My 17-year-old had a car accident - he’s okay, but I’m shaken [Title edit by MNHQ]

[ThatVividPinkOtter]

My 17 year had crashed his car. "Mam I've had a big crash, the car is on its side and i can't get out im trapped". He's fine, shock up and devastated he's written his car off. He was going through lanes ( told him never to go through lanes) and a van came around a blind bend, he swerved to dry to avoid him, went up the banking and flipped into the van. He's been driving for 6 months and all fairness hes a careful driver. He wasn't speeding as his black box didn't show it. Im so gutted for him. Everyone is saying this will be a big lesson for him. Anyone's teenager had a accident and learnt from it? I was really nervous when he first past, but I got over that. I dont want to be over the top in the future 😫

I read 'going through lanes' as driving along country roads. It would be good if the OP could clarify.

there are two (or more) ways to get to loads of places round me.

Agree with the others, it could definitely have been a much worse phone call but in answer to your question, yes my DS wrote off his car about 4 weeks after passing his test. Thankfully he hit a bollard and not another person or car. He wasn’t hurt apart from his pride but it was a massive wake up call as to how easy it was. His black box showed he wasn’t doing anything stupid and we have since seen / heard there are many incidents in the same place but it made him much more aware.

He is now a bus driver and we had the similar call to say he was trapped in his cab and needed to be cut out by the fire brigade. This accident was definitely not his fault. The call was gut wrenching but definitely not the worst we could have received.

I typed / posted my reply earlier when it had the other title. Just reopened MN and seems it’s only just posted for some reason.

Yes mine too.
A few years ago my son walked (well skateboarded) into an area where a terrorist attack was going on. He phoned me and asked what he should do. I said get on your skateboard and get the hell out of there, which he then did, not stopping until he got home. He admitted later he just froze in panic and didn't know what to do. Mum always knows the answer apparently. I'm flattered to be his "safe space" I suppose.

Poor lad, I'm glad he's ok but a terrible shock for him and for OP.

@SnappyQuoter Where I live anything that’s not a main road is ‘lanes’ and it would be absurd to avoid using them altogether. In fact at the moment we can’t leave our house to without either driving on/ in/through lanes (however you prefer it phrased) or taking a very long detour, as the main road is closed for utility works until next March. The route I take to work every day is a lane with no white line and places where it’s not wide enough for 2 vehicles to pass. Often someone coming the other way round a blind bend hasn’t slowed down, it only takes two of these foolhardy drivers to meet for an accident to happen.

OP I’m glad he’s ok, it must have been very frightening for everyone.

I mean single track lanes, speed limit is 30, I've seen the dashcam and he wasn't speeding but thought swerving would have a better outcome.

Im sorry if my heading upset people, my biggest fear since he past his test. I'll delete the post shortly.

What time of day was it?

You can't delete the post @ThatVividPinkOtter , you can ask MN to though and they might.

Reducing speed first is pretty much always better than swerving, it's probably worth having a chat with him about that once he's out of the initial shock phase.

If he had to swerve to avoid another car and went up a slope that cause his car to turn over, the he was unquestionably driving too fast.

Speed limit for country lanes is 60 mph by default, so the fact that his box doesn't show him speeding doesn't mean anything.

@ThatVividPinkOtter I mean single track lanes, speed limit is 30, I've seen the dashcam and he wasn't speeding but thought swerving would have a better outcome.

Lights and signs = 30 mph speed limit
No light and no signs (like on a country lane) = 60 mph speed limit

Vehicles approaching a blind bend have to do so at a speed that allows them to stop if something is coming. Some have mirrors. You can use your horn. There could have been anything around the corner. A horse, a cycling, a pedestrian, an animal.

I come across blind bends on single track roads quite often. 30 mph is WAY too fast.

Plenty of NSL country lanes here have sections that are 30mph.

If it was at night (I have asked twice what time it happened) then the headlights should have been indication enough that something was around the blind bend.

My brother got in a huge accident on the motorway as a teenager. He used to be a bit of a boy racer, but it sounds like this wasn't really his fault. Early hours of the morning in fog on the motorway. Truck jack knifed or something ahead of him. He stopped, but got rammed from behind by another driver who didn't stop in time. Car spun out of control, ended up facing the other direction and engine out. He said it was terrifying, but he managed to get the engine started and over to the hard shoulder.

It calmed his driving right down and he's been exemplary ever since.

I would be seriously shocked and surprised if a road that isn't wide enough to accomodate two cars travelling in opposite directions has a designated speed limit of 30 mph, as obviously that would be far too fast for this situation.

Lots of NSL roads are single track.

Please hand your licence back. A white circle with black diagonal line means NSL, and on country lanes that’s 60.

(Of course, it doesn’t mean you don’t drive for the conditions, but they certainly aren’t restricted across the cast majority of them.)

Rather than avoiding the lanes, he could have a lesson or two with a driving instructor to take him back through the accident area and revise his driving technique.

@shuggles this is a 60mph road in the UK. We have about 6 of them within a mile of my house.

But that’s not the name used for back/country roads.

This is a bit like me insisting that your midday meal is called your dinner - it is indeed for me in my part of the country, but I realise that many people in other areas of the country call it lunch!

She said 'going' through lanes - 'going' is a generic verb meaning to move or travel, so as he was in a car, you would normally assume that 'going' means driving in that context.

Even if she had meant lanes as in lanes on a bigger road, it would be a strange thing to tell him not to cross between them, as overtaking is a normal part of driving; and surely she wouldn't feel the need to tell him not to randomly drive in the lane for traffic coming in the other direction for no reason?!

Really isn’t.

So you know every single turn of phrase in every single part of the UK do you?

I said “here”. It’s probably not where you are.

Glad he’s ok OP but even if he wasn’t speeding I would highly suspect
him being a new driver was a significant factor in the crash. If it were me I would definitely be reviewing it with him and getting him some extra lessons in “the lanes”. The fact you told him not to go down there in the first place indicates you knew he wasn’t ready.