An Extraordinary Driver!

[John Cole]

Note: for full disclosure, I limit myself to one exclamation point per year.

Returning home from work one Saturday morning in December, I witnessed one driver's skill that still leaves me shaking my head in wonder. A light snow had been falling for almost an hour. (For you California driver's, "snow" is that white stuff that can make roads slick and braking an arduous affair, at best.) It was one of those times when just a little accumulation had made the driving hazardous.

Travelling along a four lane road, which had been reduced, in essence, to three lanes, one on each side and one in the middle, I saw the driver in front of me swerve into the middle lane suddenly. In front of me, no more than fifty feet away, sat a parked car. I began to pass on the left, but the middle lane was filled with cars coming the other direction. Downshifting quickly and tapping the brakes, I steered into the inevitable spin and came to rest no more than a foot from the car parked in front of me. (BTW, I was doing about 20-25 mph at the time.)

I glanced in the rear view mirror an saw a Cadillac El Dorado bearing down on me and braced for the collison. I knew that he could not stop in time given the weight of his car and his three passengers. (Luckily, I had come to a stop in front of a car dealership. You'll know why in a moment.) The middle lane was full, still, with cars coming the other direction, and the driver had no choice but to hit the brakes and crash into me.

I'm glad I didn't close my eyes. Instead of braking, he passed me--on the right and on the sidewalk! Luckily, the sidewalk in front of the dealership could fit an El Dorado. Bless every precious white hair on his head.

[ericd]

I've got one on the other end of the spectrum.

I'm stuck in a jam headed north on the Jersey Turnpike. It was caused by a horrible accident on the south side. I finally reach the end of it. However, the person in front of me comes to a complete stop. He then rolls down his window and starts taking pictures. Eventually, he drove off. I assume he finally ran out of film.

[HDPM]

People who can't drive in the snow at all - in snowy climates at least - drive me nuts. Every year here there are a bunch of accidents on the first slick day. One car fatals even. Oh, poor person put their 4X4 truck in a ditch. They didn't know 4WD doesn't help you stop from 65 MPH on a sheet of ice. Idiots.

Anyway, if that happens again, you might want to take your foot off the brake right before impact. It may lessent the collision. Moreso if you have a little more distance to the car in front. I was rear ended pretty hard once. I was stopped for traffic and wasn't looking back of course. The guy in the big cadillac behind me did see the idiot in a '72 station wagon coming through the intersection at about 35. Station wagon man didn't notice traffic stopped after the intersection. So he plowed into the cadillac, who was able to take his brakes off. Both hit me. My car and neck took the worst of it. Guy in the cadillac made it a softer collision by taking the brakes off and then hitting them after impact. Guy in the station wagon was a total idiot needless to say.

[M2d]

<font class="small">Code:</font><hr /><pre> People who can't drive in the snow at all - in snowy climates at least - drive me nuts. </pre><hr />

what about people who can't drive in the rain? here in the bay area, we can sometimes go weeks or months without rain in the summer. the first day of rain, though, it seems that every driver on the road (except for me, of course) forgets how to drive in the stuff. even though it rains every year. even though it may have rained a few weeks or even days ago.

the real annoying thing is that the rain-impaired fall into one of two categories: the rocks and the maniacs (this is 2+@, afterall). the rocks will not go faster than 3/4 the speed limit, while the maniacs...well, you can figure that one out. I think they're waterskiers in their recreational time, though.

[ThaSaltCracka]

awesome story John.

[nolanfan34]

I had hoped this would be about how you tried out the new Taylor Made R7 driver, but alas, twas not meant to be.

Scary story though, lucky that you made it through unscathed.

[Zeno]

This is equally true in the Phoenix Metro area. I lived in Tempe/Mesa for a few years while attending school. In July/August, during the monsoons, there were numerous crashes all over the place - Especially if it had not rained in a while because the build up of oil/material on the roads makes them extra slick during the first rain. Anyway, the fire station was near the school and just like clockwork 10 minutes after a rain started out would come the fire engine racing to some car crash. Most people did not slowed down because of the rain one bit.

Then of course the real fun was the yearly influx of snowbirds, which added an extra one million leviathan vehicles lurching down roads at sub-walking speed driven by balding white hair coots going to the clinic. Feh.

-Zeno

[paland]

During Thanksgiving in 2002, while returning from Phoenix, I had made it to California and was driving north up Highway 99 between Fresno and Bakersfield. I was driving through a very heavy rain storm (One that took out power in much of Sacramento, I found out later). I went to the right lane and slowed to 60 while many cars were still whizzing by in the left lane. The storm at this point was so thick that visibility was about 30 feet. After driving through the roughest part of the storm, we then drove through the part that just got the brunt of the storm. At this point, a big Suburban starting Hydroplaneing and spinning around, at about 65-70. I felt lucky as we passed him without an accident. Then about one mile up, we saw a car that had flipped and was sitting on it's side, probably within the last 2 minutes.

People in the Central Valley, and all of California for that matter, do not slow down during adverse conditions. They still go 75-90 MPH during these times. On I-80 between Sacramento and the Bay Area, average speeds can be 80-90 in all four lanes. And I-80 coming down from the Sierra's from Reno and Truckie to Sacramento is one HELL of a speedway where people just coast down that mountain at 90-100, many times while there is 4 feet of snow packed on the side (up at the 7000 ft elevation, Donners Pass area) and "slippery when wet" signs everywhere.

[blackaces13]

Damnit, I thought this was gonna be about the Taylor Made R7 Quad.

Its a driver with removable weighted srews to control ball flight!

[ThaSaltCracka]

here is Seattle we are excellent rain drivers, not sure why though. But I have noticed people elsewhere though have no idea how to drive in the rain. I think a lot of people do one of two things. 1.) treat it like normal conditions or 2.) get scared and drive over cautiously. People that treat it like normal conditions usually crash while the people who get scared cause accidents. Like I said earlier, driving in the rain is normal for us here in Seattle, the only people that cause accidents here in the rain are you damn californians!

[M2d]

Growing up in Hawaii where it rained every day, I'm pretty sure I know how to drive in the rain. It aint me that's causing all those accidents in Washington. In fact, you can have a few more of them if you want. Would make my life a little easier.

[paland]

[ QUOTE ]
Like I said earlier, driving in the rain is normal for us here in Seattle, the only people that cause accidents here in the rain are you damn californians!

[/ QUOTE ]
Yep, they don't know how to drive in the rain here either.