I was out with my Ford last night with my son, about 9:30. We were heading east on a 2-lane each way highway, doing the limit which was 40. The lights are pretty well in-sync and I was approaching a long green light. A few cars were stopped at the cross street red light. I get maybe 200' from the intersection and a south-bound SUV completely blows the red light. Never even slowed. So I stand on the brakes and stop with less than 50' to spare. Which is pretty close as it was, if I was there 3 seconds earlier we would probably have been hurt and the car totaled. I'm happy the car stopped that well, the first real test of the front discs.
Probably had there nose in a phone. Glad to hear you came out of it ok. I've pretty much came to the conclusion that every car now days is a possible threat.
I agree. Driving home from work yesterday, my exit is blocked to the service road, there was a Ford Escape on its roof blocking both lanes, fire trucks all over the place. How the hell do you do that on a 2-lane service road with a speed limit of 45? I had to drive 5 miles out of my way to get home.
Indeed, every vehicle could be the one that gets you. You have to keep your eyes open to all of them.
My son just turned 28 the other day, good kid and he likes old cars. He talks about distracted drivers all the time and he sees people texting on their phones while driving. The one last night might have been a drunk though.
When I was running a uniform and towel route I got hit by red light runners twice the first one put me out of work for three months from concussions and black outs the second one was a real gem, I have the green light a Crown Vic with a guy on the phone blows the light the rear end of his smacks the grille and bumper of my truck his trunk flies open and beer and sodas are all over the road at 10 AM in the morning. Turns out this guy was a DPS (AZ highway patrol)investigator the car behind me that witnessed it was the Tolleson Police Chief who took pictures and ticketed the dummy,my company got a check for damages within one week,thankfully I was unhurt this time.
This just happened a week ago tonight.....I took my DD to Alamosa, Co for a car show. Alamosa is about 90 miles north of Taos, NM., so I decided to drive to Taos on Friday afternoon (5 hours), do some playing and then head up to Alamosa first thing AM. Well, I got done playing about 2 am, wasn't tired, so decided to drive to Alamosa. I got about 4 miles so of the Co/NM state line, no traffic, nothing within 20 miles in any direction, 65 mph desert highway, absolutly no off-roads, pull-offs or anything anywhere in the area. It was then about 2:45, I crested a little hill, and right in the middle of the driving lane ahead was something light colored that I couldn't quite make out what it was until I got close....it was a man dressed in tan fatigues standing absolutly still. White, clean cut army type, looked to be about 6'4" 250 lbs. He made no attempt to get my attention, flag me down, etc. If his head had not turned to watch me move into the oncoming lane to drive around him I would have suspected a manaqin. As I said, he just stood there, in the middle of the driving lane. I thought for about a second about stopping but that would have been stupid. Got nothing to do with being careful in our cl***ics, but I was on the way to a car show.
WOW!! Glad the brakes did their job! I've seen this scenario (people blowing through red lights) more times than I can count and it sends a chill up my spine every time. You gotta drive defensively ALL the time and even then, it's not 100%. I got T-boned while sitting at a red light once in '88. Small intersection, almost zero traffic. Some woman had just filled up at the gas station to my left, got in her truck and started to pull away from the pump towards me. Panicked for some unknown reason, stomped on the accelerator instead of the brake, flew across the road and hit me square on the A pillar of my '68 Grand Prix SJ that I had owned less than 2 weeks. Car was totaled but thankfully no injuries. I wound up buying a new Ford Ranger that year. Coming home from a job late afternoon, I was sitting in stopped traffic 5 cars back from the light on the exit ramp of the interstate. I look in my rear view and see this car take the exit at full speed and not slow down. I didn't have time to do anything but brace for impact. They hit me or I should say they drove under me. The nose of their camaro went under the bumper of my Ranger and I wound up on her hood, back tires off the ground. The only damage I had was the spare tire and bracket got scared up a little. The hood of the womans car got ripped up and her windshield smashed. Thankfully no injuries. You gotta drive defensively!!
