Did I ever tell you about the time....

[peanut]

peanut was nearly squished last year by a huge woman on the fone in a Discovery.?

Waiting ages to turn right into a garage ,I casually looked into my rear view mirror to see how many cars I was holding up to see a 4x4 about 30 foot behind me travelling at about 40mph .

Woman on cellfone looking out side window !

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHH !

dumped my breakfast.....floored the accelerator .............we travelled about 40 yards ...her with her tyres squealing from braking , me with my tyres squealing from wheelspin


fcuk the proverbial duck

I must have a guardian Angel

 

[rpjg_1975]

Phew, you had more luck than me then. Had a similar thing years back, waiting to turn into a garage and got hit up the back. Again, woman wasn't looking [] hit me that hard I coasted into position at the furthest petrol pump, albeit with a rather wonky back end and a sore neck!!!!

 

[mike220]

Bloody hell Nick !

Glad you're OK - I do hope you got out to exchange pleasantries with her and maybe offer a little educational talk ? [8|]

Mike

 

[peanut]

ORIGINAL: mike220

Bloody hell Nick !

Glad you're OK - I do hope you got out to exchange pleasantries with her and maybe offer a little educational talk ? [8|]

Mike

Actually I could'nt speak I was trying to get my bowels to retract []

She was very apologetic but I could see it was going in one ear and out the other.[]

ORIGINAL: rpjg_1975

Phew, you had more luck than me then. Had a similar thing years back, waiting to turn into a garage and got hit up the back. Again, woman wasn't looking hit me that hard I coasted into position at the furthest petrol pump, albeit with a rather wonky back end and a sore neck!!!!

saved some petrol then ![]

You were lucky not to get whiplash ! Was your car a write-off?

I was so lucky to have the car in first gear riding the clutch. Another split second and I would have been wearing a 4x4 around my neck !

 

[944psi]

Phew! I always keep an eye out behind me when waiting to turn because there are so many negligent people out there.

A lucky escape for both of you. I'm afraid I would probably have lost it.[]

Phil

 

[rpjg_1975]

My car wasn't a write off but I don't know how it wasn't. Boot floor was bent, various panels as well. Ended up with whiplash which didn't help when I was a draughtsman and having to wear a neck collar thing. Her first comment????? Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't looking at the road!!!!! [] Luckily for me I was in neutral with handbrake off otherwise it could have been even worse

 

[Neil Haughey]

Mate at work was sat at the lights a few weeks back looked round and saw a girl go through the rear window of a car. She was riding a quad bike and didn't seem to slow down for the stopped traffic. He was pretty shaken up seeing this happen. No idea if the girl was OK but it does bring home how easily one seconds worth of brain fade results in something nasty.

 

[graham.webb]

My first 944 was written off in this sort of accident......again, sitting on the crown waiting for a gap in oncoming traffic so I could turn right. Idiot in a white van hit me just as I'd started moving, spinning the car round as it was pushed across the (now empty) road. A few seconds earlier and I'd have collected several others.

Interesting yours wasn't a write off, Russell. the rear panel on mine was pushed into the gearbox and the boot floor was pushed up. Amazingly the van was drivable.

Naturally I'm now paranoid about turning right, and even about people tailgating me.....why do they do that? So stupid.

 

[zcacogp]

Tailgating is lethally dangerous and monumentally stupid. Anyone who does it should have their licence removed at the first instance - absolutely no excuses.

Sadly, it seems to be ever more common. The other sad thing is that the number of idiots staying in the middle or fast lane when lanes to the left of them are clear is increasing as well, and I am sure the two are related.


Oli.

 

[Wigeon Incognito]

I was sitting in traffic in my MX-5 and could see a Polo gaining fast from behind. There was a Zafira in front of me and no time to escape so I just made sure the handbrake was on as hard as possible, put my foot on the brakes, and braced.

He smacked into the back of me but luckily had managed to slow down a bit after noticing so I just needed a new bumper.

His excuse: there was a wasp in the car so he was flapping his dooe to let it out but not looking at the road!!

 

[appletonn]

ORIGINAL: Wigeon Incognito


His excuse: "Sorry, I'm an a**e"

 

[rpjg_1975]

Sorry for confusion, this was before I was a proud 944 owner. If it happened now I would most likely spit my dummy out!!!

 

[peanut]

ORIGINAL: zcacogp

Tailgating is lethally dangerous and monumentally stupid. Anyone who does it should have their licence removed at the first instance - absolutely no excuses.

Sadly, it seems to be ever more common. The other sad thing is that the number of idiots staying in the middle or fast lane when lanes to the left of them are clear is increasing as well, and I am sure the two are related.


