Thorburn Posted May 16, 2005 Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 Had a nasty one yesterday so was wondering if anyone has done something similar. Was back home this weekend and went to visit some friends in another town. Leaving the 30mph area in Wincanton I accelerated up the hill and caught up with a Volvo estate dawdling along on the fairly long straight by the race course so since nothing was coming the other way went straight passed him. I checked my mirror as I pulled in in front and saw a Peugeot 306 behind me who then cut across in front of the Volvo and decided to stick right to my rear bumper, probably about 3 or 4 feet behind me. For whatever reason, lets call it a bad weekend having just had a car I was REALLY looking forward to taking for a good test drive die and leave me stranded for an hour after just 1.2 miles, the red mist decended and I thought what the hell and put my foot down to try and give myself a little bit of breathing space. At first I thought it had worked and was about to ease off after he'd fallen back only to see him charging up to the back of my car. For some reason I decided to keep on it, know there were no turnings for a couple of miles when in reality I should have just slowed down as speeds were starting to stretch to dangerous levels on some of the quicker sections but adreneline got the better of me. Then came a downhill, almost 90 degree, left hander. I knew as I went for the brakes that I was going to be going in far too fast and felt what seemed like all the blood drain into the pit of my stomach. I have no idea what speed I entered it but I turned in early to see how if the car would actually turn in, luckily it did but I could feel the front wheels begin to push wide from the 'apex' of the corner and gave the brakes the slightest brush to see if I could keep it from understeering out onto the wrong side of the road. The front found some extra grip, so much that the left front managed to clip the grass on the inside and I exited the corner in a slight slide and within the white lines. I then pulled over, let the 306 past, which by this point was actually a good way behind me as I think he must of had a lot more sane approach to that corner, got out the car and threw up in the hedge. Lesson I learnt, don't fcuk around just because your in a bad mode and someone else is taunting you. Luckily no harm was done but I had pushed myself way beyond my personal limits and comfort zone and would just thank god I came through it alright and won't be doing it again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garcon magnifique Posted May 16, 2005 Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 That's one of those good lessons - no harm done, no expense incurred, but one hell of a shock! All my lessons were horribly expensive, financially at least - I was lucky to emerge unscathed from two write-offs in 6 months about 7 or 8 years ago. Worst moment was heading towards a hedge at 60mph on black ice. Missed a very solid looking tree by a few feet but got the full force of two almost as solid gate posts - bloody good job I was in something as big and heavy as a Senator 24v ... it died, but it saved me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shao_khan Posted May 16, 2005 Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 60 mph down main 'A' road, lady driver turns right into a village on my left, instead of waiting for me to pass she decides to go in front of me, I estimate 100yds tops, hit her just behind the B-pillar, trying to swerve to passenger side to full brunt of the accident, placing pasenger seat on the rear seat and lots of engien compartment where passenger seat used to be. I was off work for months, passenger in the other car was in hospital for months after sustaining massive injuries, police claim me trying to avoid her instead of panic braking into them saved the passenger as otherwise shed haev had 50mph of car straight through her door. The woman driver was the only party unhurt and was let off by the CPS only to do the same thing again a couple of years later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjfr Posted May 16, 2005 Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 My worst ever was when i first got the SLK. I thought that it was sooo fast that any overtake was possible... Flying down a windy A road in Kent, had to slow down to about 75mph behind a Ford Galaxy. Saw a straight section of road, and a big ol' lorry at the end; 'What the hell, I'm in a merc sports car, I'l be around the car before I can blink.' Problem was, it was my first time in an auto, and first time with a steptronic box, so I didn't downshift, and instead pulled out and then floored it. The Galaxy also floored it (thanks very much). Now when you're going at 75, and a lorry is coming at you at 60, it gets close... fast. All i remember is feeling as though time had slowed down, and all I could see was the end of my bonnet and the front of the lorry, getting closer all the time. My friend was looking at the speedo, and he recons we were doing ~ 130 (with inevitable exaggeration) when we just managed to get in. Literarly just managed. The lorry was flashing its lights & blasting away on the horn and I can remember getting back onto my side of the road followed (almost) instentaniously by the roar of the lorry going past. When we stopped about 5mins later we were shaking like nothing on earth. But as Garcon says, it was a 'good' lesson. I didn't die (yay!), but i'm now pretty cautious when overtaking anything... and much more aware that the road can be really