Today, I crashed my car. I saw a deer getting ready to run into the middle of the road, and I was very sleepy, so I panicked and slammed on the breaks, causing me to lose control of the car on the wet road. After I hit a tree, I realized that the deer was a plastic lawn ornament. FML
I agree, your life sucks (11779) - you totally deserved it (27208)
On 08/12/2009 at 2:49am - misc - by Bambi (woman) - United States (New York)
I never understood why people like having those lawn ornaments. I think they're kind of tacky.
And clearly they can be hazardous too!
YDI. Never drive while drowsy. Pull over, walk around, do some breathing exercises, and see if you're alert then.
#31 - On 08/12/2009 at 11:23am by Duckasaurus
Hey, I've driven while drowsy. There are times you can't just get out and wake yourself.
That's where radio + metal mix CDs come in handy dohohoho...
But OP, why were you going so fast on wet road AND while drowsy AND in an area where apparently deer will cross? Mistaaaaake.
And you NEVER slam your breaks (most ESPECIALLY on wet roads) unless it is without a doubt you might hit someone (ie: someone is directly in front of you and stops for unknown reasons). At least, that's what I was always taught.
FYL for it being just a lawn ornament, but you definitely deserve it too.
#56 - On 08/12/2009 at 1:57pm by DameGreyWulf
Too many negative votes, comment buried. Show the comment.
YDI for being a woman, and thinking you can drive a car.
#61 - On 08/12/2009 at 2:54pm by IamSpartacus
i accidentally pressed fyl but it should be ydi cuz you were drowsy. drowsy + wet road+ dark(i assume its dark, because u were drowsy) = very very unsafe driving conditions
#72 - On 08/12/2009 at 8:15pm by stone_light
That almost happened to me once, except it was a lawn ornament that looked like a cat, playing with a ball of yarn, about to run into the street.
#2 - On 08/12/2009 at 10:06am by _paper_moon_
This almost happened to me as well, except what I thought was a fake deer turned out to be a real deer as it ran across the road and almost got hit by me.
#25 - On 08/12/2009 at 11:07am by jackalope104
It could be worse. I hit a deer once at 70MPH on the highway and it completely wrecked my car and shattered through my windshield...I almost ended up with a mouth full of dead deer.
But FYL for real, I know how much car accidents suck!
#4 - On 08/12/2009 at 10:06am by SweetieLish
You could sue the home owner for not having put a warning sign about the ornament may be mistaken for a real deer.
better remove the deer completely than put a sign there.
what would it say, 'warning, this is a plastic deer that appears to be crossing the road but it's actually not, so just keep on driving. there was no need for you to read this sign, because you've probably crashed by now.'
realistic!
Oh great. Here it comes. My legs are already stinging (almost killed by a careless male driver) from the drivel that this thread is set up to inspire. M'outta here.
If you were that tired, you shouldn't have been driving in the first place! You deserve it 100%.
#14 - On 08/12/2009 at 10:19am by Bloodknight
Sometimes there's no other option. What's she going to do, sleep at work?
Methinks you are yet another teenager lacking in life experience who thinks s/he knows best about everything...
Me thinks your one of those idiots who takes unnecessary risks which endanger lives because you're too short-sighted to see the other options.
Sleep at work? Hell yes. Or wait, maybe call a friend, a cab, sleep in your car!? Its not difficult to comprehend other options. But wait, you have LIFE experience! That means you can drive like a drowsy jackass and endanger my life, my girlfriend's life, and everyone else!
There is, of course, the possibility that this person had little money to spend on a cab and a child at home to get to. But then again, a cab must be cheaper than getting your car fixed.
Look, driving is never safe. It is also dangerous to drive when you're hungry, when you're upset, when you're sick, or when you have to pee. If we're going to get picky, I bet you'd be able to find a reason why 75% of the people currently on the road really "shouldn't" be driving. I have a much bigger problem with people who think it's okay to do things like give road-head than I have with people who drive home even though they're tired after work.
What do you expect? People to go, "Oh shit, I yawned, better sleep all by myself in this dark parking lot tonight!" Life doesn't stop for you just because you're tired.
But now you're splitting hairs. The OP obviously was TOO tired to drive causing a hazard to herself and others.
I agree that around 75% of the drivers out there SHOULDN'T drive and I admit that I qualify into that from time to time as well but crashing because of stupidity like THIS?
