Photo TR: How I Spent my Weekend

[steel]

So I drive to Barnes & Noble with my dad, we have a jolly good time there, and we get ready to leave. We agree that I should drive home.

So we get in the car, pull out of the parking spot, and make our way to the exit of the parking lot, which looks like this:

~~~~~~~~~~~

------------<------

(inter-~~~~~~~~

section)~~~~~~~

----------->-------

~-------~~~~~~~

PARKING LOT

 

Got that? I pull up to turn right and the light is red, so I stop, wait for the perfect opportunity, and turn.

And then this huge F150 comes into the other lane out of nowhere, I realize too late that I'm cornering too wide, and I smack right into the side of it.

I see my entire front bumper come off of the car and fly over my head, I hear a lot of rattling, and we come to a stop, even though I haven't hit the brakes yet.

Turns out that we stopped because the F150 ripped the battery out. There was acid everywhere. The fire department had to come and neutralize it.

I didn't get any pictures at the scene of the accident, but we brought the camera to the place where it was being held and got some shots there.

Now I have to wait six months before I can get my intermediate lisence (I just have a permit now) and I have to do a Remedial Driving Interview with the DOT.

And we have to get a new car. The '96 Dodge Stratus I was driving is officially totaled.

 

Like I said, this sucks.

 

That's what the inside of your bumper looks like.

Front view

The tarp is there because the windows are open. The windows are open because the AC didn't work. The windows stayed open because the battery was torn out and we didn't think to close them before we shut the engine off.

[Disney Dood]

That's some serious damage!

[spaceace12]

That sucks, atleast you had your first wreck early. I had mine shortly after getting my license at 17. But we didn't have the graduate driving program. Indiana just has the you can't have anyone under the age of 18 with you until 6months of having your license unless a licensed person 21 years or older is there. When you get your own car, just wait till you see your car insurance bill. When I first started having my own car, 180 a month, then went to 150, then to 120, Now it is only 83 a month (the 83 is with no current infractions on my license). I want something to happen to my car, that isn't my fault so I can get rid of it and get something bigger. I have my eye on a 99 subaru outback wagon.

[Chrissie]

Omg!! That looks awful, glad u got away safely!

[steel]

That sucks, atleast you had your first wreck early. I had mine shortly after getting my license at 17.

Yeah, at least. It's out of the way now. And they say that 1 out of 5 teenagers gets in a car accident before their 17th birthday, so now four other people are safe.

Keep saving for that Outback. That's a great car.

[verticalzero]

What is the age for driving in the USA..? I would of thought 15 is far to young to be behind the wheel of anything.

 

Lucky you were not hurt and the other driver has not pressed charges against you.

 

What is a F150..?

[ginzo]

Thomas Edison said that successfully discovered 1,000 ways to not make a light bulb. You've just discovered one way to not drive. Learn from your mistake, and you'll be OK. Driving is *no joke*.

 

Perhaps you should have your parents pay for one of those deluxe defensive driving courses. It sounds like you may need some additional training.

[Homer]

What is a F150?

 

F150 is a truck in the Ford F-series in America. Wikipedia has a lot more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_F-Series

 

Anyways, sounded like a bad accident, always think twice before turning (especially right turns, you don't want to nail a pedestrian you did not see on the right, do you?). Glad your safe, but that sucks about the car and being a permit driver.

[steel]

What is the age for driving in the USA..? I would of thought 15 is far to young to be behind the wheel of anything.

It depends on your state.

In Iowa, you can get your Instruction Permit when you turn 14. You can't drive without a licensed driver in the car with you (and I think they need to be at least 18...), and you have to hold it for at least six months without a contributive accident, drive twenty hours, including two at night, and take 30 hours of Drivers Ed before you can go up to the next level.

The second tier is the Intermediate License, which you can get once you're 16 and have completed all of the above requirements. It's basically a full license, except that you can't drive unsupervised between 12:30 am and 5:00 am. You have to be accident-free for 12 months and do ten hours of supervised driving before you can get your full license at seventeen.

I'm a good driver, I really am. There are a lot of 14-year olds who are better than me. If you take it seriously, age doesn't mean as much as you might think.

 

I credit the damage to bad luck (not that I couldn't have prevented it). I mean honestly, an F150? What are the chances that out of all the cars on University at the time, I hit the biggest? I don't think a Camry could have done that damage.

[spaceace12]

In Indiana, you can get your permit at 15. If you go to Drivers ed, you can get your full license with the only restriction of no one under 21 unless a 21 year old or older in the car for 6months, they you get your full license at 16 and 1 month. If you don't go to Drivers ed, you get it at 16 and 6 months.

[dandaman]

In Ontario:

 

- three levels of license: G1, G2, G (full)

 

- G1: no night or freeway driving, must have person with full (G) license in passenger seat (or maybe it's someone older than 21, in which case they should have their G by now)

 

- G2: Allowed to drive alone, at night, on freeways. Other minor restrictions that I can't remember.

 

- G: full license.

 

- 16 years: Eligible to apply for/receive G1. Take driver's ed.

 

- 12 months after receiving G1: can now take road test/receive G2. If you take driver's ed (which obviously you should), that time is cut to 8 months. Example: Got my G1 in March, finished driver's ed recently, can now apply for G2 starting in November.

 

- After that, I'm a little hazy on the details. I think you can wait up to 5 years before taking the test for your full G license. After that it's re-application time!

 

Anyway... don't need me to tell you, but that really sucks about the car. I still have just under 6 months to go before I "steer clear" of that 1-in-5 statistic.

[steel]

Whoa, that's really strict.

It's interesting that they restrict freeway and driving. Freeway driving does go faster, but the only parts that are at all difficult are entering and exiting. And it's really important to have night experience as well. (like I said, I'm required to drive at least two hours at night before I get my Intermediate License).

It seems to me like a driver needs to have that experience before they can drive alone. Who knows how they'll act on a freeway at night for the first time if no one is there to help?

 

But be careful, the other one is that one in seven sixteen-year-olds are involved in a serious car accident with injuries before they turn seventeen. Drivers Ed makes you crazy. Seriously.

[dandaman]

^That's pretty much how I see it. I don't get why you can't go driving at night when you know you'll have to eventually, and freeway driving is relatively straightforward. (Hey, if you're in a big city, it's just a giant parking lot anyway! )

 

On another note, we have tons of construction around here, the most ever in this (amalgamated) town, at least. I don't think that I'd taken a single route NOT under construction in driver's ed.

 

Anyway, there's one section on a main road that has a speed limit of 60 (that's kilometres an hour, folks). Well, thanks to construction the limit for that section is temporarily 40. I'd be fine with it, had they not put the "Max. 40" sign about 15 metres AHEAD of the 60 sign. 'Cause really, that's supposed to mean that the limit is 40... for those 15 metres, not the whole construction. Someone wasn't thinking right there.