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lucky to be alive

J

JEFFtourCT

CEG'er
Joined
Jun 30, 2006
Messages
374
Location
Stratford CT
sorry guys, no pictures. i guess i could go back during the day and maybe take some shots of the tire marks and grass.. but. i spun out really bad friday night. my buddy and i were driving around in our cars. (no not street racing, because he has an evo8 and i just know better then to mess with him)

but i was just driver way to fast.

anyways, lets just say i was going over 90 but not any faster then 101..
>coming up to a left hand downwards curve
>rear end spun out and i started going side ways passenger side first into traffic
>I pulled the E brake and spun again
>started going backwards about 80mph
>jumped a curb with the left side of the car
>spun 2 times in a grass embankment
>jumped the curb again and stopped facing the way i was coming

i got out of the car and only had 1 flat front left tire, and the rear had a pretty nice size bubble. the car took a second to turn over but my buddy immediatlly followed me to a parking lot where we could change the tire, (which the spare was flat so they had to go and fill it, leaving me to see how many cigarrettes i could smoke while they were gone)

we went back to see how close i was to the telephone pole. not kidding, no more then the width of your computer screen. the tire mark on the curb was no less then a foot away.. if not for quick thinking i would have killed someone if i had hit the car that i was heading towards.

its deffenetly an eye opener, to the way i drive. it shook me up a little bit. the car is fine, no one got hurt. i know i shouldn't have been going as fast as i was... especially with all the sand that was on the road.

but now i have 4 new tires on the car, and a 4 wheel alignment. and i still have my baby.

haha. longest thread ever written. at least you guys still have me to nag.

:p
 
Wow... I think I would have crapped myself. :laugh:

But I'm glad you're ok and that it doesn't sound like too much damage. Could have been a lot worse.
 
Saw a bad accident yesterday (vehicle totalled, no idea how the driver is) in Millbury, no doubt due to speed and sand. Glad you're "waking up" to your driving habits ...
 
Yeah man, sometimes you just don't realize how fast you are really going. I was crawling in the snow down that hill and was scared when I lost control. Can't imagine doing it as fast as you were.

Also, I've been thinking about it, and I think I would probably never remember or know the appropriate time to pull the e-brake. It just wouldn't come to me quick enough. :shrug:
 
Whoa man. Good thing your ok. I wouldn't go back and take pics, if a cop sees you he may ask questions... Not that he could really do anything. Hopefully the rims didnt' get bent.

Now you know the limits of your tour I would try to stay below that mark. :)
 
what matters the most is that im glad your ok

motto of the story, dont drive like that. speeding and such..really, its not worth it :shrug:
 
thanks for the thoughts guys..

JD the rims are fine.. the only thing was a small little nic on the rim.. nothing too flashy.. and those damn ugly balance leads they put on the wheels.. a holes didn't put them on the inside, so now the rims are blah!

but let me tell you.. these new tires are sweet.. in the rain... ooo wee!! nice grip .. haha, ive been taking it really easy though.
 
Glad to hear that you are OK!! The car too!
Steph and Doug were here when I read your post and we all thought..."oh no!" We're all glad that you are safe.
 
The E-brake can be your best friend and your worst enemy if you don't use it correctly. In a spin it will help stabilize the spin but you need to use it wisely becasue if you lock up the tires then you're back to square one. The idea is to put put some drag on the rear wheels which usually are turning as the car is sliding. The brake adds some resistance to the turning, slowing down the back wheels so they get back behind the front wheels rather than trying to pass them. Its pretty much the same idea as putting a ribbon on the back of a kite to stop it from wobbling.

If you have rear wheel drive and your stuck with one tire spining and the other sitting there you can use the e-brake to help get both tires to drive rather than one. A standard differential will transmit the torque to the wheel that spins the easiest. If you get one tire in something slippery like ice, mud snow then that is the one that will spin. Giving just enough gas to get the tire to spin slowly (less than 10mph) and then slowly and gradually applying the e-brake until the spinning stops and then gently and gradually giving more gas until both wheels turn at the same rate and hopefully you drive out. Thats why farm tractors have two brake pedals, one for each wheels so that if one spins you can hit the brake for the spinning wheel and make the differential send power to the wheel thats not spinning hopefully because it has good grip.
 
FWIW the person I mentioned in my earlier post died. RIP Norman Fairbanks Jr. of Millbury (uncle to a childhood friend of mine) ... and seatbelts are a good thing mmmk.
 
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