2004 TL

Hey gang. I avoided death several times within the same accident and got away damage free and injury free because the car handled so well in an emergency situation! Here are the details:

I was traveling on a local highway in central NJ in light mid-day traffic at 70 mph in the left lane minding my own business, when I noticed 6 NJ State Troopers traveling at a very high rate of speed toward me on the other side of the road. When I pulled focus back on the road in front of me I realized why they were going so fast. There was a stolen Chevy Lumina heading right for me in my lane at what I found out later to be 105 mph. It was about 1.5 seconds from regognition of a problem to making a violent manuver to avoid the impending head on collision. I veered hard to the right (the stolen car's driver side mirror touched my driver side mirror as I moved away from its path), and then turned hard back to the left, only to have the rear of the car come around me since I got into the mud on the right side of the road after crossing the right lane and the shoulder. I made two full revolutions as I crossed the road and ended up stuck in the mud in the center median. I missed the guide rail on the right by a couple of inches, and missed the guide rail in the middle of the road by about a foot. The minivan that was behind me and to the right rolled down the road behind me injuring everyone badly. The driver of the stolen car was killed instantly as were the two poor bastards behind me who were in a Chevy Malibu. The impact was so hard that the engine of the Malibu was ejected throught the fire wall, through the rest of the car and out onto the highway 40 yards behind the scene of the accident! The two people in the Malibu had no chance for a last thought. The cars hit so hard that they spot welded to each other and as such they were hauled away as one on the flat bed truck. It was classified as a double vehicular homicide, but I will never get the whole thing out of my head. It has definately changed my position about driving fast on the highways, and I hope my story will inspire some of the younger drivers to slow down. This is a true story, and simply writing this post is therapy in itself for me. Please slow down out there!

cbronze07

I am very glad you are OK! I do feel sympathy for the familys of those who died, because life will never be the same for their surviving loved ones.

Lee

2004 TL

I am having some residual anexiety issues as a result of experiencing what I did, and seeing what I saw. Those bodies were shreaded inside what was left of the cars, which in reality the mass of metal between the two cars was reduced to 8 feet long! Just think, the Lumina was 200 inches long and the Malibu was 187 inches, so 387 inches of cars were reduced to 96 inches! They could not get the bodies out of the cars. It makes me sick to my stomach when I see morons driving stupid on the highways now. I get physically sick when I see that.

MaFreCoLa

Man, I'm glad you're okay. My thoughts and prayers go out to the victim's families.

wasupdog

iTrader: (2)

man that is one crazy story. hope you are ok mentally speaking, one time i was in the passenger seat of an accident and it didn't really hit me until the next day.

uhh what does this have to do with the mod forum?

05tlvietboi

im glad we all have this car !

2004 TL

I think about that family every day and kiss my wife and sons knowing that I was spared.

2004 TL

MORON, THE POINT IS THAT MANY FOLKS IN THIS SECTION ARE CONCERNED WITH SPEED, AND ITS SPEED THAT KILLED TWO PEOPLE AND ALMOST KILLED ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DO I REALLY NEED TO EXPLAIN THIS BASIC POINT TO YOU!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry for freaking out, but I am still upset about this.

2004 TL

No kidding. Drive safely and slow down for gods sake. I am signing off for the night. Goodnight to all of you. We will talk again tomorrow.

ttribe

Glad to hear you are okay...and that you feel thankful after that experience. We could all use a little dose of humility and gratitude from time to time.

Dedpheonix

Without drawing attention away from the tragedy that befell the victims in the Malibu, this is just another reason that puts ease in my mind every month as to why I bought a $35k+ car. Because of the rare chance that I am put in the predicament such as yours and every single micron of engineering in the car is design to "preserve" the vehicle and its occupants .

Glad you're okay.

2004 TL

Thank you very much for the support.

BustedJack

In Central Jersey? I haven't heard about this on the news................

lembowski

iTrader: (1)

No need to be rude or angry. But this is out of place in this forum. Sorry for what you went through.

jonnyn

Speed??? The guy was going the wrong way on a multi lane road. Even if he was going the speed limit, the relative impact is 130mph, enough to kill anyone.

Wid-TL

Same here... where was this at?

mishar

I am glad that you are still around. I just don't understand who should slow down? Poor guys from Chevy Malibu were driving 70 mph. I don't think that 60 or 50 would save them.

