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This will be a long post.
59 years old and driving since I was 15 and 8 months.
I had a dark blue 63 Valiant Convertible that was rear ended 6 times in 6 months, twice in two days.
Sitting in the left lane on a 4 lane, non divided highway. Saw a Buick sliding sideways coming into my rear end. Couldn't get it into first gear (non synchronized) so I tried to get it moving in second. Collision drove me across both lanes of oncoming traffic and into a used car lot.
None of the 6 collisions were really bad. That old Valiant was one tough cookie. I once drove it over a 2 foot rise over railroad tracks at 55 MPH, after the tracks there was a 6 foot drop. Flew about 50 feet in the air and landed hard. I could see sparks flying out from under that car. Next day I had the front end man check it out at the dealership where I worked.
No damage other than the polished portion of the K member.
They don't make them like that any more.
I learned to always check my rear view whenever I slowed down, and I regularly check it at all times when I am driving. If someone tailgates me I just put it in neutral and coast, as long as they have an escape route. If not I will speed up and slow down, swerve a little, turn on a signal, or the flashers. It seems like tailgaters today are especially stupid and it also seems like more of them today are Women, not the way it used to be.
Once I was sitting at a red light in my 59 Corvette. Two weeks earlier at the exact same spot where my Valiant had be knocked across the road, a Corvette, driven by a Woman was rear ended and the gas tank ruptured. Flames went 50 feet in the air and she was incinerated right in front of a Shoney's drive in, that was a local hangout.
That was 36 years ago.
This time (back to the 59 Vette) I had left enough room in front of me to pull off the road. The car behind me missed the car in front of me by 2 feet, and the driver thanked me for my attentiveness.
After about the age of 25 I mellowed somewhat and got in the habit of trying to anticipate the danger points in every situation while driving. I have mental percentages of the odds of getting hit and where the danger lies.
The last time I was rear ended, was in a 99 Ford truck. I was sitting at a stop light (beginning to sound like a routine scenario yet!) and a Woman in a Toyota Corolla was coming up behind me and slammed on her brakes. I heard the tires screeching and looked around. By the time I realized she was going to hit me, it was too late, and there was a Police car making a left hand turn lane in front of me. The Ford was a manual.
She hit me hard enough to bend the frame horns in the rear of that Ford, and here Corolla just fell apart. Her mouth was busted up and they carried here away in an ambulance.
One more. I was driving down a divided four lane highway. I had enough distance between me and the car in front to be safe. The idiot slammed on his brakes, without getting out of the fast lane of the highway. There was a School Bus behind me and in the right lane, and I had enough room to move over to the right.
A Woman who was tailgating me hit the car with the rear end sticking out in the road. The collision was so severe it looked like the rear end of the stopped car exploded. It spun around 3 or 4 times. The car that hit it was a 66 Chevelle (yellow). The car that stopped in the Road was a 68 GTO Convertible (Silver). To this day I can close my eyes and see that collision. I went to the next turn lane and turned left and went in the Enterprise Ford tractor dealership and told them to call and ambulance.
When the police and ambulance got there they found a baby up under the dash of the Chevelle!
This was before cell phones.
Never assume anything on a highway, NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Recently things have changed somewhat. Now I worry more about a head on collision from a distracted driver on a cell phone. At least 4 times in the last year, I have had a driver swerve into may lane from the oncoming lane, and they came across far enough for me to have to drive off the pavement to keep from getting nailed, usually by a car that weighs twice what mine does, which means most of the impact will be absorbed by me and my car will go from 50 MPH forward to 20 + backwards.
A good friend of mine was hit head on in a 58 Volkswagen, by a 1967 Pontiac Catalina.
In the instant of the collision he grabbed the steering wheel and shoved it through the windshield to keep from being impaled (non collapsible column). He picked me up and took me to see the car.
The steering wheel was sticking up a foot in front of the windshield opening. You could run a string from the right headlight to the left door handle, and it would not touch metal.
The brake, clutch and gas pedals were folded over the console.
I have seen this same person dead lift close to 600 pounds. He walked away from the wreck with a lot of cuts and bruises. His girlfriend broke her leg when she hit him as he rolled over in front of her while pushing the steering wheel through the windshield.
I figure when I am driving that every other driver around me is a complete idiot that can and will eventually do almost everything you can imagine to cause an wreck.
Situational awareness like a fighter pilot in the old days. Use your mirrors, but just a glance if there is potential danger ahead.
Ever had a falling 80 foot pine tree almost nail you?
The nice thing about driving for mileage is you are usually not to close to the cars in front of you, which gives you more ability to watch the cars behind you.
In the last 10 years and almost 180,000 miles, I have managed to avoid any collision of any type.
I hope this advice can help one of you avoid an accident.
At least 10 times, I have pulled into the intersection when the light was red to avoid getting hit in the rear end. A Cop told me that was illegal. I told him it was survival, and if he wanted to ticket me for avoiding a collision, I would have no problem explaning that to the Judge.
regards
Mech
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