Home > Cars Home > XR2 > XR2: Crash Story
I was unsure where I was. It was
like a hotel, but there were many other
people in the room, mostly in beds also. Sometimes there were two people
sitting with me. Slowly I recognised them, the first became my Mother,
and
the second resolved as my girlfriend; sitting sometimes by the side
of my
bed. I looked on, not really taking part in the things happening around
me.
In order for you to understand
what was happening to me I will have to take
you on a flashback. At the age of 17 I passed my driving test. In 1989
I
bought my first car, a Vauxhall Chevette P reg! Then in 1991 at the
age of
21 I bought a Ford Fiesta XR2 C reg. It cost me £3500. My Mum
lent me the
money and in one year I paid it off at £200 a month and more.
I also paid
£ 800 for my insurance. Most people want a fast car, and I had mine at
21. I
did drive fast in it, but not like a mad lunatic.
The car took me and my friends
to raves in '91 to '94 and I used to travel
to many places in England. The car gained another 80,000 miles on the
clock
while I had it. For a year (two lots of six months) it sat faithfully
at
home while I travelled to Goa, India in '94 and '95.
By now it was starting to look
a bit dog eared and I spent £3000 of my
savings doing it up (all my savings in fact). It was resprayed, given
a new
powerful engine, new wheels, etc. etc. My trusty fast car had become
very -
very fast, and it was looking good. I got the car into fast ford magazine:
they sent a photographer and journalist. The article covered 4 pages,
not
brilliant, but not bad for my old fiesta.
During this time, due to the massive
power increase of the engine, along
with a few more tweaks, my driving was becoming much too rapid. One
day in
May '98 I was sitting in the car, fiddling with some tweak or other,
thinking about my driving style and wondered to myself: 'Where will
it
end?'
-------
It ended in a crumpled shell of a smashed car. It ended when I started
to
perceive the world again from my hospital bed.
I have no memory of the accident,
but I am told that I tried to drive my
car on the wrong side of the road into another car coming the other
way: in
a foolish bid to pass another slower car on my side of the road. I
smashed
my lovely fiesta into two halves. I smashed my head. I was lucky not
to be
smashed completely.
Now after thinking over events
leading up to the crash: I can remember
thinking that I would not drive so fast that day. The breaks felt a
bit
funny and I would take it easy, but I still managed to drive like a
fool.
The court thought so too. They prosecuted my for: driving 'without
due care
and attention' gave me six points and a £70 fine (a small fine
as I was
unemployed).
I had lost my savings, my lovely
car, nearly my life, and because I didn't
injure anyone else I kept my licence. But, boy, had I paid for my stupid
driving.
A: I learnt that dying is not so difficult, for 2 days I was nothing, my mind had ceased to register the world, it was all black.. nothingness. It was only slowly that I started to register the world again.. like the same feelings I had when becoming aware of the world when a baby. I clearly saw that there is nothing outside of the human mind.. the other side was just black and very very easy to get to. It seems that being dead for eternity (which will happen to us all) is not so hard after-all.
I should have died at 28 - anything I get extra now is a bonus.
I also learnt that speeding is stupid.
Leading upto the crash
Well it's not a very exciting story really. I followed a Pug106 for a long way and due to a few trucks couldn't get past. The Pug driver was a nurse or something and she overtook a lorry and lost sight of me. Then a few minutes late r she sees this XR2 coming at very high speed (guess I was sick of being behind her) and moving to overtake. Thing is she knows there is a Pug306 coming the other way. Next thing she hears a whacking great crunch. The RAF chaps in the 306 said I was on the wrong side of the road heading towards them, but they had airbags. The £2k modded engine I had in the XR2 didn't give any grunt when trying to overtake, it only flew when taking off. Still I shouldn't have been such a twit. Further witness reports said they saw the front end off a car with a driver pop out of the bushes in-front of them.