Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General Bad accident with the SVT!!!

I really hoped I never saw the day when I would be posting on here that the SVT got into an accident but that day came today.

(For those Connecticut CEGers you'll know where i'm talking about) Well last night I was coming home from my dads house in Hartford after picking up my little brother after a night out on the Berlin Turnpike. I was driving on Rt. 72 heading toward Bristol next to exit 7 for New Britain when my night turned really bad. I drove down the hill next to the off ramp for the exit and at the bottom of the hill there is a bend on the highway. I reached the bottom of the hill and as I was coming around the bend, I saw a big dark square ahead of me on the highway. I was driving the in the far left lane and as I got closer I realized it was a minivan in my lane with no hazard lights or lights at all, period. At first I thought the minivan was moving very slow but as I got closer I saw that it was stopped dead in the middle of my lane. The vans engine had stalled out on the highway and she couldnt get it started at all. I started to brake hard but wasnt going to stop in time if I didnt brake harder. I was attempting to switch to the next lane but traffic was too heavy at the time to cut to the next lane without getting hit. I had no choice but to just try and stop before hitting the van. I had my friend's girlfriend following me in her 01 Accord and I was just thinking the whole time she is not going to stop in time and rear end me. I came to a complete stop finally with only being 1 foot away from the van!! The Accord managed to cut into the next lane at the last second and avoid hitting me. Thank god.

There is where everything changed. All I remember is only being stopped for about 3 seconds when I looked in my rear view mirror to find a car coming up on my very very fast. I had no time to react to it. I couldnt move or even have time to tell the 3 other people in the car that we're going to be hit. I just start swearing alot (cant list what I said ) All that moment all I heard was the sound of tires skidding and slide down the highway. Next thing I know we got rear ended by a 96 Neon that before trying to stop was traveling at probably over 80 mph seeing as how he was in the middle of racing someone on the highway.

He hit the rear bumper dead center destroying the rear bumper and pushing in the frame so that its pushing against the rear tires. At the time when I was hit, my foot was on the brake holding the car at a stop. The car hit so hard that he pushed me into the minivan and wedged me under her rear bumper. Everyone was wearing seat belts and walked out fine although my friend in the front seat hit his head on the windshield, a passenger in the rear hit his knee against one of the front seats, and my little brothers head came foward and hit the rear of my seat. I was the only to not hit something.

At the time I had a hot chocolate in my hand which got thrown into the windshield from my hand and went all over. CDs were thrown from the center console where the E-brake drops down to the windshield. My friends radar detector that I was borrowing was no longer on the windshield, it ended up on the floor unplugged from the lighter somehow??

We all got out of the car to find my rear smashed in and the front of my car stuck end the vans rear bumper.

A state trooper came a few minutes after calling. When he got there, he asked if my car was drivable so I can get it out of the lane and onto the shoulder. I said yes, it was still running after the accident believe it or not. I started backing it up and was pulling the van with me until I broke free and the van dropped down from being held up.

The noticable damage so far is the rear bumper, trunk lid, frame under the rear bumper, possible front bumper (didn't get to look at it really good), hood bent at the front, and at least one new headlight. The Neon that hit me is the car at fault in the accident and i'm at no fault what so ever. I was at a dead stop when I was hit. The lady with the van got out of her van yelling at us thinking that we were the ones that drove straight into her. She was yelling the entire time trying to blame us. We just yelled back at her and asked her flat out, "What the [censored] were you doing in the middle of the highway with no hazard lights or even lights at all period??" and she shutup. After speaking with the officer and him letting her go home, she walked by us and in a rude voice said, "Good luck boys." If she really thinks she is going to take us to court for this or think she has something to go on against us, she can think again. And oh yeah, not to mention she lied to the officer about her lights because the accident summary says that the vans lights were all turned on which is complete [censored].

I just want to say that I think about the SVT alot differently after last night. This car is built very strong. For it to be able to take an impact from a car going that fast I know its a very safe car. Not to mention how good the brakes are to be able to stop that fast and no one else being able to.

I'll be getting my rental car tomorrow from Enterprise since its covered under my insurance. Dont know what i'm getting yet. The car is going to be looked at Monday to check out the damage and get an estimate. Luckly i'm not going to have to pay for the damage. Now I finally realize why everyone feels so safe in these cars. I just hope my baby gets fixed up real nice.

Good luck with getting the SVT fixed. Damn lady bytch in the van huh.

Wow, glad you're all okay. Sounds like a total loss for the SVT though.

That sux dude. Glad everyones OK, and I hope your able to get your car back.

I'm somewhat familiar with connecticut. I have cousins out there that used to cruise that Berlin Turnpike all the time. That [censored] was fun!! That's the best, most active cruise scene I've ever seen. Way better than anything we have in Detroit besides our big events like the Woodward Dream Cruise.

I'll probably be out in CT sometime this spring with the CSVT. Probably hit up the Pike.

This raises the question of whether you should press the brake when you're going to be rear-ended. I would think that you shouldn't, unless you were at a cross-walk with pedestrians in front of you. Pressing the brake only makes the force transferred many times worse and you're going to go forward into the car in front of you no matter what, it's only a question of how fast you are going when you do it.

Also, it doesn't matter if she had lights on or not, if you're stopped on the freeway any accidents caused are your fault. If someone speeding rear-ended her, they have to prove that they would have hit her no matter their speed, and then the judge would decide who was what % negligent.

Either way it goes, you're not liable for anything. The Neon and her insurance will probably end up splitting the damage on your car at some %, but that should be handled by your insurance company, not you.

Yea, I remember hanging out in the parking lot at some fast food joint, taco bell? maybe McD's? Can't remember but everyoe was parked in front like 2-3 cars deep. And there was a parking lot in the back that you weren't allowed to park in, but peopel would and then they were getting towed, it was pretty funny. We used to go in my cousins 00 white mustang GT. Now he's got a white lightning So next time I"m there we will have to represent the SVT's.

Originally posted by CSVT1214:

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Originally posted by 99SVT:

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That sux dude. Glad everyones OK, and I hope your able to get your car back.

I'm somewhat familiar with connecticut. I have cousins out there that used to cruise that Berlin Turnpike all the time. That [censored] was fun!! That's the best, most active cruise scene I've ever seen. Way better than anything we have in Detroit besides our big events like the Woodward Dream Cruise.

I'll probably be out in CT sometime this spring with the CSVT. Probably hit up the Pike.

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Yeah, the Berlin Turnpike is crazy on the weekends. I dont think I've ever see that many modded cars together in one place. Last night was crazy though. They were randomly driving tow trucks around and if you were parked in a parking lot with your car, they would stop in back of your car and start towing it out. I just missed getting towed. I squeezed through a small space next to him and drove off. A black Jetta was getting towed and he hopped in his car while they were hooking it up to the truck and drove up over the curb and over the grass to get away. Lots of racing last night too. I raced a new Grand Prix and an Integra last night. Me and the Grand Prix were neck and neck. He said it has 200 hp but wieghs 3400 lbs.

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Sorry about your car. It's good that nobody was hurt. It could have been ugly. Like if the people in the mini van were checking under the hood.

Sorry to hear about your car, man.. I will say this, though..

Even if the car is totalled.. its a damn good trade, to be able to keep you in the world, instead..



Ray