Near Crash

olddog · #1 (**permalink**) 09-28-2008, 01:43 PM

I was in town on a four lane street. Speed limit is 35, but traffic runs 45. I was in the left lane, and there was a young boy and girl on a motor scooter in front of me. They stopped to make a left turn. I stopped behind them about 3 or 4 car links back. Traffic was heavy both ways when I stopped. The traffic cleared in the right lane, but I decided to just wait.

I was watching a car coming up behind me. He had pulled a big lead on the cars in the right lane (they just left a traffic light), so I knew he was comming fairly fast. When he didn't slow down and didn't change lanes, I started pumping my brake lights at him to get his attention. He locked up the brakes at this point. Although I could have pulled into the other lane and got out of the way, I thought that it would cut off his ability to change lanes and may cause him to hit the kids in front of me. Strange how fast that went through my head. I decided to stay in the lane and if necessary use my car to protect the kids.

The guy was too much in panic mode to realize all he had to do was let off the brake and change lanes. So he never made the lane change that I was hoping he would do.

As he slid closer I realized he was going to hit me, but he was almost stopped. So I pulled up to within a car link of the kids on the scooter and stopped. He got stopped about 10 feet behind me.

One I have decided to keep the Cobra off that road when traffic is heavy and roads like it.

Two stopping back with plenty of room is all that saved me. I tend to drive the Cobra like I was ridding a bike, and it sure did pay off.

I have to say the thought of loosing the Cobra was quite sickening, but had I took off and those kids had been killed, I would have found that much harder to deal with. I do not know if I made the right decision.

Silverback51 · #2 (**permalink**) 09-28-2008, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by olddog

I was in town on a four lane street. Speed limit is 35, but traffic runs 45. I was in the left lane, and there was a young boy and girl on a motor scooter in front of me. They stopped to make a left turn. I stopped behind them about 3 or 4 car links back. Traffic was heavy both ways when I stopped. The traffic cleared in the right lane, but I decided to just wait.

I was watching a car coming up behind me. He had pulled a big lead on the cars in the right lane (they just left a traffic light), so I knew he was comming fairly fast. When he didn't slow down and didn't change lanes, I started pumping my brake lights at him to get his attention. He locked up the brakes at this point. Although I could have pulled into the other lane and got out of the way, I thought that it would cut off his ability to change lanes and may cause him to hit the kids in front of me. Strange how fast that went through my head. I decided to stay in the lane and if necessary use my car to protect the kids.

The guy was too much in panic mode to realize all he had to do was let off the brake and change lanes. So he never made the lane change that I was hoping he would do.

As he slid closer I realized he was going to hit me, but he was almost stopped. So I pulled up to within a car link of the kids on the scooter and stopped. He got stopped about 10 feet behind me.

One I have decided to keep the Cobra off that road when traffic is heavy and roads like it.

Two stopping back with plenty of room is all that saved me. I tend to drive the Cobra like I was ridding a bike, and it sure did pay off.

I have to say the thought of loosing the Cobra was quite sickening, but had I took off and those kids had been killed, I would have found that much harder to deal with. I do not know if I made the right decision.

You got my vote for making the right decision.

ZOERA-SC7XX · #3 (**permalink**) 09-28-2008, 02:35 PM

I 'second' that emotion

CalHusker · #4 (**permalink**) 09-28-2008, 03:02 PM

That was a tight spot. You bout took one for the Gipper....

CalHusker

Steve Cassani · #5 (**permalink**) 09-28-2008, 03:06 PM

As a parent, I am especially appreciative of what you did...

Ron61 · #6 (**permalink**) 09-28-2008, 04:01 PM

You definitely have my vote for doing the right thing. Though it would hurt to have the Cobra wrecked, it can be repaired and the lives of the kids and their parents can't be restored. I always try to stop at least a car length behind a car in front of me at lights and crosswalks no matter what car I am in. And when I had just bought my 1965 Galaxie new, I think I had about 150 miles on it a similar thing happened except the idiot rammed the back and completely destroyed it. But because I was a car length from the crosswalk the people in it were ok even though with my brakes locked up he still hit me so hard he shoved my car half way across the intersection. But that guy got out and was going to sue me for being stopped in the road in the middle of the city with the red light against me and people crossing the street in front of me. When the police got there everything changed and I got a new car out of it and I don't know what he got as I never wanted to see him again. If I had been stopped right at the crosswalk lines, some of the people would have been hurt and possibly killed. I hated it about the car, but would never have gotten over it if I had hit one of those people and harmed them. You did right!

Ron

GTA · #7 (**permalink**) 09-28-2008, 04:20 PM

Thank you for doing the right thing.That says something about you. The a$$hole in the other car was thinking about everything bout the right things. Feel good about yourself , you have every right to. Roger

sp1410 · #8 (**permalink**) 09-28-2008, 04:23 PM

Nice work; you saved the kids.

ENTDOC · #9 (**permalink**) 09-28-2008, 04:53 PM

so how did the guy react to the ass wippin you gave him?

