Oh SH1T situations. What have u been in?

[ChillyBear]

Originally Posted by Christ

If I was the guy on the road with you, I'd have been saying the same thing to you. If you went into a slide, it's quite obvious that you lost control of your vehicle, and were operating in a manner unsafe for your driving skill and the conditions.

Given the occasion that I slid off the road and recovered, if you were next to me pulling some stupidity like that, I wouldn't think twice about cutting you off. I'm not as nice as many other people on here, and as far as I'm concerned, it would be a matter of getting you off the road as quickly and efficiently as possible, because the next car you nearly slide into could be the person you kill driving like that.

We were going the same speed. I had never been on that ramp. My parents were a couple minutes behind me and said that a camero and a minivan had slid off in front of them lol. Idk what was up with that road, it wasn't even icy. It could have been because it was being resurfaced so it was rough.

[Bicycle Bob]

One night, driving cab, I came over the crest of a hill, planning to turn left at a T intersection. Then, I found out we were on black ice. I hadn't slowed down much by the time I got to the intersection. Luckily, I had a green light, but didn't know what the terrain was farther down the hill, above the T. I was wearing my seatbelt, and my passenger wasn't, so I decided to put both her wheels on the far curb and hope for the best. I'd just started the 1/4 spin, when I hit traction from the cross-traffic in the intersection, and just drifted right through, even getting the left lane. You wouldn't have known anything was amiss, except for the scenery approaching at an odd angle. I mumbled some apology about "not usually doing that with someone in the car" instead of "Boy! I was going to really slam you into that door just now."

Then there was the lovely night I was doing 20 instead of 30 on a hairpin turn because my girlfriend was having to do the shifting, and crowding my steering arm. Turned out to be the right speed to steer around on black ice. .

The only time I've crossed the ditch was from something so slick I couldn't stay straight against the road camber. The car picked the cheap side of the road, instead of doing hari kari.

On a bicycle, I had a green light heading downhill into a great sweeping left turn, and was probably doing the speed limit, moderately laid over, when I suddenly went down and slid through right in front of the cops. That ribbon of water on the road, it turned out, had been soapy, greasy water from a new car wash. They went to have a word with the owners. I had one abrasion, but had ridden mostly on my U lock, which I carried by sticking it into both my front and back pockets.

[MetroMPG]

Whenever people tell me their OH **** stories, I like to tactfully ask what they learned from them.

I'm a firm believer that there are very, very few "accidents". I think we should be as serious about our driving (and taking responsibility for mistakes and near-mistakes) as pilots generally are. In other words, cars don't often "go out of control," but people lose control of them all the time.

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Originally Posted by thatguitarguy

Early in my driving life I got hit a couple of times from the rear, so I became vigilant about watching my rear view mirror, especially when things start to go sour in traffic situations.

Man, it's so good to read someone who's aware of rear crash risk! Nice work! (Used to teach defensive driving; mirror work is a big part of it, as was simulated rear crash avoidance manoevers. I've taken evasive action once myself to escape a rear crash situation.)

---

My only non-hoonage off-road excursion:

I was driving my '82 Rabbit on a nearly deserted rural highway in a howling blizzard, and the car was wearing GTI rims & tires (mistake #1).

Going maybe 70 km/h, came out of a tree-sheltered "alley" into a curve in a wide open clearing where the full force of the wind slammed the car from the side. Pushed me into deeper snow on the shoulder, the car immediately yawed, and I plowed off into the snowy ditch despite a valiant counter-steering effort. Got completely stuck on the belly, wheels suspended in deep snow.

2nd mistake was: too fast for conditions (failing to take cross wind into consideration)!

I found a set of skinny 155/80/13's for the car not long after that episode.

[vinny1989]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Whenever people tell me their OH **** stories, I like to tactfully ask what they learned from them...

1- I now pay more attention to the speedo. My car can go faster than i thought, faster than legally allowed.

2- 54bhp CAN get me in trouble. Its also enough to give uncontrollable oversteer. And a dented wing, chassis leg and ego.

I always try to learn from my mistakes.