01tl4tl

The real points for readers to consider is this

Always be looking 10 car-lengths ahead and more- trouble comes fast!
A
The closure rate of this scene was nearly 180 MPH- thats a lot of feet per second

Everyone should invest $250 in High Performance Driving School offered at most race tracks
Learn how to save your life, have fun, and avoid accidents

To the OP- Please call your insurance co, some counseling should be included in your personal medical coverage. If not seek a clergyman- they have heard this type story before and specialize in grief recovery. Its really important for you to to this.

As a volunteer at the race track, we see horrible crashes, occassional death, injuries and all sorts of things. Then we have to describe them in detailed verbal and written reports.
After that we are encouraged to seek peer counsel or professional help

As others have said- glad your alive to tell the story and I hope people start thinking about wrong way drivers. There are drunks thinking they are on the correct side and there are bad guys running from the Law.
If you see oncoming anything in your lane or close to it- move as far right as possible ,to the shoulder if you can- and SLOW DOWN
Drunks believe they are in the correct lane
Good luck everyone!

ttribe

Solid, solid advice. Thanks for adding this post to this thread.

06TLReggieD

Glad to hear that you are okay...........my thoughts and prayers are with the families as well.

I also agree on the counseling aspect, my dad saw a horrific accident years ago, and he didn't sleep for a week. He was too stubborn to talk to someone about it.

As far as whether or not this is an appropriate thread for the mod section.......really who cares where it is.......the point of the thread is to open up all of our eyes to what could happen to anyone of us out there on the road.

speedbawlinTL

Oh my God... Glad to hear you're alright and thanks 01tl4tl for the good advice... I thought I was at the end of the story after you swerved into a ditch and the people in the minivan got hurt, but the story kept going and turned into something that should only happen in the movies ... I still can't get over trying to visualize the tragedy... that's absolute insanity... this story doesn't really inspire me slow me down, but it definietely made me stop for a moment to think about everything I should be thankful for... you should send acura a love letter... lol... I know I would! if you don't mind me asking, was your car damaged at all? doesn't sound like much happened to it, if anything... again, I'm sorry you had to go through this and I can't imagine how devastated everyone involved may be, but I'm glad to hear your superior car and driving skills saved your life

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

wow.. glad to hear that you are safe and the TL help to save your life... where in NJ was this???

2004 TL

Thank you.

jazznut

Glad the TL saved your life with all the safety equipment installed in this car. I hope you do get some counseling as others have said in this thread. It will really help you.

2004 TL

Well here is the reason you did not hear about it. This was an "unauthorized chase" which means that the Shift Commander for the NJ State Police did not "authorize the chase", so this was kept VERY hush, hush. They stopped the chatter while in pursuit as soon as this guy went on the other side of the road. NJ State Troopers have high resolution, high definition cameras in thier cars, and in this situation there were 6 different versions of the accident caught on camera. As soon as the accident happened, the films were removed to be reviewed by police council for disciplinary purposes. In the end it may get out there to the press, but talking about it on this forum is ok providing that I do not give to much detail such as which road, time, date, and other sensitive details.

I spoke to the trooper that took my statement at the scene later the next week, and he said that this happens around the country more often than one would think. He said that upon reviewing the tapes, the concensus was that it looked like a scene from a movie in which it was set up to happen that way. He went on to ask me if I had ever raced professionally, and I told him that I had. He said that it likely helped me execute cat like reflex moves, and manuver the car away from hard objects like the guide rails and other cars. I told him he was giving me to much credit, and the car handled beautifully in this situation, but the real credit goes to God. It does not matter whether you are Catholic, Muslim, or Jewish, because this could have gone horribly wrong in ten different ways, but did not. I am incredibly lucky and my purpose for the writing of this thread is to take something bad and make it something to learn from. My reaction of slowing down is a natural reaction, and maybe had I been driving 60 mph or even 50 mph it might have had a different outcome, I am glad that I am hear to talk about it.

I am struggling on a number of mental fronts as a result of this accident. On the one hand I feel responsible for not being able to help the people behind me who died, or the people who were injured who rolled as a result of trying to avoid me, but the person who was responsible was the guy who stole the Lumina.

Ironically the only damage I had to the car was scuffed tires from spinning on dry concrete, scuffed rims on the right side of the car, and mud blasted into every place it could collect under the car, inside the wheel wells, and even under the hood.

One interesting point is that I was talking to my wife at the time through the blue tooth, and she heard the whole thing live as it happened!

I have adopted a new perspective which I will now share with all of you:

1.) Free your mind from hatred.
2.) Free your heart from worries.
3.) Expect less.
4.) Give more.
5.) Enjoy what you have and don't focus on what you want.

jonnyn

There is a very good reason for not authorizing chases like that and you unfortunately were witness to what can go wrong just because the police want to make their bust.

