Well first off let me start by saying that I consider myself a very modest driver. I am 21, I got 1 speeding ticket when I was 16 that I worked off by doing community service, and haven't had another speeding/moving violation since. I drive with caution, don't race people, check my blindspots, etc.. textbook pretty good driver.

My how things can change in a couple seconds.

I went out to dinner last Tuesday at a fine Big Burrito establishment over here in Dallas with my two little brothers (20 & 17) riding with me. (EDIT: he's 20 now.. damn birthdays=/)

I took the service road back to my apt and as I was about to turn onto the small road leading to my apt, I checked to see if their was any traffic coming down the road, then decided I would give it some juice around the turn.

I've posted a diagram below to detail the accident, because it's kinda hard to describe it without one, and I've had alot of free time since inheriting my familys 1993 Ford Aerostar I've suddenly lost my urge to drive around town...

NOTE: This image is only my current interpretation of what happened and may not be 100% accurate


1 - Slowed down approaching the turn to about 5 mph, hit the accelerator.

2 - Lose the backend... swings around...

3 - Turn the wheel WAY to hard. If I had any type of formal driving training, I would not have made this mistake, but I am a casual driver, and know I should not have put myself in this position in the first place. The car travels over the curb and rips the front bumper clean off.

4 - Due to the shock of doing a 45 degree turn in a quarter of a second, I have yet to let off the accel.... and I hit the middle tree. (I believe the impact with the middle tree was minimal because my car was spinning around it, and the tree was missing a few scrapes of bark)

5 - Because of the momentum of the 'sliding tail' my car swings around and disrupts some shrubbery inbetween the trees. I believe my foot was still on the accel at this point, but everything got real fuzzy after the airbags came out, so I'm not positive.

6 - The trip ends with the final collision into the bottom tree. I believe I was on the accelerator still but have no clue, so I am not sure at what speed I hit the bottom tree. I dont know if I accelerated into the tree, or slid into the tree. My inclination is that I accelerated into it. (You would think the first instinct would be brake, but I was very disoriented from the airbags and quick spin)

A close up of the front end.


Sideview, note what I believe is body damage to the sides all the way back to the rear wheel. I didnt notice it at the crash scene (too shook up) but I now believe that's what it is.


underneath from the front...


At first I thought the car was on fire because of all the talcum powder (sp?) I had breathed in from the airbags.

I flung the door open and walked outside of the vehicle. I looked back to see both brothers alive and well getting out of the car in a hurry as well, which was the best news.

Quite possibly the scariest event I've ever been apart of, and I feel lucky to not have injured anyone else (pedestrians, property, brothers) aside myself.

Funny how 5 years of good driving history can be erased by a lapse of judgement that only takes a second to happen. I have learned a little bit more about my car and about driving, and hopefully this experience will keep me from making a more costly or even fatal mistake in the future.

Normally such a dramatic event would effect someone's driving ability and at first I thought it might, but I quickly realized the day or so after that this could've been avoided if I would have driven within my limits, or not decided to make an idiotic decision.

I have talked to my insurance company, and they have already done one inspection with no firm results, but the gentlemans first thought was that the car would have suffered more damage than the value of the vehicle, hence, totalled.

Their is still one more round of inspection before this is settled, and I myself am a bit skeptical, but then again I did not get under the car and check for frame damage, etc.


Chalk it up to experience....

-Max-

 

Here's another good view of the front that I overlooked. Judge the damage for yourself...

 

Wow, did you have the traction contol on or off?

 

Definitely totaled, your car (and all the airbags) gave up their life for you and your brothers….

 

it's lucky cuz at least you're ok, your car have full coverage......
it's time for a MS bumper for full kit.

 

everyone was okay.

But is the rx8 that easy to lose on the backend? I have floored mine on turns and it kicks a little but never all the way out. Did you have trac control on? what were the conditions outside? Hope all goes well.

 

Sorry to hear about the vehicle.

Luckily, you and your brothers were able to walk away unharmed.

I think rx7&rx8 said it best when he referred to your car sacrificing itself for you.

My opinion is that the vehicle is totalled! Do you know the level of insurance on the vehicle?

 

Well, good to see that the airbags saved you.

I've been wondering for a few weeks already ... everytime when I go through a curve a lot faster than I used to in previous cars.. if anyone has been able to roll over an RX-8 yet.

Now about your rear breaking out.. was the street wet? I've been a few times in such a situation, it would break out but in a split second the DSC would straighten the car out.

I saw your signature says "fully loaded", so I assume that you did have DSC in that car. Was it disabled?

-Peter

 

OUCH !!! Sorry for you loss but glad you and your brothers are okay.

 

Ouch. Sorry about your accident. I got lucky on my first fishtail coz I still had the instinct to let go of the gas pedal. I can see how yours turned out that way. Good luck on taking care of everything.

 

The basic mistake of having a power slide is to continue sliding...

Prob too late to say anything but if you go to the training course, and I suggest that you do - it is fun, that the first thing you do is (... beside not to panic) to do opposite to what you are doing (as you are accelerating hard) -- hence ease off the accelerator immediately. If that fails, then you are totally out of control, then should slam on the brake. Then at least you hit something but won't total the car

Sorry about that and I am sure you can have a second thought of colour.

