These Are The Dumbest Car Crashes You've Ever Seen

Earlier this week we asked you to tell us the dumbest car crashes you have ever seen. It seems like y'all have seen no shortage of inattentive folks making stupid mistakes behind the wheel, since there were plenty of answers. I wish I could add a "womp womp" sound effect to these comments because most of the crashes you have witnessed are impressively dumb and they deserve the theatrics. I appreciate that there were no graphic stories that involved gore or anything, just cringeworthy mistakes that led to some funny accidents. 

I lost a bit of faith in humanity after reading through your answers, but they also increased my understanding of the importance of defensive driving. When you're out there on the roads, keep checking your mirrors and for Pete's sake please remain focused on the task at hand, which is driving, to be clear. Not ogling some cuties crossing the street or lookie-looing at a fender bender while you cause one of your own. The old adage applies here almost better than anywhere else; stay in your lane. These are the dumbest car crashes you have ever seen, but if you think you've seen dumber feel free to drop the story in the comments.

Many years ago before EZpass was a thing and we all had to head for the toll booths, saw a Volvo and a Subaru wedged into the same booth (neither willing to give the other a go). One car had a PEACE bumper sticker and the other a similar COEXIST or the like.

Submitted by: Not me

Back in the 80's, when I was in high school, my good buddy Steve had an old Ford Maverick that would sometimes just die at inopportune moments. We called it Puff the Tragic Wagon.

We'd sing "Puff the tragic wagon lived at Steve's..."

That was as far as we got.

Anyway, one day, we were all in Puff headed out of school for lunch. It died on Grandview Blvd, and Steve steered it into the center turn lane to try and restart it. A brand new IROC Z drove past us loaded with exactly the kind of high school guys you're imagining driving an IROC Z in the 80's.

As they went past us, they were all yelling at us and mocking us for being stuck in stalled Puff.

They were ALL looking at us. Including the driver.

Then they rear ended a Cadillac. Hard enough that a cloud of steam burst out from the radiator.

At that moment, Puff sprang back to life, and we drove slowly past them (Steve, then and now, drove like a Granny), making eye contact the whole time.

Lunch was especially tasty that day...

Submitted by: Stillnotatony

About 6 years ago, I watched someone cause a 5 car accident because they were looking at their phone. The driver was glued to their phone and plowed their late model Caravan into the back of a CR-V at probably 45 MPH, which then cause an accordion effect into three other cars.

Three ambulances had to be called and the Caravan driver had a broken nose and some other facial damage because the airbag shoved her hand and phone right into her face. Sweet karma if you ask me.

Submitted by: Fiji ST

My first job was a supermarket cashier – place had a pretty normal setup, row of tills in front of a giant window overlooking the typical suburban parking lot. One night, a little before close, I look out and see a '99ish Grand Am on its roof in the otherwise empty lot. I still have no idea how it happened, and I didn't hear anything. So much for wide-track handling.

Submitted by: Maymar

A few years ago I was going to lunch with coworkers, as we pulled into the lot we saw two cars backing out directly across from each other. I said to my friend who was driving to honk, they don't see each other. She honked, both cars stopped, assessed their surroundings (presumably) and then they both continued to back up for a low speed rear end to rear end crash, parking lot fender bender. Both crossover SUVs, this was several years ago, probably didn't have backup cameras, not that that is an excuse.

Submitted by: Greg Lemon

Dave Barry once wrote about an incident in heavy gridlock: one driver wanted to change lanes, the other guy did not want to cooperate. Neither alpha wanted to back down.

So, driving at maybe one mile per hour, the two cars touched and kept moving forward, grinding bumpers, then quarter panels, then entire sides of their cars. It was the slowest crash in history... but both drivers had the satisfaction of knowing he did not back down.

Submitted by: Jason Shepherd

A car had stopped on the shoulder of the road. As another car traveling down the roadway approached from behind the stopped car, the stopped car moved forward slightly as it was going to enter the roadway after the approaching car passed. The driver of the approaching car thought that the car on the shoulder was about to pull out In front of him. He panicked, locked up his brakes, and slid off the road smashing into the parked car.

