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I've gotten a speeding ticket and a few other bullshit tickets (pulled over for running a stop sign nearly a mile or two after supposedly running the stop sign), but that doesn't really compare to how I totaled my last car.
Took a corner on an old road at about 50 over what most people take it, completely slipped my mind that the corner in question was even there as it had been a few years since I had taken this particular road and that corner really isn't apparent until you're right at it. I touched the brakes right before turn in, the car then began to slide in an over steer fashion which surprised me for being a FWD car, I was completely expecting to under steer into the pine tree forest directly in front of me.
So I slide through the entire corner but make the foolish mistake of countering too much, eventually the front end catches and sends me through a ditch still at 70~ mph, launching the car airborne. I am now facing a house whilst in mid air taking in the entire scene through the windshield as the car begins to nose down. The front end crashes down and the momentum continues carrying me forward (I'm now upside down, facing the road); The back end then hits a parked 80's model dodge truck, which brings me to a pretty abrupt stop and maybe causes me to go sideways a bit as the car is now nearly perched on the front steps of the house, upside down.
I crawl out of the car, check the scene; no one is around, I have minimal injuries (very small scratches and a scuffed chin) but the car is still running full throttle as the throttle cable is most likely stuck. I then crawl back in, pull the key and see the owner of the house run around from the back. He's a volunteer fire fighter, we talk a minute and sort things out while waiting for emergency response. My bags that were in the car are sitting right beside it, they slid right out of the parted glass from the trunk; The clothes are still folded perfectly, the laptop completely intact. All my belongings survived without injury as well.
Once the trooper arrives we confirm I entered the corner too hot and that I was also not wearing a seat belt, I saw no point in lying about it. I received a ticket for failure to maintain lane and no seat belt. This is the only law enforcement person that has not been a complete ass to me, I can only chalk it up to him being local and most likely knowing who I was as I had lived in the area for 18 years.
Lost a great car, but came out alive and learned a lot; also caused many relatives chest pain that night. The car was a 2004 Hyundai Tiburon.
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