A&Q about Lotus
Q:
Originally Posted by Surferjer
I didn't even spill the drinks in the kmart cup holders.
A:
glad you're ok. the same sh*t happened to me 3 years ago. Only it was raining and I was going around a hydroplaining Corolla!
A:
Originally Posted by UKphil
From Bill Bryson's "The Lost Continent"
Every ten miles or so [in the far west of Kansas] there is a side road, and at every side road there is an old pickup truck stopped at a stop sign. You can see them from a long way off-in Kansas you can see everything from a long way off-glinting in the sunshine. At first you think the truck must be broken down or abandoned, but just as you get within thirty or forty feet of it, it pulls out onto the highway in front of you, causing you to make an immediate downward adjustment in your speed from sixty miles an hour to about twelve miles an hour and to test the resilience of the steering wheel with your forehead. This happens to you over and over. Curious to see what sort of person could inconvenience you in this way out in the middle of nowhere, you speed up to overtake it and see that sitting at the wheel is a little old man of eighty-seven, wearing a cowboy hat three sizes too large for him, staring fixedly at the empty road as if piloting a light aircraft through a thunderstorm. He is of course quite oblivious of you. Kansas has more drivers like this than any other state in the nation, more than can be accounted for by simple demographics. Other states must send them their old people, perhaps by promising them a free cowboy hat when they get there.
I remember reading that the first two automobiles in the state of Kansas...hit one another. Go figure.
Tom
A:
Once again a mindless Pennsylvania driver nearly killed me. I'm coming up a hill accelerating and a car made a left turn, crossing my path and heading down the hill. The idiot behind him decides he's going to do the same---without looking! So he pulls out in his Mini and fills my lane before he sees me coming, and then he STOPS!
Now I have two choices-cream him, total my Elise and send us both to the hospital, or try to go around him. It's amazing how time slows down in that circumstance. I was so close to him that coming to a stop from 45 MPH was impossible, I might have gotten down only to 25. But in that split second I actually had time to gage traffic coming down the hill (don't want a head on), decide that if he pulled out further where I'd aim for (directly behind the driver door) and what the odds were of a total (100%) and what color I might pick for my new car after I got out of the hospital. Bizarre, huh?
Well, he remained where he was and got the big as saucers eyes as I treated his car like a big cone. I successfully made the lane change and back in that split second. Part of me wanted to flip a u turn, catch him and slap the sh*t out of him. But I wound up just continuing on home. I didn't even spill the drinks in the kmart cup holders.
How many near misses have you guys had where another car wouldn't have gotten you out of the jam? I have avoided three serious crashes because of how the Elise handles. However, a bigger car might have gotten spotted and maybe the other driver wouldn't have gaffed. Of course if I lived in a state with smarter drivers, many of these would never have happened.
A:
Wow, must have been intense. Glad you're alright.
Sort of reminds me of the accident that James Dean died in. (indesicive left turn)
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Looks like the auto-x practice paid off
Originally Posted by Surferjer
Of course if I lived in a state with smarter drivers, many of these would never have happened.
Unfortunately I don't think there is such a state...
A:
I had the EXACT same thing happen to me however when it was over I was so livid I floored it and did a U turn. I turn the wheel full lock and floored it. I literally spun around in the road ( didn't know the car was capable of it) and chased him down and mouthed some things at him. He wouldn't make eye contact though. If he had waved sheepishly after it happened or done ANYTHING to say he was sorry it wouldn't have bothered me so much. Any other car and I would have hit the guy and probably killed him.
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So you conditioned the leather seats, hey??? Glad to see you made it out ok. People are absolutely nuts. The US would never be able to handle an autobahn, as people just don't know how to drive. At least he played dead and didn't move at you (probably too busy peeing on himself at a minimum..LOL).
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yikes
glad you're okay !
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Originally Posted by Surferjer
How many near misses have you guys had where another car wouldn't have gotten you out of the jam? I have avoided three serious crashes because of how the Elise handles.
Well done! Scary though.
I had something very, very similar happen back when I had my MR2. It was a four lane road, and they stopped blocking both of my lanes. Immediately beyond was a concrete median (they were trying to turn through a gap in that). The driveway they were pulling out of was a very wide, gently sloped entry to a Home Depot parking lot. All this happened as I was rounding a left turn, the driveway was right after that turn. So, I was in the outside lane, suspension still a little loaded. I was worried that going around the left of the driver would lead me into a spin, so I cut right, going around the BACK of the car. This involved using the driveway, but again, it was so gently sloped that it was OK (there were no pedestrians in sight, I DID consider that first). In anything but a sports car, I would have t-boned that other driver.
A:
Close call. Was it during the day? Do you have day time running lights? I really do believe they help others see us.
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Mine happened dusk, headlights on. Around 6 PM. He simply never looked, just followed the cow (car) in front of him. Cattle drivers that just follow the herd.
This happened once before right after I got my car, same cirmstances, only more speed involved and I wound up going behind the car like what Matt describes. I'm not surprised I'm not the only one.
Thank god for the Elise's excellent handling. Even after this the car's attitude was so 'ho hum, no worries'. I know that sounds weird to y'all, but I swear I can feel it. Maybe it's the lack of rocking (residual body roll) or the tires or the tightness of the car. Looking back I'm really glad I made the decision I made, although creaming him would have given him what he deserved.
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Blimey
Good avoidance skills, Jer!
This kind of thing (although I have not experienced anything quite so dramatic, touch wood) is why I am glad I have bright LED running lights.
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Holy crap, your description was great, it was like I was almost in the close call too!!
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well, i'll ask the difficult question here... what color?
A:
Originally Posted by Surferjer
Looking back I'm really glad I made the decision I made, although creaming him would have given him what he deserved.
Unfortunantly I'm all too familiar with a similar situation. Last Dec, friends of the family were in a similar situation, but they were in a full size pickup instead of an Elise. They were headed down the road at 55-60mph (55mph speed limit) and a SUV pulled across their lane while making a left out of a parking lot. They didn't have time to stop, and the shoulders drop off into pretty steep drainage ditches so they weren't really an option. On top of it, the lady froze when she saw their truck and got t-boned hard. Our friends were fine, as well as the driver of the SUV, but the little boy in the back was killed.
A:
I can't even tell you how many times I've had close calls here in SE Florida. In various cars, I've had my life flash before my eyes - I'm talking CRAZY stuff including multiple cases of cars going the wrong way on divided roads right at me! I described one that happened in my Lotus recently on this thread:
Glad to hear you came out OK. I agree that advanced driving skills gained in performance driving schools and on the track make a BIG diffference.
Mike
A:
Originally Posted by Surferjer
Well, he remained where he was and got the big as saucers eyes as I treated his car like a big cone. I successfully made the lane change and back in that split second. Part of me wanted to flip a u turn, catch him and slap the sh*t out of him. But I wound up just continuing on home. I didn't even spill the drinks in the kmart cup holders.
Your skills paid off! Great description and great way to avoid the accident!
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Originally Posted by fastliz
I can't even tell you how many times I've had close calls here in SE Florida.
Mike
Don't believe it one bit...crazy people in SE Florida that can't drive...never...
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In such instances my mind seems to go into slow motion. In the 1/4 second between noticing the threat and getting past it my brain slows everything down. It seems like there is plenty of time to consider every option, weigh the pros and cons, go over my grocery list briefly, check the position of the sun in the sky, practice a breathing exercise, remember that thing I had forgotten all week that was bugging me, review the pros and cons again, make a decision, and then act to avoid the obstical. It's quite a strange and interesting mental phenomenon. I wonder if anybody has researched it.