinded, went around the bend, over steered into the dirt shoulder, the rear tyres lost grip when I exited the bend, the car started fish tailing, I tried to correct it but cars were coming at me from the opposite lane, I didn't want to risk crashing into other people so I just over corrected and aimed for the steep embankment on the shoulder of the road, the car hits the mud wall, slides, gets caught on the wall, the car starts flipping sideways, and ended up on its side. Good thing all of this happened on the shoulder of the road because I didn't end up on the street during all this. I think I saved lives while I almost sacrificed mine. It's better to hurt yourself for your mistakes instead of getting other innocent people involved.

 

^^^^:lol: Really!:dunno:

 

6 wrecks while driving my own cars, 3 of which were my fault, and 1 was while riding with someone else in their truck. None with any serious injuries thankfully.

1. A girl driving beside me turned suddenly into my lane hitting my MR2.

2. I slid into a concrete curb while drifting around a corner in my MR2 because there was a unknown oil slick there.

3. I was driving around 100mph in my MR2 when a dog walked in front of me and I slammed on the brakes and turned in the other lane to avoid it then the car did a 1/4 mile spin completing over two 360 turns and slowly rested in a deep ditch where I had to get it pulled out by a truck. I should have died that day since it was a narrow road with deep ditches but the car stayed on the road during the high speed spins so I drove it away and washed it off where all was well.

4. I slid into a ditch in my vw bug because I was going too fast around a corner in the rain about 40mph.

5. Some old lady pulled out in front of the truck I was riding 50mph in and we slammed into the back of her. I hurt my knee against the dash but nothing serious where it healed up in a couple weeks. The lady was fine too.

6. A girl turned head on and hit me when I was driving 35mph in my ford escort. She would have seen me coming if she was not looking backward at her boyfriend standing in a parking lot.

Oh I forgot one where I was riding with two friends in a truck and we chased a thief who had hit another car in front of us and left the scene. The chase was at high speeds for miles where we finally bumped him several times until he wiped out and got stuck in the mud then got arrested.

I forgot another one too where a crazy woman ran into me while not paying attention(she must have been screaming at her kids) and went absolutely ape squeeze screaming and acting like she was demon possessed giving herself a migraine where she finally exhausted herself quiet and collapsed on the ground. :lol:

Her stupid little brat kid listening to his rap crap on head phones made sure to get his dopey little taunt in too which was so ridiculous I actually thought it was funny. She got what was coming to her with her car damage that she couldn't afford to fix, then the thug woman didn't have insurance and left town to avoid charges for my repairs which must have been further hassle for her. Served her right. So that makes 8 wrecks for me.

 

Those vw bugs are bad about the front end letting go aren't they? Had it happen once but hitting the brakes got the back to slide so I was able to get it straightened out while only running about a foot off the road in the grass. Never took a turn too fast in one of those things again!

 

Yep. Funny thing is I was young and stupid with that being my first car at the time and I passed a cop while speeding so I sped up even faster to run away from them thinking they were fixing to stop and turn around to come after me. I wound up in the ditch and the cop just kept going. Served me right. :lol:

 

V I had two cookies like that from Carl Jr's yesterday. They were fantastic! SCMR2 make sure to buy one from there if you eat one, if you have those restaurants there. :thumbsup:

 

I've been lucky, I've only had one and it wasn't my fault. 2 drivers back decided the gas pedal looked just like the brake pedal and accelerated into the car behind me...which then slid into me....That's about it


....who the hell voted 8-10...jezz hahaha

 

....who the hell voted 8-10...jezz hahaha

I didn't but I should have since technically I've been in 8 crashes. I've been driving for 25yrs.

 

I've never been in an at-fault accident, though my MR2 was rear-ended by a Tahoe in a parking lot. Missed the frame entirely and caused only sheetmetal damage, but the car was totaled anyway. Received good compensation ($5,500; paid $4,500 for it), and wasn't planning on selling it. That was back in 2003. I bought the car in 2001, and I've had it ever since. It's running better than ever.

The car is now 22 years old (May 23, 1990 is its production date), and I've had it for 11 years next month (since Sept. 2001).

 

I've only had one real "accident" so far (knock on wood), and I was not at fault. I posted it here on TN. I was clipped by some dumb idiot who merged into my lane, and of course, they had no insurance.

