SVX is totaled... definitely a very sad thing

[ensteele]

I am sorry for your loss, but happy that you are ok. Hind sight is always 20/20, and if you can learn from your mistakes, maybe you (or we) will not make the same one twice. Experience is the best teacher, but hopefully one can learn from someone else, and not make it either. Good luck.

[MNYPNNY]

I'm very glad that you're okay. You were very fortunate. And I like what Randy said, that your SVX gave it's life to save yours.

I had one bad accident when I was only 16, involving flipping the car. I, too, was fortunate to walk away, but I know had I had more driving experience, it probably wouldn't have happened the way it did. But how does one gain experience without actually doing?

Again, glad you're ok, sorry about your car.

~~Michelle

[drivemusicnow]

Originally posted by hotshoe50
Hi,

Really glad to hear that you are alright given that it sounds like a pretty severe accident.

I am only writing this at all because we should learn a lesson or two from your experience. I think this may sound unsympathetic but its more directed at a couple of things that you said.

First: As a 17 year old, you obviously have very limited experience driving, let alone a powerful 230hp car. Your panic reaction easily attests to that: panic is the last thing that should ever happen regardless of the circumstances.

You should always be in control and control also means ready and able to respond to the unexpected ( very defensive driving). I've said it before in this forum , but EVERBODY shound take a high performance / defensive driving course: includes me and I have!

Hotshoe

umm, for the most part, you CAN'T take a defensive driving course, OR a high performance course until you are 18... they just don't let you in. (I would think for insurance reasons and such) so sometimes you may want to, but not have the money to take the class. I'm 16 and while I may have less experience, I think you can't really get around that... Plus, hes obviously mature enough to not want a camaro or mustang, that counts for something right??

[Noir]

Deruvian, sorry to hear about your baby. I'd agree that your baby gave it's life to save yours as the others have said. I knew a few people in when I was in high school that did not make it nearly unharmed as they have. Either death, coma, and/or paralysation was the outcome of flipping their cars and hitting trees. Be happy that she saved your life and learn from your experience. If the opportunity arises, get another svx. From some of the accidents I've seen on the internet regarding svx's, they are pretty safe cars, honor your svx's memory with another one. best of luck to you.

[wasions]

. . . in my first post, I did not intend to give the impression that immaturity had anything to do with the incident. There is simply something to be said for putting yourself in extreme, potential loss of control situations in a controlled setting. It's kind of what the Army does in training. If you're put in 'special' situations often enough (sometimes once is often enough), then reflexes tend to control the outcome rather than panic.

I think you can auto-x at sixteen. At least you can in Indiana.

I also own a 1994 SVX L and I will be taking a road trip from Los Angeles, CA to North Idaho (1100 miles). Your experience serves as wake-up call and makes me realize what a powerful machine I drive. Power-Mode can be fun and exhilirating but, as in Deruvian's case, it can also be detrimental and risky. I will be setting the cruise control at 60 while on Interstate 5 heading North.

[Aredubjay]

Originally posted by wasions


I think you can auto-x at sixteen. At least you can in Indiana.

Yes, but you can also marry your cousin.

By the way, I'm also 17.

Originally posted by Aredubjay


Yes, but you can also marry your cousin.

This coming from a KY resident... Dont think ya should go there, Randy!!

Mike

[Aredubjay]

Originally posted by Green1995SVX


This coming from a KY resident... Dont think ya should go there, Randy!!

Mike

Did I say anything about sisters? NO!


<sheesh, you're really pickin' on me these days, aren't you? >

Originally posted by Aredubjay


Did I say anything about sisters? NO!


<sheesh, you're really pickin' on me these days, aren't you? >

Tough Love, Randy, Tough Love.

