My First Crash

[glrnet]

And she's even hitching in the wrong direction!!!!

[chubbster]

And she's even hitching in the wrong direction!!!!

 

? Who is?

 

 

 

Edit - Oh God - there's a girl in the picture! oops.

Edited October 29, 2013 by chubbster

[docwra]

I've been sideways plenty of times on track to feel comfortable doing it (see the footage from the SXOC day at Anglesey this year with me and Docwra for proof of that!)

 

Hah, I was going to mention that, for anyone that hasnt been on track with Dan he certainly falls into the "more than capable" category of driver from what Ive seen, this sounds like one of those incidents that were probably down to a combination of things, @*!# happens sometimes.

Even as a decent drifter there are slides and incidents you cant get yourself back out of, one that sticks particularly in my mind was sliding my Z into a ditch at relatively low speed - I initially thought I had it under control but some rather suspect rear tyres (my fault entirely) put paid to that, Dan's story sounds rather familiar so I wonder if the road surface had more to do with it than you did .........

 

Id add that it probably took me 4 years of drifting experience before I naturally started compensating for unexpected slides using the throttle, its not something that comes overnight by any means and even now actually feels weird to find myself doing it, the only bit of advice Id throw out there is that getting the clutch in and the car straight followed by the brakes gives you more control, but if you dont have the time you dont have the time .........

 

I can tell you from experience your confidence will come back gradually, and you will become a better driver for it - my last "off" was directly into a wall at about 40mph, the one before that was armco at about 70, both knocked me for a bit but it comes back quicker than youd think - it sounds like you were just unlucky to me and that can happen to the best of us

[Ricey]

Meh give me a break.........try having 10 crashes and see where your confidence is at!

 

Don't sweat it mate.....everyone has that horrible knock of confidence with anything like that. It comes back and makes you a better driver for it.

[docwra]

Only 10?

[glrnet]

Sorry to hear this Dan.

 

Firstly, I like your new signature!!!

 

Secondly, well done for taking it on the chin and admitting it's down to you.

 

Thirdly, you have always appeared to me to be most particular and thorough about understanding and gaining as much information as you can about subjects that interest you, tyres and road handling to name two that I am aware of.

 

And last but not least you have had an almighty kick in the "confidence" teeth because of the following contributory factors (all of which you seem to agree with).

 

1 Your mate trusted you and your ability enough to lend you his car and you trashed it (hugely embarrassing).

2 This was your first accident and it happened in your mates' car on a road that you are familiar with.

3 Having never had an accident before and being seen in the eyes of your mates as being on a "bit of a pedestal" in the wet you have to deal with the fact that you aren't invincible after all, and worse still, in your mind, you fecked up.

 

Given all that you know about tracking, performance cars, tyres, road handling etc I would quite honestly have to say that you have been tremendously unlucky for the following reasons:-

 

1 Diesel on your tyres?

2 Diesel on the road?

3 Damp road

4 Change in road surface probably very close to the point you accelerated.

 

There is more than a fair chance that at least 2 of the above contributed to your mishap.

 

Combine all of these possibilities with the way you feel now and is it any wonder you're taking it all to heart AND suffering a loss of confidence? Your pride has been severely dented and like the car it wasn't write off but it does needs reparing.

 

Seems to me you need to get "back on the horse" as soon as you can, you don't forget all the things you have learnt in one split second, you need to reassure yourself of that ASAP and put it all down part of life's rich tapestry.

 

Your mate has forgiven you, now you need to do the same, forgive yourself and stop fretting about it.

 

Well that's my twopenny worth.

[Ekona]

Thanks Graham, great post mate You too Doc, legend.

 

 

I guess it's just me venting as much as anything, it's hugely frustrating to have been hit twice with confidence when it comes to driving (recalling my recent discovery of a fear of driving on mountains on the Spain trip) in the same year. I'm sure I'll eventually get back to where I was and more than likely better as I now know what can go wrong, it just seems a long way away at this point.

 

Something else that's odd, is that I seem to be completely unaffected when driving my truck in the damp, but put me in the 911 or the Mini (MX5 is SORN'd right now) and I get THE FEAR again. Truly my mind works in mysterious ways.

 

 

Should have a new car to play with next month anyway, might be time to do a cheapy airfield day and go push..

