Anyone know anything about cars?

[Catchingbabies]

My partner and children were in a crash this week, thankfully no serious injuries.

She was driving approx 40mph on a straight road when she describes that the steering felt light and the back end of the car swerved out. She tried to correct this and the car rolled, landing on a parked car. Both cars are complete right off and the damage to the car was extensive.

As there was no obvious cause for the accident the police are having the car inspected. The garage today told us while collecting property that they haven’t finished the inspection yet but so far they have found that the steering rack bushes were very worn and the rear shocks are leaking fluid (although not possible to tell if this was pre-existing or due to the crash).

Could this have caused the accident? I’ve googled but don’t really understand the terms and the mechanic was very non-commital saying impossible to say and inspection not finished.

Prior to the accident the car had sat on the drive for over 4 months unused due to my partner being furloughed. It was also due an MOT, not overdue. I’m wondering if this contributed to it.

It probably sounds silly but I’m going over and over what happened and what could have caused this. It’s really getting to us both that we don’t know what happened so don’t know how to prevent it in future etc. And the car was in such a bad state it makes me think how differently it could have ended. I’ve been having panic attacks all week at how close I came to losing my children.

Sorry to hear this. Hope they are all ok. Please try not to worry until the inspection has been completed. I don't know much about cars in afraid but didn't want you to be unanswered. It must have been terrifying for you all, I do hope you are all alright

*I'm afraid

Shocks have hydraulic fluid in, if it's leaking then the shocks won't work. Eventually the car won't be able to soak up bumps.
In theory the car could hit a bump hard, it not be able to soak up the force of it and make the car bounce forcibly and lose control.

But... That's not to say that happened to your OH. Wait for the inspection.

Most shocks have some signs if fluid leakage after a few years. Worn steering rake brushes can make the steering sloppy. However, it not going to cause an accident, it may mean that someone doesn't recover from doing something daft. Probably too fast and throwing the car into a hard turn. Off course there could be other causes but its unusual that mechanical faults actually cause accidents.

*Rack bushes. Auto correct!

Prior to the accident the car had sat on the drive for over 4 months unused due to my partner being furloughed. It was also due an MOT, not overdue. I’m wondering if this contributed to it.

What checks were made to the tyres before it was driven after sitting still for 4 months? They could well have been under inflated/have been misshapen from non-use.

Depending on the model it would be hard to roll a car at 40mph on most road surfaces. Patch of oil/diesel/manure in the road could cause a wheel to slip, but to have the momentum to roll a normal car?

Any patches of fluid on the drive where it was parked? Would indicate if shocks/other fluids were leaking.

However, it not going to cause an accident, it may mean that someone doesn't recover from doing something daft. Probably too fast and throwing the car into a hard turn. Off course there could be other causes but its unusual that mechanical faults actually cause accidents.

Indeed. Apart from a tyre blow out I can’t see what could have caused such an accident other than a massive overreaction by the driver (and some sort of Scandinavian flick).

No patches of fluid on the drive no. The front driver tire is blown out but again don’t know if that happened before or after the crash. Wet road but no signs of oil etc.

It’s a Corsa and no checks made to the tires before use unfortunately. Car wasn’t used as my partner was shielding / furloughed but I was running late so partner decided to use her car to pick up the prescription we needed before the chemist closed.

That’s another matter actually. The medication hasn’t been recovered. Mechanic said it wasn’t in the car and check the crash site as it might have been left behind but wasn’t there either (this was 4 days later though). Can be replaced but it’s controlled medication so not good that it’s lost.

It’s a Corsa and no checks made to the tires before use unfortunately. Car wasn’t used as my partner was shielding / furloughed but I was running late so partner decided to use her car to pick up the prescription we needed before the chemist closed.

FFS.

Highly likely it was a front tyre blow out and then your partner doing all the wrong things to try and rectify it.

“Action for front tyre blowouts

Front type punctures will cause the car to pull heavily to one side. Steer firmly to correct the pull.

Leave the footbrake alone... If there is space ahead, concentrate on steering and allow the car to lose speed naturally. If you use the footbrake after gaining initial control, be very gentle...

Pulling the parking brake on and off repeatedly can help you to slow down but care must be taken not to lock the back wheels because this could cause the car to pivot around the damaged wheel and spin - your main aim is to keep the car on course and lose speed naturally. Changing down might help in a rear-wheel drive car as engine compression will lower the speed but again no snatched or jerky changes. Remembering that extra effort will be required for steering, it may be safer to keep your hands on the wheel.”

smartdriving.co.uk/Driving/Driving_emergencies/blowout.htm

@Feminist10101 That would make sense as she says she swerved to correct the skid and slammed on the brake, worst things to do in a blowout I know. That could have led to the car rolling maybe?

I know she should have checked the tires, she knows that and looking at the state of the car they are all exceptionally lucky to walk away with a few stitches and bruises. It’s shaken her up an awful lot. I’m not intending to point blame and tell her where she went wrong, the aim is to reduce the risk of this ever happening again.

Tyres very rarely blow out. I have had a blow out on the motor way. It felt bad for a while I stopped and checked multiple times as I thought something was wrong but all looked fine (even to me) decided to keep going to get home and give the rear suspension a good look over. When it did go the steel banding mushroomed out. Its quite obvious when it happens. A blowout at 40 is also very unlikely even more so on a short journey. Let the insurance company assessor figure it out. A modern undamaged tyre should withstand being stationary for a few months - even if it did get damaged it would take some time to deform and get hot.

I had a front tyre puncture recently, fortunately at a low speed. The steering was extremely light after the puncture, fortunately I was only 100 yards from a petrol station so I pulled in there and called for help.

OP as the police were called they perhaps have the medication since it was controlled, either that or the hospital as the paramedics would have taken it with them if they had seen it.

Police don’t have the medication, we phoned to ask as my partner had collected it that day as my son was completely out and so we needed it urgently. Not the paramedics either, I met them at the hospital and they didn’t hand anything over.

Police said the car was recovered an hour later and taken to garage. Garage said not in car so check the scene as might have called out during the recovery as all windows smashed but not there either, although it was 4 days until they confirmed it wasn’t in the car so if it was left at the scene it would have been long gone by then.

Had to have an emergency prescription issued the next day. Sorted now anyway, just hope no one is out there selling medication with my sons name printed on the bottle!