'Revenge of the Nerds' Star Tried to Kill Us in Crash, Claims Estranged Wife

"Revenge of the Nerds" star Robert Carradine confessed to deliberately driving into a semi-truck, intent on killing himself and his wife -- that's her bombshell claim in new legal docs.

Robert's estranged wife, Edith Carradine, says 4 months after the harrowing March 2015 crash on a Colorado highway, she confronted Robert about the accident. In the docs, obtained by TMZ, she says Robert "confessed to me and our two children that he deliberately drove into the truck to kill us both."

She added Robert's an "experienced professional race car driver" who was wide awake ... so when he suddenly veered across the highway and into the full sized semi-truck, he did so on purpose."

Edith says the crash was the result of Robert's depression, which he's been suffering since his brother, David's death in 2009. She wants possession of Robert's 17 guns, fearing he'll hurt himself.

Her other beef is money. In the docs, Edith says she's broke, has no job and owes more than $14k in attorney fees. She wants his guitars, some of which he claims she's already taken, because they're worth several thousand dollars.