 

Just a note...when I got my RX-8, the DSC disabled light was on...when I asked about that, the salesperson told me that meant it was ON.

If this was the case in this situation, I would think some type of responsiblity would be in the hands of the dealer. O

 

Since I got the car I've been alternating with TC on/off to see how much difference it made with the many different driving aspects of the car.

Mazda gives us the button to switch on/off, so obviously the car is not a hazard in the right hands with TC off...

In my case, I believe the TC was off at the time of the accident.

takahashi - yeah that's pretty much what I was saying when I said that I wished I could've gotten some "formal driving training", I know they teach how to control in these types of situations. Thanks for the advice as well.

Thanks for all your words of encouragement,
Max

PS: Also, I do have Full Coverage, $500 ded, so barring something else horrible happening, everything is covered. Full report tomorrow... =/

 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, the weather conditions were fine. I checked the road for any kind of dirt build up on the road where I spun it, but it looked clear and it was not wet outside at the time.

 

actually, i thought when your rear starts to slide out, your supposed to keep even throttle and counter-steer (not over-counter-steer ofcourse), if you let off the accelerator, weight will shift to the front and make you spin as you now have even less traction on your rear wheels, even worst when you slam the brake... i tried that at a driving school where they wet the ground for exactly this type of situation. i was told to keep throttle and do minor counter-steer... if i lost it to a point where it wasnt recoverable, then both feet in (clutch and brake)... both things i didnt do the 1st time i spun (270 spin... woohoo)... i actually have video of the spin (exterior footage only, didnt have a interior camera mount), but no place to host it, so if someone is interested and has somewhere to place the video let me know...

 

i hope i never see pictures of my car like that, they're too painful, i'm glad you and your brothers are allright

 

Same thing happened to me a few times on my 84 RX-7 but it was always wet.

First time I just countersteered and spinned the other way until the grass in the median (I was in the highway!) stopped me. No damage

Second time exactly as you, hit a tree but I did let go of the accelerator so the damage was minimal (drivers side front fender and pop up headlight, bent strut)

Another two times at night but didn't hit anything.

It was a very fun car (but very scary sometimes)


Sorry about your loss, hope you can ge another one soon!

 

The Dealer is not at fault if the owner didn't read or understand the owners manual. Many times dealers don't know 100% about the cars they sell... this is why an owners manual is included.

--kC

 

awwwie, what a tragedy, that looked quite scary. luckily it was horrific only for the moment. if u injured/killed someone (especially ur lil bros) then it'd have been a horror story your entire life. good to see u're all ok.

/me thinks twice about doing stupid things on public roads, aren't worth the momentary fun

 

Agree to a point.... you are talking about a power slide... I will do that on the track.

Max has a BIG slide when he floored the 8 into the corner. Then you should leave the accelerator and the back should flip back. Yes, It does shift the weight to the front, but also the right hand side (as Max was turning right) --- helps to keep on the road.

On the track. You want level your gas paddle as you have a lot of track and you meant to slide. Leave off the gas and you lose momentum and time. But you don't on the road... may be US road is much bigger than Australian road... I think our road is as small as our Prime Minister :D

 

ADVICE: never do a power out method... more than level throttle in Australian term is power out with a so thought V8 power...

I am a pathology trainee and I have 3 stupid drunk drivers trying to power out of the a oversteer that I had to do Autopsy on!!!!! I hate to do one more... get me more interesting stuff like drop dead old man! I have seen people that have multiple skull fracture, multiple rib fractures, haemopneurmothorax, torn atrium, cardiac tempandae, and meshed brain!!!

 

The problem with trying to drive your way out of a fishtail is not countersteering into the slide but learning how much--and how quickly--to unwind the steering wheel afterwards to avoid spinning out in the opposite direction. There is a brief moment when the rear isn't sliding any farther out that is the last possible moment you have to unwind the steering as rapidly as you can.

Image #3 shows exactly that opposite spin from not unwinding soon enough. Keeping your foot on the gas (WOT? possible in a panic situation) only makes things worse and gives you less time to react.

Simple rule of thumb: when you spin, both feet in (clutch and brake). Glad to hear no one was injured.
________
Pornstars palin

 

My condolences.

 

So sorry about the car... that's awful.. but glad everyone is OK!

I've only had my 8 for a few days now, but I've been surprised a few times at how easy it is to swing the tail out.

I punched it once in a wet corner (no cars, lots of room for error) just outa curiousity, and it broke loose and came around quite a bit. I don't know if the DSC/TC- or my easing off - straightened it out.

Before this, I kinda thought the DSC/TC would prevent the rear from coming out. Now I'm guessing it mostly just tries to correct things after the fact.

 

Wow Max... I'm sorry for your car, but I'm glad you and your brothers are OK.

My boyfriend (a very experienced and skilled driver who works in the automotive engineering dept. for a major auto manufacturer) describes my 8 as "***-happy as hell" with the TCS/DSC disabled. Your experience sadly proves his point, it seems.

I've taken two performance driving schools in my Miatas and they provide an excellent opportunity to see what your car is like under hard cornering, extreme braking, and skidpad exercises where you deliberately lose control and then regain it. Please consider doing one -- They're great fun and invaluable experience. You'll learn things you'll use every day, as well as things you hope you never have to use.