[tnoy66]

Sorry to hear this Tony

Whilst I've not been around here long, I know you're a well respected member here, so everyone will be shocked to hear of this, I know I was.

Take care, I hope you have a quick recovery and the insurance sort you out quickly too.

[Grings]

Holy **** Tony.

Glad to hear that you are OK. First and foremost get yourself checked out. Some injuries take days to appear.

That's bad news about the car, but at the end of the day that's exactly what it is, a car. It sounds like the armco and the car did it's job well.

Hopefully the insurance will be kind on you - I know there was a hell of a lot of cash in that car. The upside is that you get a get a full West Tuning conversion on the next one.

Take care mate and I hope you are feeling better soon.

[ABG]

And I thought I had a bad night last night forgetting there was an item on eBay I wanted to bid on before it closed

Shocking news Tony. Glad you are in one piece

[cook1e]

Sorry to hear about your incident Tony but glad you are OK. Not only could it have been worse for you but you could have had kids on board as well which just doesn't bear thinking about. Cars are just bits of tin and plastic at the end of the day and are replaceable and that's what insurance is for. Good luck with the claim and hope your physical and mental pains go away soonest.

[Ginger]

Sorry to here this, glad you're OK though.
G

[ALD0]

Gutted to hear about your S
Like every 1 else said, could of been alot worse.
Hope insurance comes out ok 4 u.

[Leccy_Blue]

Sorry to hear that mate At least your'e OK.

Good things normally come out of bad situations though. Did you have GAP insurance?

LB.

[Speedd]

sorry to read this Tony .. the main thing is that you are ok

take it easy and keep us posted

make sure you get checked out properly for the bruises....

[SoggyCornFlakes]

Just picked up on this Tony, gee, what a bummer. But your daughter summed it up perfectly , bless her.

hope the insurance comes out ok, get the dealer to help out with guidance on the real value of your car.

Guess you're feeling the bruises today

[I love MINI, Laura]

So sorry to hear you misfortune Tony,

Such a shame! Get well soon!

Thinking of you and your family!

[Tonyt3]

Just thought I'd post up some pictures of the crash scene. Please remember that this is a dark unlit area of the countryside and was pitch black when accident happened.

Lots of cars have misjudged this turn off, as you can see from the photo, the real slip road is signeposted just beyond the gravel trap.

If it was daylight, yes I would have taken the gravel, but just couldn't see it at night.

One of the photos showed where a burnt out car was taken out there on saturday night.

One of the photos shows where all the other cars have gone off

There is a photo showing exactly how short this run off is, the one with a lorry in it. I entered the slip road just about where the lorry's tail lights are. I rekon its about 2.5 lorry lengths to the barrier, or about 100 feet.

One of the photos shows the poor condition of the tarmac. Whilst taking these photos, several cars took the turn off (it doubles back to a texaco garage). Nearly all the cars had problems pulling up in time. In broad daylight.

The second last photo shows the slip road that I thought I was leaving the dual carrigeway
on.

The photo of my car doesn't look to bad, right? Wrong. Roof is creased, transmission is gone, gearbox is damaged, new drivers door, new front end. Shut lines shot to pieces. Wheels, brakes etc need replacing. Three airbags fired.

[Intrepid]

horrid for you... Poor Mini....

[Rakey]

that is very easy to mistake even in daylight, very dangerous, and something needs to be done about it

[AidenL]

That does look like a slip road alright.............

[scooperman_uk]

christ tony, i can see why it caught your out. it just lept up and took a bite out of your MINI. a real accident black spot. where actually is this location?

[SoggyCornFlakes]

With so many incidenrts tehre you'd think the Council, or Highways Agency, would have a case to answer for not making the area safer.

If your roof is creased you MINI will likely be a write off

[Rick]

sorry to hear about this - hope to see you back on the road soon and best wishes for a speedy recovery

[Tubby]

Tony - gutted for you mate , but as all the others have said, at least you're still here to talk about it. Make's you realise what's important in life I guess...

You're one brave bloke going back there and taking those photos - I wouldn't stand where you were with all that mulitple accident damage! How many tyre lines through the gravel run off?!

Glad you've walked away from it though - just goes to show what a well designed car can do in an accident . Imagine if you'd have been in a souped up Corsa, or worse still a Saxo! .

Good luck getting things sorted out. We only met briefly at Wessex IV but your car was gorgeous - hope you can get your next one specc'd same or better.

M

[Tonyt3]

Quote: Originally Posted by scooperman_uk

christ tony, i can see why it caught your out. it just lept up and took a bite out of your MINI. a real accident black spot. where actually is this location?

Its on the A303, heading East (towards London), immediatly before the Andover turn off. The service area has a Texaco garage, and a burnt out Little Chef.....

In America, somebody would be sued. In the UK, no one would take responsibility. Case of 'Tough luck'......

Again, lucky to walk away....

[ButtonIt]

How badly damaged is the car Tony? That piccy looks like it's only really the front corner, bonnet and A panel. Does it look fixable in real life? I bet the suspension's taken a battering, but that should be easily fixed if a little expensive.