near death experience

“so I am driving to work today, and it's beautiful out, one of those perfect N. Cal winter days. I get about 1/2 a mile from work and get slammed into by the car behind me.

That person's car was hit by a contractor/engineering co. construction truck--one of those big chevy pickups loaded down with gear, pipes and a bunch of other stuff. My car hits the car in front of it.

So this is where the near death stuff comes in...one of the pipes that was tied to the top of the construction truck comes loose when the crash happens, sails over the car behind me, breaks my back windshield, comes through the car, breaks my front windshield, goes under my hood and lodges itself at the end of my engine block.

It missed me by about 6 inches.

The bad news is that my car is totaled. I hope that guy has good insurance.

The good news is that everyone involved walked away from the accident.

I guess someone or something is watching out for me, because a few inches the other way and I could have been kabobbed.

So go out and hug your loved ones for me...I know I'll be doing the same thing tonight.”

“Holy shi!

Glad that you are ok.

God is watching you.

8)”

“Holy cow, bongofreak, that must have been scary as sh--.... Dude, really glad you're okay.”

“holy chit!

glad you are ok.
=:0”

“You live to hike another day! I'd take a look at it as it wasn't yer time......

Good to have ya 'round! would have been a crappy way to go!”

“yeah, it was pretty weird...all I remember is hearing the brakes squeal behind me and thinking "sh--, I'm about to get crunched."

When I opened my eyes and turned around to see who hit me, there was the frickin' pipe sticking out of my front windshield.

All the cops and firemen who showed up told me to go buy a lottery ticket. I told them I wasn't sure I wanted to push my luck. :)”

“Wow! Glad you are fine and that everyone involved was as well. That same thing happened to my friend's mom, domino effect like you describe, piece of steel piping went through her front windshield also and arrowly missed her. They need to come up with a better way to tie those down!

While were at it, I recently had a near death experience a few weeks ago. Someone turned left in front of me (illegally) while I was cruising down the street on my Vespa. I locked up the front disk and was able to skid to a stop, hitting her door but just denting the fender. I didn't even drop the bike but if I had goosed that throttle just a little more, I would have gotten in front of her and she would have t-boned me and run me over.”

“that happened to my uncle a few years back, except it was a fence post that dropped off a truck in front of him. He was bending down to get his CD case when it hit. If he was sitting upright it would have gone straight through his head.”

“crazee! I hope they know who caused the accident because I was in a similar rear end pileup and it took a year to get it straightened out! Luckily I was the last car to be hit (first in line), so it definetely wasn't my fault. The insurance companies were all fighting whether car #1 pushed car #2 into car #3 into me or if 3 hit me then 2 hit 3 or if 2 hit 3 and pushed 3 into me and then 1 came along and hit us. Did you go to the hospital?”

“Holy sheeeeyat!!!

I haven't had such a near-death experience, but I did wonder at the rationality of doing this:

On a turboprop plane, it was the first time I'd ever been on one and I was gawking at it and finally sat in what I THOUGHT was MY seat according to my ticket.

I was still pondering what the heck a turboprop was (are there bathrooms??) when a guy tries to get my attention. "Is your ticket for 7A," he asks.

I finally come around to realize I am in 8A, which is HIS SEAT. He says, "That's no big deal, I can sit up here (7A) if you're OK with that."

I said, sure.

And then I thought... so will this be the time the plane crashes?? And he dies in 7A and I live in 8A, in the seat he should have been in?? (or vice versa).

lol... kinda got the creeps thinking about that. It was A-OK, but next time I think I'll keep my seat. BUT WAIT!! If the seat is screwed up and I live or die, that was meant to be, right? ...... too weird”

“I didn't need to go to the hospital--but was close enough if I did. I work at the children's hospital at Stanford U. and was less than 1/2 a mile away when I got hit.

I think it's pretty clear who caused the accident, but I hate hearing this could take a year to get worked out...”

“Glad to hear ya okay....that musta scared the @#*" outta ya.”

“It was clear who caused this accident I was in too as the guy was stinking drunk and ran a red light and hit us going about 55 (we were stopped) but you'd be amazed what people will try to weasel out of! Actually, his insurance company was doing most of the weasling. Did you get the names of some witnesses??

lizs, I was thinking more along the lines of what if changing seats caused the whole equilibrium to go out of whack? In those small turbo props, there's a reason why they ask you your weight! To balance the plane! lol”

“bongo...a year, two years, don't worry about that now, it will work itself out. Atleast you are alive tonight to be home with family. Don't ever take things like that for granted because as you found out, you just never know. Good to hear everyone walked away.”

“You're right roach. There will be plenty of time to get po'ed at the insurance companies later. Tongiht it's more appropriate to strip and do a dance to your red rocket God, or whoever. A pray of thanks and kowumba!”

“glad it wasn't your time bongo. cuz when it is, it is...the way i see it.


near death experience....good band name.....”

“holly molly, sure glad you're okay.
had a car accident about 16 years ago, still in my "wild and crazy" days back in Germany. Wanted to make it in 13 minutes instead of 14 from Stuttgart to Marbach (cities in Germany), but well, I drove way too fast and my car flipt a couple times. I did not have my seatbelts on. I crawled out of the window and looked for my purse ,was mad at myself because now I had to hitchhike again. Finally a car stopped and drove me to the hospital. I was very lucky. My friends came to visit and told me how lucky I have been. When I went to check the car I knew what the ment. the car was totaled. the whole roof was in to about neck height. Strange, my site was the ONLY part that wasn't smooshed. Anybody else in that car would not have survived this accident. I learned and did not drive 100 miles an hour on a 50 miles per hour road.

did anybody else ever had a bad accident where they really thought they are going to die? while this happend I thought I am going to die. Strange, did not skeer me that moment. Wonder if that's normal”

“This reminds me...anybody heard from Big Foot lately??”

