Near life ending accident?

[Bucko]

I was driving a Ford Transit for the zoo I worked for in college. Drove a few hours away to a library and gave an educational talk to a group of kiddos and their parents attending a library sleepover. It was late by the time I got to leave the event and head back to the zoo through the state highway in the middle of WV.

I was 30 mins down the highway and there was nobody else on the road except me and one semi truck. He was traveling 45 mph, so I merged left to pass and sped up to 60. He swerved into my lane suddenly, jerked the wheel, and almost wound up on top of me. There was nobody around us for miles. Laid on my horn and had to ride over the shoulder to avoid winding up a tin can. He almost killed me and the opossum, owl, and snake I had in their carriers in the back. I'll never forget it.

Do you think the swerve from the truck driver was on purpose?

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[Elegance]

Do you think the swerve from the truck driver was on purpose?

No, I think that entire state has a significant drug problem and I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I lived there 5 years during college and was heartbroken to see how widespread the methamphetamine issue was. Wasn't my first bad experience with drivers exhibiting symptoms of being high. I've luckily never been in any accidents besides a minor collision with a deer in Kansas.

 

[Mark S.]

Moral of this story is, I quit giving driving instructions, both verbally and signing. I don't want to tempt fate.

More and more relevant these days. The wife and I were driving on the interstate in the DFW area. We were in the left lane keeping up with traffic traveling 10-15 mph faster than traffic in the middle lane. Suddenly, a dickhead in a lifted pickup cut from the middle lane to the left, between us and the car in front. I slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting the idiot, prompting both the wife and I to offer him a hand gesture appropriate to the occasion (one of the reasons I love that woman).

Next thing I know he swerves back into the middle lane and slows down. I'm thinking, "Good, I guess he figured out he f---ed up." Nope. Not the case. Not the case at all.

As we go by him in the left lane he turns and looks at us with no remorse. It's clear just looking at him that he's angry and drunk. After we pass, he swerves back into the left lane behind us. He then follows us all the way to the restaurant we were going to for dinner.

I park, and he pulls into the spot next to us. I get out of my car and he says, "WTF is your problem?"

"You cut me off," I said.

"So? You got something to say?"

"No, I think we already said what needed to be said."

"Yeah? How 'bout I take out my pistol and blow your f---ing head off?"

Not a comfortable way to start a nice evening out with the wifey. We talked it over during dinner and decided that "communication" with other drivers would be limited to a wave and a smile for future such encounters.

 

[BodieBronco]

when I was shopping for this vehicle, my husband said a requirement he had for my car was that it had driver assist capabilities (think ford 360 assist plus, where the car can do its own lane centering, judge distance of cars around it and adjust speed, etc. he drives a tesla.) he sees those features as added safety features.
however I feel most people get too lax with those. even when I'm using mine, i still "pretend" to drive the car so I'm aware of i need to take over. too many people expect the car to be able to stop quickly or steer to avoid etc, and they feel it's a luxury where they can use their phone or not be as alert.

 

[Meanderthal]

when I was shopping for this vehicle, my husband said a requirement he had for my car was that it had driver assist capabilities (think ford 360 assist plus, where the car can do its own lane centering, judge distance of cars around it and adjust speed, etc. he drives a tesla.) he sees those features as added safety features.
however I feel most people get too lax with those. even when I'm using mine, i still "pretend" to drive the car so I'm aware of i need to take over. too many people expect the car to be able to stop quickly or steer to avoid etc, and they feel it's a luxury where they can use their phone or not be as alert.

Agree with everything about people relying on these systems, even though the systems aren't actually reliable. The lane centering is just annoying generally. When I'm on a road with turning lanes, it sometimes wants to follow into the turning lane instead of continuing. It does seem to hunt in the lane as well, not able to maintain a line. I have to hold the steering wheel tighter than I would generally in cruising situations, or else it gives a warning. The collision alert is okay, but likes to warn when someone is making a turn in front of you, which is just an annoyance. The following distance thing is overly cautious for normal traffic conditions (slows down too soon and speeds up too late).

All of these things just seem to take responsibility away from the driver. They aren't as good as a reasonable driver but allow bad drivers to relinquish responsibility and remain bad drivers.

 

[Bucko]

More and more relevant these days. The wife and I were driving on the interstate in the DFW area. We were in the left lane keeping up with traffic traveling 10-15 mph faster than traffic in the middle lane. Suddenly, a dickhead in a lifted pickup cut from the middle lane to the left, between us and the car in front. I slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting the idiot, prompting both the wife and I to offer him a hand gesture appropriate to the occasion (one of the reasons I love that woman).

Next thing I know he swerves back into the middle lane and slows down. I'm thinking, "Good, I guess he figured out he f---ed up." Nope. Not the case. Not the case at all.

As we go by him in the left lane he turns and looks at us with no remorse. It's clear just looking at him that he's angry and drunk. After we pass, he swerves back into the left lane behind us. He then follows us all the way to the restaurant we were going to for dinner.

I park, and he pulls into the spot next to us. I get out of my car and he says, "WTF is your problem?"

"You cut me off," I said.

"So? You got something to say?"

"No, I think we already said what needed to be said."

"Yeah? How 'bout I take out my pistol and blow your f---ing head off?"

Not a comfortable way to start a nice evening out with the wifey. We talked it over during dinner and decided that "communication" with other drivers would be limited to a wave and a smile for future such encounters.

