Near life ending accident?

[Bucko]

Not to sound gruesome, but have any of you been involved with or close to having a bad accident that could have been worse?

This morning, I had a tractor trailer pull along side of me, then turn into my lane. I thought for sure I was a goner. I laid on the horn and turned into the median to my left. I was lucky it was early morning with no traffic to my left.

The trucker kept going as if nothing happened. A driver to my right stopped to see if I was OK, and informed me she called the highway patrol to report his plate number.

I'm fine, but when it all started, I swore I saw grandma. She passed away years ago.

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[PugDad]

Be safe out there, life is a thread we all get to hold on to.

 

[Sleddog]

Were you wearing the brown pants? Glad you are ok.

 

[Bucko]

Were you wearing the brown pants? Glad you are ok.

When I saw grandma for that brief moment, she did mention I check my drawers. They were OK.

 

[jason202]

No near-death experiences for me recently *knock on wood* but commuting here in DC I see close calls every single day. I have to brake suddenly, swerve out of the way of other vehicles and/or lay on my horn daily. Drivers are absolutely insane around here and you constantly have to be on high alert for other people driving very badly. One reason I went with Cyber Orange was to make myself more visible. Years ago I had a silver VW Golf and I felt like I was invisible.

 

[CactusBS]

Laid a motorcycle down going 70 mph a few years ago, walked away with some road rash on my lower back and my pinky was torn up pretty bad. No ones fault really, it was late at night and there was a tire in the road that I didn't see till it was too late.

Luckily there were very few cars on the road and I was able to slide/roll and run off to the guardrail while I waited for EMS.

Wearing all the protective gear saved my life. Still wonder how I didn't get more injuries from it.

 

[Mark S.]

Wearing all the protective gear saved my life. Still wonder how I didn't get more injuries from it.

My wife served time as an ICU nurse for a few years and is still a medical professional. As part of her effort to encourage sanity, she tells me about some of the injuries she's seen from unfortunate riders, and it's worked. I do not get on a motorcycle without full gear: helmet, jacket, long pants, gloves, and boots. I don't care how hot it is, I'm not riding without wearing it all. I do not want to become a meat crayon.

 

[CactusBS]

I don't care how hot it is, I'm not riding without wearing it all. I do not want to become a meat crayon.

Agreed! I was going to post a pic of my gear from the day after, but figured it would be a little gruesome lol

 

[nilihanth]

...
The trucker kept going as if nothing happened. A driver to my right stopped to see if I was OK, and informed me she called the highway patrol to report his plate number.
...

Not to diminish the incident at all, but I'm always curious when people point out that the offending driver just "carried on as if nothing happened." What would you have expected them to do? My wife says this kind of thing often but I wonder if the phrase is really just a way of venting.

Being perfectly frank, when I've done something stupid as a driver (most of us have), often there's no time to react in any meaningful way that would appear as an apology. When I've had the chance, I try to gesture an apology, but I doubt it gets noticed. I think most of the time we do one of these stupid things, nearly causing an accident, we get mistaken as a person who doesn't care that they almost caused harm or damage.

[edit] Now if the incident appears as if it caused damage in anyway, obviously we should stop to check on people regardless. I wanted to add this because I won't pretend I understood all the details of your incident, @Bucko and if it resulted in you driving up on a curb or something, the truck driver should have stopped indeed.

 

[Bucko]

Not to diminish the incident at all, but I'm always curious when people point out that the offending driver just "carried on as if nothing happened." What would you have expected them to do? My wife says this kind of thing often but I wonder if the phrase is really just a way of venting.

Being perfectly frank, when I've done something stupid as a driver (most of us have), often there's no time to react in any meaningful way that would appear as an apology. When I've had the chance, I try to gesture an apology, but I doubt it gets noticed. I think most of the time we do one of these stupid things, nearly causing an accident, we get mistaken as a person who doesn't care that they almost caused harm or damage.

