[aslyfox]

On Sept 9 my wife and I was west bound on I 70 in western Kansas in the late afternoon bright sunshine

speed limit 75 mph, I was in "cruise control " at 77 mph in the right hand lane when my Acadia was overtaken on the left

as that vehicle began to edge past the front of my SUV, I saw it start to enter my lane, the extreme front of that vehicle only had just cleared my front end .

I hit my brakes hard and had to go into the extreme edge of the paved road to avoid that vehicle as it continued into my lane

had I not taken extreme action, there was no doubt a high speed collision would have occurred

Today, as we were returning to Kansas, this happened in eastern Colorado on I 70 in broad daylight

speed limit 75 mph, I was in "cruise control " at 77 mph in the right hand lane when my Acadia was overtaken on the left by another vehicle

this one completed the pass and entered my lane less than 5 feet ahead of my vehicle

I laid on my horn for quite a few seconds

_____________________

years ago I learned defensive driving skills

had I not practiced them on this trip, my wife and I would have been severely injured or worse

Be careful out there and trust no one

---

Last edited by aslyfox; 09-14-2020 at 07:27 PM.

[maw]

years ago I learned defensive driving skills

had I not practiced them on this trip, my wife and I would have been severely injured or worse

Be careful out there and trust no one

Hi aslyfox,

The pitfalls of the street and of life are always around the corner.

I am glad you are not hurt or traumatized, the important thing is to still have a Pentaxian plus his wife of course.

Ciao Mario

[crazy4oldcars]

I practice Defensive Driving every day. My Red 370Z Nismo is my daily driver, and I share the road with 90% pickups, about half of which are jacked up, with oversized tires on them. I guess these cowboys don't realize their trucks have the stopping distance of a freight train, since most of them drive 85 mph regardless of the speed limit.
I'm driving a red flag waving for all the cops out there, so I tend to stick close to the speed limit. I'm also ...fanatical about watching my mirrors and leaving space ahead of me.
One time I had to hit the brakes hard, and drove to the shoulder. Good thing, too. The pickup that had been riding my ass ended up with his front axle even with the middle of my passenger door.


Kirk B.

[aslyfox]

I hate idiots that don't know that a vehicle needs room to stop before hitting an object in front of them

Hi aslyfox,

The pitfalls of the street and of life are always around the corner.

I am glad you are not hurt or traumatized, the important thing is to still have a Pentaxian plus his wife of course.

Ciao Mario

not to mention the potential damage to the Pentax cameras and lenses if a collision occurs

[maw]

May light and serenity accompany US.



1. Look further and further ahead

2. Having the overview of the position

3. Have an "escape" plan or "B" plan

4. Keep a safe distance

5. Reduce driving distractions: Car radio, air conditioning controls and satellite maps, cell phones we know, they are one of the main accident houses.
and also, eating, drinking, and arguing animatedly with other passengers.

It wants to be just a small review that we often miss or forget.

[RobA_Oz]

May light and serenity accompany US.



1. Look further and further ahead

2. Having the overview of the position

3. Have an "escape" plan or "B" plan

4. Keep a safe distance

5. Reduce driving distractions: Car radio, air conditioning controls and satellite maps, cell phones we know, they are one of the main accident houses.
and also, eating, drinking, and arguing animatedly with other passengers.

It wants to be just a small review that we often miss or forget.

Nice photo to accompany your text!

Also interesting to note the difference between Italian roads and US or Australian ones – few gigantic SUVs and many and smaller sedans. My take-away from driving for many years (mainly in Oz, but also in the US and Britain) is that drivers of larger vehicles (other than commercial trucks and buses) are in the main woefully unaware of the size of their charges, both in terms of weight and linear dimensions. The more tricked-up with big wheels and paint jobs, the less aware and/or more contemptuous of others are the drivers, not to mention their ignorance of the laws of physics. That’s not a universal rule, of course, but it’s a noticeable tendency.

[PJ1]

This is why I asked my grandson (13 yrs old) who likes to design stuff, to work on a small heat-seeking missile, about 3/4 inch or 19mm in diameter, that I can mount just behind the grille at the front of my car. I want to deploy it at about 100 metres to go straight up the exhaust pipe of whoever just annoyed me.

He told me it's a waste of time because all vehicles will be electric in a few years.

[ChrisPlatt]

I drove around all day for work for twenty years.
For the last fifteen years I am thankful to work in one place with a twenty minute commute on New York City streets, 25-40 mph speed limit.

Even on my short daily commute often young guys in their fast little cars and older guys in their big pickups, SUVS and other midlife crises
treat drivers obeying the speed limit and other traffic laws like just so many cones in a slalom course.

I suspect many of them learned most of their driving skills in video games. Only in real life you don't get three lives...

Chris

[BigMackCam]

There are some fools on the road that shouldn't be in charge of motor vehicles, that's for sure. Glad you're OK, Allen.

The last four cars I've owned have had a user-selectable speed limiter feature in addition to traditional cruise control. It's a feature I now insist upon in any car I buy... I've come to prefer it over cruise for faster and finer reactions it allows in situations just like this...

[SSGGeezer]

The GEO fencing feature in lots of new cars like my Hyundai can limit a speed and area allowed by a young driver through their Blue link system and a phone app. (Think On-Star with added features.) If you have a teenager in the house, a great feature.

[aslyfox]

Hadn't heard of the speed limiter feature but in my case, it was not my speed

It was the fact I watched the vehicle as it passed

My antilock brakes and my going to the extreme edge of the shoulder and it being paved, not gravel that saved us

Thank you all for the best wishes

[yucafrita]

Here in Berlin it is every day business for cars speeding up to pass the lights deep red, regardless of bicycles, pedestrians, x-ing traffic. We are fortunate that we have strict gun control here otherwise I would shoot a dozen drivers each day.

[reeftool]

I'm a biker and I see it all the time. You have no protection and even the most minor of collisions can cause life threatening injuries. Over the years, i have seen the driving public get worse and worse. People don't pay attention. Speed limits are ignored for the most part, as are double lines on 2 lane roads. I was hit on my Harley in 2016 by a guy who made a left turn in front of me. I saw it coming and swerved as much as I could. He hit the saddlebag behind me and I went down with minimal injuries, although I did get an ambulance ride out of it. Last year, a guy pulled out from a stop sign right in front of me. I slammed the brakes on and cranked the steering wheel but it wasn't enough although it probably saved the guys life. I hit his car right behind the drivers door. I was going 55 when I hit the brakes. I don't know how fast I was going when I T-boned him.

This year has been even crazier. Like many, I haven't been driving as much but I have seen far more crashes and people doing really stupid stuff on the road. I think people are just running through stop signs knowing that with little traffic, nothing will happen. Twice, I have been stopped at red lights and been passed! I have put under 500 miles on my bike this year. I've gone to a few events but not really just going out for a fun ride because it's becoming too stressful.

[crazy4oldcars]

And just imagine...
Cars are getting "smarter", offering semi-automatic driving, semi-automatic braking, and warning lights for front, rear and sides. Worse, the ID10T brigade are learning to rely on these crutches, rather than learning proper driving techniques.
I would rather the manufacturers hold all of these wonders until they can offer a fully self-driving vehicle. I would trust computers over the brigade. At least the responses would be consistent.

Kirk B.

[Just1MoreDave]

...not to mention the potential damage to the Pentax cameras and lenses if a collision occurs

Thanks for saving them!

The first time I was on that very straight stretch of I70, I said to my wife "someone could have fallen asleep ten miles ago and you'd never know it."