This Is Why I Drive Sportscars

Dwight Frye

I have commented before that I drive like a fighter pilot. Not aggressively, but with that type of defensive mindset. Always scanning all directions looking for "threats" like dumb-a** drivers, people texting, debris in the road, overloaded trucks likely to drop a mattress or old washing machine in front of me, etc. I keep my distance from other cars and drivers, especially those exhibiting douchebag behavior or inattentiveness. I take driving seriously and have only had 1 accident in 42 years and it was not my fault. I have always owned performance cars as I like the manuverability, agility, good brakes, power when needed, and other characteristics that a fighter plane possesses. (except the crappy rear and side visibility that the Z has)
So yesterday I'm on a highway with 3 lanes in each direction, doing about 60 in a 55 zone. I'm in the left lane. The guy driving a truck in the center lane about 50 yards ahead of me runs over a hubcap in the road and launches it backwards. I see this hubcap coming directly back at me, Frisbee-like and at about 3 feet off the ground. I have good reflexes still and made a swerve to the left to avoid it but I was closing fast on a line of cars backed up in a left turn lane. It was like threading a needle to avoid sideswiping the stopped cars on the left and dodging the aluminum Frisbee that thought it had my Z's name on it. But, I successfully avoided the UFO that was closing on me at about 80 MPH.
My thoughts were that if I had been driving a "pig on stilts" like the ubiquitous SUV's and tried that move, I probably would have turned turtle and caused a multi-vehicle pile up. My stomach jumped a bit, but I smiled thinking about my subconscious driving habits and the taut handling of the Z when I needed it.