Scariest moment

[Maisie]

I'm posting this on the back of the most frightening drive I have ever had. I'm used to the odd suspected ECU glitch that leaves the car unable to idle and stalling at traffic lights, but this was much worse. I changed gear, and initially thought the clutch was slipping, as the revs rose, and then began to realise that in fact my ECU (or whatever caused this) has done the exact opposite of its normal behaviour. It stuck at 4,000 revs.

Cue panic, legs shaking on the pedals like they haven't done since my driving test! I jammed my feet onto the clutch and brake, and must have scared a fair few people at the lights by stopping with the engine screaming its nuts off. Since I was near to our garage, I decided to limp there, but after a few hundred yards the problem sorted itself out, and was fine for the rest of my journey.

Now I need to find out what the hell happened, what to do about it, and whether it's likely to happen again. I really, really hope not!

Have any of you ever experienced such a heart-pounding moment in your car? If so, what happened?

[Craig]

Bloody hell, girl, sounds dodgy...!

I'm afraid most of my scarey moments are my fault entirely... occasionally involving four wheel drift! Had a bit of a scarey one myself today when the hire van I was driving got air going along Gloucester Terrace in Bayswater! Ooops...!

[Ray Bell]

Two for me... when I was just a lad, about eight months into having a licence, an oncoming car was late returning to his lane while overtaking... and I was totally committed to the left hand bend I was in!

The last involved locked wheels (always the progenator of a problem!), running out of room into a tight lefthander, getting it under control (dirt road) then having the brakes lock again, thinking "What's out in this paddock to hit?" and then having the nose of the car dive and the lights shine straight down!

Even when it came to a stop just off the road, on a 40 degree downhill slope to the front, 30 degrees down to the right, and peering 20 ft or so into a creek, it was a case of "Will my movement if I undo the belt make it topple?"

The long and the short of it was about an hour's delay to the journey, meeting a couple of 4WDers and seeing their winches at work, a wheel alignment and a number of underbody dents.

[elephino]

Scariest moment...haven't had too many luckily.

One was being in a car as it left a dirt road and sideswiped a fence, with me on the side that hit the fence.

With me driving would be when going down a nice little road in Sydney, the Comonara Parkway. It was wet and I went into a very good, in the dry, sweeping downhill right hand corner. I slowed what I thought was enough, but with the cheap tyres (not my car) on it the back end of the car decided it wanted to start to come around. Now as it was a front drive car, braking was the last thing I wanted to do as the back end would have just come around competely and it would have made a good mess. I managed to keep the back end in check just enough, more by luck than skill as I wasn't very experienced at the time.

Another more recent experience was a hire car when I went to Phillip Island in March. With only 10psi in the front tyres, though I didn't know it at the time, and braking lightly to avoid a car that cut in front and having the wheels just lock and the car automatically twist about 15 degrees to the right.

[Airhead]

In a car...

Anytime I was a passenger in my friends cars as we raced people up and down dirt roads away from the city. Rolled cars, bent panels and egos. I'd rather drive and be in control.

On the bike...

One trip where we left Sydney at 5pm to go 400 miles up the North Coast. I was travelling with a friend and had worked the night before, I mean the night shift. About 7.40 pm on a winters night we went through Bulladelah and I thought I'd catch up in the 60 kph zone. I came over the crest of a hill to the flashing lights and waiting arms of the local constabulary. It was a breath test, and I was fine.

I went off through the sweeping corners at break neck speed to catch my mate. I could see the faint red tail light of his bike in the distance and an uncharacteristic piece of straight road ahead.

Or so I thought. In reality it was a guide post. The road turned hard right. So did I with my heart in my mouth and the bike in the dirt by the side of the road.

[Wolf]

Well, mine invilved going into the corner (in the rain) a bit too fast. Not so fast that it couldn't have been corrected w/o any problems, but there was a small stream of water running across the road... Needless to say, the instant my rear tyres hit it, the whole car went into violent oversteer. Funny thing is that in that moment I expirienced adrenaline rush, which saved my day. Instead of acting instinctively- opposite lock and keeping my foot firmly on the trottle, I had a chance to realize that it'd take a few feet of the road than I had at my disposal (and, of course, were partialy occupied by the ditch). Since I liked my wheel alignment just as it was (), I gave the steering a full lock, abruptly lifted off, followed by the clutch. Of course, I had 'calculated' that I didn't have enough grip to keel over instead of spinning of, as intended. I even hit a brakes later to both slow the car down and to lose the little grip I had (good ol' drum brakes *blush*). I managed (even to my great surprise) to spin the car 180°, without leaving my lane. The adrenaline rush gave me opportunity to keep things in control, mind the traffic and even enjoy my brothers reactions. Unfortunately it didn't wear of for another 10 miles, which made following part of my ride a bit too uncomfortable.