Having grown up in New Jersey, I know just how stupid the state police in that state can be. I know this can probably be said for many states, but a distinct memory of my childhood is the incident where a state trooper shot a driver for not pulling over with no reason to do so.

The reason for confiscating the evidence is to protect the police.

If someone is stupid enough to go the wrong way on a major highway, does it make sense for the police to chase this person? What did it accomplish? Nothing except the senseless loss of life and someone like you who will 'what if' your decisions.

There was nothing you could do about this. It was not your fault, it was the fault of the idiot who was going the wrong way to avoid capture, along with the police who didn't care about the innocent people and only wanted the capture.

I truly hope you can come to grips with this and thank whoever you consider your higher being for giving you another day to enjoy with your family!!

Also glad to hear that you are ok.

2004 TL

Thanks.

Wid-TL

Wow. Never knew they could keep something like this so quiet in this day and age with the media, helicopters, etc.

Glad you're ok, and please take the advice of others on this forum and make sure you talk to someone.

When I was 16, I witnessed an old man in a cadillac smash into the back of a small geo hatchback, and 3 people inside burned to death. I heard them screaming (by Franklin Mills Mall in Philly for those of you in the area which may recall). That was almost 16 years ago, and I still think about it.

My heart and prayers go out to the families involved.

mishar

Not to mention hundreds of people directly involved and thousands late for wherever they were going. It looks like American freedom is going down to drain.

fant0m_TL

"Not to mention hundreds of people directly involved and thousands late for wherever they were going. It looks like American freedom is going down to drain."

What does personal freedom have to do with a car accident/chase?


I agree with the getting help, and am glad that your okay, but jonnyn, I have to respectfully disagree with you. Do you think that all cops are corrupt, or that these cops really had nothing better to do with their time than get in a high speed pursuit risking their lives....

i doubt it. cops have families too, don't you think that after they just got done chasing a drug dealer down an alley (just making a point - not saying this happened) that they really want to go get themselves in more danger and risk losing their life.... the OP mentioned that he has a child and wife... isn't it possible a police office, or wait, maybe even 6 - OR 12, if there were two to a car... have a family as well?

I understand no one is perfect, and unfortunately their are SOME corrupt police, but it was very stupid for you to classify these cops as being the way you portrayed them.

sometimes you need to think outside your own bias and the movies....

just my

mishar

Notting. But it has all to do with concealing and confiscating evidence by police.

fant0m_TL

Not to mention hundreds of people directly involved and thousands late for wherever they were going. It looks like American freedom is going down to drain.

well... "hundreds" and "thousands" are large assumptions... also, things like this happen everyday, unfortunately. That's life - not a conspiracy.

mishar

I live in Vancouver, Canada and I based my assumptions on my experience on highways around here, but also European highways, including German Autoban. I would say that head-on collision, tumbled van, two deaths, four injured and probably few rearendings behind would create serious trouble on byssi highway. I sincerely hope that is not everyday life in New York. Not yet anyway.

fant0m_TL

Well, honestly, I have never been to Canada or Europe, so you are more educated in that than me, and no, it is not that bad at all here in America... sure we have our backups... but its everyday life.

as far as

"Notting. But it has all to do with concealing and confiscating evidence by police."

- That's really only on TV. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but chances are, when you think it is (that being a "conspiracy" of "cover-up"), it really isn't. It's more than likely just a "fine print" situation that citizens don't agree with or know about. This is why a lot, not all, but a lot of American's are big, dumb, idiots who because they have their own opinions place a bias on the police. They believe what they want to believe. That shows ignorance.

At any rate, not to veer off topic TOO much, I'm glad you are ok, OP!!

speedbawlinTL

well, if anything, this makes me at least want to take one of those high-performance driving courses now more than ever...

cops occasionally do get into unauthorized chases, and when tragedy strikes, there's nothing we can do about it other than hope the appropriate disciplinary measures are taken after they have crossed the line... It's already hard enough to find out about these incidents since they are kept quiet, so there's not much the public can do to influence the outcome of internal investigations such as this one... same as when a cop shoots and kills someone... I think that the investigation and associated disciplinary measures, if any are necessary, are taken care of internally

jonnyn

Explain this to me.

The cops are travelling at 105mph on the RIGHT side of the highway. What did they expect to accomplish by pushing the idiot on the WRONG side of the road to the same speeds?

And this all 'unauthorized'. I could see maybe one troopers car with a boner in his pants with the go get'em attitude, but 6???? And they've all got radios, if it's unauthorized, they should have backed off immediately.