Your work argument is flawed however. There are ALWAYS other options. When I started work for my last job my shift was 6:00-14:00. That means I woke up at 5:00. Why was I not a sleepy-wreck? Because I got appropriate sleep!
the op might not really have been that tired - rain - plastic deer at the side of road - easy to mistake it for real and over correct - i would probably blame it on a hard day at work - when really i hate those silloute deer that people set up where its jumping a fence - because if they let their yard work go - stuff grows around them - and even in broad daylight people hit their brakes for them.
#78 - On 08/12/2009 at 10:18pm by pinkducttape
I hate those things. There are so many real deer around, why would you want a fake one?
#15 - On 08/12/2009 at 10:23am by bluelagoon
You shouldn't drive when you aren't alert. What if you had swerved into a car full of innocent people rather than a tree?
#16 - On 08/12/2009 at 10:25am by randomusername
Not only should you not drive when you're not alert, you shouldn't brake for deer. You're more likely to survive if you step on the gas.
Has none of you ever had a job? No one wants to drive when they're tired, but sometimes it's the only way they have to get home. I had a job once where I had to leave the house at 6am to get to work on time, and I was usually pretty sleepy. Yeah, I probably shouldn't have been driving, but the only other option was never to go to work. But I cranked up the music and blasted the AC, and kept myself awake.
Seriously, I understand why you don't want people driving while sleepy, but if you had any life experience you'd know it's not that simple.
actually that's completely not true, speeding up will only cause more damage to your vehicle and increase the chance your neck will get broken
#49 - On 08/12/2009 at 1:05pm by sanguicolous
those things are easy to mistake if you just get a quick look at it. totally not your fault.
#23 - On 08/12/2009 at 11:03am by fretforyerlatte
i swear to god some of you are really stupid. how did he deserve this! some of you are telling him not to drive when he is sleepy. are you stupid, or did you ever drive a car?if you work and then your done working then your goingto be tired but you still have to drive home... some people drive when there drunk. now its there fault. but driving when your sleepy? you cant do anything about that.
#28 - On 08/12/2009 at 11:10am by glassisass
By and large you can do something about driving sleepy: (1) take a nap before driving, (2) call someone for a ride and get your car later- like you'd do if you were drunk, (3) take public transportation, (4) ask someone to drive you home in your car, etc. Yeah most of these options are inconvenient and to be honest they are not always an option but these are the same alternatives you would do if you were drunk.
People just don't take DWS (driving while sleepy) seriously but it is AS DANGEROUS AS DUI (as evidenced by the OP's actions).
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, sleepiness may cause over 100,000 crashes every year.
According to the American Automobile Association (AAA) Foundation for Traffic Safety, the effect of being awake for 17 hours causes a performance on psychomotor coordination tests equivalent to that of someone who has a blood alcohol level of 0.05 percent; if they stayed awake a full 24 hours, their test performance equaled a blood alcohol level of 0.10. Some states consider you intoxicated at 0.08; so drivers who have been awake for 24 hours would fail sobriety tests.
I hear what you're saying glassisass and because of that New Jersey passed 'Maggie's Law' in 2003. It allows sleep deprived drivers who cause accidents and have been awake more than 24 hours to be charged with vehicular homicide. The law also provides liability for companies that require employees to keep such hours.
Bottom line: DON'T DRIVE WHILE DROWSY/SLEEPY/TIRED!!!
/end rant/
#34 - On 08/12/2009 at 11:51am by honeyishrnkdakid
I doubt the OP was awake for 17+ hours. It was probably just a long day at work.
And the difference between drunk driving and driving while sleepy is that you can choose not to drink, but you can't choose not to be sleepy.
I'm guessing you've never had a job that you have to commute to. There's always stuff you can do to keep yourself awake (drink caffeine, keep the AC on, play loud music, stop in a parking lot and run around to get your heart-rate up), and you should do those things if you're tired and driving, but sometimes there really is no alternative to driving home.
I think we can all agree that it is not the best idea to drive when you are sleepy. However, there are not always other options, and in this case the accident does not seem to have been caused by her sleepiness, but rather by the realistic-looking lawn ornament... this same thing could have happened to an alert driver.
#46 - On 08/12/2009 at 12:55pm by cherlana32
So you're saying the only possible solution is to drive sleepy, even if it makes you dead? Shitty choice, there. I'd think a person could come up with other options, if they tried.
OP is lucky they didn't turn into a hood ornament over that lawn ornament.
Oh shit, I just now realized I'm dead. Oh wait...
