Nearest miss ever.

[willwren]

Driving the Zilla home yesterday after picking Dex up at the dog-sitter, had a chevy pickup with three old women in it blow a stop sign at 35mph or so. By the time I saw them (traffic blocked my view to the left), it was almost too late. I had a rolling (no-stop) left, they had a stop sign. Instinct made me stab the brake and horn at the same time I threw my right elbow up to hold Dex back (too many years driving with a dog makes this happen automatically). Dex ended up on his back in my lap. Pretty sure he hit the steering wheel, but I had dirty paw prints on my elbow, shoulder, chest, and thighs. Scared the crap out of the old ladies, and they blew by on their way up the street.

Dex couldn't get out of the car fast enough 2 minutes later. He was a little sore from his flight and stop at the end last night, but seems fine today. My neck is actually a little sore from the abrupt and violent stop.

I'm very thankful for these T1R's. Very sticky tires, there was no skid, just a very loud pronounced CHIRP! They're 2 sizes wider, and probably the stickiest tires I've ever owned. The stop was BRUTALLY violent, and ended less than an inch from impact according to the 2 witnesses I spoke to briefly. I had no time to run them down, nor did I even think of it. Not much would have been served by doing so, as they were all staring directly at me as I stopped.

Here's the setup (me in green, them in red):

[00Beast]

Glad to hear you, Dex and the car are alright Bill. Definitely having properly working brakes and good tires makes a huge difference in an emergency maneuver. Most cars on the road would've gotten t-boned.

[willwren]

As far as grip is concerned, it doesn't come any closer. The Buick and the SLEeper would have both been hit in this situation. They have good tires, but not THIS good. FYI, I also have no ABS on the Zilla.

[harofreak00]

I don't understand why Dex ended up in your lap and hitting the steering wheel... shouldn't he have flown forward into the dash?

[willwren]

It was weird. My laptop/backpack was behind me on the left side, so he was either in the middle or right rear. I was in the middle of a left turn (or just beginning it) at the time of braking. Not exactly sure how he ended up there.

Similarly though, years ago the wreck in my Roadmaster that got me into the SSEi, we were hit squarely from behind, totalling the car ($11k in damage to the rear). Kim was riding shotgun beside me, but the entire contents of her purse emptied to the LEFT all over me from the impact.

Weird things happen sometimes.

[thekalman]

Two weeks after getting my license I was almost nailed by an SUV cresting a hill and running the stop sign at the top. I didn't even see it till the driver hit the horn. I guess he didn't think he had a stop sign. Scared the hell out of me though. I would have taken that impact on the driver's door. Needless to say I've been ridiculously more careful crossing intersections ever since.

[enslow]

As far as grip is concerned, it doesn't come any closer. The Buick and the SLEeper would have both been hit in this situation. They have good tires, but not THIS good. FYI, I also have no ABS on the Zilla.

ABS is a good invention for most modern drivers. However, ABS may have actually increased your stopping distance in this situation and allowed an accident to occur had your car been so equipped. So I'd say thank goodness you didn't have ABS this time.

[00Beast]

ABS is good for maintaining control during heavy braking and quick maneuvers, but it's not good for overall braking distance.

[enslow]

What you say, of course, is very true. I was really speaking of very specific situations for drivers experienced with such conditions. I have heard of people up north that have a heck of a time simply stopping in the bare ice with ABS. Those are not typical situations in the city, west coast, and below the 49th parallel.

Anyway, I don't want to hijack this thread. Has Dex recovered? Is he shy of going for rides now?

[dpcookson]

OK, judging by the diagram posted, it seems as though the offending driver was on a clear and concise path, straight. You, Bill, seem to have been driving quite erratically, barely staying in your own lane. I'm starting to wonder, how much did you have to drink at the dog-sitters? J/K

But in all seriousness, I am glad you and Dex are relatively ok. We didn't really want to find out how well the Zilla would fare in keeping its occupants safe during a collision.

And don't fret, I know you are in no way inclined to be drinking and driving, that I commend you for.

