[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH7KYmGnj40"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH7KYmGnj40[/ame]
I'm finally getting around to posting this...
Last Sunday, the tenth, me and my sleepy self hit standing water at the bottom of exit 57B from I495-I395 and hydroplaned. I was too tired to recover the skid as fast as normal and, by the time I was sorted, I clipped the little median separating the two merging ramps. This caused a spin which terminated head on in a w-beam guardrail. I reckon I was going between 55-65 mph when physics decided to put its foot down. (By the way, I reckon that works out at about 17,795N, can anybody verify that?)
This, as expected, did not end well.
Before:
After:
'She's dead, Jim', I thought once the noise had stopped, I'd extracted myself from what was left of my car, and verified that I was still in possession of all my component parts. Then, 'man, IIHS wasn't joking about that crash rating', I said to myself, still standing around like an idiot. Fortunately, a security guard came down the ramp a bit after I did and stopped to help. He summoned emergency services and proceeded to warn off the odd approaching vehicle so I wouldn't get another physics lesson.
EMS arrived, and informed me that I needed to visit the emergency room to get some stitches in my right hand for a cut I hadn't really noticed courtesy of adrenaline. It was also pointed out to me that if I'd not been wearing my seat belt, that I would have been on a backboard wearing a neck brace. The seat belt shaped bruise I developed later, and the fact that I didn't even make contact with the airbag (somehow), really illustrates its effectiveness. While I was in the ER waiting to be stitched up and x-rayed, a nice state trooper came and issued me a citation for reckless driving, since she had to, but informed me that she wouldn't be fighting it in court so it would likely be dropped or reduced. Also, her partner had located my errant phone which I'd lost in my car somewhere during all of the excitement. Since I was just tired, not drunk, they were being very nice to me and he'd stayed to look for it in the rain after everyone else left. Then a nurse won the pointing out the obvious award for guessing that purple is not my natural hair color, which struck me as hilarious, at the time. Then stitches and other medical things happened and I was sent on my way.
The car was a total loss, but I'm mostly okay. I'm still waiting for the insurance adjuster to finish my claim so I can replace my fallen comrade, and be done with the uninspiring Hyundai something-or-other that Enterprise has issued me. I'm planning to get a blue WRX to replace my FR-S, because my needs have changed since I bought the Toyobaru, and another one just wouldn't be the same. I'll be putting the few odd parts I still have lying around up for sale in the classifieds, at some point. I am very fortunate to have been driving one of the twins when this happened, since I'm still alive. It was a fantastic car with a fantastic community and I'll never regret my decision to purchase her.
TLDR-
- Spun into a wall at ~60mph
- I'm fine
- She's not
- You can be too tired to drive
- Wear your seat belt
- RIP Haruna