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My almost accident just now
11 years ago
A little background first.
The car I drive is a Mercury Gran Marquis from the 90s. Basically aside from the bodywork (it’s build like a fucking tank), it’s a piece of shit with awful brakes, bad acceleration, terrible gas mileage, and a dashboard that works only when it feels like it. My dad got it off a shifty friend of his dirt cheap.
So I left about an hour and a half ago and got on the expressway to school, and it started raining. You know how when it rains, the sky turns gloomy and you can’t see the sun? NOT TODAY. I got rain pouring from above, and the sun rising in the distance. So not only is the sun blinding me and the rain hitting my windshield, but also the sunlight is reflecting off the rain on the road into my face.
So I’m at the top of this slope, and I start going down when I see this white pickup truck at the bottom of the slope that’s just stopped. Just stopped dead in the middle of the road. So I put my foot on the brake so I can slow down.
Instead, the wheels lock up, and my car skids down the hill.
So all I can do is keep the brakes on and brace myself and then… there’s this gentle little thud from my back wheels and I stopped, just an inch from from the truck.
He started moving immediately, and then I started again too. My car’s fine. I’m fine, though kinda shaken.
Lesson learned: FUCK CARS THEY ARE AWFUL.
The car I drive is a Mercury Gran Marquis from the 90s. Basically aside from the bodywork (it’s build like a fucking tank), it’s a piece of shit with awful brakes, bad acceleration, terrible gas mileage, and a dashboard that works only when it feels like it. My dad got it off a shifty friend of his dirt cheap.
So I left about an hour and a half ago and got on the expressway to school, and it started raining. You know how when it rains, the sky turns gloomy and you can’t see the sun? NOT TODAY. I got rain pouring from above, and the sun rising in the distance. So not only is the sun blinding me and the rain hitting my windshield, but also the sunlight is reflecting off the rain on the road into my face.
So I’m at the top of this slope, and I start going down when I see this white pickup truck at the bottom of the slope that’s just stopped. Just stopped dead in the middle of the road. So I put my foot on the brake so I can slow down.
Instead, the wheels lock up, and my car skids down the hill.
So all I can do is keep the brakes on and brace myself and then… there’s this gentle little thud from my back wheels and I stopped, just an inch from from the truck.
He started moving immediately, and then I started again too. My car’s fine. I’m fine, though kinda shaken.
Lesson learned: FUCK CARS THEY ARE AWFUL.
Actually what you should have done is pump the brakes which would have allowed you to steer the car away from harm. This is like basic driving 101.
BRB WRITING COMPLAINTS
This gives you optimum braking power (as you brake significantly slower on skidding tyres), while allowing you to keep cautiously steering the car (which you can't do on skidding tyres) - just don't make big steering moves because as soon as you lift the brakes and your wheel regain traction, your car *will* steer where you pointed it.
This is basically how ABS works, there's a sensor that detects wheel lock and then the computer releases the pressure on the brake at a much higher frequency than your foot can. This gives you optimal (for the conditions anyway) steering and braking power in slippery conditions.
*if there's no ABS only