Egstyle
New member
I was driving to work this morning, going 60 mph, a usual day in my life, nothing seeming out of the ordinary. 2 lanes each direction, with a turning/suicide lane in the middle. No cars alongside me.
About 20 to 30 yards before the intersection, the light begins turning yellow, so naturally, I hit the gas. I am in the right lane.
As my 4Runner downshifts and begins to noticeably accelerate, someone driving the opposite direction, on the opposing end of the intersection, decides to start turning left, crossing into the left lane of my side of the street. I anticipate them to continue with the turn, making impact likely, so I begin braking and turning to the left. I am braking heavily enough that my wheels are making short skids and the back end wants to swing out.
They decide to stop, about halfway still in their turning lane and halfway into the left lane of my side of the street, as far as I can recall, as this happened so quickly. In other words, I am headed directly into them, slowed down to maybe 50 or 55 or so by now. But I was not slowing fast enough. Fortunately, there were no other cars coming the other direction, as I committed to my left hand swerve. Our passenger sides came within a few feet as I cleared the other car, I think hitting my gas just before I closed on it. Were I to have hesitated or decided to go right, by the time they stopped, my back end, at the very least, would most likely have collided with their front end. They were frozen the entire time.
I steered back into my right-hand lane, still going about 40 at this point. A minute or so later, I got a cold sweat, and contemplated the few split seconds that could have turned out so much worse. Perhaps my life, but at the very least that of the old girl. I would have been very sad after all we've been through together.
On the other hand, as I walked to work, I imagined how fun it must be to professionally race, particularly rally or baja.
I have broken my back end loose before (and recovered) with stock width tires, at higher speeds (~60mph), and can honestly say that the wider tires and wheels that I put on made a HUGE difference. Or at least the difference between me skidding sideways into that car or not.
About 20 to 30 yards before the intersection, the light begins turning yellow, so naturally, I hit the gas. I am in the right lane.
As my 4Runner downshifts and begins to noticeably accelerate, someone driving the opposite direction, on the opposing end of the intersection, decides to start turning left, crossing into the left lane of my side of the street. I anticipate them to continue with the turn, making impact likely, so I begin braking and turning to the left. I am braking heavily enough that my wheels are making short skids and the back end wants to swing out.
They decide to stop, about halfway still in their turning lane and halfway into the left lane of my side of the street, as far as I can recall, as this happened so quickly. In other words, I am headed directly into them, slowed down to maybe 50 or 55 or so by now. But I was not slowing fast enough. Fortunately, there were no other cars coming the other direction, as I committed to my left hand swerve. Our passenger sides came within a few feet as I cleared the other car, I think hitting my gas just before I closed on it. Were I to have hesitated or decided to go right, by the time they stopped, my back end, at the very least, would most likely have collided with their front end. They were frozen the entire time.
I steered back into my right-hand lane, still going about 40 at this point. A minute or so later, I got a cold sweat, and contemplated the few split seconds that could have turned out so much worse. Perhaps my life, but at the very least that of the old girl. I would have been very sad after all we've been through together.
On the other hand, as I walked to work, I imagined how fun it must be to professionally race, particularly rally or baja.
I have broken my back end loose before (and recovered) with stock width tires, at higher speeds (~60mph), and can honestly say that the wider tires and wheels that I put on made a HUGE difference. Or at least the difference between me skidding sideways into that car or not.
Regardless I'm happy you were able to avoid what could have been a nasty collision. What kind of vehicle were they driving?
