Came close to killing someone today, car now slightly damaged

[woodpigeon4]

Quite possibly the most scary motoring-related event of my life happened today.
I was driving along a straight, clear b-road, doing about 60. There were hedges and trees on both sides of the road, and no site entrances or exits visible, so in my opinion I was doing the right speed for the conditions. Anyway, I failed to notice a footpath (barely more than 2 feet wide and totally unsignposted) that joined the road. As I came up to it, a man stepped out directly in front of my car.
I swerved and braked, skidded for perhaps a few metres and ended up with the front of my car partly embedded in a hedge. Once I'd mostly stopped shaking, I got out of the car and looked down the track to see the guy running away back down the path.
I called the police but didn't bother chasing him, and instead went back to my car and inspected the damage. At first glance, all appeared fine, but on closer inspection I noticed that my left front wheel had hit a rock stuck in the grass. Remarkably, the tyre appeared to be okay, and I couldn't find anything else obviously wrong, so after the police had left I somewhat hesitantly drove off.
When joining the motorway though, it quickly became apparent that it wasn't by any means okay - the steering wheel was shaking, and the car pulled to the left under heavy acceleration. I managed to use my phone to find the nearest garage and they were kind enough to take a look at it for me straight away. They re-balanced the wheels and replaced the tyre and the car seemed fine after that.
However, after driving a few hundred more miles, I have now noticed two other issues:
When on a gradient, the car will sometimes just cut out (possibly something to do with the fuel lines?)
The steering wheel judders slightly under braking (warped brake discs?)
So, I've obviously got to get it looked at. Before I take it into a garage though, is there anything I can check myself that could be causing these problems?

 

[Slam62]

no

 

[Brookert]

idle problem could just have arisen conveniently at the same time as this accident, but not because of it.

Only a garage can sort out those problems im afraid. You'll now if its warped discs with wobble under braking, and when coming to a slow stop, you'll feel when the brakes make contact then lose contact with the bent disc surface.

 

[sigma]

Check your battery hasn't moved for starters and look for any obvious wiring that may have dislodged.

Steering wobble could be a number of things really.

 

[g60dubster]

idle problem could just have arisen conveniently at the same time as this accident, but not because of it.

Only a garage can sort out those problems im afraid. You'll now if its warped discs with wobble under braking, and when coming to a slow stop, you'll feel when the brakes make contact then lose contact with the bent disc surface.

I can guarantee you won't have warped discs, what you will probably have is pad material deposited on one point on the disc, possibly due to the emergency stop and keeping the hot disc and pad in one spot, the pad surface then fuses to the disc creating a hot spot that causes vibration.
It is a common myth that you can warp a disc, in truth it is almost impossible as it is a reasonably large chunk of cast iron.

Try a few high speed heavy braking sessions, same as bedding in new discs and pads, but never come to a complete stop or brake hard enough to activate the abs and it should help. also allow the discs to cool down before stopping completly.

 

[mk1_salami]

Could be a bent wishbone / control arm.

 

[Berger]

I was driving along a straight, clear b-road, doing about 60. There were hedges and trees on both sides of the road, and no site entrances or exits visible, so in my opinion I was doing the right speed for the conditions. Anyway, I failed to notice a footpath (barely more than 2 feet wide and totally unsignposted) that joined the road. As I came up to it, a man stepped out directly in front of my car.

You failed to notice a 2 foot wide footpath, when the road would only be perhaps 12-14 ft wide.

Going a little too quick perhaps.

Just take the car to a garage and have them check it over.

 

[Scania]

Let me get this right, you called the Police because a pedestrian stepped out onto a path that you had not seen ,he has every right to be there on that footpath, yet you chased him?

Did the Police not tell you that you have that slightly wrong?

**** The car & fix your road craft! - or do I completely mis-understand you?

 

[Skillmister]

Let me get this right, you called the Police because a pedestrian stepped out onto a path that you had not seen ,he has every right to be there on that footpath, yet you chased him?

Did the Police not tell you that you have that slightly wrong?

**** The car & fix your road craft! - or do I completely mis-understand you?

He ran away from the scene of an accident he sort of caused(stepping out into the road) and the OP said he didn't chase him..

 

[Dave M]

Being on a foot path is fine, stepping into a road without looking isn't though. the pedestrian caused an accident and the police may have wanted to take action, if they had any way of identifying them.

 

[Scania]

Ahh! I missed the stepped out bit

I Should not read OC/UK 2 seconds after waking up (Went bed & 5:30)

 

[woodpigeon4]

Thanks for the replies I've checked the battery and it seemed alright, having thought about it the issue with the cutting out could be coincidental. I've booked it into a garage for when i get back from holiday and will see what they say. Looking back on it, I agree that i may have been going slightly too quick (although I was honest to the police and they didn't mention it at all). How the guy failed to see or hear my car remains a mystery to me, perhaps he was actually trying to kill himself?

 

[Scania]

How the guy failed to see or hear my car remains a mystery to me, perhaps he was actually trying to kill himself?

I recall being reminded by an instructor that you have to consider a pedestrian may be deaf and / or blind or indeed suicidal as you pass them.....

Look at it this way, regardless of fault, you'd be feeling 100 times worse at this moment had ,God forbid, you hit him.

Chin up mate.

 

[Dogbreath]

I can guarantee you won't have warped discs, what you will probably have is pad material deposited on one point on the disc, possibly due to the emergency stop and keeping the hot disc and pad in one spot, the pad surface then fuses to the disc creating a hot spot that causes vibration.
It is a common myth that you can warp a disc, in truth it is almost impossible as it is a reasonably large chunk of cast iron.
.

Sorry but this is just another internet myth spread by a particular web site. I can personally guarantee that you can warp brake discs, even though it's not a especially common problem. However neither warped discs nor pad deposits are likely to be the cause of the OP's problem, a single emergency stop from 60mph isn't going to do that.

Much more likely something is bent that the original garage failed to notice.

 

[Brookert]

Silly question, but is the garage who did the balancing a reputable garage. Someone else on this forum had a problem where the wheel balance wasn't done correctly and the rumble didn't go away

 

[woodpigeon4]

I recall being reminded by an instructor that you have to consider a pedestrian may be deaf and / or blind or indeed suicidal as you pass them.....

Look at it this way, regardless of fault, you'd be feeling 100 times worse at this moment had ,God forbid, you hit him.

Chin up mate.

You're right there. I think we were both very lucky - if there'd been a car coming the other way for instance, it would have been a lot worse.

Silly question, but is the garage who did the balancing a reputable garage. Someone else on this forum had a problem where the wheel balance wasn't done correctly and the rumble didn't go away

They seemed very professional, and the rumble at high speed totally disappeared after they'd looked at it so I reckon they did a good job. The mechanic took it for a quick test drive to check that it was alright, and mentioned the braking issue himself; if it had been an issue he should have rectified I doubt he would have mentioned it. He suggested warped brake discs being the cause, but some of the suggestions given here seem more plausible.