Almost got creamed yesterday...

[MillWeld]

The road I live on intersects the highway at a blind hill and curve. I was approaching my road with my truck loaded, slowing down, signaling left and had to stop to wait for a dump truck to pass. I notice the car behind me rapidly closing in on me, skidding, decides to pull into the dump truck's lane to avoid me, changes his mind (duh!) and pulls back behind me, skidding all the while. He does avoid hitting me and the dump truck. I make my turn and everyone goes on his way. It all happened in about 1.5 seconds.

In trying to anticipate this in the future would it confuse the situation if I decided to forego my left turn to my road and hit the gas to get out of harm's way and turn around when it is safe? What would you do?

 

[MossflowerWoods]

In trying to anticipate this in the future would it confuse the situation if I decided to forego my left turn to my road and hit the gas to get out of harm's way and turn around when it is safe? What would you do?

I would Pray and do exactly what you did. Sit still and wait for the chaos to end.

Let's hope this was a once in a 100 years event...

Be well,
David

 

[phiferpharm]

It is very tough on rural roads at times. My access road is at the end of a curve and I'm usually turning left into it. Best you can do is signal, if you see someone coming up fast try to slow them down by braking early, and perhaps do what you say and just give up on the turn if they don't seem to get the idea your turning.

Not too long ago we had a elderly lady killed by one of the logging trucks due to this kind of problem. He swerved onto the shoulder and failed to see she was there. Truck flipped and the load crushed her. It's not that the road is that busy- it's nine miles to the first major intersection ( and that is just a 4 way stop sign), it's probably just the opposite problem.

 

[HHR]

About 15 years ago, an friend in the excavation business was making a left turn off from a busy 2 lane road with his tandem axle Diamond Rio dump truck and Case track loader behind him. A tourist driving a suburban with a bass boat behind tried to pass just as the turn was being made. Suburban hit the truck right behind the fuel tank and sheared all accessories off the left frame rail. Nobody was hurt but the all vehicles involved were crunched up pretty good.

 

[sparc]

Having been rear-ended by an inattentive driver I can relate to your situation in this case a little bit. I was not dragging a trailer at the time but just the same you get that feeling in your gut and the hair stands up on the back of your neck when you know the **** is about to hit the fan.

I didn't have a choice in my case as I was boxed in by other vehicles but if I had had the option I would have got off the brake and drove forward to give the guy the room he needed to stop IF he had been paying attention and had even started to brake. In my case the dork was reading the newspaper so he had no clue until he ran into my bumper at ~25 mph.

But in your case the driver behind you was trying to stop and since he had started braking late yes I think if you had been able to abandon your turn and driven forward then this might have created enough room for him to make a more controlled stop.

After all, what's more important in the grand scheme of things; making that turn right now and taking a chance on getting hit or as you say driving on and coming back around and approaching from the other direction?

 

[Bird]

I'd use my turn signals a little sooner, farther from the turn, than normal. And I'd start braking and slowing a little sooner while pumping the brakes to make the brake lights flash on and off to warn traffic behind me. Abandoning the turn and continuing on is great if you have time. Accidents like that happen so quickly, as you mentioned, that you might not have time.

 

[Thomas]

I ws setting at intersection waiting my turn to go left on motorcycle..I always have hand full of clutch lever..heard the screaming tires just intime to look back there was black small car coming fast,release the clutch ooohh so quickly shot between two other cars in wrong lane...had to check my shorts afterwards..driver never ever stop.

One should do what they can w/in reason to avoid.

 

[300UGUY]

What Bird said. These things happen so fast, I can't make a lot of decisions once they start.

 

[MillWeld]

Thanks for the replies. I think signaling and braking earlier like Bird said is what I will do. However, a hundred feet back from my turnoff I am invisible due to the rise in the road. If I'm stopped waiting to turn left and aa inattentive texting driver approaches I will just gun it, I guess. I will have about 0.1 seconds to decide. Such is the case for an overpopulating area that used to be rural. thanks again,
Bob

 

[schmism]

I'd use my turn signals a little sooner, farther from the turn, than normal.

Ive found this encourages the drivers behind me to try to pass me sooner. This usually creates problems because the reason i was slowing down to a stop was there was on common traffic. So they start there pass sooner not relizeing the on common traffic. when they pull out they see the now on common traffic and are double stuck now... because they committed to passing earlyer, they havnt braked any so they are REALLY closeing the gap behind me quicker than they can hope to stop.

Usually this means i abandon my turn at that location so i dont get rear ended, or worse.

 

[kco]

I'd use my turn signals a little sooner, farther from the turn, than normal. And I'd start braking and slowing a little sooner while pumping the brakes to make the brake lights flash on and off to warn traffic behind me. Abandoning the turn and continuing on is great if you have time. Accidents like that happen so quickly, as you mentioned, that you might not have time.

