I usually don't do these kind of things ( create a thread that's useless information) but i loved my car (09 fit sport) i decided to do it.

Unfortunately my car got in a head on collision. It snowed pretty bad here at atl. I will post pics up tomorrow, because its still snowing pretty bad and its dark.

This is what happened. We were driving home going fairly slow. around 20mph. everything was going all good until we were driving on a hill going down. We see this car driving up the median for some reason and he started to slide toward my lane. So i engine braked, and tried to slow down but it was too late. The car slid into his suv head on.

Police were already there, since it was a hill everyone seemed to be stuck on. I took few pictures with my phone, scraping the snow off the road so the yellow line will show. Indicating its his fault. But yeah i don't know who's fault its going to be, since the police officer said i was sliding into his car........but his car was in my lane so i reacted to that and happened to slide........it was a airhead police officer but whatever i'll try and settle it through insurance since i have pictures.

No one got hurt, thankfully. Car is in ....ummm decent condition i guess??? i don't have a good word to describe it. haha. Its damaged so its not good, but its not horrific.

The hood is bent up. Front bumper is cracked. Driver side headlight is cracked at the mounting places so its hanging. Driver side fender is bent. Driver door seems to squeak now when i open. probably from impact.

But no check engine light. Air bag didnt' go off. Can't smell any radiator fluid so its probably not leaking. Fan still kicks on. Horn seems to squeak a little. But still drives in a straight line.

So yeah i'll see what happens but guys please be careful in the snow. I learned first hand the horror of the snow.

pictures will be up first thing in morning. So guys gather your popcorn and enjoy my misery.

Edit:

 

At least no one was hurt--ultimately, that's what matters most. We've had some snow here in Philly twice in the past 10 days, and more is expected this week. As I've only had my Fit for one month, I'm being extra cautious driving on snow-covered roads; I'm still adjusting to how it handles in different conditions. I live in a hilly section, too, so that doesn't help.

Thank you for your tale of caution. . .as I said earlier, I'm glad you're safe and that no one was hurt. Good luck in your dealing with the aftermath.

 

damn bro .... for that reason i didnt even go outside... .. poor fit..

 

Here in al we have about a foot of snow with lighting! Very crazy time right now. Lots of inexperienced drivers out trying to drive in this snow. Stay in if you can. But anyway sorry about your car. Im sure everything will work out for you. Best of luck!

 

so what is it about down south where snow causes a complete cluster-f? is it just people who aren't used to driving in snow? maybe no one runs tires with any tread on them? 6" of snow isn't that much up here.

sounds like the OP didn't do anything wrong - glad everyone is alright.

 

I'm here in ATL area and although we only have about 3-4 inches of snow, right now, I won't even attempt going anywhere because of the inexperienced southern drivers that cause accidents like the one described at the start of this thread. In the North, it would be just another day.

These are some of the reasons for the cluster f***:

The GA DOT is not properly equipped to handle any kind of snow removal whatsoever.

There are no driver education programs offered by the public schools. It is the parent's responsibility to instruct their children. So we have generations of drivers that know nothing about driving in snow & ice conditions!

There are a lot of steep hills.

Snow Tires, Snow Blowers and ice scraper/snow brushes are all some kind of alien crap that nobody sells around here.

The media over-hypes these situations and preys on the natives inabilities to grasp the situation.


Here are some of the observations from a Northerner living in the South:

People panic and wipe the local Supermarkets out of milk & bread.
The liquor and beer sales increase as well.

I saw a guy trying to clear the snow off of his driveway with his lawnmower!

Yesterday, before the snow, people wiped Lowe's and Home Depot out of bags of "Ice Melt" salt for their driveways and sidewalks. So you can get out of you driveway this morning.....then what!

There is this dillusion of "Black Ice". This is ice that forms on the roadways that is (for some reason) undetectable till you drive on it! I don't know about "Black Ice" but be real careful of that clear ice!

There is something about Southerners and spinning their wheels. I think the general notion is that that increasing the amount of wheel spin will result in better traction. If you don't get better traction you haven't spun you wheels enough yet.

 

^ ha ha, so true. I lived up north for 26 years before moving here, and have observed all of the things you've mentioned.

To the OP: Autoglo Collision center in Tucker does all of my body work, and their work is second to none. Tell them Mark sent ya!

 

I have a friend from Alabama who was joking about "How to drive in the snow" news segments that air on the rare times there is meaningful snow that far south.
She said they amount to:

Git a runnin' start.

 

Its a combo of " I have a 4x4 and I can drive the same as a regular day". And it just a rare event. Last good good snow was in 93. So its been awhile ha

 

Sorry about the accident and the trauma it may have caused. Glad that no one was injured... that the most important...your health and your family and friends health are intact and the other guy was also not injured.... good to hear.

Was your FIT on stock tires or snow tires when the accident happens? Was the other party's vehicle on snow tires? I am trying to find out how useful or how useless are snow tires when in your situation.

Thanks

 

I highly doubt there were snow tires on either vehicle considering the location. (tirerack probably sells 1 set there a year ;-))

Here in VT, Snow tires help greatly. I'm on snows right now and last year I ran the stock Fit Tires. While we weren't loaded with snow last year, I can tell you already that the car handles, stops, and accelerates better with the Snow tires on in storms.

