Near (Death?) Experience
 

Now that I have calmed down, I would like to share with you my experience today:

I was driving to NY from NJ. On the highway, while I was cursing at the potholes and trying to dodge them, I came to a bend in the highway. My view was fully blocked by construction on either side of the road and a wall separating two highways. The highway had two lanes, I was in the left lane. On my right was a big 18-wheel trailer and it was going fairly slowly (40MPH), I was traveling at about 70MPH, the speed limit was 65MPH. As I pass the trailer, I enter the bend and as soon as I complete the bend, I see a line of cars, all stopped due to an accident further ahead. I hear that the 18-wheeler who had a better view ahead hit the breaks as hard as he can. I also hit the break. I have developed a habit that I look at my rear view mirror to see how close the car behind me is if I hit the breaks hard. I see an SUV who is too close to me to be able to stop. I immediately change lanes to the right lane in front of the big truck and hit the break. I barely stop just behind the car ahead of me. I look at my driver side mirror and the SUV that used to be behind me crashes in to the car that used to be in front of me at about 60MPH.

Both cars are destroyed. The crash causes a domino effect of three other cars. In all this mess, nothing hits me.

My hand were shaking. As the traffic moves forward, I see that a crash ahead was the cause of the traffic. Another 3 cars were hit, but not nearly as bad as what happened near me.

Had I stayed in my own lane, there would have been nothing left of my car.

So please, please, never tailgate, no matter what you drive.

Driver reaction and instinct + 370Z handling FTW in this situation.

Glad you're safe man.

Wow happy you and the Z made it out off that!

If you would have been in an SUV, you would have likely suffered a similar faith as the other SUV...

Damn man glad you got outa it

That is definitely possible. Had I myself been tailgating, I would have probably had an accident also.

And this is why you don't touch the vdc friends!

What does VDC have to do with anything?!

FTMFW baby.

I agree with OP. While you are supposed to keep your undivided attention of what is going on ahead, I also make sure I keep tally of my rear view mirror. If someone is on my @ss I'll move over.

Glad you're okay OP.
Tons of ******** out there.

In an emergency situation you want your car to go where you tell it to.

close one...that why i never tailgate people anymore (^_^) better be safe than sorry...glad you're ok..

Good instincts on that one..... YOu probably pissed off the truck driver but hey...He missed you and saw what happened, so all is good!

Good instincts on that one..... YOu probably pissed off the truck driver but hey...He missed you and saw what happened, so all is good! Wish I had that option when I got caught in a 4 car sandwich...

The OP did a lane change by moving the steering wheel. So what does VDC have to do with it? If anyone thinks VDC "on" was the only reason for a successful lane change and bringing the car to a stop you're in a dream world. Come back to reality and use your driving skills as the OP did.

Im sure it didnt hurt either.

The VDC comment usually works like this.

When you swerve to avoid something of this stories nature, you tend to swerve hard and gas at the same time. With the weight shifting so violently, you can easily break traction trying to force the car where you wanted to go. Thats how I see the VDC comment working out there.

But who gases into another line of cars? I wouldn't :p

It's apparent to me that you don't know what VDC actually does. It is not the magic *NO CRASH* button.

Do you know what VDC did in this situation? Nothing, because it doesn't make the car stop any quicker (unless you're actually giving it gas for some stupid reason), and it isn't going to help with a lane change.

It cuts power. You can take your foot off the gas and accomplish the same thing, did you know that? It stops morons from flipping the rear end 180 when they're gunning it. It is not traction control.

You know what he can thank? First off, himself for being aware of the car behind him, who probably thought his VDC would magically bring him to a halt as well. Second, his Anti-Lock Brakes for keeping them from locking up. And last of all, he can thank the dealer for selling him the Sport package with bigger tires and brakes so he could stop in time.

VDC? Worthless for anyone not driving like a clownpuncher.

VDC does not affect breaking or fast lane changes. ABS breaks, good handling is what saved me.

Had I tried to accelerate rapidly without VDC, then I may have gone into a spin.

VDC saves me on a daily basis as I drive a little spirited, and so I never turn it off. But it is good to know what does what in our cars and not to associate everything to the VDC.

Good driving ability...VDC maybe?

That's one thing I find myself being consciously more aware of, the people behind me. Sure, I can stop on a dime, and chances are my car can come to a quicker stop than the car in front of me, but that is also probably true of the person behind me.

Just recently I found myself in a spot where I had to come to almost a complete stop while going about 75 on the highway, luckily I was able to quickly look behind me, and saw that there was a stupid ******* SUV right on my ***. Instead of just slamming my breaks to avoid crashing into the cars in front of me, I pulled onto the emergency lane/median and came to a slower stop, winding up next to the guy that was in front of me. If I didn't do this, the SUV behind me might of rear ended me. In the end, he had the same idea I did, so I probably would have been safe, but still. Now on I try not to get into that situation in the first place.