Submitted by: YetAnotherDavid

I was a deputy sheriff working a fender-bender on a section of a four-lane divided highway. The road was straight then curved toward the lanes I was in. I glanced at a car in the opposite lane coming toward me and the driver was looking at the accident scene. I saw her keep staring as her car went off the right side of the road and over an embankment. She never looked at where she was going and never turned into the curve. She wasn't injured besides a few bumps but the car was totaled.

Submitted by: TeamJay

Following a 90's Explorer, entering a freeway construction zone funneling to one lane, 50mph. Suddenly Explorer swerved right and was up on 2 wheel, BAM, just like that, instant Thrill Show. One second then down it comes probably from braking steering left to the median. Median is soft gravel and strongly banked. Straddled the pavement and gravel, tried to steer back on the road. Rear end stepped to the left , Explorer rolled sideways down embankment 1 and a half times ending on roof well into the median. It was slow and like a cartoon .

*He swerved because traffic cone was well into the road he hadn't seen it till, Thrill Show.

Submitted by: Halfkidding

early 2010s, wife was driving around by herself in this strange neighborhood, no GPS or anything, just trying to figure out where to go by reading street signs. thought she was cruising down a regular road, but it turned out to be an access ramp to a building garage. she didn't see it coming at all, so she didn't even hit the brakes. scraped the bottom of our '94 Renault Clio 1.9 D pretty bad/hard, so much so that the gear shift got stuck for a couple of minutes! Thankfully, she didn't get hurt. the gear shift also eventually freed up and the car ended up driving just fine with no damage not even a cracked oil pan or any leaks!

Submitted by: SoCal

I had to attend a traffic school class to dismiss a ticket, and when the instructor gave us a lunch break I walked out into the parking lot to see one of the students back up into another student's car.

When I told the instructor about it, he just looked deeply sad.

Submitted by: Matt Emm

Tim Horton's drive thru. Car in front me placed order at the speaker and while still looking at the display, pulled forward rapidly into a waiting Ambulance. Ambulance bumper went thought front of car and was impact was hard enough to trigger the airbags.

Submitted by: Skylrw

After saving madly, I bought my first, dream car as a teen: a then-decade old BMW 328i. I hadn't owned the car for a year when I took a drive to pick some friends. After cresting a hill, I began slowing down two girls were walking on the shoulder of the quite narrow road. The guy driving behind me stared at them and crashed into me. Having swerved at the last minute but still making impact, he wrote my car off. It was his third accident, and he openly told the cops at the scene he crashed because he was looking at the girls. I still miss that car.

Submitted by: Dano

In a parking garage in irvine california I had a guy as I was stationary in traffic going up a parking level back very gently into the rear quarter of my BRIGHT RED 70s 911, wonder why he wasn't moving, go forward then do it again. so recap, he backed into my car twice as me and the car behind me were honking and I was hitting his car since his rear bumper was next to my window.

you might ask, was this a old car with bad sightlines and no reverse cam? nope it was a 2021 BMW x1, equipped with back up cam...... he paid 4k in damages

Submitted by: rickymollinedo

In the summer of 2004, my father and I found ourselves stranded in South-Eastern Ohio, after the clutch failed in my Mazda MX-3. We found an independent garage that could change the clutch (no one else could touch it on short notice).

While standing outside, watching the traffic, I noticed a cop car waiting at a red light and an old guy in a Buick behind him... The Buick was creeping forward really slowly. It's not stopping... he HIT THE COP CAR!

Lights go on and the cop gets out to talk to the guy. He's trying to stay composed while talking to the old man, and he sees us watching... trying not to laugh. He told us later, that the old guy thought the cop backed into him. Fortunately, no damage.

It was a good laugh on an otherwise trying weekend. I took pictures!

Submitted by: James Whitaker

When we were teenagers we were walking past an intersection. A woman stopped at a stop sign and a full length bright yellow school bus was turning left into her opposing lane.

She accelerated right into the side of the bus, then proceeded to get out of her car and say 'oh my god, I'm so sorry. I didn't see you'.

She failed to see a full size bright yellow school bus taking up her entire view.

Submitted by: Daniel