[Ray Bell]

Both cylinders beating furiously, of course...

[Carrie]

It's funny you should choose this week to post this topic Maisie. I think it's fate
I was quietly minding my own business as I drove out of work this afternoon. It's a left turn at the end of the Mill Drive. I pulled up to the junction, did look left because of the number of people who do go crazy as soon as they leave the 30 zone out of the village and hence approach our drive at silly speeds. All clear, same looking right, so, I pulled out going left and was immediately confronted by a high speed Pug overtaking three vans and on my side of the road. I hit the brakes and still haven't worked out how he managed to squeeze in the gap between me and the van he was overtaking to get back onto his side of the road
Another scary moment was pulling into the drive one morning, sat waiting to do a right turn and suddenly finding an approaching Beemer hitting the brakes and flashing me across rather frantically. Just as I started to move I realise there was a screech behind me and a Transit van was in the hedge at the side of me. Obviously he hadn't been taking notice of the road to see my car stopped. It was lucky the Beemer saw what was going to happen because he gave me the room to get out of the way. Mr BMW Man's face was a picture and I'm sure I must have had a similar look on my face.
Wet weather, hmmm, aquaplaning on the M60 comes to mind. On Barton Bridge the water drains towards the outside lane. I know it does that, but I've still hit it too fast a couple of times.

[Warwick]

In a car
very similiar to AMoffat
Around a shingle road with my brother driving a Mk2 cortina
(fitted with a 3L V6)and hearing him say we're going to roll,and doing so about .5sec later,his best was three rollovers in one weekend,although he was only driving in two!

On a bike

Picking myself up off the road after being cleaned up by a driver cutting a corner and looking back to see he'd also managed to nail two guys following me,fortunately we all survived.

[elephino]

I've also had two moments which should be scary but oddly weren't at the time.

First was going at 80km/h in an 80 zone in the wet. Hit a big puddle which I couldn't avoid and the car changed lanes perfectly but without any input from me.

Second was when I went for a lovely drive in my then new car. Finally got 1000km on the odometer and thought I'd have some fun. So I drove up the F3 and onto Wiseman's Ferry Rd. Had a ball going towards the ferry and past it, but on the way back, still having so much fun, I turned into a corner quite early as I saw no one coming and the car hit some dirt. The back end stepped out on me, I did some quick opposite lock, caught it and was off again. All automatic. Felt wonderful, not scary at all

[Wolf]

If I didn't know better Ray, I'd think You were making fun of me...

And I had few another 'almost scary' moments- one of them was because I insisted on keeping the car on the ragged edge in a long sweeping turn. Normally I would have backed off a bit, but I was on viaduct over a looong drop to hard surface and I wanted to know if my skill and nerve would falter because my fear of heights...

[djb]

Maisie, I had an old Ford Escort that did exactly the same thing. Turned out it was the throttle control something-or-other, same experience (though not very scary) Idle went sky high, braked it down to a stop, shut it down, and after a few repeats, it cleared up. Ended up having to replace the whole bloody main processor thingee. The worst thing about this sort of problem is that it is all wizardly electronics, anyway, that's my story.

Real scariest moment: In cars-numerous involving when the snow is that very odd consistency and thickness that makes it greasy greasy greasy --and usually involving braking down a hill. Doesnt matter if you have good snow tires, they just jam up and it's like being on ice. Oh, an then there's freezing rain too...we get it all aaround here.

