I was in a car crash

[Harvester]

I wrote a loooooooong post about this yesterday, but forgot to login before sending then everything got lost somehow. So I'll cut it short this time.
Anyway, last Monday my brother Vladimir, cousins Zarko and Milena and me went to Belgrade to see Sonic Youth. The concert was great. It ended around 3 AM and we decided to go home right after that (and the Nobel prize for stupidity this year goes to...). My brother was driving (we borrowed my mother's car) and he assured us that he didn't need any sleep, that we can go right away. So got to our car (it took us more than an hour because we had to wait for the bus to get us there) and started the journey. The three of us fell asleep right away. Milena was sitting in the front seat (she didn't use her seat belt), Zarko and me in the back (I was on the right side). Everything was going well till we got to a place about two hours from home. We stopped to drink some fresh mountain water, then I fell asleep again, and when I awoke it was like an apocalypse. The ground was hitting our car from all sides, I heard the sound of glass breaking and then it went through my head that we might be in trouble. Just for a second a silly thought went through my mind ("The car is going to be ruined!") and the next thing I remember is seeing my brother and some other people trying to push the car back on the wheels (it turned on its right side) so I can get out. I was the alone in the car and I was almost crying. Partly from the pain but mostly from the fear probably. I also noticed Zarko for a brief moment, he said "Your knee is hurt" and then he went to see what happened to Milena. Then I looked at my right knee and saw that my pants were completely torn on that place. I didn't feel any pain in that part, though, only in my left leg and right arm. When I got out of the car I noticed Milena all bloody. Her head was bleeding, her shirt was all red and she was crying from the fear. Fortunately, Zarko and some other people were saying that she was OK. After that, I looked at my right knee again and blood was flowing from it like a stream.
To cut the story short, what happened is that my brother fell asleep at the wheel (it's never a good thing), we crossed to the other side of the street (fortunately, no one was coming from the opposite direction, otherwise we would all be dead now), then we hit some big rock at the left side of the street and crashed, ending up on the street again. Nobody knows exactly what the crash looked like. None of the four of us remembers much and the police can't tell from the car's position what happened (both sides of the car are severely damaged, but the roof doesn't have a single scratch on it). As for the people in the car, Zarko was completely OK, he didn't suffer a single blow somehow, my brother had a small brain concussion and hurt his elbow, Milena had some nasty cuts on her head and ear and bruises everywhere and I ended up with a destroyed right knee, hurt right elbow and shoulder and undefined pain in my left leg which I still feel (the accident happened on Tuesday morning). Only Milena ended up in hospital (my brother and should have, too, but our mother is the doctor so she could take care of us better) and I had to go to a surgeon to take the small pieces of glass from my knee. It was the greatest pain I have ever experience and probably the greatest pain possible, if we don't count when someone cuts your head off. That damn glass got deep in the open wound and the surgeon felt free to dig in there with all means possible, completely ignoring my moans (I wasn't moaning with pleasure, you perverts!). Yuck. Now, a few days after that, my knee is itching (meaning that it's pretty much OK), the elbow and shoulder still hurt a bit and my left leg hurts equally as before. The doctors didn't find anything wrong with it but I'll probably have to have it examined again. My brother is OK, Milena is OK too, so you see one big cheesy happyend here. Except that the car is ruined. But in real life, unlike in movies,  cheesy happyends are a good thing.
So, here's a few pieces of advice for everyone out there, so that you can avoid what happened to us (after the accident we received some brilliant advice from oour parents, they said that we should have had a rest before driving):

1) Don't drive tired. EVER. Driving tired is ten times more dangerous than driving drunk. Don't think "I won't fall asleep" because you will.

2) If there are more people in the car, don't fall asleep at the same time, leaving the driver alone. At least one person should stay awake, that's increasing the chances that driver himself will stay awake.

3) Don't drink pills, they won't help. Have a nice sleep before going.

4) If you feel even remotely tired during the driving, park the car by the side of the road and have some sleep before you continue.

and finally, the most important:

5) Don't crash your car.