Remembered another one:
Last year: It was slightly wet from the rain the previous night.. Was on the motorway, going about 65-70mph. Saw a few cars infront slowing, so i lifted off the throttle. Saw the two cars infront brake, so i braked. Saw the car in front tip forward slightly (He was really braking hard!) so i stamped hard on the brake pedal.

Two things happened then:
Firstly, i remembered i had no ABS.
Secondly, all 4 wheels locked up and the steering became... ineffective.

I lifted up slightly, and was going around 30mph, less than a cars length from the car infront - who was thankfully moving. Leaving an impressive 5-6 car-length dual skid marks on the road..

Lesson learned: Look further ahead when driving.

[Arragonis]

Both of mine are on the track.

First time I went Karting I was following my friend who's birthday treat this trip was. I was catching him and concentrating on the lines so I could catch him. I concentrated so much I didn't notice he had spun out just after the next hairpin. So I had to avoid him, braked hard and steered left to the side. The result was a sideways slide and I hit the back of his kart with the right hand side of mine. The seat dug into my side and hurt a lot. But we had paid for the session so I carried on. Result ? Cracked rib and major pain for a few weeks.

Second time I went on the track with the same guy, my birthday this time. We had a session in single seaters which was fun but it was majorly wet so I spun out once. Then we went for the 'legend' cars which are small, rear drive, live axle machines. We were warned as they could be tricky but faster. We both managed 5 out of our 6 laps without incident and then I spun out of course. I stopped at the side to gather my breath only to see another legend car spinning out of control towards me. I braced myself thinking this is going to hurt. But the driver managed to catch it on the second spin, shook his head at me and drove off. Comparing notes I realised I was nearly t-boned by my friend. The bonus was that for the instructor accompanied bit I got driver of the day !

And the lesson I learned ? Well I've never been to the track with that friend again, or at least not when we are both driving at the same time

On the road apart from my Mini spinning incident I have already mentioned elsewhere, the only other one was the time I spun a brand new company supplied Honda Accord onto a roundabout. It was 6am and nobody was around so I drove off and didn't mention it.

Lesson learned ? If in doubt, say nowt.

The Mrs did a great one on our honeymoon. She was not used to LHD but wanted to have a go in our hire car so I let her.

So after she launched the Ford Ka over a pile of bricks, a curb and a pile of hay we spent 20 minutes or so on the beach doing doughnuts to make sure it was dirty enough so they couldn't see the damage when we handed the car back at the airport the next day.

Lesson learned ? I can't say, she may be reading...

[thatguitarguy]

During a summer time storm in Tenmile Canyon on my way to Copper Mountain, this time I was driving a bus. The rain was coming down hard, and visibility was not great, and there was a lot of water on the road. I was behind traffic that was going about 40 on the Interstate, and nobody was in the left lane, so I moved over to pass a few cars. I have better visibility being seated higher up in a bus, and with all that weight I had good traction. As I was over taking the slow traffic an SUV traveling in the other direction lost control and slid across the median and just barely missed the rear side of my bus as he hit the pavement and started flipping.

As it turned out, the SUV was being driven by a retired Secret Service agent, whom I assumed had been trained to drive fast and had a lot of experience, but never-the-less lost control of his vehicle and killed himself in the crash. I realized that if I had stayed in the line of traffic, and hadn't been over taking the slower drivers, that I would have been in the place on the highway where he came across, and would have probably had him come through my windshield and take me with him.

Confidence is necessary on the road, but over-confidence is not your friend, and can very well be a deadly enemy.

[redline5th]

1). Coming over a hill I was met with a tractor taking up both lanes.

Speed limit was 55.... I was doing 50 cause it was drizzling.

I locked the brakes up... all I saw was a sprayer arm narrowly miss my windshield as I dove off the road and back on. Thankfully there was no ditch there.

2). Randomly had several gang members follow me and attempt to box me in. I live not too far away from Memphis, so crime is high.

Scary to say the least. Thank God for 3rd gear and slow impala's and crown vics cars.

[wdb]

Originally Posted by Bicycle Bob

Then there was the lovely night I was doing 20 instead of 30 on a hairpin turn because my girlfriend was having to do the shifting, and crowding my steering arm.

Am I the only person here with a mind dirty enough to be conjuring up all kinds of 'young love' images?