Aback, until you live in a suburb, or someplace even more rural, where you have to drive 45+ minutes to get to work, you don't really get to talk. It's not like you get in the car and think, "Nap time!" You get yourself a coffee, you get into your music, you do whatever keeps you awake. And if you're a normal, healthy person, it will probably work. I can agree that if you've been awake 17 hours you should find another option. However, everyone who's just gotten off of work at their 9-5 job is exhausted, but most of them still have to drive home. It's why rush hour is just so much fun. That is life, my friend.
letitbe56, my uncle was killed on the interstate by a driver who fell asleep at the wheel. My aunt is still in a wheelchair, a decade later. Tell me again about your "life experience" which tells you that driving drowsy really isn't all that bad.
I don't think letitbe was saying that driving tired isn't bad. It just sometimes is life that you are going to be sleepy. There is a big difference between being tired and passing out at the wheel, though.
#76 - On 08/12/2009 at 10:00pm by cherlana32
Sorry about the deer being a fake! That does suck. . . you have essentially racked up a ton of cost for trying to save the deer's life and your car's working order; everybody knows when you hit a deer, your car is pretty much dead.
See if insurance will cover it? Try to get the household that put it near the street to pay for part of it?
Good luck though!
#29 - On 08/12/2009 at 11:12am by made_of_fail
That's sad. My brother's friend's sister died because she swerved so she wouldn't hit a deer and ended up crashing into a tree. But you kinda deserved it for driving subconsciously and drowsily.
#35 - On 08/12/2009 at 11:56am by xoGAMERCHICKx3
I think we have to address a more important question... is the deer okay?
#38 - On 08/12/2009 at 12:21pm by repyourcliche
oh my god, i HATE those things. Especially when they're in someone's front lawn. ugh.
#39 - On 08/12/2009 at 12:27pm by lich
YDI for not knowing the difference between "brakes" and "breaks".
#42 - On 08/12/2009 at 12:36pm by PublicEnemy961
Seriously. I really wish the moderators would screen for proper spelling and grammar. I especially hate it when they let through FMLs that are so badly worded it makes me cringe (like the one where the girl smells her boyfriend's armpit.)
Those lawn ornaments are terrible and HEINOUS. I am sorry not only that you got in an accident, but also that you even had to see one of those things.
#47 - On 08/12/2009 at 12:58pm by cherlana32
My AP History teacher told me once that he sometimes takes naps when he drives. I've never let him live it down...
Kimmy baby, learn to English first so that you can at least make sense when you embarrass yourself.
Oh, and WOMAN + CAR = DISASTER
#68 - On 08/12/2009 at 4:43pm by freudianego
its sexist you illiterate cunthole women are not a race they are a gender stupid fuck
#69 - On 08/12/2009 at 4:56pm by ANGRYPEANUT
In Finland you practically have to prove yourself a professional rally driver to get a license. The OP would probably never be allowed to drive there, or would at least have to learn how to actually drive before getting a license. They're also one of the happiest countries in the world and I think these two facts are in some way connected. I'm really annoyed we'll license anyone in America, no matter how irresponsible or unskilled they are.
#60 - On 08/12/2009 at 2:50pm by mouseintern
I bet if it totaled out your car your gonna get a truck now? or maybe just learn to drive before you get your next vehicle. but I have to wonder wouldn't you have seen it not moving. oh and never slam
your brakes on your most likely to do exactly what happened which is lose control and run off the road than to actually hit the animal. don't speed up either let off the gas and pump the brakes to slow the car down more.
I do have a story for you though. my husband was driving a real mans truck 2500 4x4 dodge cummins going 70 down a dirt road and a deer hit us literally ran into the side of our truck. it left a few dings but destroyed the deer. it was a huge 12 point buck and there was almost nothing left of it. so get a truck don't slam on your brakes and the good news is the deer didn't die lol.
And this is why woman shouldn't be allowed to drive....
Yes, this comment is a joke. You sensitive types will probably hide it anyway.
#80 - On 08/12/2009 at 11:29pm by SirAwesome
That does suck, true you shouldn't drive tired, but your reaction was what i think, a natural one. The same thing happened to me, i was driving home from work at 9pm and a kangaroo jumped out infront of me, your immediate reaction is to break/swerve. The important thing is that your ok.
uhm that just proved your a douche. i could prolly drive better than you, and i'm female, and i'm also 15.
Good luck getting laid with that attitude.
This is when you sue the people with the lawn ornament... Duh? It's an easy win.
#86 - On 08/13/2009 at 3:07am by jacklinjanna
i think that this is an excuse for drunk driving... it sounds like the OP was hiding that they were drunk by saying that they were tired
Driving while sleepy can be just as bad, if not worse, than driving while drunk -- driving when you are that tired can make you hallucinate, get paranoid, or have terrible reaction time.
YDI for putting other people in danger driving like that.
