Update.

[flyboy_fox]

Update on the car accident situation:

Thanks for the concern, guys. My mum really is all right; she arrived home a little after I posted. She came home in the tow-truck which was dragging her car and she's all right except for being in shock and really tearful and anxious and cold. The car, though... shit.

I was wrong about any other cars being involved. What happened, apparently, was her front right tire (i.e. the one closest to the driver's seat) suddenly blew out while she was doing 80mph on the M4 and she lost all control of the vehicle. She was swerving across all the lanes and she was terrified of hitting another car, so she banked towards the divider in the middle of the road instead. She hit a bollard and the car ricochetted and literally span fully around twice before finally stopping, facing the wrong way, in the middle of the motorway with the car behind screeching to a stop fractionally in front of her. Miraculously, no other cars were damaged and no one else was hurt.

In a pure case of Good Samaritans, the driver of the car that stopped right behind, and another driver, got out to help her, diverted traffic away from the accident, called the police, ambulance and RAC, and stayed with her for almost an hour until help arrived. One of them even gave her his contact details to act as a witness that she wasn't driving dangerously and that her tire just randomly blew out.

It's amazing that no one got hurt and that my mum is all right after hitting a barrier and spinning out with a blown tire at 80mph. The car is... yeah. The front-right tire is imploded and half the bonnet is peeled back and crushed. It's a write-off. But my mum is okay. That's all that matters.

Comments

[ziggyshadowdust.livejournal.com]

Well good news your mum and everyone else is alright. Can't imagine how scary it would be if I were in your position or your mums. You sure it was 80mph? I thought the national speed limit was 70mph. Meh.

[flyboy-fox.livejournal.com]

Yeah, definitely 80. It's pretty much impossible to go any slower than that on the M4 unless you stay entirely in the slow lane stuck behind huge freight vehicles crawling along. My mum is such a nervous driver, she would never intentionally speed... she hates those roads for that very reason. Speed limits mean nothing and you just CAN'T go any slower when all the other cars are going 80. Thank you for your concern, also ♥

Edit: Your question got me thinking, so I asked her exactly why she was doing 80mph and she explained that she was in the fast lane because she was overtaking someone driving stupidly in front of her. Because all of the cars in the middle lane go at 70-75mph, you HAVE to pull at least 80 to overtake. Ironically, being in the fast/overtaking lane probably saved her life, because she only ever overtakes when she has a LOT of space behind her to do it. Had the tire blown while she was still in the middle lane, the car behind would have almost certainly ploughed right into her.

[ziggyshadowdust.livejournal.com]

This has reminded me why my dad doesn't really like driving on motorways during holidays in mainland UK. He says it's like a race track. Everyone is always racing past him.

You do have a point though. Sometimes you do have to go a little bit over the limit to overtake someone, just so long as its safely. Blowout was a freak occurrence though, but again I'm glad no-one was hurt.

[teamrodent.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear your mom's OK. :)

[flyboy-fox.livejournal.com]

Thank you (:

[alycus.livejournal.com]

I am glad your mother is OK.

[flyboy-fox.livejournal.com]

Thanks (:

[sukishadow.livejournal.com]

Jeez o.0 I'm so glad your mother is alright, I just heard about what happened. I'll pray for her and I hope that she isn't too badly shaken up.

[flyboy-fox.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. She's all right... just very shaken up, naturally.

[shadowdingo.livejournal.com]

Just read this and previous entry late. Must have been scary for her, but I'm glad she's not hurt herself. It was very kind of those other two drivers to stop and help, you don't tend to get that here (though traffic is usually awful along the nearest junction of the M4 to where I am, so redirecting it would be really hard, plus, if you're heading towards London on it, there's a darn CANAL nearby, which would be a problem).

[flyboy-fox.livejournal.com]

It was really surprising, but in the best possible way, that those two guys stopped and helped/stayed with her. I've never seen them and don't have a clue who they are, but I'm forever grateful for what they did for my mum ♥

[shadowdingo.livejournal.com]

I think I would be too. It's rare to find Good Samaritans like that sometimes, so I'm actually very glad they helped her out as well. Give her best wishes from Wales for me, would you? :)

[flyboy-fox.livejournal.com]

Will do! (: