Car accident

[almostmatt1]

Last Wednesday, I was in a car accident. I was the passenger in a car being driven by a good friend of mine, and within a minute and probably no more than 100 meters from departing, going up hill at no more than 45 km/ph, the car lost traction on the road somehow and hit a car parked on the side of the road. Our car rolled and ended up upside down, with a more than slightly caved in roof and lots of broken glass; both right hand windows, the front window and the back window were shattered.

Steve, my mate, and I are both fine. Other than the loss of his car, which he wasn't too cut up about because it wasn't an overly expensive car, he ended up with a grazed Elbow, and I ended up with some cuts on my elbows, hands, knees and feet, A bit of glass in me (which I was picking out gradually over the next three days) and some bruises on my chest and feet. It still hurts to breathe and raise my arms a little, but I'm fine. Because of my chest and bruised feet, however, drumming is out of the question for now.

I'm still a bit perplexed as to how it was even possible. Uphill at a relatively slow speed.. Rolled car.

I'm not questioning the competency of anyone here's driving, just as I know my friend Steve was competent. But I post this to ask that everyone please, please takes the utmost care whilst driving. I'm sure we're all aware of the risks and how to drive responsibly and properly, but I'm now more aware than ever of the fact that these things can come out of nowhere, and odds are the consequences could be far more than Steve and I got.

I'm frankly pretty happy to be alive right now and I'd hate for anyone to go through a similar experience. Minimize those chances in any way possible.

Have a good one, everybody.

[Bish]

I'm pretty sure it was aliens.

None the less, I'm glad you and your friend are ok.

[Drumbledore]

Crikey Matty! Glad you're not that badly hurt.....rolling a car could have given you worse injuries to you and your mate. It happened to a friend of mine years back, Bart.....he counts his blessings due to the fact that his accident was on a rural road but co-incidentally happened right near someone's property, and that person was working not that far from the property's front gate, they then rushed to the scene and called for emergency....if it happened a little further up or down the road he wouldn't have had help straightaway....he had some pretty bad injuries (he made a good, though slow recovery) and without that help who knows if he would have survived or not.

Wishing you a speedy recovery!

[Olimpass]

Wow, that was strange. Still nothing known as to how it happened, like oil on the road, mechanical issue or something? Glad no one was severely hurt.

[slinky]

glad you guys were okay. I was in a similar accident in high school. I was the passenger in this guys car a Datsun 510 and he rolled it into a parking lot. I remember it going slow the roll part and then climbing out upside down.

My only serious accident was at the corner of Hollywood and La Brea in L.A. my car 1966 Ford Falcon vs some other kinda car. She came down the hill thru the red light and smashed into us. Both cars destroyed but no one injured. I miss that car.

[marko138]

Glad you're ok. Take it easy for a while, get back to drumming shape.

[Markadiddle]

Yikes Matt! Glad to hear you're alright. Did the vehicle have a really high center of gravity, like a SUV? Very strange that it flipped over.

[longgun]

I'm with Bish..................had to be aliens...............glad you're okay

[pastor_bob]

Matt, I'm glad you weren't hurt any worse, but the whole "I'm fine" thing, given the injuries you describe, seems to mean, "I sure could have been hurt worse." Again, I'm glad you weren't, and I hope you heal quickly, because I know what your drumming means to you.

Oh, and your warning about taking our driving seriously is an important statement. Thanks for the reminder.

[rickthedrummer]

Be well, Matt.

[MR. G]

Yep, it's easy to just get in the car turn the key and go. But like you said, driving is a fine art not to be dealt with casually. One must reasonably expect the unexpected. Not sure any preparation could have helped you two. Any driver is at the mercy of the other and any and all obstacles therein. Cripe, you don't even have to be moving and still get hit....or how 'bout the stories about cars running into buildings and injuring people. It's al a crapshoot but a serious one at that. Glad you are O.K. Focus on getting well and not what went wrong. All you know is it happened.

[late8]

Wow...wondering where you've been! Glad you're safe and in good shape. Prayers for a quick recovery!! Scary to read!! But I can't even fathom how you guys felt during and at the end of the entire ordeal.....

[MartyM]

Matt, the first thing I thought of was maybe balding tires? you hit a damp or wet spot with bald tires and off you go..glad your OK. you didn't say that you got checked out at a hospital? got to watch out for internal damage dude..keep an eye on how you progress on feeling better.

[almostmatt1]

Thanks for the kind words, everybody. I appreciate it!

Wow, that was strange. Still nothing known as to how it happened, like oil on the road, mechanical issue or something? Glad no one was severely hurt.

Thanks Oli. Not quite sure for certain. He has a feeling it was a problem with one of the front tires, but I guess we'll never know, the car was written off.

Matt, I'm glad you weren't hurt any worse, but the whole "I'm fine" thing, given the injuries you describe, seems to mean, "I sure could have been hurt worse." Again, I'm glad you weren't, and I hope you heal quickly, because I know what your drumming means to you.

Oh, and your warning about taking our driving seriously is an important statement. Thanks for the reminder.

I guess I'm trying to be as optimistic as possible about it. Considering that people have been known to lose their life in accidents such as this, some bruises, cuts and glass sure seem like a preferable alternative, I must say! You're right though, PB. Thanks very much for the kinds words.

Wow...wondering where you've been! Glad you're safe and in good shape. Prayers for a quick recovery!! Scary to read!! But I can't even fathom how you guys felt during and at the end of the entire ordeal.....

Thanks for the reply late! Between moving houses, this whole ordeal and being in my last year of high school, which has a pretty heavy work load, I haven't had nearly as much time to come on DC as I'd like. Thank you for the kind words. We were quite shaken up, that's for sure, but we're all in one piece, that's the main thing.

you didn't say that you got checked out at a hospital? got to watch out for internal damage dude..keep an eye on how you progress on feeling better.

Oh, I left that part out. We were both taken to hospital in an ambulance. Because I hit my foot pretty badly, I couldn't walk, and we were both bleeding a bit (sorry for the descriptions here guys, not too fun to read I know) we were taken straight there. Steve had stopped bleeding by the time we got there, but they cleaned me up a bit and gave me some xrays. No broken or fractured bones, but, what IS shaping up to be some pretty bad bruising, especially on my chest.

Again, thanks for the positive words everyone. It's appreciated!

[wolvie56]

Geez. What an experience that must have been, eh? What a feeling of helplessness. Scary. What kind of car was it? I would think it must have been a front wheel drive car which lost traction and the wheel got jolted and turned to one side or the other which turned the car sideways to the downward slope. Can't imagine this with a rear wheel drive car unless he panicked and cranked the wheel to compensate somehow. Glad everything turned out okay, except for the 2 cars of course. Were you guys wearing seat belts?

[bongobro]

Whoa, man! Glad to hear you're in one piece and, in due time, will be back behind the drums...

And glad to hear your commentary about how it could have been so much worse. Too many people don't stop to think what can happen behind the wheel, even in only a few seconds!

All the best, Matty!