COBRA427 · #10 (**permalink**) 09-28-2008, 05:25 PM

I just cringe when I hear stories like that. Cobras are so friggin unsafe in regards to a rear end accident because of their low back seats. Assuming you have a regular Cobra seat, you dodged that bullet, but can you imagine what would have happened to your neck if he hit you at 20-30mph or more? Most of us love our Cobras so much that we are in denial when it comes to the lack of safety they offer, we never think it could possibly happen to us, but it almost did to you "olddog". Highback seats are not original looking and don't look as nice, but the bottom line is they're a lot safer and if they're going to greatly minimize my chances of getting a whip lash, I'll lean towards safety.
my 2 cents

RICK LAKE · #11 (**permalink**) 09-28-2008, 05:27 PM

olddog Your smart thinking not only saved 2 kids but yourself and your car. You did the right thing. The person up stairs was watching you which is more than the dope behind you was doing. Possiblity another cell phone user, talking instead of driving. Your car would give alot more protection against being hit than the kids on a bike. Nice Job. Rick L.

Sal Gerace · #12 (**permalink**) 09-28-2008, 08:17 PM

To come up with the right answer in that short a period of time! I take my hat of to you! No doubt you made the right decision. Good Job!!!!

HI Cobra · #13 (**permalink**) 09-28-2008, 08:32 PM

Olddog - you done good and played that one perfect. Hopefully it scared the
idiot enough to enable him to change his driving habits. I got rear ended by
a town cop years ago when I was in a sports car - you don't want to be in
one of those types of accidents. Long story short there can be some long term
problems from a neck/back snapper like that don't show up for many years.
Nearly paralyzed me but for a most excellent surgeon's handiwork. I always
have tried to leave a way out after that, so far so good. Keep doing what
you did!

Bill Bess · #14 (**permalink**) 09-28-2008, 08:41 PM

Congratulations! You were not only lucky, but saved the day because of your defensive driving skills.
Years ago I was trained as "Smith System" defensive driving instructor for my company. The Smith System is a defensive driving program aimed at training drivers in fleet systems. Anyway, the system utilizes 25 separate skills and several simple rules..or things you do to prevent accidents by changing your driving style.
One of the examples is always stopping at least one car lenght behind the car in front, or one car back of the limit line or crosswalk. By doing this, you can avoid an accident (as You did) if an emergency occurs. If somebody hits you from behind..you won't go through the intersection and into traffic, or you can take evasive action when you see the person not stopping from behind.

I'm sure the kids are thankful that you did the right thing. Again Congrats!
Bill

RAO-3 · #15 (**permalink**) 09-29-2008, 07:33 AM

You made the right choice - it's amazing how we're able to analyze a situation and do the right thing 99% of the time with little if any time to decide, but then we reflect on it and realize how hard it is to make the right decision when we have all the time in the world!

Ray

wtm442 · #16 (**permalink**) 09-29-2008, 09:06 AM

I learned to leave quite a few car lengths between me and the car stopped in front of me a loooooong time ago. I also learned to always look in the rear view mirror as you stop in traffic.

When I was a teenager, I was with a friend in his brand new 68 Mustang 390GT and he had to stop in the passing lane of a major highway due to heavy traffic. We had been traveling at about 50 MPH when he needed to stop for traffic. About 4 seconds after he stopped he yelled "Hang On" as he dumped the clutch, yanked the wheel to the left and laid rubber as the Mustang shot off the road into the median strip. Then I heard a horrendous crash as the car that was behind my friend's car hit the car that was directly in front of him before he moved. The car that was hit was TOTALED. Actually, there were 4 cars damaged in the chain reaction. The guy must have been hypnotized because I never heard any "braking" rubber before the crash.

Olddog - you made the right decision ... and my friend also made the right decision too.

olddog · #17 (**permalink**) 09-29-2008, 07:25 PM

After the fact, many things came to mind as has been mentioned by all of you. I have thought from day one that the Cobra is not a car you want to have a crash in. So I drive it (mentally) defensive, as if I was riding a bike. I suppose I should regardless what I am driving. Maybe I will take that as the lesson. I urge all to leave extra distance between them and the car in front at all times. Also watch you rear view mirror when sitting, especially when there is no one behind you.

I had my doubts, if what I did was wise or foolish. Thank you all for the support, and I wish you all safe driving.

JBCOBRA · #18 (**permalink**) 09-30-2008, 09:43 AM

Nice Save!
Oftentimes I will put my right arm in the air and wave if I think the guy behind me is not paying attention (in addition to pumping the brakes). I believe this does help get peoples attention back

GreenSnakeDoc · #19 (**permalink**) 09-30-2008, 12:42 PM

One safety rule to remember is when you are stopped in a travel lane waiting to make a left hand turn. Do not start turning your front wheels, but keep them straight ahead. If you are rear-ended, you'll be pushed straight forward, not into oncoming traffic.
I had a little pucker event last night driving 55 mph on a narrow country two lane road. A silver minivan coming the other direction started crossing the double yellow. I thought he's start correcting, but the closer we got, the move he moved over to my lane. I didn't want to put the right wheels into the drop down shoulder, so I moved over as far as possible while still maintaining my right tries on the pavement. A couple of skipped heart beats and he was past me, and I continued on. Was it intentional? Who knows. Driver was probably dialing on a cell phone. Hope he had to go home and change his or her underpants too.