[NeilMH]

I applaud your honesty. This has reminded me of my Elise "moment". I was very lucky because there was no armco or similar. The Elise was so light that a grassy bank, some brambles and a wide footpath knocked off a huge amount of momentum and stopped me hitting a line of tress. Like you I was doing a low speed on a straight road (about 30-35mph) but it was too much for the conditions. I should have read the conditions better - depths of winter, very early morning, overhanging trees, black ice (not entirely unpredictable).

 

Reflecting on what you have said and looking back on it years later:

 

- it is the reason I average 27mg in the Zed now

- I still don't feel quite the same as I did before the crash (I have gone off on track and it didn't bother me at all)

- the most disconcerting thing was that I didn't foresee it happening in any way - I was just quietly minding my own business

- having owned a tarmac rally car and other sideways type machinery, I wrongly had some confidence that I could hold a low speed slide

- in reality I was a complete passenger - I just couldn't react quick enough

- I was incredibly lucky that no-one was coming the other way as I spiralled round then off

 

As the others have said, the most important thing is that you are ok. And what a result about the insurance cover having been taken out.

[Ekona]

Yeah, being a passenger is probably the best way to describe it, spot-on. Holding on more than driving, so to speak.

 

I've a couple of mates (not related to the same guy who's car I binned) who I've grown up with mucking around with cars. One of them wrote his MR2 off ditching it into the pit wall at Anglesey in the rain, and another spun my old VXR220 into the armco on the A1 in the rain. Given how I've light-heatedly teased them about that over the years, you want to see the stick I'm getting off them now!

[glrnet]

Yeah, being a passenger is probably the best way to describe it, spot-on. Holding on more than driving, so to speak.

 

I've a couple of mates (not related to the same guy who's car I binned) who I've grown up with mucking around with cars. One of them wrote his MR2 off ditching it into the pit wall at Anglesey in the rain, and another spun my old VXR220 into the armco on the A1 in the rain. Given how I've light-heatedly teased them about that over the years, you want to see the stick I'm getting off them now!

Harsh but fair, I'd say.

[Daryl]

Sorry to hear about your accident, but atleast you walked away from it, and no one else was involved. Bloody lucky with the insurance too. I had a pretty big one a few years back in a hatchback, ended up going backwards into a tree, and have to say, it does make you a more rounded driver, as you are aware of other factors, and the experience just makes you think a little deeper. I had a massive spin in the Zed last year at Bedford, (that last corner), luckily it spat me onto the infield, not the pit wall, and i never took that corner at serious speed for the rest of the day, and it took me an hour or so to get any sort of confidence back in myself, and the car. I carried too much kerb on the apex, and though i thought I had the drift under control, when it snapped the other way, it was out of my control. You will get there, and be a better driver because of it, just takes time. Maybe go out in the car again, if your mate lets you, and go for a gentle drive.

[NeilMH]

I think it's the unexpected nature of it that's disconcerting. If you are screaming round a race track in the pouring rain or proceeding around your favourite private roundabout in a Westfield, then there is an element of expectation). A friend has also observed they felt like this when they had a very unexpected accident as a pedestrian (someone who fell down some concrete steps on a lovely sunny day on their way back from lunch, laughing and joking with friends one minute - some months later still having re-constructive surgery). Even if you get lucky and don't get hurt, it reminds you that you are mortal.

Edited October 29, 2013 by NeilMH

[M13KYF]

sorry to hear this Dan. It can happen to anyone of us sooner or later.

[skyinsurance]

Tricky call to your friend I bet!

[Lexx]

Pleased to see you walked away unhurt, if not unscathed.

 

You remember my crash 3 years ago in the VXR8? Very similar conditions and speeds involved. Completely shot my confidence for a good while.

In fact it was almost 3 years till I owned another RWD car (although weddings and children had something to do with that).

 

The confidence does come back. Just takes a wee bit of time.

[Ekona]

Tricky call to your friend I bet!

You're not kidding, he was away in Amsterdam on a heavy weekend and was asleep after a mad night when I rang him. I think it took a couple of hours before it actually sank in what had happened!

[sipar69]

Thanks for sharing - serves as a good reminder to everyone (particularly the less experienced of us like me) to be careful. Glad you weren't hurt.

[Ekona]

Actually, following on from that comment from our good friends at Sky Insurance, can I just clarify that I was in no way responsible for anything that happened and I am still an amazing driver and in no way should this be held against me when I renew with you guys in Feb

[Dblock]

Sorry to hear that. I hope you get rid if the "fear" I still have if 7 years after lol.