Whoa..good heads up!..I always look in the rear view myself..mostly for cops..haha

Too many D***heads drive SUV's. I see no need for them and I do not understand why they are not banned. The morons who buy these things believe they will be safe because they are in something big, then another moron goes and buys something bigger in case he gets hit by another moron in a Suv, so where does it stop.....if tanks were offered as street vehicle, these morons would buy them.

you're driving like an inexperienced 16yr old with a death wish if this is the case.

Good (smooth) drivers will rarely, if ever, trigger VDC...

To the OP, I see this thread potentially turning into another VDC pissing contest. So, before it does, I just want to pop in to say I'm glad you're okay, and I hope none of the other drivers got hurt too seriously. Props to you for paying attention to your surroundings and being able to react quickly. :tiphat:

Can't agree more.

Good job on taking my exaggeration to a whole new level.

Nice, glad you are ok.

Too bad there wasn't 3 lanes, then you could have done a "Smokey & The Bandit" move and gone under the trailer of the big rig into the 3rd lane :tup:

lol

Would the 370z clear one without hitting the roof? Hmmm

Quick thinking. Definitely a scary experience.

:iagree:

Nice job avoiding the accident OP. I hate seeing or hearing about close calls cuz ive been in a few myself. You definitely get some aftershock which takes a toll. Glad to hear your safe, sleep it off and forget it ever happened

Good quick reaction. I was in a similar situation last year in my SUV. Coming home from work on a 2lane open highway and towards the end the highway starts to get traffic lights. Everyone is used to flying and a lot of times people misjudge the slow or stopped traffic approaching the lights. Anyway, cars in front of me braked real hard. I braked hard but was sure to leave a good gap in front of me and the car behind me as I was braking hard. All the while I'm watching my rear-view and the car in front of me. We finally come to a stop and I see a huge SUV behind the car behind me...He stops ok too. Then as I am watching the stopped traffic in my rearview, I see the SUV 2 cars being me FLIP from the rear. I mean this truck was rear ended so hard the back end flew up in the air and the car landed UPSIDE DOWN on the roof of the small compact behind me. I watched this in slow motion in my rear-view. I saw the driver and passenger of the huge SUV hanging upside down by their seatbelts and then the SUV jostled off the roof of the compact and onto the street, still upside down. The roof of the compact never caved in and supported the weight of the SUV. The light turned green and I just went. I think I was in shock because when I got home it all hit me and I called my GF and my parents to tell them I loved them. I never saw what actually slammed into the SUV but I talked to 2 of my detective buddies the next day and they told me there was a fatality in that accident. Mark that as another fatality I've witnessed on my way to/from work.

EDIT: And for the guy who doesn't understand the point of an SUV... What do you expect me to tow my boat with? Load my fishing gear into? Haul large stuff around in?

VDC is an insurance policy button.

Eventually insurance companies will want to know if VDC is on or not, and base their claim fufillment off that minor detail.

OP missed an accident. Trucker saw it happening, saw it happen, and probably anticipated the OP shifting lanes to avoid it, which is why he got on the brakes as hard as he did.

Might have ticked off the trucker, but, it could have been the trucker that gave the OP the window to evade...

You better watch out, the Final Destination ghost was coming for you, now it's gonna track you down, lol j/k glad to hear the car & yourself are alright.

Im out now. dont want it after me.

Vdc played such a small role in that. The moral to the story is. Have good driving etiquette...Pay attention to the road... Think fast. Don't panic... And finally with absolute split second quickness, observe and decifer each drivers intent around you. Vdc will never compensate for those actions.

That's the problem today. People think that features like vdc tcs esc and all that other stuff compensates for bad driving. Speeders are way overrated in the scheme of things as well. The real issue... cell phones, text messaging, f*^kin around with nav and other stupid gadgets. Being more into your conversation than being an attentive driver.

My advice: people need to wake the hell up n stop playing with gadgets and other BS while driving.

Can we just stop the pointless juvenile VDC bashing? It is neither a magic button nor is it useless for competent drivers. It's an added feature that adds a level of control and safety to the vehicle. It's not viagra for impotent drivers. Give it a rest!!!

yeah very glad ur safe bro, people honestly cant hardly drive anymore, its sad

I wasn't vdc bashing. My point is those things only work with proper human response. What I'm saying is, technology is just an aid. Your intuitions and reactions with driver skill is everything!
What's juvenile is not having the insight to what's real and virtual.