Just because I know threshold braking...

[wolfwings]

...does not mean the gal behind me does. That was the last thought I had, almost literally. "Oh shit... I had to max-brake there and barely made it... BRACE! *WHAM*crinzt*"

Eclipse is now about 3 inches more compact, and has a face like the hunchback of Notre Dame.

Northbound on the 405, number 1 lane, sudden slowdown. And I mean to the point I realized, "I don't have time to blink my brakelights to warn the person behind me. I have to actually slam on the brakes and try not to spin out," sudden.

I stopped with around a foot to spare. And as my car was settling back on it's rear wheels again... it got lifted up and forward so the passenger-side headlight got shoved back about a foot into the car by the driver-side rear bumper of the car in front of me.

The gal behind me had a face covered in blood, as was her shirt, and full airbag deployment in the front of the car with the front of her car shortered by about... 2 feet, by comparison to the 3-4 inches my rear bumper got crunched. Now it's all up to the insurance companies, which'll be akward since both she and I are AAA members and have AAA insurance.

But this proves that I can tell if I can stop in time. And that that has no bearing on if the person behind me can.

Comments

[manawolf.livejournal.com]

What others have said... this is the equivalent of the universe smacking you upside the head with a clue-by-four.

I think drewkitty said it best... you are an excellent technical driver. You know your car and it's capabilities, superbly. That's not under question.

Unfortunately, the driving you are doing nowadays is largely dependant upon an element of social interaction. Sardonicus commented to me recently about the social aspect of driving he observes when riding with me - I interact with other cars on the road as if they are people. And, really, they ARE. Distracted people, incompetent people, asshole people, and occasionally even sometimes nice people who wave back.

You HAVE to treat driving in the city as a social exercise, one where the people you interact with are steering multi-ton shrieking metal engines of death, most often at a capacity far below competence.

Give an extra foot of leeway, not an inch. Allow an extra car-length. Plan for people to do incredibly stupid things immediately in front of you - and for the people in back of you to be putting on makeup or something. As I know you know, people are stupid and do stupid things, and you can't bank on trusting that they will do what they should when they should. I've seen cars whizz through the light - three seconds after it turned green in the other direction - too often to shoot forward from the line as if the lack of opposing traffic were guaranteed. Should be, but it ain't.

Part of me knows you hardly need a lecture on the dangers... but I've been driving since I was 19 and had a total of 1 no-fault accident. My daily mileage these days is very low, but that wasn't always the case. Accident records like what you have don't just happen - there is a common factor, and that is you, and you need to learn how to drive defensively before the odds catch up.

I know I'm being unusually harsh, but god dammit, I'm worried. This many cars wrecked is just not normal. It isn't. And even if karmic dice are just throwing idiots your way, you need to learn to drive with that in mind. Because you can't change the situations you're thrown into, or the morons on the road. But you can drive knowing that these things happen to you, a lot, and expect them to happen, and plan to protect yourself and your vehicle when they do.

'Nough outta me. Sorry if I'm venting any undeserved vibes in your direction, it's been a rough weekend. But I am still freaked out and worried 'bout ya. Only got one niichan... yakno? *hugs*