How serious are you about driving safely? How many crashes have you had?

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Xist

What is the term for a hard clump of snow? A friend thought she was running over a snowball, but she decided it was a snow-covered rock.

If you mean the kind that falls off the wheel wells or from behind the tires (and can be hard as rocks), I've heard those called snuds. Often found littering the roadway after bumps.

[Vman455]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

I've nearly been t-boned by a couple of deer at night, but so far have avoided that, touch wood.

Outside Great Falls a couple summers ago, I nearly bit it with a deer that leaped out right in front of me. A slight swerve to the right and her rear foot barely cleared the driver side headlight.

[Xist]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

We used to teach this unconventional rear-crash avoidance technique:

1) IF when you're stopping there is no escape route to either side, and,

2) IF nobody has yet stopped behind you,

3) Then leave 3-4 car lengths ahead of you.

4) Blink your brake lights as cars approach from behind.

5) Imminent collision: you may be able to move ahead and use your front buffer to avoid contact when the idiot behind finally locks brakes/activates ABS.

6) Worst case scenario, and you're going to get hit: you avoid being the meat in the car sandwich and only have one end of your car to repair.

7) Or, as non-idiotic cars are slowing to a stop behind you, creep ahead and close the 3-4 car buffer.

Around here, a car from the other lane would move in front of me.

[MetroMPG]

Nah... 95% of other drivers would be stopped too close to the car in front of them to be able to pull around.

[PressEnter[]]

I have had 2 accidents, one when I was 18 making a foolish left turn at an oblique intersection and one when I was 20, when merging onto the highway and didn't check my blind spot properly. Both were in my father's 1992 Dodge Grand Caravan. That last one was 16 years ago, and I'd like to think I'm a safe driver these days. The insurance company agrees with me, anyway.

[TheEnemy]

I have had a few some my fault, some others, some a combination.

1. Driving back to my parents house after working on the house I had just bought about 9pm so its dark. On a 2 lane road a car going the other way had no lights on the left hand side of their car, it wasn't until we got real close that I saw they were in the middle of the road. I swerved to avoid them onto the soft shoulder, then over-corrected to get back onto the road, hit the brakes expecting to just slide sideways but it was my first experience with ABS brakes and not much happened so I froze and drove right into a fence.

2. It snowed 6" in southern New Mexico, I went to "play" on a back road in an old car I had at the time. Spun 450degrees hitting both ends of the car on a dirt embankment. I expected hard to find broken lights, but all that happened was I bent the license plate. I went home and called it a day.

3. Same car, I backed into a steel light pole which put a small crease in the bumper.

4. Shortly after a stoplight the car in front of the car in front of me stopped hard to make a left, the car in front of me had to stop hard, I was a little slow on the uptake and had to stop harder. The person behind me was even slower, and barely hit the brakes before hitting me, which pushed me into the car in front of me.

5. Going through a construction zone, a car in the left lane stops to make an illegal left turn, I'm in the right lane behind a full sized van, a lady in a full sized truck waits for the van to pass then changes lanes to get around the stopped car and clips the front of my truck crumpling the fender and breaking my turn signal off. She fought the ticket and insurance claim saying she never left her lane, to which the construction workers who were listed as witnesses had very construction workery words to say about her driving.

In the past 15 years no "accidents", though were not going to get into how many trees and rocks I have bent or scratched the Jeep on since I have owned it.

[PaleMelanesian]

I've got a few dings in my bumper from hitching up the trailer.

None on the Odyssey, thanks to its backup camera. That is one GREAT benefit to the cameras, you can watch the hitch ball and the trailer come together from the driver's seat. No more guessing.

[jcp123]

Originally Posted by PaleMelanesian

I've got a few dings in my bumper from hitching up the trailer.

None on the Odyssey, thanks to its backup camera. That is one GREAT benefit to the cameras, you can watch the hitch ball and the trailer come together from the driver's seat. No more guessing.

Backup cameras tend to confuse me. I'm better off looking back and using my eyes. But I have never, ever thought about hooking up to a trailer....

[redpoint5]

Yeah, I can back up my trailer like a champ when looking over my shoulder, but when it drops below where I can see it and I have to rely on the backup camera, I get confused. Haven't learned steering while looking at a backup camera yet. Looking over my shoulder requires no thinking when backing up, but looking at the camera is opposite and requires thinking.

[jcp123]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Yeah, I can back up my trailer like a champ when looking over my shoulder, but when it drops below where I can see it and I have to rely on the backup camera, I get confused. Haven't learned steering while looking at a backup camera yet. Looking over my shoulder requires no thinking when backing up, but looking at the camera is opposite and requires thinking.

Backing up a trailer is easy(ish) for me now. I back 53' trailers as a part of my living. It comes with experience. I'll say though, that not being able to see is a giant problem!

Backing up TO a trailer with a ball hitch sounds like a giant win for a camera though.