The only other times I've come into contact with another car was when I was pulling into a Bank of America parking lot to deposit a check. I was in the Cressida and for some idiotic reason I took the turn into the parking spot insanely wide and the corner of my front bumper rubbed against an Impala's. It did no damage to either car.

The other time was when I was in the Hilux leaving class and backing out of my parking spot at my college. This girl in an old LS400 in the row that was parallel to mine backed out at the same time, but wasn't paying attention. I stopped backing up and honked my horn to get her attention but she had her head up her ass and our bumpers hit. It did no damage to my steel bumper and scraped hers. My friend was actually getting into her car at the same time and saw it happen.

 

^^^ Same thing happened to me!! But she was in an SUV and the funny thing is that her SUV got a scratch on it but my bumper got nothing. And the awkward thing is that she was a friend from my school.

I've been at fault in one minor and one major. This was all 4 years ago.

Minor one was when I was taking a corner a bit too fast in the rain and my car drifted outward into the oncoming lane lane into a FORD Explorer. All I did was knock off his licence plate. He was not a happy camper but he didn't bother to exchange information. Thank you Jesus!!! lol

The major one was when I had left my car parked outside the house overnight during winter. The windows had iced up so I used one of those ice defroster spray cans. The defroster melted the ice but, being the idiot that I am, I didn't wipe off the excess water that formed when ice melted. The windows iced up as soon as I pulled up to an intersection outside my neighborhood. I knew I had to park somewhere to get rid of the ice on my windshield. I couldn't see so I rolled down my driver and passenger side windows to check if there was oncoming traffic. I didn't see any so I went for it. I was going pretty slow because I was a bit scared. I guess I was a little too slow because a Jeep hits me right at the corner of my hood and fender. We exchanged info but he never called the insurance. He had no damage on his Jeep.

I needed new headlights, bumper, fender, hood, and a bumper support bar. I'm really kind of thankful that things turned out the way they did. I never got reported, everyone was safe, and my car still runs like it never happened.

 

I'm Asian and female...'Nuff said !!!!!!

 

:rofl2:

 

@ sweeneyp - glad to see you have a sense of humor ...

It's really not funny walking or should I say driving in my shoes... I can't parallel park to this day.. FML...
The most recent mishap - Damn wall had to jump out and hit me.. WTH...
Thank God for handicapped placards !!!!!

 

Perhaps you need to remove your

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

 

An oldie but a goodie:

 

@ got-rice... I don't wear masks , just the one I have on my face. I need a new set of eyes, though, preferably ones that can see straight !! BTW, I LOVE rice !!!!!!!!!!

 

Don't worry, I'm quite bad at parallel parking myself and waste a lot of time doing it and sometimes end up getting the car in difficult positions.

My sister is even worse than me and both of us have touched other cars when parallel parking. I believe the majority of swear words told to be were while I was parallel parking.

 

I have had two accidents in my years of driving. Both were weather related. One time was during some heavy rain, I hit the brakes and the car simply did not stop. This was in a Camry (96'). I'm guessing I hydroplaned or something, as I had never had braking problems before that, and never did with that car after that.

The 2nd time was on ice. Driving at night and the road was dry. Then, all of a sudden the entire road was covered in ice (still looked dry), and I started to fishtail and lost control of the vehicle and went off the road. Literally the entire road was covered in ice, which is why I probably didn't notice it, since it was all uniform.

 

Just had another accident, I rear ended the trailer of a semi truck as I was a bit distracted. Strange thing the driver of the semi just drove away when the lights turned green. The bar on the trailer fell and it got some scuffs. My corolla got some denting on the hood.

 

For your own safety I'd implore you to go back to driver's ed if you wish to continue driving. The best ones have a proper curriculum that go beyond passing the test. A proper instructor should be able to catch your bad habits pretty much immediately which is what you need to avoid pretty much all the accidents you've mentioned. Its more than well worth the money if it means you avoid serious injury or worse death.

 

dude. you need to stop driving.

 

The dude is a Lady! :lol:

Your lucky they ran away and your car was still drivable :thumbsup:....but don't push your luck, and please try to be more attentive behind the wheel:disappoin

 

@ Falnfenix ...ROFL
@ Intelligence Artifi ... I'm not laughing at your recent accident , but damn you and I should BOTH stay off the road.

 

Seriously, stop driving if you're causing so many accidents. :facepalm: