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Rodney · 08-09-2003, 10:32 AM

All my accidents are boring. Although I was "involved" in one scary one once in which I wasn't at fault and didn't get hit.

I was heading over a mountain expressway (four lanes, fast traffic, lot of tight curves, hillsides slope right down to the roadbed with maybe 1 food of shoulder) at midday. I'd crested the summit and was following a big mid-90s Z car down through some s-curves when suddenly the Z's brakes locked at 65 mph. It started spinning end for end, tires screaming continuously, plumes of smoke and dust shooting all around. It made five or six complete rotations and then rammed the dirt embankment at the side of the road, just past a blind turn. Which means that cars coming around the bend have about three seconds to see the car and change lanes, because there is really no shoulder.

Being an idiot, I pulled in behind and rapped on the glass. There was a dazed looking woman inside. She said she didn't do anything; the brakes just locked by themselves. And then they unlocked by themselves. The car was still running and it was only a couple of hundred yards to a pullout with a phone, so she eased it down there with me behind.

I would have doubted her story, except my wife had had a Nissan that did similar strange things. Flaky electronics, I guess. Scary that one's car could turn on one like that, though.

08-09-2003, 10:32 AM	#21 (permalink)
Rodney Observant Ruminant Location: Rich Wannabe Hippie Town	All my accidents are boring. Although I was "involved" in one scary one once in which I wasn't at fault and didn't get hit. I was heading over a mountain expressway (four lanes, fast traffic, lot of tight curves, hillsides slope right down to the roadbed with maybe 1 food of shoulder) at midday. I'd crested the summit and was following a big mid-90s Z car down through some s-curves when suddenly the Z's brakes locked at 65 mph. It started spinning end for end, tires screaming continuously, plumes of smoke and dust shooting all around. It made five or six complete rotations and then rammed the dirt embankment at the side of the road, just past a blind turn. Which means that cars coming around the bend have about three seconds to see the car and change lanes, because there is really no shoulder. Being an idiot, I pulled in behind and rapped on the glass. There was a dazed looking woman inside. She said she didn't do anything; the brakes just locked by themselves. And then they unlocked by themselves. The car was still running and it was only a couple of hundred yards to a pullout with a phone, so she eased it down there with me behind. I would have doubted her story, except my wife had had a Nissan that did similar strange things. Flaky electronics, I guess. Scary that one's car could turn on one like that, though.