[willwren]

I only had 9 beers when I picked up Dex, but it's legal, cuz I live only a mile away.

Either the Buick or the SLEeper would have been a 'for sure' impact with ABS. Even without ABS, those tires (as good as they are, especially on the SLEeper) would NOT have held like the Zilla in that emergency stop.

I need to work on my paint skills for better straight lines. Dex has recovered, and shows no lasting ill-effects mentally or physically. I think it happened too fast for him to realize what it was. I'm grateful my car insurance covers him up to 1000 bucks at no extra charge.

[enslow]

And did you notice that white car that Bill just drove right through? Not only that, his suspension is so bad that his Zilla bounced 9 times after his sudden stop and left turn.

[lash]

I've also had very close ones before and actually been a passenger of a car T-boned by someone running a stop sign, so I am very glad you had great tires and were able to avoid it.

I'll bet it made you think a bit about your own mortality, though, didn't it?

[BonneMe]

As far as grip is concerned, it doesn't come any closer. The Buick and the SLEeper would have both been hit in this situation. They have good tires, but not THIS good. FYI, I also have no ABS on the Zilla.

ABS is a good invention for most modern drivers. However, ABS may have actually increased your stopping distance in this situation and allowed an accident to occur had your car been so equipped. So I'd say thank goodness you didn't have ABS this time.

Thank goodness? ABS doesn't increase stopping distance. We all know that the best braking technique is threshold braking, just up to the last pressure before lockup. Once you lockup however, a human driver cannot compete with any half decent ABS system. Any power assisted disc brake equipped car can lock up the tires on a first try, so think of the ABS as a safety net, not as a main way of braking.

As Bill points out though, tires made the difference.I had been involved in an accident due to bad tires on my Bonneville, a truck swerving in and out of traffic on the busiest road in Mankato, jumped infront of the Impala ahead of me as we were coming to a line of cars at a light, causing the Impala to come to a stop almost immediately. Truck caused it, but I hold myself accountable because I had old, heavily worn tires on the car, and the ABS didn't have enough grip to stop the car.

Tires are the only thing between you and the road, how hard you can go, stop, and turn is 100% dictated by them.

[2000Silverbullet]

I only had 9 beers when I picked up Dex, but it's legal, cuz I live only a mile away.

[enslow]

Thank goodness? ABS doesn't increase stopping distance. We all know that the best braking technique is threshold braking, just up to the last pressure before lockup. Once you lockup however, a human driver cannot compete with any half decent ABS system. Any power assisted disc brake equipped car can lock up the tires on a first try, so think of the ABS as a safety net, not as a main way of braking.

Interesting, that wasn't what I had heard in the past, so I felt compelled to check out some actual research results. Of course, as usual, I was wrong.

It seems that on dry roads, the difference is negligible. If anything, ABS shortens the stopping distance. On wet roads, stopping distance is reduced. Stopping distance is improved with ABS disabled in snow or gravel by 26%.

http://monash.edu/muarc/reports/Other/R ... veness.pdf

[willwren]

(that beer comment above was a joke, you know)


UPDATE:

Flash forward, driving the SLEeper due to bad weather, just a couple days ago (Wednesday last week), same intersection, same direction. Approaching the same left turn, a GARDA armored truck left the stop sign (had actually stopped) while I approached. The guy wasn't even looking to the right at all, nearly clipped my back end as I crossed in front of him, and would have if it hadn't been for the fact that I goosed the throttle. The good news was that he was just coming up to speed.

[2000Silverbullet]

Misses keep getting nearer.

Getting minor damage with these older cars now means totalling them.
I know you would be tempted to rebuild.........but would you?

Or would it give you the incentive to upgrade to a Honduik.

[00Beast]

Yikes. I suppose it wouldn't be worth it to report these to a city council or whomever is in charge of maintaining the road? If there have been other accidents there, maybe they will consider changing the system to a light or something.

[RJolly87]

Or even an all way stop would help too.