As far as calling me stupid, you are 19....I won't go any further based on that. I have a 15yr old son who thinks the same way.

fant0m_TL

So your basically playing the age card? Wow... I'm 19, so what? I still have valid points that you have yet to cover.... they didn't PUSH him on the side of the road, as the only procedure (that police have in this situation) with car to car contact is a PIT maneuver. The suspect ran on the other side of the road.

"When I pulled focus back on the road in front of me I realized why they were going so fast. There was a stolen Chevy Lumina heading right for me in my lane at what I found out later to be 105 mph."

Reading: Top to bottom, left to right.

The suspect was travelling 105, which I'm sure the police were going relatively fast as well, but any cop knows not to go to the same speed because whose to say the suspect won't do a "break check" or something like that.

As for knowing about all this stuff, and still being 19, I think I have pretty decent credentials. My father has been a cop for 20+ years. Not to mention that fact that I was a Police Aid ready to go into the Academy, but didn't because my mom didn't want me to have the same life that my father has had... whether you like the excuse I could care less, but it is what it is.

As far as you having a 15 year old son, that just makes you older.... not smarter. I worked at McDonalds when I was 14-15 (No one else would hire me because I was so young), and there are people with 15 year old kids working there. Your excuse for my age is BS.

fant0m_TL

Couldn't edit the last post, too busy at work. At any rate, I didn't call you stupid, I said it was stupid for what you said. People say stupid things all the time, it doesn't mean you're stupid as a person. I say all kinds of stupid stuff, but trust me, nothing in my life would indicate that I am a stupid person (My having a 05 TL should indicate that because God knows Mommy and Daddy didn't "supply" it for me). That's not arrogance, it's just self-awareness.

I apologize if you thought I was calling YOU as a PERSON stupid, I wasn't. I was just putting in my two cents, as everyone does and is entitled to. I understand your thoughts on the matter, I really do, I'm just expressing mine as well.

jonnyn

And having a cop for a father makes you smarter?

'pushing' does not have to be a literal thing. If a person is being pursued, they will go faster to get away. If the cop goes faster to keep up, then that person goes faster which results in these insane speeds.

My point is, if the police gave up, this person would have simply done what he needed to do blend in and there would have been no high speed accident that involved other innocent people like the original poster.

You are defending the actions of the police who were not putting themselves in the same dangerous situation other than going at that same speed. Sure, they are going 105MPH, but WITH traffic. The solution would have been not to 'force' that person to those speeds especially given that he was going the wrong direction at 105MPH! Based on the fact that this was unauthorized, someone else in authority thought the same way.

I'm not going to get into an age argument with you. I really don't understand what working at McD's at 15 means???

I'm done. Bottom line is, the cops were wrong. It's being swept under the rug as a result. I feel very bad for the people who lost their lives for no good reason and for the original poster who will never forget this incident.

fant0m_TL

No, having a cop for a father does not make me smarter, it makes me more apt to know what I am talking about when it comes to the police - not everything, mind you, but more than the average "non-cop".

My point is, if the police gave up, they would not be doing their job. What's the point of having police if the mentality is "Oh boy, that man is driving real, real fast, in a stolen car! Let's shrug our shoulders and let the tax dollars burn!!" - Get Real.

Just because it was unauthorized does not mean someone did not think the same way as you, it COULD mean that the police, while probably enjoying a doughnut (joke) were sitting in the squad, this moron probably busted out of a parking lot doing 80 in a 25 and the natural reaction of a cop would be to chase in order to protect the others. How well do you react going from 0-?? in the matter of seconds unexpectedly?

Now I don't know everything, and I don't know you, but from what you have said (written) it SEEMS like you are one of those people that will complain when something doesn't go right. The old saying "You can't please everybody" SEEMS to apply to you... that's just an assumption. Sometimes deaths happen, and it's unfortunate, but the police have a light bar, a 300+ HP engine, and siren's for a reason. Hell - the damn traffic lights are changed in their favor when the beam hit the light signal - that should tell you about their right to have excessive speed.

This isn't an argument, this is a discussion. I don't know about you, but I'm not going to be losing sleep over this. We are just simply stating our opinions.

Me working at McD's at 15 is NOT relevant to the accident per se, rather this discussion and your attempt to belittle me because of my age.

I guess "the bottom line is that the police were wrong", right? No, that's just your opinion... but how valid is it when you don't look at both sides of the story?

The police "being wrong" is NOT the bottom line. The bottom line is that the OP is safe, and that things weren't worse than the situation COULD HAVE allowed.