I know this sounds obvious and stupid, but unfortunately we had to learn it the hard way (actually, semi-hard way, the HARD way would be the death of one or more people). Sorry if this post was too long, but I thought I should share this with you guys. Best of luck to everyone.

Harvester

[Darth Mandarb]

Glad to hear that you're (all) okay.

I could give this same advice to people too!  I have made the trip from Michigan (where I live) to Florida (where my parents live) so many times and many times I've driven it tired.  It's very dangerous!  It's a 20 hour drive (the way I drive at least ... fast) and by the end you're so tired you think you're seeing things!!

We always try to keep one person awake with the driver!!  That's the most important thing!  But usually I'm the driver, and usually everybody else is asleep.  But then again, I hardly ever sleep so perhaps that's okay

anyway ...

Glad nobody was seriously hurt!

dm

[Harvester]

Hey, thanks
Wow, 20 hours, now THAT's long! Our trip was only about 6 or 7 hours, but this is a small country :-)

[c.leksutin]

My lord Harvester!  thats awful.  Glad to hear that everyone came out in mostly one piece.



C.

[Barcik]

Happy to see you are mostly alright, mate.

Myself,I am a new driver (one and a half months since I got the license). And unlike many young hot-heads, I am shittedly afraid. So, I am driving as carefully as I can.
Hope not to experience what you have.

[Scummbuddy]

I made a trip from 100 miles into Maine, to the beginning of New York state, but at 1am right after New Years Eve, into that morning of Day.  By the time I was getting close to New York, the white car in front of me had morphed into an small passenger airplane, and the lights along the side of the road turned into giant chrismats tree decorations/balls.

Yes, never drive tired.  And yeah, everyone else in the car had falled asleep, which was not a good thing. As soon as I hit New York I yelled at my then girlfriend to wake her sister up now, cause I was done.

[m0ds]

Ahhh, memories ^_^

[Robert Eric]

Yes, and always pay attention to the fucking road is my little piece of advice.  I can't begin to tell you how many times I've crashed into someone or someone crashed into me because they had slipped into their own little world.

[Synthetique]

i was in a car wash once too..

[Pet Terry]

Good thing you're okay Harvester.

I have never been in a car crash and never had broken bones or anything. Last winter I hurt my leg and I couldn't walk well for two weeks. And that was because me and my friends were stupid :

[12431]

when my mom drives tired, she pulls over to sleep for half an hour. that usually work.

good to hear you're okay man

edit: another important rule: don't get distracted.

a lady that drove me once said: "look at the big bird", and suddenly the car started to spin. we got out of it unharmed. but we drove in like 50 mph, so it could have gone straight to hell

[SSH]

a lady that drove me once said: "look at the big bird", and suddenly the car started to spin. we got out of it unharmed. but we drove in like 50 mph, so it could have gone straight to hell

Moral: Never watch Sesame Street while driving

I had one car crash (that was my fault) about 2 weeks after buying my first car. Fortunately I crashed with a recovery vehicle. My excuse is that this ws in Spain and there was a road sign that you don't get in the UK that I didn't understand. Since then I've been hit in the back by someone not paying attention but that was very minor.

[Czar]

E covjece, drago mi je da ste svi dobro...
Anyway, yeah better not DRIVE AT ALL!!!

[Pumaman]

Mmmkay, this is not what I need to hear 2 days before driving 4 hours to the airport in the middle of the night

Glad you're all ok though - the sad thing is it does tend to need an accident to make people realise they're not infallible at the wheel.

[Harvester]

Definitely :-)
Good luck on your trip.

[Trapezoid]

I just saw some ten year old kid get smacked by a car about half an hour ago. Christ, it's stressful. Luckily he seemed ok, at the most he'll get a cast and a bunch of attention.

[Pumaman]

And a lawsuit, don't forget.

[danny*]

it's good to see that you are in one piece....

[Czar]

...I meant, i'm sorry about the car it's ruined now
j/k