I used to always do this -- watch traffic several cars ahead, often breaking before the car in front of me because I was watching farther ahead. With the proliferation of SUVs, minivans and dark-tinted windows over the last 5-10 years, it is nearly impossible to see anything except the car in front of you.

 

I agree that the 2second rule is safer, but it doesn't work too well in the real world... if you leave that big a gap between you and the car in front of you, it won't take long before another car comes along and decides to fill it.

 

WOW, glad everything turned out alright. You're very lucky that you didn't hit anything. Be careful driving out there.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Tanqueray
[B]

I used to always do this -- watch traffic several cars ahead, often breaking before the car in front of me because I was watching farther ahead.

 

Come to Calgary... stupid drivers that believe they own the road with their 5 ton SUV.... (shakes head)

During my drivers training, I was driving a Ford Focus ZX3, wonderful little car that. So I had just pulled up to a stop sign and did the left-center-right quick scan and notice this SUV barelling down on my left while thje guy chattered away on his cell phone. A Honda Civic came to a stop across the road, but DIDN'T scan... she pulled out to cross the street, the guy on the cell phone saw her at the last minute, slammed on the horn and brakes while dropping his cell...

needless to say: *CRUNCH* the civic was a write off, front end almost ripped right off... and from what I heard from my driving instructor the next week, the guy in the SUV was charge with "driving without due care causing bodily harm" But honestly, going 80 in a 50 zone is kinda stupid (btw, that's in KPH)

BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!!!

 

Wow, that didn't sound like fun. Glad to hear you're alright though.

Jaykkub

 

Thanks for the concern guys. You know whats funny is that the whole time I was correcting the car's steering and taking her out of gear in order not to stall and braking I don't remeber doing any of that. It's like instinct took over and I somehow got out without a scratch. Well besides the fact that I most likely took about 500 miles of wear on my rear tires in 5 secs.

 

What, you guys don't do a random 360 in traffic if it's getting boring? Sheesh. I thought this was a lively crowd, too.


In all seriousness, glad to hear you are okay. Something like that could have ended up far worse than it did.

 

dude, i did the three maybe four 360s on the freeway, which resulted in a totalled S2000.

 

hey, glad both you and the car were ok. i'm a little surprised though since 50mph doesn't seem that fast, well.

101 just have lots of these sudden stops. i'm actually very scared of silicon valley rich mothers with nice and big suvs.

i had one experience when my friend made fun of a van driving mother. she was pulling out from a mall and making a left turn without looking when i was in my friend's car travelling at about 50 with 35 limit. my friend was pissed that she never checked before pulling out and since he had a new set of nice brakes, he decided to teach her something. we were going straight into this van and when she realized we were coming right to her, she stopped in the middle of the road and screamed with her mouth and eyes open and her hands off the steering trying to cover her head. my friend slammed the brake and we stopped around 10 feet from her.