“and where is towndawg? ( I think I missed a thread, because he did not post since I am back)...at least I don't think so. everything okay?”

“Dag!!! That sounded like an accident with a high sphincter factor. That you are OK is paramount. Lots of times, whiplash and muscle strain may not present itself for a day or two. Sorry bongodude, I don't mean to bumm you out, just be prepared. I got slammed into by an 18-wheeler many moons ago. Everyone was OK, but I had flashbacks of the accident for a couple days.”

“I learned the hard way not to play with the frisbee in the street!

(and I don't like those Buddy Holley planes neither)”

“I cannot help but wonder, would the obituary have read 'Piped to Death' or 'Poled to death'...

either one, shudder”

“Glad you are OK!

Me? Way back in college a friend and I were driving cross country in his VW Beetle. He was driving early in the AM, near Enid OK. I was asleep and woke up the the car doing 360's down the interstate, off into the grass. The engine caught on fire, we grabbed all we could and tossed it as far from the car as possible. The engine fire started a grass fire that roared over all of our stuff and 200 yards down the side of the highway.

I thought we were pretty lucky. How many VW Beetles have you seen doing 360's at 60 mph and not roll?”

“That's a real close one Bongofreek, glad you're around to share it with us.”

“Almost sounds like the movie final destination...That is downright scary...”

“Depending on the size of the pipe maybe the obit would have said 'cored to death'. Glad you made it bongofreak. Good luck with the insurance company.

I had a girlfriend once who got rear-ended while she was waiting to turn left. The sixteen year old's insurance company refused to pay, saying she was partially, if not mostly at fault. This dragged out for two years until we tried to sue the insurance company AND the parents of the kid. I think the parents pressured their insurance company to pay.”

“Glad to hear you are OK bongofreak. I had a similar experience when a semi rear ended me on the freeway. It's pretty scary, and I did hug as many Hooters girls that I could get my hands on that day.”

“Jeez Louise! Glad you are okay.”

“Dude, take a day off, watch the sun rise tomorrow and think about how great every day is.....”

“holy crapola! that was a close one. i'm glad that's all it was!

almost the exact same thing happened to my friend Ashley once, except she was in the passenger's seat, and asleep. her head was tilted to the side, and the pole just barely grazed it (she just needed stitches). if she'd been sitting upright, it would have gone straight through!”

“Holy cow, bongo! Sounds very scary. What street were you on? Junipero Serra? Alpine? Sand Hill? I made the SF-SU commute via 280 for a couple years, back when there wasn't so much traffic. Only one minor thing happened just as I was leaving work one day, driving along Junipero Serra, just past the golf course road. You may have heard about it: the Loma Prieta Earthquake....”

“Glad you're okay Bongo! That's skeery stuff.”

“Hey, thanks for the kind words everyone.

We had a few good laughs about potential obits last night...my favorite was "shish-ka-bobbed" (Bob being my first name).

We'll see about the insurance stuff...the guy who caused the accident was driving a company truck...so i am guess that either he or the company must have decent insurance. My insurance company has been great so far (USAA, in case you are wondering)...let's just hope they keep it up.”

“Just to let you all know, things are working out fine after the accident.

Physically, I've been checked out by my doctor and everything is in working order.

My insurance came through with a decent settlement...it was actually exactly what I thought they should pay out on the car. So I get a little money back.

Even better, I found the exact same car--same color, much fewer miles, same features (except tan interior and no cd player)--for $5500 less than I originally paid for my first car. Add the fact that my loan interest rate went down almost a percentage point, and I am saving almost $100/month in car payments.

I'm picking it up today.

Thanks again for the kind thoughts and words guys...”

“Glad it all worked out for yas, dood.”

“What a crappy way to lower yer car payment..:)”

“After reading about Scorch's recent near-death experience, it reminded me of my own. Anyone else with a story?

I was with a friend at the top of a mountain in western MD. Started rock-hopping in the pitch dark. Suddenly got this intense urge to STOP moving, so I froze on the rock I was currently on. Friend finally got around to shine his flashlight in my direction - my next step would have been about 200 feet straight down.”

“Just how many stories do you want? I have a 56 year long collection.”

“what Gremlin, falling off your patio deck?
hehe”

“TnT... that's scarey as hell!!!! Thank God you didn't take another step. He was definitely on your side that day.”

“About 10 years ago, I was T-boned by an idiot that didn't turn on his lights. My seat was pushed up onto the passenger seat....I didn't get hurt at all, but my passenger smacked his elbow on the door. My car did a 180....it was a total lost.”

“damn...”

“damn is right. I had only 2. one car accident. I posted about it on another thread.

and one experience when i was little. Well, that wasn't really a near death experience, but it could've been one:

I wanted to go play with my neighbor, and for some reason my mom didn't let me. I through a fit, like all spoilt girls do, but she still didn't let me go.

Very soon later my uncle fell off the couch, the outside electric wires zoomed by our living room window, the windows broke and I heard the biggest boom ever.

I remember back then thinking this must be a war. Well, the construction workers who worked outside on the road hit a gas line. The gas line caught fire and my neighbors house exploded. It was bad! But only one person died. (the construction worker that cut the pipe).The house was gone, it was a 3 or 3 story house, and it looked like a dollhouse, sort of cut in the middle, some furniture still in place. (at least that's what I remember from way back then)
last edited: 11/15/04 8:59:01 PM”

“I fall off cliffs on a regular basis it seems.”

“lol, ENS, yes you do!!”

“I've been on a few dates recently that I'd consider "near death experiences", it's no fun.”