Had hairy experience - stopped on blind curve

[JuniorD]

Yesterday I had a very close call and still have the heebie-jeebies thinking about it.

Situation is that I was the last in a line of cars that became stationary on a fast twisty section of single-lane carriageway with high desnse hedges obscuring the view around the curves. Each traffic lane was separated by continuous double white. Speed limit was NSL in Ireland - 100km/h.

As the line of vehicles came to a fairly quick halt I was immediately concerned as I was last in queue and was about 50 yards beyond a totally blind bend. In the preceeding stretch of straight road there hadn't been anyone behind me for quite a while (we were trapping early from a football match, hoping to avoid match traffic on the long trip home). Anyway, as I rolled up I mentioned to my old man who was with me that this was not good, should anyone come round that corner quickly we would surely be fked. After 20 seconds or so we hadn't moved so I was becoming increasingly uneasy. Then, looking over our shoulders out the back (had the roof down so had an excellent view) there he came, a car looking pretty 'committed'. On seeing us he slammed on the brakes which locked up, his car disappearing in plumes of tyre smoke. I frantically tried to grab a gear (3rd!) to move forward even just an inch but nothing...

Well, he came to a screaming halt about 1/2 car length behind us, sideways across the lane, front bumper just touching the hedge on the left and his tail end in the opposite lane. I think I dropped a bollck and the poor fker must have st himself as he kept about 200 yards behind us when we all finally got moving.

It is my belief that only luck saved us. Had the other vehicle been loaded up with passengers I imagine it would have been impact, similarly, if it had been a bus or truck it wouldn't bear thinking about.

So, in that situation, what could I have done to avoid this or improve my poistion?

Edited by JuniorD on Monday 20th July 12:07

[The Black Flash]

Nightmare scenario that one
Not sure what you can do really?

[Don]

There is stuff you can do. Whether or not it would actually help?

Basically if you become stuck in any queue make sure you leave a gap of about a car length between the nose of your car and the rear of the one in front.

This gives you some room for manouvre. i.e. you might be able to grab a gear and drive onto the other side of the road creating an extra car length's room. Or maybe you could drive into the hedge creating some room or even full lock right and try to get out of the way.

But the precaution is always to leave room between you and the car in front.

It might help.

Horrid business, that. Glad you were OK.

[Mike V]

Also consider holding your foot on the brake with your sidelights on. If it was dark I would even go as far as putting a fog light/hazards on. So when someone does come round the corner they are warned sooner.

[GreenV8S]

If they're approaching at high speed you can see that they're having trouble stopping while there's time to do something about it. In that situation I'd be in gear and looking for a gap to drive into, even if it means going off road. I only once had to do it in anger, moved the car forward into the gap between two lanes and somebody else parked up in my 'spot' with the tyres smoking.

[scoobydude]

If I was in that situation for more than a couple of minutes, I would have moved onto the other side of the road (if it was quiet enough), then moved over as much as possible and put the hazards on. I'd imagine it would be much easier for someone approaching from ahead to spot you than someone approaching from behind.

[BOR]

Nightmare.

I would consider:

1. Coming to a halt ASAP so that I'm still visible to following traffic

2. Reversing back around the corner if I thought i had time, to make myself more visible, and to give me a few metres of space to "plunge" into. You would need to react immediately to get away with this I think.

3.Making sure my wheels are pointing towards grass verge to avoid being punted into oncoming traffic in event of being rear-ended.

[henrycrun]

If you are stopped unexpectantly anytime, anywhere, use the Hazards. Can't tell if the next car to come along is on the phone, makeup, glovebox or sightseeing

[mrmr96]

As mentioned by a couple of the others, what I would do is:
1) leave a nice big gap to the car in front (possibly consider reversing, but I would hope to be able to stop myself with a fair distance to the car in front without resorting to this)

2) put the lights on and my rear fog light (so that even when my foot comes off the brake it shows as bright red, similar to brake lights)

3) leave the car in 1st gear with foot on the clutch, ready to move forward swiftly when a car appears behind me.

4) keep a near constant eye on the rear view mirror, ready to spring forwards into my space.

I had a similar experience to you a while ago and I had followed my own advice. So when the car came up fast behind me I had about 8 car lenghts to move forwards into, which is just as well as once the clouds of tyre smoke had cleared I could see the guy stopped about 2 car lenghts forwards of where I had been. So some of the guys above have the right idea, but why limit yourself to one car lenght escape gap? Make a nice BIG gap, as you never know how fast the next car will come. And use first (not 3rd) gear for a nice swift more forward when required.

Hindsight is great. I hope you and other readers learn something from this.

[JuniorD]

For what it was worth I was just short of putting the hazard lights on when the other car appeared and I did have the brakes applied before my panicy attempt to more forward. Had I left any bigger a gap between the me and the car in front (one car length) it would have put me even closer to the corner and the other vehicles initial breaking point. A catch-22 if ever I have seen one! Oh, and the only reason I ended up in 3rd gear was sheer panic!

Since posting I have found that the traffic I was in had momentarily slowed while passing a spot where a motorcyclist had been killed that morning in a head-on crash. If the timings on the news reports are correct (10.30am) then it would seem that the fatal motorcycle accident had happened within minutes of me passing the same place on my outward journey that morning.

Edited by JuniorD on Monday 20th July 14:10

[Mr Will]

Foot on the brake (to show brake lights), Hazards on, in 1st gear ready to move.