Mike

Hotshoe,
I've read it before, and I read it again. I realize the statistics of the situation. Fact, younger males are responsible for the majority of accidents. But does that statistic encompass every situation? Absolutely not. I have never met Deruvian, I have never met you. But I would sure as hell, never presume that because I hold a statistic I know more about a situation than that you or Deruvian went through. I was seventeen, and 18, and 19. and in every year I have been warned to be careful. I have been granted more advice than I need, some contradicting that of others. I have taken most of this advice to heart, but I will admit that I too have been guilty of "Pushing the Envelope." And, while my experience does not include an accident, I think I would have just as much right to point out the Deruvian’s errors as you do. My right, being absolutely none at all. I wasn’t there. Neither were you. I couldn't feel the rode, I don’t know how much frost was on the ground, I don’t even know if there was a moon out providing sufficient light. But what I do know is that Deruvian has his licensee. And as such, has completed the required courses to attain such a stance. Could he use more experience and training. Yes, but I think we could all use more training and experience. This Defensive Driving Course you took is all well and good but hardly gives you the qualifications to stand judge and jury over this guy whose only fault as far as I am concerned is that he panicked. A poor guy who just lost his SVX. This is a horrible experience, something akin to the loss of genitalia. Neither you nor I would ever want to be in his position right now. And all you can do is condemn him for being young and inexperience. Neither of which is his fault. I find it offensive that you would be so blinded by statistics. Because, if statistics were completely true I would be a drunk driving, fool hardy, balsy kid with a license to fly. I have never been in an accident, I have been cited only twice, and have been exposed to a myriad of traffic conditions. From cities to rural, from highway to back road, I have held my own. Every time you condemn young drivers I feel your overly generalized statements reflect poorly upon my driving skill and those of my friends. The way you word your statements makes me feel that you think I'm a liability to everyone on the road. So I think it would be in the best interests of everyone here, and help create a forum more conducive to harmony if you just kept those thoughts to yourself. Because like or not we're here. We drive, We buy, and sometimes we break. Let it go.
Deruvian, I’m glad to hear you’re not significantly uninjured. E-mail me and we’ll see if we can get you into another SVX. If only to give hotshoe another headache


Sincerely
Jay

Originally posted by Jay_Walker
And all you can do is condemn him for being young and inexperience.

Hotshoe isnt 'condemning' anybody. He was just offering a little advice. And, a little advice, as they say, never hurt anyone.

Mike

Originally posted by Aredubjay

One of the things that impresses me most about the World Network Forums is, the collective wisdom that is available here. It's great to see it dispensed and even greater that (from what I've seen) most of our younger counterparts are willing to listen and many are willing to receive.

Randy,

It is an impressive and uncommon trait among the younger generation (myself included) to listen without becoming immediatly defensive. This doesnt seem to be the norm for young SVXers, (with some obvious acceptions), which is fantastic!

Generation SVX?

Mike

I must admit that I have limited driving experience compared to somebody whom is older than myself (and one who has taken specialized driving courses), and probably would have reacted differently if I had that experience. But I have taken a defensive driving/sport course via a very close family friend. I have driven my SVX towards the edge of the envelope... Powering sliding around corners, peeling out, etc etc (I don't drive like that all the time though. I have actually only done that once). I have driven more powerful cars than the SVX I owned. I have never been in any accident before, nor have I had any tickets. However, I don't think any kind of training could have prepped me for the person that suddenly showed up in my lane. When driving at night, and you see headlights coming around a corner, you expect a car to come around a corner just as every other car has ever come around a corner before... In their lane, both safely for themselves and for others.

I also find it a little upsetting for it to be assumed that I was going about 70-80 mph upon impact. Of course I'm not going to think "Oh crap, I'm gonna hit a tree... How fast am I goin?" and then proceed to look at the speedometer. Shear logic shows me this: My typical driving speed on that road is around 35-40 mph (depending on how much of a hurry I'm in). The time that it took for me to panic and then impact the embankment could not have been anything more than one second at most. A more reasonable time to assume is about half of a second. I know the acceleration capabilities of my car better than anyone (especially with the performance parts and filters that I put in it just about two weeks ago). My car could have gained about 10-15 mph, depending on the time frame we're talking about, and depending on whether or not it went into power mode. That puts me at about 45-50 mph... And being a physics student that has analysed car accidents, this doesn't seem unreasonable. Just to let you know my reasoning behind my assumed speed, hotshoe.

A little more detail on the scene for all those that are wondering:

The corner on which this occured is fairly blind... difficult to see around, in other words.

The embankment is at about an 80-degree angle to the ground. It is composed of fairly soft soil. I didn't run into it at any kind of perpendicular angle (obviously). Also, I did not hit any trees head-on. I nicked the first tree on the front passenger-side corner (I can tell because a small amount of bark is missing from the tree). The second tree that I hit was also not a head-on collision. I hit it with the same spot on my car, only a little more directly (I can tell because there is more bark missing from this tree, as well as a little chunk of the tree trunk).

The 300 feet of sliding was a rough approximation. It is probably between 200 and 300 feet (closer to 200, now that I think about it more), but I'm not entirely sure.

The third tree that I hit and that caused me to flip back over is just speculation. I have not seen the condition of the tree, nor could I see my car hit it. However, this is what the CHP officer speculated (and seems to make sense... There's really nothing else to have flipped me back over).

...I'll be back to type/say more later, as school is about to end.