Bad afternoon...

[CJ]

Yesterday afternoon was not a good one for many reasons.  I was driving on a gravel road and it was very smooth.  I increased speed to about 25 MPH.  A very reasonable speed on gravel, especially since I was the only car on that road.  Well, the road got really bad in, oh, half a second.  I hit a series or ruts/holes in the road at 25 and lost it.  I slammed on the brakes (I KNOW, I KNOW) and started going sideways.  I hit another series of ruts sideways with the drivers side rear tire.  The sound was immense!  After the ruts, the car bounced up and down and the tail end swung out nearly clipping THE telephone pole on that road.  It swung around again and again, finally landing in a field of wheat.  Nice, Clay.  REALLY NICE.     It didn't do any damage at all.  The car's just absolutely FILTY.  COVERED in mud, dirt, and God knows what else.  There's probably wheat somewhere underneath the car.  Never will I be going that fast on a gravel road again. 


So after that happened, I decided I better get home.  I had gotten what I intended to get, so it was time to get back.  Merging on the highway, a blue Cobalt sedan STOPS in the middle of the merging lane.  REALLY, COBALT, REALLY?  He doesn't just stop, he slams on his brakes, forcing all of the cars behind him to do the same.  Since I was in the Camry (Was also in the Camry in the incident above), all 4 wheels locked up.  It doesn't have ABS, though I wish it did.  Smoke comes flying from underneath the car as the tires are just absolutely screaming.  Threshold braking?  Yeah, didn't happen.  Anyway, I almost rear end the Accord in front of me and was almost rear ended by the the car behind me.  The Accord in front of me almost rear ended another car, and so on.  The Cobalt finally got a fucking CLUE on how to drive, so SHE (THE PROBLEM...I SEE IT.) finally merged. 


Alright, now we're in business.  Traffic is flowing quite well going 65-70.  The speed limit is 65 on that stretch of road.  Anyway, still moving quite well.  The gray/white (I don't remember what color it was...) Ford Econoline cargo van absolutely SLAMMED on his brakes in the MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING HIGHWAY for no reason that I could tell.  The Silverado behind him slammed on his, and I slammed on mine, again locking up all 4.  Here's where it gets...bad.  There was a motorcycle behind me.  He slammed on his brakes and swerved a little bit and he just absolutely lost it.  He went flying off of his bike (a cruiser) and got pretty banged up.  Everybody reacted well and he did NOT get hit by a car.  Everybody who saw it happen/helped cause stopped...except that damn Econoline.  I pulled off, flicked the hazards, and called 911.  There were many people at the scene, most everyone calling 911 at the same time.  THE GUY WAS WEARING A HELMET.  The guy was conscious and talking.  The City of Allen got two police cars, two fire trucks, and an ambulance on the scene in about 3 minutes.  THREE MINUTES.  Absolutely AWESOME job, guys!  I gave my witness report and am expecting a phone call from the Allen police department some time today. 


All in all, yesterday afternoon wasn't very good, but it could have been much much worse.  It's so awesome to see these people who have never met before do so much.  We had people directing traffic before the police came, people blocking lanes of traffic with their cars (that was risky), all of it was for the greater good of this person. 

[Rupert]

That sucks. I guess the holiday weekend is not the time to be driving, eh?

BTW, 25 is slow for a lot of gravel roads. I was driving at 45 on gravel a couple of days ago.

[dazzleman]

Clueless, incompetent drivers like those two who stopped in front of you are a horrible hazard on the roads.  They have no idea how much harm they cause, and usually escape unscathed themselves.  Glad to hear you weren't hurt.

[Eye of the Tiger]

How do you almost spin out just going 25?

Oh, and did you flat spot the tires with all that locking up?

[CJ]

I hit really big ruts on the gravel road on the drivers side.  It pulled the rear end out from under me, I panicked, and it started sliding and then all of that happened.



Edit: I didn't flat spot the tires, surprisingly enough. 

[hotrodalex]

Locking up the tires twice in one day? You need to learn how to drive a non-ABS car. Don't just panic and slam the brakes - you have to do it gradually and if it's starts hinting at locking up, pump them.

And did either of those two idiots get a ticket?

[Eye of the Tiger]

I locked up the front tires on my Focus ONE TIME, and had to get new ones just because of the flat spots. Shitty Goodyears + coarse pavement = ugh.

[CJ]

Neither of the people got tickets, no.

[sparkplug]

You need to carry two three spare pairs of brown pants.

[Rich]

You were going more than 25mph on that gravel road

[VTEC_Inside]

Locking up the tires twice in one day? You need to learn how to drive a non-ABS car. Don't just panic and slam the brakes - you have to do it gradually and if it's starts hinting at locking up, pump them.

I'd argue that there are times when you just react and stomp even if you know what to do.

Looking further ahead and predicting the actions of morons can go a long way, but even then...

In that respect I've only been caught off guard once in 10yrs. I was cruising along at 60kph when an ambulance came from the opposite direction on a 5 lane (center turning) road. I started to coast (no one in front of me), when a car pulled out of a gas station in my lane and STOPPED because of the ambulance even though it was clearly going in the opposite direction. Had he started to move AT ALL, it would have been fine, but he really just pulled out and stopped dead right in front of me. I locked all 4 tires of my Accord and slid for a good 5-10ft (dry asphalt) befrore getting them rolling again and slowing down behind the now crawling tool.

In seems like a futile effort, but I can't help be bothered that more isn't done to penalize these idiots that clearly don't know how to drive.

[Tave]

Sounds like you were taken out by a set of washboards on that dirt. They're treacherous.

[S204STi]

That sucks. I guess the holiday weekend is not the time to be driving, eh?

BTW, 25 is slow for a lot of gravel roads. I was driving at 45 on gravel a couple of days ago.

+1 on both points.  Too many people on the road and too many police, but I also suspect that you just need more experience driving on slick surfaces.  I grew up driving on gravel roads frequently, so maybe I've got it easy or something, but 40-50 can even be reasonable depending on conditions.

Also, on the interstate (or any highway for that matter) it's YOUR responsibility to make sure you are following at a safe enough distance to safely avoid an accident even if somebody ahead of you comes to a complete stop for no apparent reason.  Same applies for the biker, though I do sympathize with his situation...

[Raza]

That sucks. I guess the holiday weekend is not the time to be driving, eh?

BTW, 25 is slow for a lot of gravel roads. I was driving at 45 on gravel a couple of days ago.

I was just thinking "I used to go all out on gravel roads in the Passat when I lived in Altoona..."  Glad I'm not the only one.

[hotrodalex]

I'd argue that there are times when you just react and stomp even if you know what to do.

Looking further ahead and predicting the actions of morons can go a long way, but even then...

In that respect I've only been caught off guard once in 10yrs. I was cruising along at 60kph when an ambulance came from the opposite direction on a 5 lane (center turning) road. I started to coast (no one in front of me), when a car pulled out of a gas station in my lane and STOPPED because of the ambulance even though it was clearly going in the opposite direction. Had he started to move AT ALL, it would have been fine, but he really just pulled out and stopped dead right in front of me. I locked all 4 tires of my Accord and slid for a good 5-10ft (dry asphalt) befrore getting them rolling again and slowing down behind the now crawling tool.

In seems like a futile effort, but I can't help be bothered that more isn't done to penalize these idiots that clearly don't know how to drive.

It's just something you have to teach yourself. You have to make it your natural reaction. I used to want to slam on the brakes but I'm trained myself to react differently. (It does take a lot of time and effort to make it an instinct, though)