My husband just got home. Sure THAT doesn't sound scary, but he called about 3 hours ago from the side of the highway because the wheel came off our car as he was hurtling towards Calgary at 120 km/hour. It just....snapped off. He watched it roll into a ditch as he was careening around the Trans-Canada. He's OK, and I arranged for a tow-truck and called our mechanic and waited fretfully for 3 hours for him to get home. Man, that scared the piss out of me.

The real scary thing, I was supposed to take the car to town tomorrow to take a pregnant friend for her ultrasound in Calgary (we live in the country) Jim just had the car to go shopping. Can you imagine if the wheel had snapped off while I was driving a pregnant girl to town? Jim is much calmer than I in a situation like this. Man....

What's scared you lately? More driving terrors?

ps He's out buying wine right now. We're self-medicating. Ha!

-- Anonymous, December 19, 2000

Answers

I've been so lucky to have never been in a serious car wreak. We do have pretty extreme road rage here though. A guy went totally nuts on me because I was in the right lane and I couldn't move over to let him onto the highway. It didn't help that I smiled and waved to him. I'm going to get shot.

-- Anonymous, December 20, 2000

One time I was driving home from work in a heavy downpour, when my left windshield wiper flew off. That was scary because I was driving about 70 mph on a Northern NJ highway. The scarier part came when I was leaning to the right looking out of the right side of the windshield when THAT wiper broke off. I'm sure someone sabotaged my wipers while I was at work. Thank god I was only about a mile from home when the second one broke, and the rain had slowed down a little, but I'm sure there were a number of confused drivers looking at me drive with my head out the window in the rain trying to find my exit off the highway.

-- Anonymous, December 20, 2000

Once my husband and I were hurtling along a bridge at about 70 mph when we spotted the car in front of us attempt to swerve to avoid a piece of LUMBER (a 2x4 we thought) that had fallen off some other car/truck. Unfortunantly, the right rear tire of the car ahead of us clipped the piece of lumber and sent it flying INTO THE WINDSHIELD DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF MY FACE, shattering it. Lucky for me, the makers of Acuras know to put high quality windshields on their cars because while the windshield had become a spider's web of cracks, the darn thing held together!!! It clearly saved my life. That's probably the scariest car story that I have.

-- Anonymous, December 20, 2000

I got hit one time, driving up a one way street, through a green light. I could kind of see the guy in the GMC Jimmy that was coming through the light to hit me. Like I could see him in that super-slow- mo-oh-my-God-he-is-NOT! kind of way. There was, of course, nothing I could do, and he whacked me in the front of my car and I spun around in time for him to whack me again. I, thank God, was fine, but my car was totalled. And it made made me such a freak! Well, more of a freak anyway. I don't know why I didn't get more hurt, you know, so that's kind of weird. And even though it was years ago, I moved to NYC a few months after, so I don't drive as much anymore and I am still sort of a jumpy passenger. I don't know that I'll ever really get over it, much to the chagrin of the people I am a passenger with!

-- Anonymous, December 20, 2000

Well, so much for any Christmas around here. I went to visit the mechanic in Calgary and he showed me what snapped off andwhat I needed to replace (I can't remember the specifics, but it was bad) Then he tells methat all four tires need replacing. Oddly enough, the one that went careening into the ditch, and the others were at 15% tread, except one that was at 1%. I trust the guy, my friend works there and he's never screwed me over before. The muffler is also needing to be replaced, and has for about 2 months. Mannnnnnnn. I need a new car.

-- Anonymous, December 20, 2000

That sucks, deb... but at least no one was seriously hurt.

I've had a few Bad Driving Experiences. There was the charming guy who ran a red light and side-swiped me, spinning my car around. When he got out he said "Is it okay if I just give you my phone number? I'm late for work?" I, Wuss of the Century, actually spoke up for myself and held my ground. "No, you'll wait until the police get here. Maybe if you hadn't been in such a hurry, my car would still be in one piece." He was driving a company car, and his boss showed up to hug him and coo "Are you hurt? Are you okay?" like *I* was the one who'd done something to *him*... while I sat on the corner by myself and cried.

Another time, I'd rear-ended someone on the freeway. The next day, unaware that the latch on my hood had broken, I started to drive to work... and as I got on the freeway, my hood came flying up and slammed into my windshield. *shudder*

-- Anonymous, December 21, 2000

Oh, totally, Dwan. I'm very grateful he's OK. I mean, I may SAY I hope he gets hit by a truck, but I don't really want him to be hit by a truck. At all.

I have a real fear of the hood coming up and smashing the windshield. I don't know why, it's never happened to me, but I am scared to death.

The scariest thing that happened to me personally actually ended with no accidents and no-one being hurt, but I was scared poopless. I live in a small town on the prairie and was driving home from school one nioght and a blizzard came up out of nowhere. It was the worst storm I had ever seen. I ended up driving about 30 km/hr (10 miles/hour? I think?) and visibility was non-existent. I couldn't the hood of my car. I drive small car and I was being shoved into the ditch by the wind. I was praying out loud in my car and crying I was so scared. The worst thing was the people who figured the should be passing me, and they threw up blankets of more snow, completely covering my windshield. A 4x4 finally pulled in front of me and I followed his taillights into town. If he had gone into the ditch, I was going right after him, because I had no other way of navigating.

It took 45 minutes to drive the last leg home, which usually takes 15. When I got home I couldn't open the driver's side door because it was frozen shut and after I crawled out the passenger side I took a look at my car and there were ice pellets completely covering the entire driver's side, about the size of golf balls.

-- Anonymous, December 21, 2000

i was rilly sacred when i got marryed. me ant the man aloped and i was'nt to shure how ma was gonna takeit cuz he is older then she is..but she was kewl with it cuz he flerted with her and she licked him rite a way!!!!!!

-- Anonymous, June 07, 2001