Tree fell on me whilst driving. Think my Clio is for the scrap heap. (with footage)

Ben Cole · 9 Feb 2019 at 23:46

Just making my way home yesterday and BANG!!!! Didn't know what hit me.

Turned out a tree had fallen and caught me sweet in the windscreen. Had the dashcam running and a young lady from the opposite side of the road sent me her footage too. This actually gives an impression of what happened whereas mine is just a smashed windscreen.

Enjoy.

Ben Cole · 10 Feb 2019 at 00:56

Azza said:
wow. The lack of swearing is very reserved on your part.

Spot the "quiet part" in the video

Ben Cole · 10 Feb 2019 at 10:49

Jonnybmac said:
This is what it looks like, when a tree flies

I like the new lyrics.

Thanks for the sentiments everyone. Car probably written off because of A pillar damage.

Annoying because it's a high miler but I've done all of those miles and they've been 90% gentle motorway miles so the car was absolutely tip top.

Ben Cole · 11 Feb 2019 at 00:24

Abyss said:
Ouch!!!

It did however remind me of this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5ogSmH8M84

Know what you mean though I came out without a scratch , if that boulder had caught those people it would been a cartoon type death :eek:

Ben Cole · 11 Feb 2019 at 09:10

gEd said:
I was reminded of an incident back in 2002 when 2 young people were killed near me when a large section of tree fell onto their car, trapping them and the car then caught fire. Horrific.
So "only" having a written off car is a blessing.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2560881.stm

Yes. I keep having to remind myself of this when I start to get angry about being deprived of my car

Ben Cole · 12 Feb 2019 at 15:56

Cropped in and slow motion from the onlookers dashcam is the best....

Ben Cole · 12 Feb 2019 at 17:25

Steampunk said:
That tree was dead and dried out by the way it shattered. If it had been alive and full of water, it would have taken the top off your car. Having said that, if it was alive, it probably wouldn't have fallen over like that. Whoever owns the verge obvious hasn't been checking the state of the trees there.

Yeah. "rotten as a pear" as Mike Brewer would say. When it hit me a section about 8 feet broke off and flew forward. When that hit the ground it broke up again.

As people keep telling me, I was "lucky".

Ben Cole · 12 Feb 2019 at 18:23

True dat...

Ben Cole · 13 Feb 2019 at 20:15

^^^^^^ this.

If you think where I'd be sitting in the car it only appears fractions of a second before impact.

In reality I knew nothing about it at all until my windscreen exploded. You can still see through the section of windscreen where the webcam is mounted but on the driver's side it was obliterated.

Ben Cole · 13 Feb 2019 at 20:19

.....and no, it would have been impossible to hear the tree cracking through Prince, the road noise and the hurricane that was blowing.

Ben Cole · 14 Feb 2019 at 21:41

jpaul said:
would you have expected it to trigger air-bags ? if not why not.

No. If you watch the video the tree doesn't slow me down very much at all. Steering wheel airbags are to cushion a person in the event of a dramatic loss of forward motion where the body gets slammed into the wheel.

bledd said:
Glad you're ok, for what it's worth, your video had everything a viewer could want.. two angles, slow motion replay, images of car afterwards.. 10/10!

Must have crapped yourself when it happened!

Thanks. Happened too quickly to get really bothered but the exploding windscreen drew an expletive out of me that's for sure.

Car confirmed as a total loss today.

Ben Cole · 17 Feb 2019 at 21:28

Firestar_3x said:
One dead, you got lucky indeed!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-47272520

A matter of perspective I suppose. I certainly don't feel lucky having had this incident. Certainly LUCKIER than that poor soul.

Ben Cole · 20 Feb 2019 at 01:28

Simon said:
A tree landed on your car and you are making out it’s the end of the world.

Sure you got hit but it could be much worse than a crappy clio being written off.

I would be feeling very grateful I could still post about it !

In a bad mood Si?

No, I'm not making out it's the end of the world and I'm not sure why you've come to that opinion. In fact over the period of time since the incident I've been my normal self. Going about my daily duties, interacting with people in a courteous manner, not being rude to people I've never met from behind a keyboard....

Of course it could have been worse but the feeling of being grateful for not being injured wore off after a day or two. Then I was left with the reality of financial loss and logistic inconvenience. That's why I posted that I don't feel lucky.

As for your opinion of my Clio being crappy, I thought you were better than that. Over the years from Rover forums and onward I have seen condescending and rude posts from you but usually reserved for those that had exhibited blatant stupidity.

I bought that car new and had put 86k on in the last 35 months. It had served me well. It's left me putting miles on my S5 and Q7, both of which I'd rather were kept for other duties and aren't exactly economical.

Ben Cole · 20 Feb 2019 at 01:46

Lucky it wasn't a bigger branch? Lucky it was in the Evoque and not the S or M? (I'm presuming you have less passion for that than the other two)

As I mentioned earlier, a matter of perspective.

I for one, feel sorry for your misfortune.