Before I go into my story, just wanted to let you guys know that hitting stuff at 60mph hurts like a *S(*DF*(&(*&!!! After what happened last night I'm probably going to take it easy on the roads now... cause you never know when sh*T like this is going to happen.

Anywho, to the point...

Last night around 9:15pm I was on Jamboree heading East towards the 5 freeway away from Barranca. I was in the number 1 lane curving left traveling at the speed limit. All of a sudden I hear a boom and feel the left half of my car lifts 1-2 feet. My instincts told me to slam on the brakes but that threw me into a 90 degree turn heading into a wall that was about 4-5 lanes away. I tried countersteering my way out of it but I got no feedback... I also mashed the brakes but I got nothing. All I could see was the wall, my doom, heading at me at 60mph. I remember hitting the wall dead on with the loudest crunch and force.After everything came to a stop I couldn't move.It felt like I was punchedby a pro boxer all over my torso at once. AfterI started regaining control of my body and after the adrenaline kicked in, I began to look my self over...family jeweles, check... broken bones, check, concussion... etc. Luckily from what I gathered, the only injuries I got wasfrommy bodieskinetic energy vs the seat belt.

After I got out of the car Iwas shocked as tohow much plastic this car has. It was everywhere on thehighway/road. I tried inspecting mycar to see how much damage was done but it was too dark (black car blends well). However,I do know that everything is smashed in from the battery back as I saw the battery on the freeway leaking its fluids (which is basically the whole car). I'm pretty sure the car is totaled though. My whole interior was bent up. My gloveboxhad to be pried open, the shfiter and center console was bent out and yea.

I didn't sleep much last night.The adrenalineis like caffine. I'm actually wide awake right now too. I'm planning to go down the theyard after lunch tosnap some pics. Going to be interesting...

Anyways, here's some takeaways... Dont drive fast,there's always the possability to hit crap. Hitting a wall at 60mph hurts like a ****... that nhsta vids of crash testing make it look like a walk in the park for the crash dummies but it really isn't! Airbags are not soft.. it basically took out my right bicep and I can barely lift 30 lbs now. There's probably more... but just stay safe out there.

Oh, and here's a pic of the path my car took. My path is in yellow... the red circles are the street lights. The stretch I was in was pretty dark and the oncoming traffic's glare didn't help too as they are coming down a hill.



Edit: I forgot to add what I hit. After talking with the police about the details of the accident we soon saw a whole bunch of firewood logs on the freeway!!! These aren't your "pine mountain 24 hour burn gurantee" logs but real huge pieces of tree!

 

A higher power must have gotted p*ssed off at all things A3 in the past week or so! I almost got nailed while parked overthe weekend...was parallel parked and someone in a driveway across the street pulled into oncoming traffic and got t-boned. Both cars spun around - one hit the car parked in front of me and the other rolled into the car parked behind me. Mine was missed by inches and sheer luck.

Sorry to hear...that sucks. Maybe we should all stay home for awhile or something. Keep us updated.

 

Holy. After that - I would be making peace with my maker. 60mph into a jersey wall - that is a really strong endorsement of the engineering put into these cars. Unfortunate about the car -glad to see that you are able to talk about it afterwards. Running into a jersey barrier is usually something that one does not walk away from that easily. Do the police have any explanations or ideas as to why the logs were laying about on a highway?

 

wow...dont know what to say except how much that sucks, and glad you are ok enough to talk about it. Can't imagine what that must have been like but its good to know the safety features of the car seemed to have done their job.

 

Just be glad you walked away from it. That is some scary ****! As drumdork03 says, something wierd is certainly going on!

Plus kudos for your crash being a damn sight more dramatic than Chef's. [8D]

Glad you're safe.

 

Sigh. Sorry to hear that, but glad you are OK. Think you are right about your A3 being totalled if your battery flew out of your car and your center console is bent. I will drive you to the next GTG.

I guess Nam and I got to be on high alert.

 

[:@][:'(][]

just glad youre ok Richard...

frickin LOGS???? man..whats going on??
im allready dreading the pics
drive safe out there everyone...



suddenly cruising last in the pack & arriving last doesnt seem so bad anymore..

right Cheng?

 

Wow! I am glad to hear that you are not lying in a hospital, and were able to walk away, albeit sore.

I guess with the string of reported accidents I should mention that I had three minor issues with my A3 within the first couple of weeks. 1) Piece of two-by-four flicked up by a truck that just managed to glance by my left front wheel 2) toll booth arm that came down on my windshield and lightly scuffed the glass where it is shaded 3) kid put his scraped up pedal against my front cowling.

Nothing too major, but I had some close calls.I can empathize with you. Two other quick stories that illustrate you have to be careful aboutwhat lies in the freeway:

I was drivingthrough Portland, OR. on my way to a businessmeeting (when I lived in the NW) and a log came bounding down the road end-over-end. I was on a metal grate bridge with lots of traffice doing about 60 with nowhere to go. I braced for impact and it hitthe front of my truck, smashed a fog light to bits,and continues over my cab and into the bed of my truck.

Second story, I was driving on Beltway 8 in Houston (aka the Autobahn)in a Volvo V70GLT. Suddenly an SUV swerves to the left, and I realize I might want to followhim. Sure enough...right in my lane is a 16 foot Aluminum ladder. I managed to miss most of it but it stillhit my front right wheel. The tire was instantly flat andthe front cowling was shaved. I managed to keep it on the road...but I wasjittery after that.

Take care A3Night...send us some pictures.

 

I just got back from the yard. It was a real sad sight. Before even getting into their driveway I saw my car. I was hoping to look at it with both eyes blocked and take gradual peeks to build it up. GUESS NOT!

I think its totaled... I honestly thought it wasn't this bad but damn! Frame is def gone, passenger doors were almost impossible to open... and yea.

Thanks for the kind words everyone. I'm gradually getting better and I'm walking out and about - allbeit like a grand dude...

 

HOLY SH__!!!!!!

You are very luck to have walked away from something like that. At the very least you're going to be getting yourself a new A3.

Wow....never seen a wheel disintegrate like that before.