OP, like the rest here, glad to hear that no one was hurt. Cars are replaceable, people aren't.

~SB

 

Snow tires help. Not saying you can't still slide into someone or someone with snow tires still slide into you. But having good tread reg. tires is the least you should have in the snow, rather you have a 4X4 or not. A couple weekends ago I was riding around with my mom in her truck with 4 wheel drive and new tires got them about 2 months ago and at some lights we were still spinning tires no matter how much she eased on it.

The late afternoon previous to that I had went bowling and on my way home in my fit I took some back neighborhood roads that I knew were hilly b/c there was a major back up. (I learned the yr previous with stock tires how to start on a hill in the snow, I had a 4 wheel drive before the fit). I had no problems once I got back on the main road there were 4X4 with 20+ inch rims and low profile tires that were having a hard time getting started and the fit was doing great.

 

Sorry to hear about the accident by the way

 

It's a real bummer that you had your car in control in your lane and the other driver's loss of control put you in a panic situation that sent your car sliding also.

 

/\ very true. i trust my snow driving skills enough not to run and panic at the first sign of snowfall... the other drivers that veer and slide all over the place with perhaps near bald tires and no snow-driving exp scare me the most. :s

Sorry to hear about the accident. good to hear ur alrite, hope the Fit makes it out okay..

 

Stupid channel 2 here in NYC had reporters out driving in the snow and reporting on the storm live on the air WHILE DRIVING! As if talking on a cell phone isn't distracting enough, LIVE TV while driving? Meanwhile the other stations are reporting that NYC is asking people to stay off the road.

 

There isn't enough equipment in the south to properly clear snow or to distribute sand and salt. That means people end up driving on top of the snow, packing it down and also aiding some melting. And, after a snow, the temperature often climbs above freezing during the day, then plummets at night. Melt, refreeze. Melt, refreeze. So by the next morning, you end up with very icy roads that are difficult or impossible for a plow to clear.

Roads are black. Ice is clear. Thus, ice on roads can appear black. Where is the delusion in that?

And back to my point about lots of melting and refreezing, the salt is less about being able to drive than it is about being able to walk. If you leave a driveway covered in snow, it becomes a sheet of ice after a day or two.

Also, snow events in the south often turn into sleet and freezing rain. Over the weekend in Raleigh, we got about half an inch of snow followed by a quarter inch of ice, topped off with a glaze of freezing rain. By morning, I seriously couldn't walk across the street. It was like walking on an ice rink, but not flat.

In sum, it isn't financially reasonable for southerners to keep lots of equipment around to deal with these events once in a great while. And when winter weather hits the south, it is much more likely to turn the roads into sheets of ice than in the north, which leads people to stock up on salt and food, and to stay home.

Of course there are always the idiots who think their 4x4 truck can drive on anything, and that sucks. But there is no other reason to make fun of the south for handling winter weather less gracefully than the north.

 

So sorry to hear about your car but glad that everyone is OK. I bought my Fit in 2007 and we have had very little snow until this year. I am so sick of it snowing and having to drive my car in this stuff. I am so ready for spring I keep praying January and February goes by quickly. We have so many people with SUV's driving around as if there was no snow or ice on the roads at all. I end up leaving an hour early just to beat the traffic and not have to drive with them!

Keep us posted on how things go.

Cat

 

Actually, it was more like 4" of snow -- I stuck a ruler in the snow outside our house Monday morning. Metro Atlanta is about as large an area as the entire state of Delaware, with 4 million people and 8 snow plows. I have lived in Michigan for several years; in addition to snow plows, within 24 hours or less the streets and highways were salted and/or sanded. Southerners are probably less problematic than the immigrants from the north, who think they know how to drive in snow and ice, but are not really accustomed to driving without plows, salt, and sand.

I went out Monday morning to test the roads, and was reminded that the Fit's OEM tires are not the best in snow, as I lost traction about halfway up the hill near our house, and had to turn around and drive in reverse to get to the top.

Tuesday, slightly above freezing, so the ice started to melt a little, and pavement was visible in a few places, then mid-20's overnight. Portions of major interstates were still closed with an inch of ice, and tractor trailers jack knifing all over the place.

Wednesday morning, the streets looked like a hockey rink; on one mild hill in my part of town, half the cars lost traction before getting to the top. As of Wednesday afternoon, there was still not a hint of sand or salt on any of the streets in my part of Atlanta (northeast, but inside the perimeter) -- not even high traffic, major 4-lane streets like Clairmont. Plows? Fuggedaboutit. Down to the teens tonight, so the streets will be another hockey rink tomorrow morning.

So, it's not so much the drivers as undriveable conditions, due to lack of plows and sand trucks. Why invest in a bunch of snow removal equipment when it hardly ever snows? Most people just lay in supplies of bread, eggs, and milk, and stay home until the stuff melts. The only real difference with this latest storm is that it has remained cold all week; usually, it snows, everybody says, "Oh, isn't that pretty," and then it's gone 48 hours later.

 

sorry about the late post. pictures were added on the original post.

I was busy with dealing with insurance/ work .etc.

I hope everything goes well. I talked with my insurance and i'm going with the decision to pay the deductible from my pocket.(100$) and fix the car. Then get my money reimbursed later on when my insurance company gets the money from there company.

I don't want to wait a long time to get this car fixed, since it is my daily driver.