On bike: Competing in a 750 prod race in my RD350, and stuffing it to a big heavy guy on an Interceptor 750 in the twisty bits for most of the race, outbraking him at the end of the straight etc, only to have him try to pass me on the inside of a 5th gear right hander, except that in his haste to get by me with his larger head of steam from the previous short straight, he forgot that the inside of this corner has a big dip in it, and so you normally stay wide for it, or you bottem your suspension and then lose traction as it unloads--which he did right beside me, washed out his front end, and in that oh-so-slowmotion replay that I still have after all those years, his bike slid into mine, taking out my front and off I went into the (gratefully) very wide runoff area. All in all, I was pretty lucky, got knocked senseless and bruised, but nothing was broken but the bike saw it's last race that day.(me too for that matter)

[Alan Jones]

I was hitchhiking out to the lovely Scotts head Bowlo for a night with the locals watching a band one Christmas around 18 years ago and was picked up by 2 hippies in a VW Combi. They were both heading out to Scotts as well, they had the joint lit and were busy smoking it. Just after the turn off from the pacific highway they decided to turn up the stereo just as I, siting on the bed up the back, yelled out to slow down for the next corner. It was a 90 degree right hander that they hit doing around 40 miles an hour! Needless to say, the combi rolled over a 7 foot high dirt boom, down the other side taking out the barbed wire fence and rolled another 2 times before coming to a stop upside down in a cow paddock. I remember thinking this is it as we went over, then nothing till I woke( seconds later) with the strong smell of petrol and a chest of drawers, the bed, and all of their Indian clothes and headbands over the top of me! Apart from a couple of scratches and a sore head, got out fine thanks to a brave man following us who helped me and the hippies out. Never accepted a ride in a VW again as all of them on the North Coast of NSW were owned by Hippies!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ray Bell]

Ah, AlanJones, that must have been a fun experience...

By the way, here's a pic of the scene where I had my recent bit of joy, the front of the car in the pic is about where my car ran off the road.



That's an awful big hole there... shame the pic is so black.

[Vandas]

I have had several scary experiences in cars on the road. Not so many on the track, but I am sure they will come.

The first two are quick, I will tell the long on later.

First, I was driving my cousin up to Metung last year. It was about 2.30am (I love making long journeys either late at night, or extremely early morning) I was doing about 130kmph in my good old Nissan Datsun Bluebird. It was a long straight bit of road. And we were cruising. I hit black ice and the whole car went sideways. It scared the **** out of me, because with Black Ice you can't do **** except hit the brakes and hope for the best.

Luckily the car skipped and landed in a controllable manner. I pulled her up staright away, got out and breathed heavily for a few minutes then got back in and kept driving.

Second, the other night I was driving home from work, and I was in the Mazda RX7. anyway I like to practice my race starts in this car from lights, as I race the same make and model. This one particular set of lights I decided not to, I was thinking about something totally different. Anyway I took off from the lights after a slight hesitation. And narrowly missed this stupid fat ***** flying through a red light. If she had have been slightly later through the lights, I would have knocked her into a pole at high speed. HEr eyes were so wide, it looked like she had just seen an all you can eat banquet.

[Vandas]

My scariest moment of all time, was when I had reached the 40 something hour mark without sleep and had to drive to Dalesford from Lorne. An extremely long trip, can't remember the actual time it took me, but it was a long long long time.

I fell asleep at the wheel several times, a couple of times in the wrong lane. Once with a truck coming the other way blasting its horn. Then the worst, when I woke up to find myself in a Toyota Hiace Commuter Van doing 100kmph on the gravel on the side of the road. It felt like it was about to slide out from underneathe me. But I took it very slowly and managed to get it back up onto the bitumen.

I stopped the car at this point, and said I need a power nap.

Didn't take one, but made it barely. I tried every trick imaginable. I made it with barely 5 minutes to spare. I was dressed quickly and out on the field competing with close to 50 hours no sleep. NEVER AGAIN!!!

[Alan Jones]

Geez Vandas,
hope my family and I never meet you on the highway

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Vandas
...this stupid fat ***** flying through a red light.... Her eyes were so wide, it looked like she had just seen an all you can eat banquet!

Ahh... I know the type well! And a very expressive illustration.

But Vandas, you should get more sleep... I knew a lot about this "driving while tired" deal and I can tell you it doesn't get any better... get out of the habit while you're young (and still alive!).. it cost me one car. Dozed off going into a left hander, woke up coming to a right hander and turned it the wrong way... there was no room for corrections...

Which is really a good point... I wasn't scared or frightened, just busy trying to extricate the car from its predicament.

Anyone interested should read Denis Jenkinson on the subject of fear...