If you are in a particularly dodgy situation then consider doing all this and doing it before a car appears round the corner, once they have appeared it is too late to achieve much.

[mrmr96]

Mr Will said:

Foot on the brake (to show brake lights), Hazards on, in 1st gear ready to move.

I would advise the use of rear fog lights in conjunction with brake lights. Same effect but it continues to shine bright red even after you've released the footbrake to begin moving forward into your gap.

[Loque]

Yeah as has been said, hit up the fog lights. I don't know but lights seem to be quite underused on the roads IMO. I regularly use my fogs and hazards.

[scoobydude]

Loque said:

Yeah as has been said, hit up the fog lights. I don't know but lights seem to be quite underused on the roads IMO. I regularly use my fogs and hazards.

Without wanting to turn this into a "people who drive with their fog lights on when it's not foggy are fkwits" thread, if the next car arriving round the bend had been plod, and the fog lights were on for no good reason, I'm pretty sure they would have had a word about it. Fog lights are known as fog lights for a reason, There's even a clue in the term "FOG lights". In this particular case there may have been a smidgen of a case for using them. If you normaly drive with the fogs on (particularly the front spot/fog lights) you deserve to be locked up in a cell with a strange smelling, drunk, sex offender, for a week IMO

[mrmr96]

I'm not advocating "driving around" with fog lights on when it's not foggy. I'm suggesting the use of rear foglights to emulate brake lights when there's a good chance the next car round the bend will be travelling so fast (or I'm so close to the corner) that it can't stop in the distance it can see to be clear.

Obviously you'd turn them off as soon as the danger had passed. (Either your queue moves forwards or a car comes and stops behind you, so you're no longer the back of the queue.)

I think the highway code used to say that it was not legal to use hazard lights while moving, but so many people do use them to warn of slow traffic ahead on Motorways that the highway code was amended to permit/encourage their use in this way.

I have no problem using my fog lights in the way described above, as I prioritise mine and my passengers personal safety above the law.

[Loque]

scoobydude said:

Loque said:

Yeah as has been said, hit up the fog lights. I don't know but lights seem to be quite underused on the roads IMO. I regularly use my fogs and hazards.

Without wanting to turn this into a "people who drive with their fog lights on when it's not foggy are fkwits" thread, if the next car arriving round the bend had been plod, and the fog lights were on for no good reason, I'm pretty sure they would have had a word about it. Fog lights are known as fog lights for a reason, There's even a clue in the term "FOG lights". In this particular case there may have been a smidgen of a case for using them. If you normaly drive with the fogs on (particularly the front spot/fog lights) you deserve to be locked up in a cell with a strange smelling, drunk, sex offender, for a week IMO

Whoa. Calm down. I do a lot of driving at night, (I work nights so it stands to reason that I am nocturnal. Look at the times for most of my posts. I also enjoy driving through quiet country roads, which most of the time at night, are foggy. It may be patchy, it may be just here and there, but honestly, if there is any hint of low visibility, I want to maximise my chances of being seen. During the days though, unless its foggy (duh) they stay off.

[scoobydude]

I was only havin a larf The amount of people who drive with their spots on in bright daylight does make me wonder what they think they are actualy for though.

Edited by scoobydude on Tuesday 21st July 09:22

[otolith]

mrmr96 said:

I had a similar experience to you a while ago and I had followed my own advice. So when the car came up fast behind me I had about 8 car lenghts to move forwards into, which is just as well as once the clouds of tyre smoke had cleared I could see the guy stopped about 2 car lenghts forwards of where I had been.

So if you'd stopped one car length from the back of the queue in the first place, he'd have stopped 3 car lengths back from you?

Seems to me that the downside of leaving a huge gap is that you are creating more of a hazard by eating into the other car's braking distance - you are then reliant on your own reactions, and you increase the risk that the other driver will just try to swerve round you, perhaps colliding with oncoming traffic, leaving the road or hitting you as he tries to cut back into the gap you are then closing. Same applies to any evasive action you might take - if you take to the verge or go offside, you may be cutting into the escape route he has chosen. If you both go offside and collide, you may be held partly to blame for the accident, while if he runs into the back of you when you are stationary, you will not. Likewise, if you are hit from behind while stopped and pushed into the car in front, it will look a lot better than if you were accelerating at the back of the queue at the time.

I think by attempting to create a situation you can control, you may end up taking on some responsibility for an outcome you may still be unable to prevent.

[waremark]

mrmr96 said:

I think the highway code used to say that it was not legal to use hazard lights while moving, but so many people do use them to warn of slow traffic ahead on Motorways that the highway code was amended to permit/encourage their use in this way.

Only permitted AIUI on motorways and unrestricted dual carriageways. But I would certainly have had my hazards on all the same, in first gear, options identified, and possibly have backed round the corner (I have done this in the past).

The OP got halfway there in recognising the danger in the first place, which many would not have considered until after the event!

[spitfire4v8]

Leaving a BIG safety gap around you is very important. I was nearly side-swiped .. situation: I was waiting to turn right off the major road into the minor road at a T junction. I had a car in front of me turning right first so left a big gap to him. A volvo estate came tramming down the minor road, locked its brakes up, slid straight over his give way lines , straight through the gap between me and the car in front and embedded itself into the kerb on the other side of the road at a fair old lick. There's no side impact protection in my little f/glass car so I'm convinced my pelvis would have been wafer thin had he hit me. Big gaps around you are life-savers!