To start with the most important thing: we were 3 in the car: my wife, my 7month old daughter and me - nobody got hurt, not even a scratch. Thank God (and BMW safety...)
Here's the story:
Sunny saturday afternoon, 4 pm, 35 degrees celsius, 2 lane autobahn, medium traffic in both lanes, me going in the left lane. I was travelling easy at about 180 km/h (okay, okay, show me one member here who sticks to the limits), talking with my wife, when suddenly I heard a loud bang from the right side. I lifted my foot off the gas (do not like to drive using Cruise Control) and that's when it all immediately started. The car was thrown out to the left, started spinning anti-clockwise. My wife told me later she saw me trying to countersteer, apparently it was worthless. The car hit the armco and the front airbags were blown. No more vision (grey dust everywhere), temporary deafness (airbags blown), no more steering wheel - and the car still spinning uncontrollably at 140km/h sideways !!! We hit the front and back of the car several times, slided off to the right side, then flipped over 2 times - until the car stopped. All airbags were blown out. One of the photos shows how we stopped and got out.
We did not hit any major obstacle, nor did anyone crash into us during the spinning. The rear left wheel got torn out and you can see the rest.... The crash felt like it lasted forever...
Police and tyre experts later confirmed the accident was caused by a puncture to the rear right tyre. A tiny little hole, that let the air out slowly, then the inside of the rim cut through the tyre, that's when all the pressure was lost suddenly. TPM did not give any warning whatsoever though and the car did not behave in any strange ways beforehand!! Experts said these kind of puncture accidents have a 70% death rate of at least 1 person...
Anyway, I've been thanking God ever since to have survived this crap. I still can't explain to myself what I should have been doing differently.... I did have insurance, they've paid me already, and I sold the wreck. (Almost) Forgot the whole stuff, but did not want to post anything until the police investigation was over.
We did some short consideration with my wife, and decided to get the same car - different color. It is arriving in a couple of weeks...
Here's the story:
Sunny saturday afternoon, 4 pm, 35 degrees celsius, 2 lane autobahn, medium traffic in both lanes, me going in the left lane. I was travelling easy at about 180 km/h (okay, okay, show me one member here who sticks to the limits), talking with my wife, when suddenly I heard a loud bang from the right side. I lifted my foot off the gas (do not like to drive using Cruise Control) and that's when it all immediately started. The car was thrown out to the left, started spinning anti-clockwise. My wife told me later she saw me trying to countersteer, apparently it was worthless. The car hit the armco and the front airbags were blown. No more vision (grey dust everywhere), temporary deafness (airbags blown), no more steering wheel - and the car still spinning uncontrollably at 140km/h sideways !!! We hit the front and back of the car several times, slided off to the right side, then flipped over 2 times - until the car stopped. All airbags were blown out. One of the photos shows how we stopped and got out.
We did not hit any major obstacle, nor did anyone crash into us during the spinning. The rear left wheel got torn out and you can see the rest.... The crash felt like it lasted forever...
Police and tyre experts later confirmed the accident was caused by a puncture to the rear right tyre. A tiny little hole, that let the air out slowly, then the inside of the rim cut through the tyre, that's when all the pressure was lost suddenly. TPM did not give any warning whatsoever though and the car did not behave in any strange ways beforehand!! Experts said these kind of puncture accidents have a 70% death rate of at least 1 person...
Anyway, I've been thanking God ever since to have survived this crap. I still can't explain to myself what I should have been doing differently.... I did have insurance, they've paid me already, and I sold the wreck. (Almost) Forgot the whole stuff, but did not want to post anything until the police investigation was over.
We did some short consideration with my wife, and decided to get the same car - different color. It is arriving in a couple of weeks...
Visitors
No comments:
Post a Comment