 

No one was hurt which was the main thing. Just goes to show it can go bad quick.

[coldel]

Doesn't take a lot, my neighbour who used to work for a supercar club drove lambos, ferraris etc all day all week for two years, then one day pulling away from some lights and turning a corner in some damp conditions at about 20mph found the maserati he was driving just spin out and side on to a kerb...£20k later the car was repaired. Anything running decent power can just 'have you' at any point no matter how used to driving high power cars you are - good thing is it was only your pride that was hurt.

[Ebized]

Main thing is that neither you nor anyone else was hurt - just a huge dent in your pride and very understandable given your car history and dedication to learning to drive fast and well on track. And there is no doubt IMO, and in my experience, that skills you learn driving on the limit in controlled conditions does help you understand how a car behaves and know your own ability, something that should not be under-estimated but also serves to ensure you are a more informed driver on the road. But also I would expect 99% of our members are on this forum because driving is more than an A to B exercise - sadly something for the vast majority of drivers out there is their only focus and who take no interest in learning more after passing their test.

 

Back to your situation Dan, I have to ask the question. Unless I missed it you do not say what the tyre situation was on the car - something very dear to your heart. My guess is that they were the right tyre for the car and in A1 condition...............? Were all 4 fully inflated after the accident and did you check the pressures to see if they were as they should be afterwards? As Mr Lizard mentioned, just maybe, if the tyres were all OK, one of the driving wheels may have caught something on the surface enough for it to spin up but then only you know whether that car was bereft of driver aids (TVR style), or otherwise to help those circumstances.

 

Had you been pushing on or it was chucking it down you would have been 100% focused on the slide potential so whilst you are kicking yourself for letting the car get away from you it sounds like it was a more relaxed outing that on any other day would not have produced dramas.

 

Take heart from a friend of mine who during an interview for the post as a journalist on a leading performance car magazine was asked whether he had ever had a bad accident in a car and having come clean and said he had written one off then found he was offered the job with the advice that he will then know what it is like to experience an accident, which they had found made their road testers less likely to repeat.

 

In time as your confidence returns - and it will, I expect you will actually look back on this as another lesson learnt to make you an even better driver.

[ATTAK Z]

I reckon you should receive a 6 month from on the roads of Britain ...

 

 

... together with a hefty fine (let's say £600.00)

 

 

... that way your 911 will be redundant and you can lend it to me

Edited October 29, 2013 by ATTAK Z

[cs2000]

Back to your situation Dan, I have to ask the question. Unless I missed it you do not say what the tyre situation was on the car - something very dear to your heart. My guess is that they were the right tyre for the car and in A1 condition

Im sure this was the issue, they obviously weren't MPSS tyres

 

Im all seriousness, I cant believe how difficult the call to your mate must have been, its a lot of trust to give someone control over your pride and joy over the weekend, but clearly he knows your level of competence and felt comfortable doing that. Just seems to be one of those hairpin's that life puts in your way sometimes

 

Odly, the day you posted this up, I had stopped by the side of a road to help a lady who had within the last 1-2 mins smashed her new (but the previous shape) Astra into the Armco on a roundabout. She said she drove this way every day, wasn't speeding and suddenly the car was coming round on her. She was in her late 30's and a doctor so not some hooligan, but sadly these things happen.

 

I think your previous suggestion was a good one. Find a runway/track day of some sort and break out the beans again, maybe even purposefully just drop the car when in a slide to prove to yourself that every time you slide and cant recover it that it doesn't mean its going to end up in the Armco.

 

Ive drove fairly powerful cars my entire life (my first car was a 2.0 206 GTI, not super car speeds, but for a first car, it was quick) and yet around a year ago I spun the Mrs's 1.2 60bhp Hyundai gets in the wet on a roundabout doing 15 mph, it wasn't even raining, just wet on the ground. Luckilly it was quiet and all that was hurt was my ego. Sadly driving is unpredictable and cars have a habit of biting you in the ass occasionally.

Edited October 30, 2013 by cs2000

[Ekona]

Sorry, I forgot to reply to Colin's tyre question. They were relatively new (2000 miles ish) 050As, so tyres I ran on both my old Zed AND my 911, so I'm familiar with those too. All were fine in terms of tread and pressures, so I ruled them out as contributory factors. Correct sizes for the car, too.

[Sarnie]

What car was it? Cayman??