I was unfortunate enough to have my first car accident early Halloween morning. I was blinded by the flashing arrow from a Caltrans truck and did not see the accordion bumper and hit at freeway speeds. I managed to swerve and stand on the brakes but the impact was terrible. While my mini was totaled, there was zero encroachment on the passenger cabin and I walked away without a scratch. My replacement WILL be another mini. The mini has to be the safest car I ever have driven. I am grateful for what is put into making a mini. I know the build quality saved my life







My 2 year old Daughter, Claira, offered me her mini in its place.

 

As a claims adjuster, I see thousands of damaged vehicles and relatively speaking, and pardon my professional jargon if it's hard to understand, but I would classify that impact as "damn hard".

That's one I'd like to show attorneys when negotiating injury settlements and they argue hard impact on a $400 estimate. "Nooooooo, THIS is a hard impact."

Betting you got a bit sore but appears you are generally well. Very glad to see that!

 

Glad you're ok. Make sure you get HIDs on your next one so you can see that stuff!

 

Wow, man - sorry about your loss. Glad you're OK!

 

Those attenuator's work pretty good....glad ur ok !

 

Thanks for sharing you story and the pics. Very thankful that you were not injured.

Looks like you owe it to your daughter to have her help you shop for your new MINI.

 

Very glad you are OK and your MINI did it's job.

 

I am looking at a Countryman in Bright Yellow

Some have told me I should sue because of the lack of cones and warning about the truck. Since I didn't break any bones and have no scratches, I feel lucky to be alive and a lawsuit can't improve upon my already great condition. I just hope this doesn't happen to anyone else.

I always drive at night and when the trucks are deployed for construction, they have reflective cones that are very visible. While I wished the cones were deployed, I am very grateful that I am alive and undamaged.

 

It's too bad that everyone in this country can't have the same reasonable, common sense approach to this type of situation as you have. Good on you.

 

Oh damn! That's a serious hit! I'm glad the Mini did its job and didn't crumple the passenger compartment!

 

Glad you are ok! Amazing when you can walk away unscathed and be able to go home to the family. For a small car, they are built very well and it's examples like these that I use when people tell me that MINIs are too small to be safe.

 

Glad you're safe, thats whats important.

 

WOW ! count your blessings my friend.

 

I HATE when that happens!

Glad you're OK.

 

Wow! Also glad your ok.

 

Wow, you're a lucky man and that's a reassuring aspect of Minidom. I remember another horrible looking crash photo a few years ago. That person walked away too. So this was some unlit worker's truck stopped in a freeway lane? That doesn't sound like a good thing. Maybe you should lawyer up lol!

 

Happy to hear you escaped unscathed. I wish I had these photos to show all the people who constantly tell me they wouldn't feel safe in "such a small car" (so they buy trucks and SUVs, which rollover more easily).

 

I'm a bit unclear based on the initial post but the "blinding arrow" appears to have been placed by the other driver to warn oncoming traffic of the vehicle being stopped in the travel lane.

Maybe I'm interpreting that wrong and making an incorrect assumption.

But if I'm not, appears it would be very difficult to place liability on parked truck.

 

I had a similar experience in a 2012 Countryman this past July. I was travelling at 40-45 mph when a women went through a red light and I hit her much larger car, a Chevy Equinox, and flipped her. I also walked away without a scratch and even better, so did she!

Here are the pictures from the accident:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ghlight=meindc

I am really glad to hear that you walked away!

Have fun building your replacement!

 

Glad you are OK! It's good to see these things hold up.
With a civic and frankly half the other cars on the road you
would have been cut in half.

 

Glad you are ok. A little less worry seeing the Mini protect the passengers well.
I am somewhat skeptical of impact testing data. Just am.

 

That is a completely false statement....before I got my MINI I had a civic and it was totalled in an accident. It managed to roll completely over and I walked away with a black eye from the airbag and whiplash...hell I even DROVE the car onto the flatbed...other than the obvious body damage it only had a dismounted tire and somehow the driver of the wrecker (probably not too bright) managed to break one of the RLCAs in transport.

Back on topic...glad you're okay. I'd buy another R53 if I were you

 

I was wondering the same thing

The way I understand it, the OP smashed into a highway maintenance truck's accordion bumper that was displaying a flashing arrow signal to change lane (?)

 

The arrow was flashing but it was so bright I couldn't see the truck. It was also in the far right lane and I had just gotten back on the freeway 1 exit prior so i didn't have a chance to see the whole picture. I was starting to come over when the bumper appeared. The bumper hangs a good 12-15 feet off the rear of the arrow. Usually they deploy cones well behind or have a chp car well behind to draw your attention to the vehicle. I'm just glad that I made it out in one piece. I'm also glad no one else was hurt.
Insurance is giving me a fair settlement and I will proceed to buy my new mini
My new mini will have HID lights to make it easier to spot those bumpers. I also probably will never ride in the right lane again. I'll pick middle instead.

 

Who's insurance is covering it ? Your own, I assume.

If I were handling your claim (I'm a claims adjuster), I would have to do a scene investigation and hopefully someone would have some photos from the scene at the time of the accident, to determine if the truck company/driver has any liability in the accident.

How about the police report, who does it place fault with ?