[edit] Now if the incident appears as if it caused damage in anyway, obviously we should stop to check on people regardless. I wanted to add this because I won't pretend I understood all the details of your incident, @Bucko and if it resulted in you driving up on a curb or something, the truck driver should have stopped indeed.

I understand your point, but he could have slowed, or flashed his lights, or flipped me the finger....in any of those, I would have at least known he/she did realize what they did, good or bad.

I now understand the lawyer commercials on TV when they state that "<insert law firm here> got me <insert amount here> for my accident" when it involves an accident.

 

[BTh]

Not to sound gruesome, but have any of you been involved with or close to having a bad accident that could have been worse?

This morning, I had a tractor trailer pull along side of me, then turn into my lane. I thought for sure I was a goner. I laid on the horn and turned into the median to my left. I was lucky it was early morning with no traffic to my left.

The trucker kept going as if nothing happened. A driver to my right stopped to see if I was OK, and informed me she called the highway patrol to report his plate number.

I'm fine, but when it all started, I swore I saw grandma. She passed away years ago.

Had a similar experience when a FedEx knocked the Ford Fusion off of an interstate highway into the median. I was able to get back on the roadway and get the license number. Two sheriff units responded and stopped the truck, but the driver refused when ordered to step out of the cab. Law enforcement let me know he was impaired by alcohol or drugs. A representative of FedEx met me at my off several days later ready to pay for the damages to my car.

 

[BravoAlpha]

We just don’t know what other people are going to do.

A truck driver in my state just caused a 3 semi, 2 car wreck. Smoked a bowl of weed and started driving then just had to check his ring doorbell notification. Manslaughter charges filed. This is a professional driver.

I spend more time nowadays driving my Silverado pick-up and my Expedition…I can see the glow of cell phones in every car now. The BS doesnt sit up high enough. Although I still love it and will keep it, it’s a secondary vehicle lately.

Everywhere I go, I see people that are distracted. I see over corrections and panic breaking. Glanced down at your phone for what you think is 1 second for what is more like 7 seconds. They look up and see brake lights and do a panic pump. That’s because their eyes were off the road and they looked up and panicked because they hadn’t calculated the closure rate yet. No one among us can multitask as well as we think we can. I used to think that I was the best, but what I really was, was lucky.

here’s what’s really crazy to me; people have irrational fears and anxiety and won’t get on airplanes or roller coasters or boats, but those same people will happily and carelessly get behind the wheel of a vehicle and stare at their cell phones, while passing 4 feet from an oncoming vehicle, whose driver is also on the phone. At deadly highway speed. As if that double yellow stripe is some sort of barrier. oh but I’m always hands free…I mount my phone. Yeah, but you are still looking at it and mounting it up on the dash might help keep your eyes up…. But you still look at it.

I was driving in Kentucky last week and a driver crossed the line and was coming right at me. I ended up completely off the shoulder, 2 wheels in the grass. I thought it was over. tunnel vision, slow motion…God intervened. I don’t know how we didn’t connect. I looked In the rear view.. car was still in my lane! i’ll bet they were still on their phone and never knew. Ignorance is so blissful.

My aunt is law enforcement in Denver area. She said it’s estimated that 1/3 drivers during afternoon rush hour are under the influence, health or eye sight impaired or on their smartphones… or a combination of. ONE in THREE!!!

I imagine that’s probably consistent everywhere.

Watching where we are going is easy. anticipating what other drivers are going to do is the challenge.

Getting behind the wheel of your vehicle and sharing the road with other vehicle is the most dangerous thing you will ever do in your life and we do it every day… in total complacency

here are some fun stats

https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813435

 

[Mark S.]

No one among us can multitask as well as we think we can.

FTFY. No one can multitask; it's a made up word that doesn't reflect actual human behavior.

 

[jkeaton]

No, but I did stay at a holiday inn express last night.

 

[BravoAlpha]

FTFY. No one can multitask; it's a made up word that doesn't reflect actual human behavior.

I stand corrected

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