I don’t drive, so the question is mostly academic.
Among the road incidents in this video @ Jeffro’s post there is a repeated situation when a sudden obstacle appears in front of the driver (i.e. the car where the camera is). Usually it’s a huge truck that lost control and is spinning across the highway directly in the path of “our” car. What would you, as a driver, do?
In majority of these clips the driver instinctively turns left to move around the obstacle – but then he faces a chance to get into opposite-traffic lane and to encounter another car that is driving with highway speed. In several instances in the video that maneuver resulted in spectacular crash where “our” driver avoided one collision (with sudden obstacle) only to get into another. What do you think is correct course of action?
My immediate response is to get my speed down as low as possible, lest I plow into the poor sufferer ahead. If I can bring the vehicle to a stop — this will require, say, 200 feet from 70 mph under ideal conditions, which these probably aren’t — I catch my breath, wait for the show to end, and see if there’s some assistance I can render. Going around is not an option unless the road is seriously straight and level for the next couple of miles.
Only once have I had an altercation with a large truck; it was at sufficiently low speeds that survival wasn’t an issue if I were at least slightly alert. I note for record that I was slightly alert.
You can say I was upset by the video, right? I was.
In most of those clips the “camera” driver doesn’t have much time to stop, i.e. the distance to obstacle is less than 200 ft; it is also exacerbated by the obstacle vehicle continuing moving and spinning. Also, I was thinking of immediate reactions of a “camera” driver: he is supposed to momentarily weigh comparative probabilities of several dangerous scenarios: to be hit from the front (by a spinning truck), from the left at ongoing traffic (if he’s attempting to go around the obstacle) or from the back (if he is abruptly stepping on the breaks and the car behind him is not far enough).
I think the better reaction would be aiming for the right roadside – at least there the “camera” driver has some measure of control, even if the road is not flat and there is a more or less deep ditch – at least the ditch is not moving towards him!
Oh, what do I know.
When you collided with that truck – were you hurt? And your car?
I was uninjured; the trucking company gave me $490 to cover the cost of repairing the bent sheetmetal.
not enough to un-scare, if you ask me
Like Charles said – it depends on the situation. Most of the incidents in the video were in pretty poor conditions for traction. I just try to pay attention to drivers that stand out by their dangerous moves and plan accordingly. If you see someone driving way way too fast for the conditions, it’s pretty simple to ease up and let them ahead of you as quickly as possible. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen someone blow by me and then later on see them stuck in the median or involved in a fender bender on down the road. I do NOT stop, either. Stupidity should not be rewarded, IMHO!
Other examples where someone spun out and into the oncoming traffic – the drivers in the oncoming lanes have little choices or time.
Wet roads are more of a hazard than a lot of idiots realize – when the moisture first starts falling, it mixes with all the oil, dirt and gunk on the road and it gets really slick. If it continues raining, most of that is washed away, but traction is still reduced. And when it starts to quit raining, the crud builds up again and is slicker than when it was raining.
And any really fast lateral moves in a semi truck is likely to end badly – taking to the ditch to avoid something or just turning quickly can overturn or jackknife a rig in a big hurry. I have taken to the ditch in my personal vehicle before and successfully avoided any damage.
A lot of times things break into your consciousness just from sheer experience. I spend a lot of time on two lane roads, and oncoming traffic that is drifting over towards the centerline as I’m meeting them always sets off my alarms, even if they do not cross. I find myself easing over to the right in my lane and watching to see what action or lack of action the other vehicle will take.
This is all making the whole experience seem worse than it really is. When conditions are ideal, very few situations arise. When conditions are poor – that’s when I’d rather be camped out somewhere!
Oh, I know about the danger of the wet road, learned the hard way: we lost traction coming home on BQE one afternoon, somewhere in Queens, where there are lots of old overpasses and the highway was turning at that point; we were floating right underneath overpass, into the dark shadow, couldn’t see if there was a car in front, and couldn’t slow down – those seconds stretched and stretched…We were lucky the driver behind was able to pass us, there was a spot in parallel lane and there was nobody in the front.
I, too, think in the situation I described in the post the best solution is to aim for the ditch – I just don’t know why nobody in the video did it, they all tried to pass the obstacle from the left – which made me think this is some sort of instinctive reaction
I do recall turning leftward several times when I lost control of the car. I think it’s natural for most of us to move leftward when you’re passing something and hence passing lanes are on the left. One time was when my brakes locked up and I slid on a wet road. Several cars that were standing at a red light, looked nervously at me and I avoided hitting anyone. Another time was on a snowy road and as I banked right, the car started to slide. I turned the front wheels back to the left to regain control and wound up crossing onto the oncoming lane. That also turned out ok, although there was a nervous moment there when a car appeared on the opposite side. Fortunately I was able to regain steering before that car came close enough to hit.
So, basically, you do have that habit of steering left, you were just lucky.
I agree with the other commenters and I would try my damndest not to go into the oncoming traffic lane. This choice happens quite often around here in Wisconsin – we get a lot of animals in the road. Just today I smeared a bunny all over the road because I was not going to swerve for it (going about 50 mph). Deer are the worst – sometimes you just have to hit ‘em. Always better than swerving into oncoming traffic. I have only hit one deer so far (knock on wood) but many people die every year from car/motorcycle vs. deer accidents.
Oh yes, I know about deer accidents, my parents were in once, on a mountain road in PA. He jumped in front of the car out of nowhere after they turned, they had nowhere to go but forward – no ditch and no roadside wide enough. Smashed all front like accordion.
But with an animal you in a car still bigger and weightier, so you can risk it to go forward. If the obstacle is a giant truck, you don’t stand a chance. Wouldn’t you be better off swerving right, even if that means hitting the bollards?