deceptive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattR32 Posted May 16, 2005 Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 My worst was dropping off my R32 when I sold it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaddyDub Posted May 16, 2005 Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 [ QUOTE ] The Galaxy also floored it (thanks very much) [/ QUOTE ] From what im aware mate , it is illegal to do this now (not sure what law). My worst momment came whilst in the Scottish Highlands a couple of years ago with my best mate, in the Red Barron (Mk 3 Golf GL). We were hooning round the highlands going down hill at about 65/70ish and the long and short of it was, the road went Left, there was a side road that went straight on and I missed the turn, screeeeeeeeeeeech through the junction, passed a packed Pub and a Police station. Stopped in a cloud of tyresmoke (he he) to a round of applause from evertone outside the pub. Drove on for about 2 miles when a copper in T5 pulls me over, He gave me a ticking off and said that if it wasn't for the fact the pub was full of the coppers from across the road (it was lunch time) I would have gotten away with not being pulled. He let me off with a slapped wrist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
activa Posted May 16, 2005 Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 [ QUOTE ] . The Galaxy also floored it (thanks very much). [/ QUOTE ] Don't you just hate that? I think that is one of the most annoying and dangerous things that a driver can do,nail it just because they see someone trying to overtake them.They can have been doing 25mph for miles but the moment you wanna go past is when they find the accelerator pedal. Worst moment was in my first car,a MK1 Escort.Going down this steepish hill in the rain and a car decides he's gonna pull out at the bottom without indicating.Slam on the wonderful Escort drum brakes,lock up,skid sideways and remember shutting my eyes 'cos I thought I had to have hit him or one of the parked cars.A split second later and no bang.I'd slid through the gap with about a foot to spare either side,don't ask me how I got away with it.Made me take notice of weather conditions so was a good thing. Bloody scary though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shao_khan Posted May 16, 2005 Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 its just the same with a caravan you know - you sit behind someone doing 40, when you overtake them on a dual or motorway they overtake you straight back and then slow down to 40 again to force you to overtake again, or they hold you off until the next single then of course you are stuck.....and generally the Caravan gets the blame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark_90 Posted May 16, 2005 Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 I have accelerated on someone once before, and only once. Some cocky tw@t in a 1.3 fiesta was about 4 inches from my bumper in a 30, and the second it shifted to 40 I was already in 3rd ready to jump up to 40. At the same time, Mr Pr!ck behind me decides to try and overtake, not caring at all that there was a central reservation sitting waiting for him. Once I saw what he was attempting in his jamo'd fezza I wasn't exactly going to slow down and wave him past with glee was I? I braked under the Mrs's instruction. I would have loved to see him crash and burn, but he'd probably have got me involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjfr Posted May 16, 2005 Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 I don't think there's a 'never' do something, because you have to look at the situation. There was no need for the Galaxy to speed up, (okay I was being a twat, but don't try and kill me!) but if there's a Nova overtaking you with no chance of getting in, and you're in an RS6 then why not floor it and let him get in behind you? The key thing to remember is never get stressed cos as soon as you do you start making mistakes, and pride somtimes becomes more important than life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted May 16, 2005 Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 My worst moment was getting called into work one Friday evening. Ended up leaving at pub kick out time. Roads clear except one road tanker a little way in front of me, approaching a roundabout. Then the whole thing happened really fast, yet I remember it in slow motion. A Fiesta came flying off the roundabout (coming my way from the roundabout), but drifted right over to my lane. I actually have 3 lanes on my side of the road and I was in the middle. He slid right over to the far lane, I actually thought he was going to go past me on that side, but then swerved in and hit me head on (well almost, I manager to swerve slightly at the last minute). Turns out there was 5 people in his car, all come from the local pub! Yep the driver was fully tanked up! He actually ran from the seen, leaving his 4 mates (the front passenger knocked out with a crushed eye socket and ruptured bowel - he actually split the dashboard in half with his head!). I was doing anywhere between 30-40 (40 limit) and he was apparently doing about 50! So what did the guy get.......5 points and a £140 fine! If he had 6 points he would of had to retake his test, but the judge decided to be kind! Worst thing was, my mate actually knew the guy from school (not a friend just in the same year) and happened to bump into him about a year after. The guy thought it was funny and was really smug that he got off so lightly!!! For one of my mates it was probably pulling out of his road, which has a partial blind corner, to then see a women speeding round the corner, hitting the side of his car. No major injuries. From her skid marks it was obvious she was not paying attention, breaking very late round the corner, then also finding she had no tax or insurance! So he phones the police to have a copper turn up and had an attitude problem with him because he was young and driving a TT, doing him with driving without due care and attention. The copper was not interested inthe women at all, spent the whole time telling my mate why he was wrong and askign him if he knew the highway code! In fact the women came off better than him!! Even if she had right of way, speeding, not paying attention, no tax and no insurance should amount to more than a hand slap!!! Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark_90 Posted May 16, 2005 Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 Unbelieveable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted May 16, 2005 Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 [ QUOTE ] Unbelieveable. [/ QUOTE ] Exactly which part!!! Whenever I think back at my accident and how the bloke got off so lightly, my blood boils. Then my mates situation.....well that makes my blood boil and it didn't even happen to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilB Posted May 16, 2005 Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 My worst moment was down the M5 last year, doing 90 down the third lane in the wet (Yes I know it was stupid) followng a van at a safe distance, only for it too swerve suddenly to show two headlights facing me, after a MX5 had aquaplaned into the barriers. I braked and swerved left and then swerved back into the 3rd lane after almsot rear ending the van. Lesson well and truly learned... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooby_simon Posted May 16, 2005 Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 Today I had an exciting moment coming down the A1 in the rain. All of us were happily pootling along passing some V slow trucks, leaving a sensible gap between us as it was wet. Morons-R-us in a Merc of some description comes belting up behind me (120-130+ ?) as it appeared from no where and then undertakes me and nearly goes into the back of a white van. Loads of braking, the nose of the Merc dipps and just slows down enough. Merc now following a fair bit behind. Now white van now pulls off at next exit and morons-R-us stamps on the loud pedal and undertakes me again - there is a fecking great red truck about 75 m in front so I thinks, "what is this cnut trying now" and ease off more just-in-case. Guy in front thinks "I'm avin none of this" and starts to speed up to close the (small) gap infront, merc driver sees he's about to go into the back of the lorry and pulls out without even looking and misses the other car by not much at all and then pulls back in. Much fist waving and shouting (less rain now so I can see what is going on). Now why do people do this, not once, but twice.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayerbloke Posted May 16, 2005 Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 I`ve got 2 somewhat scary moments, both in the Nova during my first year of driving. First one was sitting at the traffic lights on a steep hill. one way road, 3 very narrow lanes going up the hill. Obviously a reasonable amount of throttle needed to actually move forwards. Sadly it was greasy and as soon as I took off the handbrake and applied the throttle the car instantly pointed at the car beside me, probably about 30 degrees off "straight forward", over corrected to be facing the curb slightly, over corrected that to be facing the other car again slightly and then had it pointing straight forwards and moving again. All the spinning and changing direction was done on the spot so I didn't hit anything, but I was just amazed by how quickly the car lost it, one of the few times a car has done something I wasn't expecting. All the catching it was then done purely on instinct. The other one was caused partly by my mate being lazy with his directions and just said "follow that Pug" which was about 200 metres away. We were going downhill on a narrow country lane, I braked but the two wheels on the passenger side of the car caught the dust and locked up which spun the car sideways and I slid side-on down the road and into the road at the bottom of hill. I don't think the Nova was really an ideal form of transport when you`ve got 4 of you in the car [2 of whom were overweight] and you`re trying to keep up with a Pug Cab who knows the roads and you don't... But I don't think there's been anything too bad in the last few years. I seem to have learnt and grown up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ska Posted May 17, 2005 Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 People accelerating while your overtaking is probably one of the worst types of you can get on the road, as its not like a simple cut up; you end up facing oncoming traffic. I've found my self in a few precarious scenarios but my worst moment didn't involve high speeds, any overtaking or other drivers behaving like D-heads as too many do:- I was with a friend in South London travelling at 20mph far behind a bus(the sort you can stop anywhere). Anyway the bus pulls into a gap on the side but it still means that I have to cross the white lines to overtake, which is what I did as there were no oncoming cars. When I reached level with the rear end of the bus I was doing a tad over 20 when a kid runs out from in front of the parked bus looking straight ahead and no where else! Instantly I slammed