Almost totalled the vibe yesterday....

[rated_w]

So I was driving down dovercourt rd in toronto heading north to go to work.Doin about 40ish in the 40 zone.. raining, but not too bad...I see a car approach the intersection... so as a safety precaution.. I let off the gas, and cover the brake.. . expecting him to have seen me already.. I was just about to put my foot on the gas to maintain the speed limit..He suddenly goes..... I slam on the brakes.. and loose traction almost immediately (stock tires, etc).. All my wheels lock up (base vibe, no options, NO ABS).... I'm thinking to myself.. ok I'm going to tbone this *******. I attempt to steer and beginning to think to pump the brakes.. but... The guy finally looks to the other side, and he takes off, gunning it (sees me and hears my tires squeeling for grip)... My front end nearly strikes his rear bumper, and with about 1-2 feet of clearance, we miss a collision.Talk about a close call.. Seems like there are a lot of bad drivers out this summer.. I've nearly been in 5 collisions the last few months.. none of them being anywhere near my fault. IE Taxi cab doing a Uturn right infront of me, despite seeing me come....

[vhoward1122]

Hindsight being 20/20, what are some of the things you could have done differently?Being that it was raining, visibility wouldn't have been ideal. Perhaps tooting your horn at him before he started to pull out? You did the right thing taking your foot off the accelerator and covering your brake. But letting your brakes lock up lost you your stopping ability. Skidding tires are useless. I am glad you came through that without a collision. Now you can look back at it and say, wow, I could have had a really bad day.One suggestion I might make is on another rainy day, go find an empty large parking lot and practice some panic stops so you can know how hard you can press your brake before the lock up occurs. Even an empty stretch of road would be good for the practice.Vance

[mydogsowner]

Sounds like you both did what you could, and thankfully it worked! I hope your nerves settled down by now. Most importantly, glad no one was hurt!

[VforVIBE]

Um... I think there's a rule around here about that some where...."Thou shall not injure thy Vibe."

[keithvibe]

Quote, originally posted by VforVIBE »Um... I think there's a rule around here about that some where...."Thou shall not injure thy Vibe." didn't you break that rule??

[VforVIBE]

Quote, originally posted by keithvibe »didn't you break that rule?? Yeah, but it was all for a good cause...... someone's gotta put those pesky Cobalts in there places.

[808 Vibes]

I'm glad you're both OK! I had a too-close call recently too-a guy in a pickup truck on a walkie-talkie. I had the right of way, he came out of a patient pick up/drop off zone in front of Kaiser, he didn't even bother to look. Be careful everyone...there's just way too many donkeys out there!

[808 Vibes]

Quote, originally posted by VforVIBE »Yeah, but it was all for a good cause...... someone's gotta put those pesky Cobalts in there places. oh snap!

[keithvibe]

Quote, originally posted by VforVIBE »Yeah, but it was all for a good cause...... someone's gotta put those pesky Cobalts in there places. there are a lot more out there... feel free to educate the rest HAHA.

[VforVIBE]

Quote, originally posted by keithvibe »there are a lot more out there... feel free to educate the rest HAHA.I've done my part... it's now your turn.

[DarkSpork]

"You can't fix stupid"I don't know how much the ABS would have helped. My ABS only kicks in when I'm trying to stop on ice from a crawl, and it really doesn't help that much for me at least. Glad you made it out without any problems.

[rated_w]

yes, I tried threshold braking, but as this vehicle is new to me (I usually drive an Acura TSX, vibe is just the beater car) (and keep in mind in a complete panic situation), and I do have countless hours in a professionally closed skid track with a teacher to the side of me... Trust me.. in a rigged vehicle with only rear brakes for skid control (the teacher had a pedal on his side and he would press it during a turn unexpectantly), braking in wet icy weather, etc... and I didn't want to go into opposing traffic as there was another vehicle on it's way (not in the immediate area, but would of been a serious concern if I were to veer into the oncoming traffic lane, and if I were to hit the oncoming traffic, I would of been at fault) it was only prudent to continue in my course of action (if I were to hit, it would of been his fault) (T intersection, stop sign for his traffic, no stop sign shown for me).it appeared that he saw me from the position that he stopped, or else I would of already taken action. .. and trust me, in a panic situation like that it would of been completely innappropriate for me to go on the horn.. there was litterly no indication that he was going to go and I needed 2 hands to deal with the situation.it was light rain btw. and visibility was good for the most part.. I was probably just doing under 40 .. around high 30's maybe slow 40's... so under the circumstances, I think I was doing everything that I could.

[engineertwin2]

Quote, originally posted by DarkSpork »"You can't fix stupid"I don't know how much the ABS would have helped. My ABS only kicks in when I'm trying to stop on ice from a crawl, and it really doesn't help that much for me at least. Glad you made it out without any problems.I'm gonna call false here.For ABS, you never know it's working for you unless you are in extreme skid conditions. So you feel the pedal kicking back when you are trying to stop on ice, but that's because the wheel's stop spinning and it strokes the brakes again. That doesn't mean that is the only time they are working for you. ABS pumps the brakes MUCH faster than you ever could and doesn't forget to in an emergency situation.

[DarkSpork]

Quote, originally posted by engineertwin2 »I'm gonna call false here.For ABS, you never know it's working for you unless you are in extreme skid conditions. So you feel the pedal kicking back when you are trying to stop on ice, but that's because the wheel's stop spinning and it strokes the brakes again. That doesn't mean that is the only time they are working for you. ABS pumps the brakes MUCH faster than you ever could and doesn't forget to in an emergency situation.Don't get me wrong, I do know that the ABS works in a less noticable fashion in more ideal conditions, its just seeing as this is my first car with ABS I generally don't do anything that would cause it to kick in. When working at speed on a better surface it feels more like a vibration, haven't experienced it in this car though. That's all I was saying.

[vhoward1122]

It's good to know you have other driving skills. Glad it turned out OK. One thing I know from motorcycle riding is never assume anyone has seen you even if it looks like they looked right at you. Thats why I suggested the horn before the guy pulled out. The horn is a communication tool that many people misuse or don't use.. Not sure that guy sitting at the stop sign saw you? Honk the horn. Got that odd feeling the guy saw you, but is going to pull out in front of you anyway? Honk the horn. That's what it is for.