What is the worst thing a car you have ever been in has hit?

[Spinneret]

A lamppost

 

[TippyThomas]

A deer.

 

[BrianL]

I wasn't in the car at the time, but a bullet. I came out one New Years Day to find one lodged in my windshield. It had come from straight up - stupid celebratory gunfire. Those things come down, you know! Thankfully I was not in it and interestingly the bullet was actually stopped in windshield, just hanging there, and the glass did not shatter, just spider-web cracked all over. Unfortunately it was impossible to determine where it came from (other than up), though I did file a police report.

 

[firefly_ris]

I was driving down 95 behind a dump truck in the left lane and a piece of what appeared to be lead pipe about 3 inches in diameter came flying out of it right at my Taurus. I was younger and following closer than I should have and didn't have time to try to swerve to the shoulder. Fortunately it did not come through my windshield and instead struck my front bumper in such a way that it made a perfect circular hole. My dad and I used lots of body fill for that one. No idea if it would have come right through my windshield if it would have killed me or what.

 

[RUDisney]

I was driving down 95 behind a dump truck in the left lane and a piece of what appeared to be lead pipe about 3 inches in diameter came flying out of it right at my Taurus. I was younger and following closer than I should have and didn't have time to try to swerve to the shoulder. Fortunately it did not come through my windshield and instead struck my front bumper in such a way that it made a perfect circular hole. My dad and I used lots of body fill for that one. No idea if it would have come right through my windshield if it would have killed me or what.

You're very lucky. My DH's BFF's DDad was struck by a tow wagon that wasn't attached properly to the truck towing it. When it hit (his wife was driving), it decapitated him. We don't drive behind tow hooks anymore. You just never know if it's hooked on properly, or if it comes loose.

 

[hertamaniac]

I had a 1995 Camaro with a single headlight that wasn't working. I came around this long turn and hit a deer. Since the front of my car was low and angled, it launched the deer over my car. I literally could see the deer go over my roof with my t-tops (they were on). I was nervous about damage, but amazingly there wasn't hardly anything damaged on the front end or entire car.

The craziest part? My headlight now worked.

 

[firefly_ris]

You're very lucky. My DH's BFF's DDad was struck by a tow wagon that wasn't attached properly to the truck towing it. When it hit (his wife was driving), it decapitated him. We don't drive behind tow hooks anymore. You just never know if it's hooked on properly, or if it comes loose.

Yes I was. I still think about it often when I go down to MD to visit and traverse that specific part of the highway.

That is horrific. It's easy to forget just how many hazards there can be on the road and just how fast it can be over.

 

[goofyernmost]

I have to say how lucky I have been. I have been driving now for almost 60 years and have never been in any situation where I have run into anything other than heavy rain or snow and wind. I drove buses for many of those years and had 16 years of riding with my parents before I got my license so that would make almost 76 years. It is an experience that I hope to not have until that big parking lot in the sky.

 

[DisneyTexan]

One unusual thing that I hit was a tumbleweed. I was on the freeway in Southern California (not far from Disneyland!), and thankfully I saw the tumbleweed coming and was somewhat prepared. I turned on my flashers, slowed down, then looked in the rearview mirror. Other people must have seen what was happening, because by some miracle everyone dropped back. I could see almost nothing out of the windshield. I was able to safely pull off the road and remove the tumbleweed. I was lucky.

 

[georgina]

I hit a deer at night on the Ohio Turnpike. Jumped out of nowhere. Was driving a Dodge Caravan, it hit the front right part of the car and also bounced off the sliding door on the side, but ran off into the woods after. It woke up everyone who was sleeping in the car (DH and 3 kids). Thankfully no injuries to passengers inside, was unable to establish the condition of the deer since it ran away.

 

[tvguy]

Egret. It flew into the path of my car and caught the top of the windshield and went into an end over end spiral that my kids watch from the back seat.

 

[Disneychick75]

Another car- it was raining hard. I could see the car ahead of us on the road but no brake lights so I kept going. By the time I realized the car wasn't moving, I couldn't stop and I rear ended her. Turned out she had put her car in park because oncoming traffic was heavy and she was waiting to turn left. Ugh, then her husband was the state trooper who came to check out the accident. I guess you know who was blamed. Note DO NOT PUT YOUR CAR IN PARK ON THE ROAD! (not yelling - it a PSA.

 

[amcnj]

While driving on a major highway, someone threw a large rock from an overpass. Fortunately it hit on the passenger side of the windshield (and there was no passenger) and I am tall so the glass fragments hit me from the neck down and didn’t get into my eyes.

As a passenger there was an encounter with a deer. But the worst was when a truck had left a baking production facility with a valve open, and liquid sugar was all over the highway. The car I was in spun around, ultimately hitting the concrete median head on. A dump truck was coming straight at us, well now actually perpendicularly, but fortunately was able to move into another lane and avoid a collision.