How did you handle this part? I would have made an attempt to walk away with my wife into the building, then call authorities with a description of the person and truck.

Don't know what I would have done if he approached me. I don't carry a weapon, nor will I ever, as resorting to the wild wild west mentality is not for me.

 

[Mark S.]

How did you handle this part?

I just said, "No thanks." Then I went around the car and opened the door for my wife, and we walked into the restaurant. I told the hostess what had happened so she could warn the staff, then I watched through the window in the door to make sure he left.

 

[Mark S.]

All of these things just seem to take responsibility away from the driver. They aren't as good as a reasonable driver but allow bad drivers to relinquish responsibility and remain bad drivers.

Distracted driving is becoming more and more of an issue. New, touch-screen interfaces require more attention from the driver than the buttons and knobs I grew up with, and no one seems willing to put down their phones. I would look for government-mandated (what isn't these days?) tech solutions in the future. Something like this:

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/04/this-rearview-mirror-will-look-back-at-you-to-monitor-distracted-driving/

 

[Bucko]

Distracted driving is becoming more and more of an issue. New, touch-screen interfaces require more attention from the driver than the buttons and knobs I grew up with, and no one seems willing to put down their phones. I would look for government-mandated (what isn't these days?) tech solutions in the future. Something like this:

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/04/this-rearview-mirror-will-look-back-at-you-to-monitor-distracted-driving/

I'll assume a message will appear in the center screen that says it detects a distracted driver, or perhaps the steering wheel vibrates much like my BS OB does when the car veers out of a lane?

 

[Jill]

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.

Did your pre-collision assi

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.

Did your pre-collision assist feature kick-in?

 

[MoFoCo]

I was with some acquaintances in one guy's Outback going up Kingsbury Grade in Tahoe to a MTB trail. Around the corner comes a Tesla Model X downhill, passing traffic in the wrong lane at about 90 MPH. Our driver was paying attention and swerved off to the shoulder, otherwise it would have been one hell of a fireball. Ended up having a great ride, icing on the cake for not being dead.

 

[Sleddog]

Not to mention the battery fire. Glad you are ok. Were you wearing brown pants?

 

[sajohnson]

I was driving a Ford Transit for the zoo I worked for in college. Drove a few hours away to a library and gave an educational talk to a group of kiddos and their parents attending a library sleepover. It was late by the time I got to leave the event and head back to the zoo through the state highway in the middle of WV.

I was 30 mins down the highway and there was nobody else on the road except me and one semi truck. He was traveling 45 mph, so I merged left to pass and sped up to 60. He swerved into my lane suddenly, jerked the wheel, and almost wound up on top of me. There was nobody around us for miles. Laid on my horn and had to ride over the shoulder to avoid winding up a tin can. He almost killed me and the opossum, owl, and snake I had in their carriers in the back. I'll never forget it.

I had a similar experience driving home from work one night on I-270 here in MD.

There was no one on the road except me and 2 semis. One semi was following the other and they were in the left lane for no reason (it was not smoother for example). After a couple miles it became obvious they were not going to move right into lane 2 so I signaled, changed lanes, and began to pass on the right (legal in MD). As I got beside the truck in front, the driver yanked the wheel to the right and ran me onto the shoulder. If I had slower reflexes I would have ended up under the truck and crushed.

To this day I have no idea what that was about. I hadn't been flashing my high beams at them, or doing anything that would antagonize them. It was as if it was a game they were playing -- run under the limit in the left lane, and then when someone attempts to pass, run them off the road.

To be fair, in my experience, truckers are by far the best drivers on the road. I've witnessed much more distracted, reckless, aggressive driving by "4-wheelers".

 

[sajohnson]

No, I think that entire state has a significant drug problem and I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I lived there 5 years during college and was heartbroken to see how widespread the methamphetamine issue was. Wasn't my first bad experience with drivers exhibiting symptoms of being high. I've luckily never been in any accidents besides a minor collision with a deer in Kansas.

We know a couple that live in the heart of WV. She teaches adult remedial education and he is a retired paramedic. They've got some wild stories.

WV has been screwed over for a long time. Resources were/are extracted and then the companies leave and most of the people end up unemployed and on welfare. That's one reason for the high rate of drug addiction.

In the situation I described, I'm almost certain the driver ran me onto the shoulder intentionally (but of course there's no way to know for sure). It definitely was not the typical gradual drift into the next lane, and there was no signal. He (I'm assuming it was a man) yanked his rig into the right lane, then back into the left and stayed there. I didn't realize semis could change direction that fast.

 

[sajohnson]

when I was shopping for this vehicle, my husband said a requirement he had for my car was that it had driver assist capabilities (think ford 360 assist plus, where the car can do its own lane centering, judge distance of cars around it and adjust speed, etc. he drives a tesla.) he sees those features as added safety features.
however I feel most people get too lax with those. even when I'm using mine, i still "pretend" to drive the car so I'm aware of i need to take over. too many people expect the car to be able to stop quickly or steer to avoid etc, and they feel it's a luxury where they can use their phone or not be as alert.

That's exactly right -- and the reason why airlines and subway systems have pilots and operators turn off autopilot and automatic train operation (ATO) periodically, to keep them alert.

We did not order '360 Assist Plus', although I have to admit if either of us had to commute in heavy traffic the adaptive cruise control would be nice.

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