[djb]

vandas,
have but remind you to keep the language clean please, that wasn't needed-sure, someone made a mistake and nearly hammered you, but just think of if you had hit a car full of kids while you were sleeping, imagine what they would be calling you if you had killed someone cuz you didn't have enough sense not to drive in that condition.

[Vandas]

DJB,

Sorry about the language. Will tone it down in future.

I don't drive tired anymore. I was a young 18 at the time of the drousy driving episode.

[bella]

me and the olds were going down a hill in france on tuesday, in broad daylight. as we came up to a 90 degree corner, some berk came hurtling round it, and decided to ovcertake the van and car in front of him. obviously, he didn't see us coming in the opposite direction. we just stopped, and he missed us by about an inch as he went past the car at the front of the queue. daft arse.

i've missed accidents by leaving a couple of minutes later than planned twice now. as i went past both of them, i realised how lucky i was.

[jonboyG]

When I had just passed my test and drove a death trap, magnetic (people kept driving into it) Beetle, A few of us went down to a mates place on the Isle of Wight after our exams.

I was driving, and my passengers were pasing the time by skinning up. Needless to say, I wasn't smoking and driving, but the fumes must have got to me, because at the end of the motorway at Portsmouth there's a big roundabout, which my front seat passenger noticed before me. Queue much grabbing of the wheel and going round on two wheels.

[Truckosaurus]

but the fumes must have got to me

A classic excuse must rate alongside 'but officer I'm just holding this beer for my passenger...

I know that roundabout in Portsmouth well, it's a good one for scary moments at the best of times, a 4 lane motorway goes into a 2 lane roundabout - Breathe in Everybody...

My own 'scariest moment' was about ten years ago just before I left home to go to university, I'd borrowed my mother's one-litre Metro and been out and about for the evening, on the way home I thought, while I've got the car I'll go for a little drive...

I don't know if any of the people here are familiar with South Dorset, but I went up through Crossways (which reminds me. Calling all conspiracy theorists, this fairly large village/town doesn't appear on most road atlases) and then cross country through the forest near Piddletrentide and Lawrence's Cottage (that's Lawrence of Arabia BTW). Anyhow, there's a nice little lane with loads of yumps which if taken fast enough will allow even a humble little Metro to get some 'air'... I approached this 90-deg right hander, I wasn't going too fast (I thought) but there was obviously some mud/ice/diesel/leaves/whatever on the road as the car went into extreme understeer mode So, as you do, I kept winding on the lock - and all I can see through the windscreen is this very large tree - until, somehow the car makes it round the corner, but then the car regains grip - still with far too much lock on - so there's little old me frantically fishtailing up the road for the next half mile...

The story ends with me stopping to put a splash of petrol in the car (so no-one will notice the gauge being too low) and the car not starting on the key, so it had to be bump started... Turns out a lead had come off the starter motor - can't think how that might have happened...

[Ray Bell]

Getting sprung, of course, is the biggest fright of all...

[Devlin]

The scariest moment of my driving "carier" (if we leave out a couple of 360-degree spins, caused by over-enthusiastic cornering in the wet - none of which luckily caused any damage) involved a king-size truck, on a particularly rainy day (natural disaster would probably be a more appropriate expression). The road was turned into a waterway, visibility was nill, and the sensible people opted for a short stop by the side of the road until the rain eases off a little. But not Yours Truly - being very close to home, our hero thought "What the heck? It's only some ten minutes to go, I'll make it", and continued on his way, keeping it on the island just because he knew the road very well. And then over a crest comes a bloody huge truck, just appears before him out of the fog and water-curtain, WITH HIS TRAILOR SLIDING OUT OF CONTROL! There was nothing to be done, so that's exactly what I did. I might have swerved a bit to the right and that was that. There was a loud BANG on the left side, but the car maintained the line, which meant a) that we pulled through, and b)the car wasn't damaged too bad either. Instant relief, a quick check if I was alive and in one piece, and then damage report - just a broken mirror! I couldn't believe my luck, it was a matter of milimeters! It did set me back a $100, because I didn't want to wait for the police and I paid for a new mirror myself. I mean, the poor truckie was just as scared as I was, and he drove a company-truck, which means it would take bloody ages for me to claim the damage. Besides, I was too grateful that nothing worse happened so I just drove away.