Lucky to be alive. Thank God i was in an AU

janek · 27-08-2007, 11:20 PM

Guys, just a quick note...

At about 10pm Thursday night on my way down to Syd, my trailer jacknifed on the pacific highway near taree, slamming into the side of my car, sending me into an uncontrollable spin, wiping my car out and sending me spinning off the road.

I came to a stop bogged pretty solidly in the soft thick mud, with the boat and trailer upside down beside me, holes all down the drivers side and a huge line of freshly levelled ground behind me.

All ocupants escaped without a scratch, but the boat and trailer are write offs (contents of boat was stolen overnight... bastards), and the car is a mangled wreck. NRMA is having a look at it on thursday. the spare wheel well is mangled and bent, the towbar doesnt sit straight (towbar is fine, its the mounting points that are stuffed), front bar is no more, rear quarters dented badly, rear bar half torn off, and tree damage 360 degrees.

That being said, i am so glad i was in my au. i left the road at about 100kph, wiped out easily 100m of trees and median strip, and no one lost their lives, or even got hurt at all! I am so lucky to be alive.

Apologies for closing the highway for the recovery thurs night and friday morning to those who were affected.

**Stav** · 27-08-2007, 11:23 PM

Good to see you're ok mate.All else can be fixed.

private9 · 27-08-2007, 11:26 PM

OMG mate, thankfully you're ok! That must've scared the hell out of you. This is why I insist on driving big, strong, safe cars such as the AU.

**Mechan1k** · 28-08-2007, 02:55 AM

Damn ... go out an buy your entire family lottery tickets ... especially after making it through that.

My life flashed before my eyes after a van pulled out in front of me .. I swerve to miss and nearly went under the back of a semi sideways. That was scarey enough.

The main thing is you and your family are still alive.

BLACKAUXR8 · 28-08-2007, 04:17 AM

This is why i love AU's. I crashed the missus car. Got smashed by a pulsar his car's chassis was bent beyond repair (a SSS pulsar 25k a write off) and my at the time 9k falcon was back on the road in 12 days! They are so strong the side intrusion bars are huge.

Good to hear no one got hurt...

ef_classic · 28-08-2007, 11:27 AM

Glad your ok mate, got any pics so we can get the full effect?

JC · 28-08-2007, 11:30 AM

Wow, and that happened after you spent all that money getting the suspension fixed. Any idea what caused the jack knife?

**FTE217** · 28-08-2007, 11:36 AM

janek importantly your all well no matter what car you were in.
That sounds wicked and you can count your lucky stars mate !

**DJM83** · 28-08-2007, 12:06 PM

Good to see you are ok, possessions can be replaced lives cant

GK · 28-08-2007, 12:38 PM

Your family must have had a few guardian angels looking out for you.

Glad you are all ok.

GK

Dauphin · 28-08-2007, 01:43 PM

My god, that's a scary thing to happen. So glad to hear you and everyone else came out of it okay. I don't know much about towing. Do you know why it happened? Does that sort of thing happen often?

I think that in Victoria there is an 80 km/h speed limit, is that right?

GlennBA · 28-08-2007, 01:55 PM

Who cares about the car, at least you're fine! I hope you get it all sorted soon, i hate insurance companies..

JC · 28-08-2007, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dauphin

My god, that's a scary thing to happen. So glad to hear you and everyone else came out of it okay. I don't know much about towing. Do you know why it happened? Does that sort of thing happen often?

I think that in Victoria there is an 80 km/h speed limit, is that right?

I am wondering the same thing? Maybe a pothole that the trailer wheels hit and caused it to jump or something?

80km/h speed limit while towing was abondoned years ago - it is more dangerous than actually doing the speed limit. I've towed a 17foot, 1.7 tonne boat at highway speeds, and never had any issues under 120. Over 120, it would get a bit of a sway up, and if you brake while it's swaying, then that's when trouble starts - you just ease back through the gears to slow it down (and it's easy to gain momentum to 120 on a downhill run - so it's not intentional).

gtfpv · 28-08-2007, 03:39 PM

was it the wagon for sale ??? i would be very concerned about the suspension repairs. tell the insurance company about them .
when i was a 17 year old , i had a te 250 cortina. with worn front suspension bushes, i got the front end overhauled by a suspension company.
they forgot to put split pins in after the repair.
i took the car away and done 225 kms hr in the cortina( because i was an idiot) the next day whilst doing 40kms hr the front right side suspension collapsed.
so i would be concerned if i were you, just worth looking at. i'd like to know how that happened. the only thing i can think of is braking on a bend at 100km/hr
i'm so glad your all ok though . take it easy. and be aware of post traumatic shock .it can happen to anyopne involved , often months later .

janek · 28-08-2007, 04:24 PM

ive only got a few limited pictures of the car. will upload them soon. same with the boat.

what happened was during a sudden very heavy downpour, going arund a bend, road had bad camber, went over a repaired patch of the road, trailer started to slide, and slammed into the back of the car. i started to regain control, but the car was already 90 degrees to where it should be. I just started to pull out of it when the trailer left the road and totally us. once the trailer was off the road, it was so slippery that the car just got whipped around uncontrollably.

