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Let me set the stage: I'm in the right lane on the 4 lane main road in Wayne, Hamburg Tpk. I'm approaching a traffic light at Alps Road, where my side has a left turn, but oncoming traffic doesn't. There are 5-6 cars in the left lane, waiting to make the left turn onto ALPS. I'm driving my old Monte Carlo SS, going 45-50 in order to make the light. As I come up to the intersection, suddenly an oncoming car decides that even though there are several signs proclaiming "No Left Turn", he or she is going to make a left turn. When I see them, they are slightly angled in MY left lane, moving to about a 45 degree angle. (If I continued straight at this point, it would have been a head-on collision.) I swerve slightly to the left and slam on the brakes. As my nose goes into my left lane, I feel my backend start to swerve forward into the right lane. At this point, both our cars are parallel and are angled around 35-55 degrees. As I slide into the intersection, I take my foot off of the brake and turn the wheel to the right. (Another second or two would have had me in a head-on collision with oncoming traffic.) Somehow, SOMEHOW, as my car straightens out in the left lane, I miss the end of this person's car. A little farther up the road I pull over to catch my breath. That is by far the closest I've ever come to a head-on collision. And how I managed to avoid it I'm still trying to figure. Boy, am I glad that I have fast reflexes.
One thing that stuck in my mind - if I had had the Saturn, or the SS, I think that the ABS brakes would have kept me from being able to make this maneuver.
-------------------- Jim Mac '98 Silver SS #108
Posts: 1907 | From: I hope I'm not repeating myself. Again. And Again. Stop picking on me! Waaahhh!! | Registered: Feb 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Hawkeye: The ABS people will claim that you could have steered around the obstruction.
The problem was that with the 5-6 cars in my left lane waiting to make a left turn (legally! ), there was no way I could swerve left until I was already into the intersection. There were two points where I was sure I was going to hit the guy: when I entered the intersection (head-on) and when I straightened out in the left lane from the swerve (clipping his passenger side rear).
Posts: 1907 | From: I hope I'm not repeating myself. Again. And Again. Stop picking on me! Waaahhh!! | Registered: Feb 2000
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WOW, Just glad you made it through. Your co pilot was watching over you!
Posts: 5946 | From: Litchfield, NH, USA | Registered: Feb 2000
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Wow, I'm glad that you made it out unscathed! That's seriously incredible!
I agree with you about ABS. ABS is designed to reduce stopping time for most IDIOT drivers. Yes, it has saved me on a number of occasions because I am an IDIOT driver. People like Tiff Needell turn off the ABS in the cars they drive and they drive their cars like they are one with it. Well Jim, I SALUTE YOU as you enter this hallowed hall of Godly drivers!
NiravSS
[ 23 May 2002: Message edited by: NiravSS ]
Posts: 156 | From: Los Angeles, CA | Registered: Oct 2000
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Those people who cannot follow the rules of the road should be banned from driving! I see it all the time. A good example is a dual right-hand turn off ramp from a highway. Most drivers who are in the curb lane of the dual right turn, assume and maybe ignorant to the fact that it is indeed a dual lane turn, make the turn and then immediately shoot into the next lane. Many times I have almost been hit in that situation. Very poor driving to say the least!
What bothers me is that I often herar of these 'agressive diver' police blitzes. "We gotta catch those sppeders. I am willing to wager my life on the fact that moderate speeding causes way less accidents than the bone head maneuvers like the one that was just pulled on you. No wonder there is Road-Rage!!!
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your heart still pumping! The ABS people will claim that you could have steered around the obstruction.
), there was no way I could swerve left until I was already into the intersection. There were two points where I was sure I was going to hit the guy: when I entered the intersection (head-on) and when I straightened out in the left lane from the swerve (clipping his passenger side rear).