the anchors on and for a fraction of a second I thought that he would clear the car to my right; but no such luck, the kid was all but clear of the right hand side of my car when he panicked and tried to turn back into the path of my car. Next, the inevitable happens the pitched nose of the car lifts the kid at least 6ft off the ground and he rolls off the bonnet. I almost ripped the seat belt from its harness getting out of the car to see to kid; the emotions that follow something like this are the stuff of nightmares. Luckily the kid wasn't knocked out or didn't have any serious injuries. What was pissing me off was the fact that the local Hospital was only 6-700yards up the road and the ambulance seemed to take ages, also the local chavs came out in force and all sorts were being said like 'he was doing at least 60mph! etc etc'. Luckily the bus driver (an advanced driver) and a few others stayed put and told it like it really was and the police were decent about it and said they were amazed that I stopped as quickly as I had and said it may have something to do with the Pzero tyres up rated suspension and brakes the cosworth granny had and even advised me that I could claim the damage to my car from the family. Which I wasn't aware had occurred until they pointed it out to me some half hour later. I told him all I wanted to know was that the kid was OK and he re-assured me that 'the kid bounced well?!?' in his words. Sorry to go on a bit but I hope it does some good for someone. Their are two things I believe about driving: one is you can control your driving but not what others do and the other is you plan to have an accident the day you decide that your the best driver on the road. I'll stop boring you for now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted May 17, 2005 Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 I've done the overtaking a big long truck, another big long truck coming the other way, ooohhhh fuuuuuuuuuuu!!! Golf GTI, my first fast car (spot a theme here?) and off to spend the weekend with my (then) large stunning girlfriend in Southampton. Cue lots of horn, lights and brakes from oncoming truck, and me razzing through the gap with very wide eyes! Always makes me think of that chase in James Bond - The Spy Who Loved Me where he's in the white Esprit being chased by the bike, stuck behind a truck. Bike fired missile sidecar so he goes for an overtake and just gets through the gap between the truck he's passing and one coming the other way. The consiquences of not making it don't bear thinking about. A lot more cautious about overtaking since... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted May 17, 2005 Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 Oh, and whilst not my fault, this was the result of a pretty bad moment too. Hit by a drunk driver in a stolen car. He lost the back end at big speed coming the other way, clipped a huge Leyland van in front of me (which probably saved my life) taking the side of his car out, then spun into the front corner of my beloved immaculate MK1 Capri doing the kind of damage you see above before finally coming to rest another probably 50 yeards down the road. Uninsured of course, stolen car. And mine on third party and obviuosly a write off so lost the lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zchybrid Posted May 17, 2005 Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 I've had plenty of close calls due to unbelievable driving from mainly old people, women or boy ricers... But just last month a old fart nearly caused me to have a cardiac arrest, was coming back from devon merely cruising down the slow lane of M4 at about 75mph, road was busy but flowing steady, i clocked this elderly guy on the hard shoulder, he had a trailer tent on tow and was just getting back into his Volvo 740i , i must have been liturally 20ft from passing him when he just pulled straight out in front of me, from zero MHP!! i was in my dog carrying banger which has small brakes and stodgey handling, i instictively swung my hand across my misses and swerved out into the middle lane... i didn't even have time to hit the horn before i had passed him, lucky i knew the middle lane was clear (as any good driver would) but it just amazed me that this old boy didn't even think to use the hard shoulder to build up speed and indicate to other road users of his intention to re-join the motorway!! I seriously believe that at retirement age drivers should be given a test just to prove they are still competent enough to drive, not a full driving test, just check they are at least "with it" ....!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayerbloke Posted May 17, 2005 Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 [ QUOTE ] Oh, and whilst not my fault, this was the result of a pretty bad moment too. Hit by a drunk driver in a stolen car. He lost the back end at big speed coming the other way, clipped a huge Leyland van in front of me (which probably saved my life) taking the side of his car out, then spun into the front corner of my beloved immaculate MK1 Capri doing the kind of damage you see above before finally coming to rest another probably 50 yeards down the road. Uninsured of course, stolen car. And mine on third party and obviuosly a write off so lost the lot. [/ QUOTE ] The passenger cell seems to have held up well at least. Sorry to hear about it all the same, Ari Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mulkbear Posted May 17, 2005 Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 I used to own a rover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now