I had one abrasion, but had ridden mostly on my U lock, which I carried by sticking it into both my front and back pockets.

That has to be the oddest testimony for U-locks I have ever heard.

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Man, it's so good to read someone who's aware of rear crash risk!

That reminds me of two stories, both from the same relative era, early 1980's.

First story: It's springtime, sun is out, roads are dry, visibility is spectacular. I'm on a 4-lane road, the type with stop lights and cross roads and a lot of traffic -- and school bus stops. A school bus does indeed stop, lights blazing, and I and all of the other cars around it stop as well. With the exception of a woman in a Volvo wagon (don't get me started on women in Volvo wagons) who was tending to her kids in the back seat instead of the road in front of her. All of which I learned by looking in rearview mirror, as her car hurtled towards me. There was a guy in front of me in a BMW. He must also have been looking in his rearview mirror, or perhaps it was the screeching tires that caused him to look. At any rate he very quickly assessed the situation and pulled his car forward and onto the shoulder; I popped my car into the space his formerly occupied, and the Volvo screamed sideways to a stop in the space formerly occupied by me. The kids on the bus had their faces pressed hard against the windows, eyes wide. I wanted to kiss the feet of the Bimmer guy, but instead we both made manly nods towards one another and went on our way.

Story the second: cold, wet winter morning, early (I started work at 6am in those days). Cold and wet enough to be freezing on the roads as it turned out. I was driving on a two-lane road in an MGB roadster, two tires on the gravel shoulder for some vague semblence of traction, flashers on, low in third gear. The road crested a small rise and then dipped down, and at that spot a poor soul in a very clean-looking first-gen Mustang had slid off the road backwards and gone maybe 50 yards into a field, leaving two tire tracks in the snow. Footprints led away from the car; must have happened some time ago. As I was taking all this in at my very leisurely pace I happened to peer in my rearview mirror to find a girl *flying* up behind me in a Le Car. She crested that rise and her car piroutted very neatly and proceeded to slide off the road backwards. Down the exact same tracks left by the Mustang. Her car came to an abrupt stop against the front of the ponycar, smushing the bumper and breaking the headlights. I stopped and went over to render aid. She got out, looked at her car, decided it was driveable, got back in, and drove out of the field. In the exact same set of tracks left by the Mustang. That poor Mustang owner was going to come back and find the front of his car smashed in, and no sign (other than footprints) to indicate how it happened.

[Christ]

Originally Posted by ChillyBear

We were going the same speed. I had never been on that ramp. My parents were a couple minutes behind me and said that a camero and a minivan had slid off in front of them lol. Idk what was up with that road, it wasn't even icy. It could have been because it was being resurfaced so it was rough.

We used to get times like this in HBG, PA, when they were redoing highway roads. They'd leave them choppy, and the lines always were cut in *mostly* the same direction as travel, which means that your car has a tendency to follow the lines, not where you tell it to go.

I've seen plenty of drivers swerve, near miss, wipe out, etc... because they don't understand that it's easier to keep control of your vehicle if you lower your speed to, say, 55 MPH instead of 75.

Even at 55, it's a bit hairy at times.

[Chalupa102]

I had something that happened a few weeks ago. I was heading to school on the backroads. I should have taken the highway that day, but didn't. I was coming up to a light that had just turned green. I was going about 20mph and there was a large pickup a ways ahead of me. Someone decided to make a left turn at the last second right in front of him and the pickup hit his brakes. I started to slow down and was on black ice at the time, which i wasn't aware of. As soon as i applied the brakes i could feel my tires sliding (no ABS on my car). I saw that the pickup was sliding as well, but he was stopping faster than i was. I swore i was gonna hit him. I turned the wheel and somehow managed to get my car toward the right into the brake down lane area while it was still sliding to avoid rear ending him.

I have driven in snow many times, but that was the first time i've ever experienced black ice and it was definitely scary. There was actually a lot of black ice all over the road that day and that's why i should have taken the highway. I slid a few more times, mainly when making turns, but nothing near as bad as almost hitting that truck. I can't even imagine what would have happened if i was going faster. The psl in that area is 35mph and i was going slow because i had seen a ways ahead that the light was red, and it had just turned green. I was definitely blessed that day that i didn't get into an accident or anything else.