A close encounter

[davidn]

I think I just nearly died. That is, we made sure to buy a car with an incredible safety emphasis and that virtually transforms into a bouncy castle as soon as the bumper is hit, but I'm glad that... by about an inch, we didn't find out how effective the airbags were.

I can't really type just now - here's a diagram of a junction on our normal route home from the supermarket. There's no traffic light - the lane in our direction widens, to let cars who are turning left get out of the way of oncoming traffic, and I was sitting there...


On this particular occasion, someone coming in the opposite direction sped forwards to overtake the car ahead just before the junction - I couldn't believe it when he came out, and thought that he would surely brake and reconsider right up until the moment when he swerved back into his own lane, surely missing me and the car he had illegally passed by no more than an inch.

I have never seen a car coming head-on towards me at 40 miles per hour before, and I hope never to again. This is the stupidest thing that I've ever seen anyone do on the road - there's no excuse for overtaking on a corner at that speed, unless he was delivering an emergency case to hospital or had just robbed the bank. Once I'd got through what's usually a very unremarkable junction, I had to pull to the side of the road and breathe for a while before continuing - my heart still sounds like a Michael Jackson song.

Never mind - he'll be dead soon.

Comments

[xaq.livejournal.com]

Stuff like this is why I drive under the assumption that nobody else on the face of the planet has a clue what the hell they're doing.


On a side note, would I be correct in assuming the the W in the other driver's "FW" is short for "wad?"

[kjorteo]

I was thinking "wit," myself.

[kjorteo]

That ... is really not a well-designed intersection.

At any rate, I'm glad you're all right.

[rakarr.livejournal.com]

You pretty much have to drive that way, don't you? It's not enough just to drive skillfully for yourself, you have to assume that everyone else is going to do the stupidest things imaginable, because sometimes they do. Even before I was driving I used to point out hazards to my father, things like "Watch out for that person coming out of their driveway," and his answer was always that it was safe because the other car wasn't allowed to just pull out without looking or whatever. Sadly, rules and common sense don't stop people from doing ridiculously stupid things and endangering themselves and others, and I think I managed to convince him of that eventually.

I'm going to go for "Wanker" for the W - F can be suffixed with "ing" and a space in this instance.

David, I'm glad you're okay, and also that you didn't have to test the safety of your car. That intersection does look a little dangerous, but there's absolutely no excuse for what that FW did, and you're right, he probably will be dead soon. I just hope he doesn't take anyone with him.

I'm also trying not to be vaguely amused that you couldn't type but had the time to make a diagram with GTA cars.

[rakarr.livejournal.com]

P.S.
You're in a Cassio, you're fine. Even with the stupid birds-eye controls.

[xaq.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't think there was ever any mystery as to the first half of that particular acronym. XP

[davidn]

I'm not sure if my representation of it makes it look worse than it is, but on any other occasion, it really is quite an unremarkable T-junction - as safe as all roads are provided people keep to their own side. Perhaps I have a different benchmark for a badly-designed intersection, having dealt with things like this as normal (linking to the entire thread because slightly further down is the record-holder for a badly-designed intersection).

[davidn]

Absolutely - I wouldn't be so crude! ;)

[davidn]

That is my general approach, and one that has served me well for a long time - however, last night was a reminder that no matter how much you prepare, there is still a phenomenal class of idiot that can get you anyway.

As I remember you mentioned the Ford Explorer a while ago - one moment like this suddenly make me see the appeal of sitting high up away from the road where you can just squish the other cars like ants. Although the prospect of someone like the driver above getting their hands on one is frightening indeed. What other country could turn driving into an arms race.

[davidn]

I'm just going to assume that at this moment he's upside-down in a ditch on fire somewhere, a thought that gives me equal parts comfort and relief.

When I realized that against all human reason he wasn't going to stop I actually jerked myself to the right a little - I'm not sure if I actually helped as that movement requires going forwards as well, but... on balance I'm glad that I did, seeing as I'm still alive. But what was most frightening about this was that I realized just how little you can do - you can drive as carefully as possible, and yet when a car comes at 40mph towards you on the wrong side of the road while you're stationary, the other driver's luck is your only chance.

[ravenworks.livejournal.com]

Someone I used to work with keeps a video camera running on his dashboard for use in court in cases like this, and I always liked the idea, if only so that (in the event of an actual collision) the FW couldn't turn around and claim that it was your fault, with a lack of witnesses to distinguish what really went down... and I was thinking it would be nice even in a case like this, just to be able to rewind and see his license plate (if indeed your state requires forward-facing ones) and hopefully get him taken off the road by turning in the video.... but now that I'm actually imagining it, I think the stress of doing so might almost be worse than the satisfaction of succeeding... (although, the safety of anyone else he has to share the road with might weigh on my decision too..)

[davidn]

You know, I was thinking exactly that just after the event yesterday, lamenting that there was no way of showing what happened or reporting his number plate as by that point I had dived to the right halfway under the dashboard (I have seen occasional cars without forward-facing ones here, but the idea of not requiring them is so foreign to me that I assumed that they had just fallen off).

It sounds so much like overkill, but knowing that those things are sold and having seen what happened yesterday evening, I'm almost tempted to do that.

[ravenworks.livejournal.com]

I mean, if you've already got a camera, and the battery and storage can last longer than your average road trip, just clear and charge it every night... Or, hell, I wonder if anybody makes a smartphone app that automatically keeps a buffer of two minutes or so until you hit "shit, keep that last two minutes!" (or until the accelerometer detects a sudden jolt??)....

And, yeah, up in Quebec for instance, you only need a license plate in the back, for some reason.... which means the "novelty fake license plate to fit into the unused front slot on your car" industry does almost as well as bumper stickers...

[davidn]

Funny you should say that - my investigation just took me here! And it even uses the accelerometer like you suggested. I can imagine it potentially being annoying up there on the windscreen, but it's something.

[ravenworks.livejournal.com]

Hah! Knew it was too good an idea for someone not to have done... man, I didn't even think of the GPS thing! Brilliant..

And, you could always set it on the passenger side corner, it doesn't necessarily have to be front-and-center as long as you can reasonably reach it in the moments after a fender bender.

[xaq.livejournal.com]

Remember, you're talking about the nation that gave the world monster trucks and demolition derbies. "Arms race" doesn't even begin to cover it. :b

[xaq.livejournal.com]

Egad.

[feralmuse.livejournal.com]

That is an absolute monstrosity. I don't think that's an intersection. I think that's an attempt to summon Cthulhu. Anyway, glad you are safe! Traffic near-accidents are always jarring.