Within 100m of where i ended up there were at least 6 seperate marks where others had left. It's a well known black spot to the locals, it's just wrong place at the wrong time. The speed zone was 110, no markings saying slow down, no advisory speed warnings, no slippery when wet signs, and nothing saying the condition of the road was not good. i guess i'm just another victim of the pacific highway.

I've been towing for approximately 50,000 km, never had anything remotely like this happen, even when i was being an utter fool. The car and trailer were in very good nick, so no issue there. When you tow, you always take corners slower and give yourself more time, again something i was doing as per usual when this happened, but there was just too much rain coming down, and so suddenly.

On another note, the underside of the car is rooted, the spare wheel well is all buckled- the spare doesnt fit in anymore. does anyone know if the car is likely to be written off because of this? or can they repair it cheaply?

eXi7w0unD · 28-08-2007, 05:53 PM

pics hehe

JC · 28-08-2007, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by janek

ive only got a few limited pictures of the car. will upload them soon. same with the boat.

what happened was during a sudden very heavy downpour, going arund a bend, road had bad camber, went over a repaired patch of the road, trailer started to slide, and slammed into the back of the car. i started to regain control, but the car was already 90 degrees to where it should be. I just started to pull out of it when the trailer left the road and totally us. once the trailer was off the road, it was so slippery that the car just got whipped around uncontrollably.

Within 100m of where i ended up there were at least 6 seperate marks where others had left. It's a well known black spot to the locals, it's just wrong place at the wrong time. The speed zone was 110, no markings saying slow down, no advisory speed warnings, no slippery when wet signs, and nothing saying the condition of the road was not good. i guess i'm just another victim of the pacific highway.

I've been towing for approximately 50,000 km, never had anything remotely like this happen, even when i was being an utter fool. The car and trailer were in very good nick, so no issue there. When you tow, you always take corners slower and give yourself more time, again something i was doing as per usual when this happened, but there was just too much rain coming down, and so suddenly.

On another note, the underside of the car is rooted, the spare wheel well is all buckled- the spare doesnt fit in anymore. does anyone know if the car is likely to be written off because of this? or can they repair it cheaply?

It will be a write off, and while technically you weren't speeding, you were probably going too fast for the conditions.

pics would be good.

JC · 28-08-2007, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gtfpv

was it the wagon for sale ???

No - the XR8 used to tow the big stuff.

aye you · 28-08-2007, 07:05 PM

god damn dude, at least your all out of it ok. as others have said, the car can be replaced, your lives cant....

TwistedEL · 28-08-2007, 07:10 PM

Glad you and your passengers are all ok
By the description of the damage it is a write off.

Green X · 28-08-2007, 07:55 PM

have had something like this happen to us before.

we did a 540 on the free way, I was in the Front passengers seat and I looked out my window to see the trailer next to my Door once we had stopped. Car narrowly missed a lamp post in the spin and the Tuck behind us realised the trailer was going to go around so was already braking before we went round, very lucky.

janek · 29-08-2007, 12:07 AM

granted i was probably too fast for the conditions at the time of the accident, but 10 seconds before it was dry, i didnt really have time to respond. the car is insured for 21k, so i dont know if they'll write it off, and if the damage around the boot well is repairable/write offable. i'm insured with NRMA

janek · 29-08-2007, 12:09 AM

oh yeah, JC those rims i got off you were nicked out of the boat overnight too :S scum...

JC · 29-08-2007, 01:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by janek

granted i was probably too fast for the conditions at the time of the accident, but 10 seconds before it was dry, i didnt really have time to respond. the car is insured for 21k, so i dont know if they'll write it off, and if the damage around the boot well is repairable/write offable. i'm insured with NRMA

Like I said, I know what it's like to try slowing quickly (if that makes sense) towing, and it's not always easy, so wasn't implying it was your fault as such, just that the conditions and the speed with which they changed conspired against you. Either way, you have been pretty damn lucky.

Don't forget that the wheels that got nicked were worth $1800 for the set, and should be covered by as well. Hopefully whoever nicked them will suffer some form of mild bad luck when using them.

gtfpv · 29-08-2007, 03:28 PM

i know once the boot floor pan is buckled . ( which is the chassis) it is deamed structural, and cant be panelbeated, because of metal fatigue. so needs to be cut out , replaced , with a new floor pan, welded in and structurally recertified.
in other words it is a write off.

Dark Horse · 29-08-2007, 08:34 PM

Well I am glad you are still with us to tell the tale and you're ok. You never realise how much in the way of primary and secondary safety features (starting to sound like I've got something to do with triangles) went into the AU unless you augered one in at triple digit speeds or as I saw the cutaway at the Discovery Centre (which to me was a real eye opener).