I had the big one in 1978, almost got killed and I was on the shelf for a while. I finally went back to work full time in 1983. My 2011 accident (new 2012 Chevy Malibu, 600 miles...) screwed up my back worse than it already was. I go for a RFA on T5-T8 on Wednesday. You really need to drive like everyone is out to get you. Recognize a bad situation before it scoops you up. I gave up on motorcycles a long time ago, just too many cars and distracted drivers around. Buddy of mine, his son is a bit off the bubble, they got him a car with all the collision-avoidance bells and whistles. He's 26 but has wrecked 5 cars already.
Yeah...in Houston today, near the Ship Channel, a cement truck driver was texting.....turned the whole rig over on Hwy 225, where it lay on its side, pouring wet cement out onto the main highway that services the largest refineries in the world. I had the joy of sitting in that mess for a while....all because some #@$@!! was texting. Like y'all said....you almost have to treat everyone like a possible threat.
With all the trouble and deaths texting and driving causes its just amazing that people still do it. There was talk of making phones inoperable while moving in a car but I'm sure the lobbyist had something to do with stopping that. OK I'll step down off my soap box now.
Yeah, hate the texting while driving, even talking is bad enough for some, but with that said, I love the Bluetooth in the newer cars...makes it so much better when it's hands free. When I bought a radio for my '57 I made sure it was bluetooth......now, if I could just get my old phone to coordinate with it, lol. Seriously, being hard of hearing is what makes the bluetooth great. And btw, I hardly ever talk on the phone while driving...my wife just likes to check on me frequently when I'm on a road trip and driving or not, I don't text.
In the Ford, I put my flip phone between the seat sections and leave it there until I'm parked. In my Malibu, I can talk all I want on that phone and never take my eyes off the road.
I'm used to reading about this on motorcycle forums as I am new to cl***ic cars for this very reason. Two years ago my wife and I were rear ended in her convertible MINI as we were stopped to make a left hand turn across a single lane road. We were hit by a 25 year old girl at about roughly 40 miles per hour. The road was straight and flat, no visual obstructions, and she never hit her brakes. To make it even worse, 2 weeks prior I broke my ribs and clavicle and was still recovering from that. After our recovery my wife never road again, and I just couldn't put our daughter on the back again. i continued to ride but missed being able to enjoy it with my family. So, I sold all my bikes and bought a 56 Ford wagon, something we talked about for years.
With drivers so distracted today you have to be vigilant about being aware of those around you. A few years ago I was helping ladyhrp with a huge floral delivery for a volunteer fire fighters dinner and we were broadsided by a driver that ran a red light,totaled the van,broke my left wrist and destroyed 45 table arrangements. The driver totally ignored a not turn arrow and hit the van so hard it went up on two wheels and then hit a curb and down a embankment, he hit the car following us head on,fortunately the lady only got bruised up from the air bag. The police determined the driver was texting. HRP
In 2011, I got hit by a car that got hit by another car, the driver was some kid texting, which made my back condition worse. My car insurance donated $50,000 to my medical expenses, I got a decent settlement and I'm still not 100%. And this month is National Pain Awareness Month! I'm on the road quite a bit and see lots of accidents every day, some roads are notorious for chain reaction accidents. Who do I see with these wrecked cars? Nobody over the age of 30.
On the way home yesterday... I see 2 accidents and my commute is 9 miles. All young people standing around, one looks like it went under the car in front of it.
Heavy stuff, and I'm not talking gravity... Overhere the same thing, people generally think they live alone on the planet and care little for others. For a while now I make sure I just ignore the phone and keep my eyes on the road.
Like I say, I have a satellite phone in my Malibu, totally hands free and I don't talk on my cell phone when I drive. My son does a fair amount of driving and sees distracted drivers all the time. We just had a bad accident the other morning by my house, off duty cop going the wrong way on a main highway crashes head on into someone and kills the guy at 4:30 am. He's been arrested, suspended so I guess he was drunk.
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