Same here. Another thing to remember is to leave your front wheels straight while waiting to make a left turn. Only turn the wheels while actually proceeding. Otherwise even a slow rear end bump can send you into approaching traffic.

 

[cmyoung2]

Years ago I was stoped at a stoplight in a Datsun pickup with a trailer. Checked the rearview and saw a fullsized Blazer coming a little fast, Then I realized I could see the tread pattern in his big front tires(not turning, just sliding). No one was coming through the intersection, so I just dropped the clutch, ran the light and tried to get out of the way. I was all the way through the intersection when he caught me. Tore up his grill, put my bumper up under the truck, but no real damage. (he ran, got caught). If I had not pulled off, I feel sure my truck would have been a mess, me too, probably. Stay alert, know what is going on around you, and get out of the way of bad stuff when possible. Goes for life in general as well as driving.

 

[Cat_Driver]

Getting rear ended is a tough one to avoid id you're just sitting there.
The one that gets me are red light runners. There is a standing order in out house NEVER EVER go immediately when the light changes.

I personally have avoided three of four T bones. I sit and wait a few seconds AFTER the light turns green , look left & right THEN I go.

 

[Bird]

Same here. Another thing to remember is to leave your front wheels straight while waiting to make a left turn. Only turn the wheels while actually proceeding. Otherwise even a slow rear end bump can send you into approaching traffic.

Very good reminder! Another thing I learned years ago when stopping behind another vehicle, whether at a signal light, or anywhere else, is to always stop far enough back that you can see where the rear tires on the vehicle ahead of you touch the road. That's for a couple of reasons. One is in case you get rearended it doesn't knock you into the car ahead of you, damaging the front of your vehicle, too, as well as involving a third vehicle. The other is in case the one ahead of you should become disabled or stalled, or if the driver gets out, you have room to go around him without having to back up first.

Incidentally, the last accident I was involved in was in July, 2005. There was a light rain falling and I stopped behind another vehicle at a stop sign on a downward sloped, wet street. And a young lady in a sedan rearended me hard enough to knock me forward but fortunately not far enough forward to hit the one in front of me. No injuries to anyone; just cost her insurance company $1,031.91 to fix my Ranger.:laughing:

 

[Bird]

Years ago I was stoped at a stoplight in a Datsun pickup with a trailer. Checked the rearview and saw a fullsized Blazer coming a little fast, Then I realized I could see the tread pattern in his big front tires(not turning, just sliding). No one was coming through the intersection, so I just dropped the clutch, ran the light and tried to get out of the way. I was all the way through the intersection when he caught me. Tore up his grill, put my bumper up under the truck, but no real damage. (he ran, got caught). If I had not pulled off, I feel sure my truck would have been a mess, me too, probably. Stay alert, know what is going on around you, and get out of the way of bad stuff when possible. Goes for life in general as well as driving.

In 1973 or 74, one Sunday I had some college lessons to work on, so my wife took our 2 little girls to go visit her brother's family that afternoon. I had bought a little Opel Cadet to tow behind a little motorhome and that's what she drove that day. It turned out that the Dallas Cowboys were playing that Sunday and traffic on the freeway, near the stadium, came to a stop. My wife said she saw a big Pontiac coming and knew he couldn't get stopped, so she pulled off onto the shoulder of the road and accelerated. But when the Pontiac driver saw he wasn't going to get stopped, he pulled off onto the shoulder, too, and ran them down. It did massive damage to the little car, broke the back of the drivers seat off, and sent my wife and daughters to the hospital, but fortunately only minor injuries.

 

[aczlan]

I personally have avoided three of four T bones. I sit and wait a few seconds AFTER the light turns green , look left & right THEN I go.

Works until the person coming behind you is watching the light rather than you and rear ends you at 45MPH.
Happened to Dad in 2000 when we were down in GA, he was ~10 cars back and the (uninsured) guy was watching the light rather than the cars in front of him. That pushed the back bumper of his '84 Volvo 760 Turbodiesel almost into his tires... Dad was NOT a happy camper (especially has he had just gotten the engine rebuilt a few months before), the insurance company didn't think that the rebuild was worth anything (a receipt for the rebuild helped change their minds to a certain extent though).
I then got to move the engine/transmission from that car into a "roller" that Dad picked up.

Aaron Z

 

[jonyyuma]

Same here. Another thing to remember is to leave your front wheels straight while waiting to make a left turn. Only turn the wheels while actually proceeding. Otherwise even a slow rear end bump can send you into approaching traffic.

Exactly what happened to a co-worker here..he only did one thing wrong and it was to cut his wheels to turn left..he was rearended into the oncoming traffic,at a stoplight. He lived nearly a year after, until the effects of the accident finally took him.