Oli.

Absolutly with you on the tail-gating Oli .I always paddle the brakes to get them to shift back which usually sends them into a fit of mouth frothing

Don't agree completly with the middle lane drivers though. I often use the middle lane when in my pig because there are frequently deep lorry ruts in the slow lane that causes me to tramline and jump about all over the shop due to my rock hard suspension.Its a very unpleasant ride
As far as I'm concerned any idiots that want go faster than me (85mph+) can use the fast lane ,thats what it is for[]

 

[Fen]

The problem in the UK with tailgating is that if you actually leave a decent gap in front of yourself somebody just pullls out into it. I don't consider I tailgated, but I know I sometimes had to drive closer than I'd have liked. For me the most dangerous driving in the UK is when you get a busy motorway just approaching "sheer weight of traffic" congestion. It will run at 70-80 mph then suddenly down to 45 and back up to 70-80 again. People start switching lanes to try to get into the one moving faster and there is no way to maintain a safe braking distance even though it becomes really important to do so. I think dabbing the brakes in that sort of condition would be utterly irresponsible. I used to hate driving in conditions like that; pre rush hour on the northern to mid M1 in the afternoon used to be really bad for it, and I used to leave Barnsley for home about 2:30 to 3:00 about once a month [8|]

I'm with you on the middle lane though Oli - it's especially bad in the Midlands on the M6 in my experience, and it happens regardless of the lane 1 surface condition which I have never noticed is generally that bad and I used whenever appropriate.

The only time I ever nearly got into trouble was in my '86 Turbo on the M4 in Wiltshire. I honestly don't know what happened but I'd be prepared to accept I was probably partly to blame. All I remember was being in lane 3 when suddenly people in front were anchoring up and I wasn't going to stop anywhere near in time. I went through a gap between a Sierra in front of me and a Micra in lane two with smoke billowing from both front tyres (no ABS) into a clear motorway where I floored it through embarrassment, shock and a desire to get out of the area.

On a lighter note an ex colleague used to say "isn't it funny how anyone that overtakes you is driving like an idiot?" [][]

 

[jackregan]

ORIGINAL: peanut

peanut was nearly squished last year by a huge woman on the fone in a Discovery.?

The fact that she was fat - did that have any bearing? Other than reducing her stopping distance!

 

[JamesO]

Not sure if it will create a huge argument here but I spend most of my day on the road doing lots of miles and every time my car or van has been hit by another car from behind it has been a 'lady' driver.
I really dont know where the insurance companys get the idea that women have fewer accidents.
The most stupid had to be driving to the airport for work trip, woman hits my van up the back that hard the stereo came out of the dash and tries to claim the damage was old and nothing to do with her. The floor was twisted and it was a write off.
These days when I hear the screech I take my feet of the pedals and wait to see how good looking she is or isnt

 

[peanut]

ORIGINAL: Fen

The problem in the UK with tailgating is that if you actually leave a decent gap in front of yourself somebody just pullls out into it. I don't consider I tailgated, but I know I sometimes had to drive closer than I'd have liked. For me the most dangerous driving in the UK is when you get a busy motorway just approaching "sheer weight of traffic" congestion. It will run at 70-80 mph then suddenly down to 45 and back up to 70-80 again. People start switching lanes to try to get into the one moving faster and there is no way to maintain a safe braking distance even though it becomes really important to do so. I think dabbing the brakes in that sort of condition would be utterly irresponsible. I used to hate driving in conditions like that; pre rush hour on the northern to mid M1 in the afternoon used to be really bad for it, and I used to leave Barnsley for home about 2:30 to 3:00 about once a month [8|]

I'm with you on the middle lane though Oli - it's especially bad in the Midlands on the M6 in my experience, and it happens regardless of the lane 1 surface condition which I have never noticed is generally that bad and I used whenever appropriate.

The only time I ever nearly got into trouble was in my '86 Turbo on the M4 in Wiltshire. I honestly don't know what happened but I'd be prepared to accept I was probably partly to blame. All I remember was being in lane 3 when suddenly people in front were anchoring up and I wasn't going to stop anywhere near in time. I went through a gap between a Sierra in front of me and a Micra in lane two with smoke billowing from both front tyres (no ABS) into a clear motorway where I floored it through embarrassment, shock and a desire to get out of the area.

On a lighter note an ex colleague used to say "isn't it funny how anyone that overtakes you is driving like an idiot?" [][]

so you were the idiot tailgating me at 100mph in the middle lane on the M4 Fen ![][][]