I leaped out of the way of a tumbling SUV tonight. - Motorgen - Automotive Events, Meets, Cruises and Forums

enkeivette · 12-22-2010, 03:53 AM

So I was cruising up the 5N going about 65mph in the Neon with Mike H. Honestly, maybe even closer to 60. When I hit this crazy patch of water. Now I've intentionally lost the rear end of my Vette many times before, counter-steered and it was no big deal. I've even drifted off freeway off-ramps for fun. Basically, I can control a car better than the next guy. But this was different, I drifted over 2 lanes having lost control of all 4 tires, and I spun out on the freeway, twice. As I got close to the bank on the right side, I steered into the spin and avoided hitting the bank and possibly rolling over. So I ended up in the emergency lane, my car was fine.

Tried to drive forward but it felt like my tires might have been flat. So I got out to check. As I'm walking in front of the car I hear this noise, and I look up and I see a Durango (I think it was) FLIPPING OVER, TUMBLING THROUGH THE FUCKING AIR A COUPLE HUNDRED FEET FROM ME COMING RIGHT AT ME. Yeah... I immediately thought, "I'm fucked, I'm dead, I can't move out of the way in time." But I tried anyways, and ran out of the way up the embankment. It's a good thing I did, because the car that wiped out on the same patch of water that I did, that hit the SUV causing it to roll over, hit my Neon with Mike still inside. Knocking it forward 50 feet as the tumbling SUV followed closely behind.

So yeah, if I hadn't run out of the way I would have been hit by at least my car, but also probably the second car, and then smushed by the SUV for the grand finale.

I walked over to the girl in the car that hit my Neon, she was ok, just freaking out. Ran over to the SUV, he was not ok, pool of blood on the ground, but he was still conscious. I wanted to get him out, but Mike and I were both afraid of hurting him or getting hit since his SUV was sticking out into the freeway. So we called 911 and waited for them. I don't know if the guy in the SUV is ok, the cops wouldn't tell me. But from the looks of it I think he would have definitely survived. Mike may have suffered a bit of whiplash, but otherwise he's ok. I'm ok, was just in a bit of shock on the way home.

enkeivette · 12-22-2010, 03:56 AM

Moral of the story, drive slow in the rain, I don't care if you're BADDASSC6 himself. And don't get out to check your car in the rain, limp it off an off-ramp.

enkeivette · 12-22-2010, 04:11 AM

Sean Plunker, tell your permadate that I just sent her a PM.

Vettezuki · 12-22-2010, 04:23 AM

Did you get it on video, cuz that'd be money!

In all seriuosness, I'm glad you're still with us and the "drive slow in the rain" admonishment is always and forever worth repeating. We Californians drive pretty fast on the whole (routinely 85mph) and it rains relatively little so when it does, we kinda tend to drive much faster than is really safe.

enkeivette · 12-22-2010, 04:30 AM

I know, and I typically make fun of people who can't control their cars in the rain and spin out. But when you're going 60+ and you lose control of all 4 tires for a couple hundred feet, there's nothing you can do. I've never experienced that before.

No video, I was too busy um, running for my life.

BADDASSC6 · 12-22-2010, 08:18 AM

Heavy rain is no joke. I'm glad you and your friend are ok. As a note, I basically don't drive my car in the rain. It sucks in the rain. I drive my truck.

SeanPlunk · 12-22-2010, 09:46 AM

Holy crap, glad you're okay. I'll tell Alexis she has a PM.

Shaolin Crane · 12-22-2010, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BADDASSC6

Heavy rain is no joke. I'm glad you and your friend are ok. As a note, I basically don't drive my car in the rain. It sucks in the rain. I drive my truck.

Exactly, i dont care how bad ass my car is, my truck is much easier to replace stuff on, and is going to take far more punishment than my car if it slides out or someone crashes into me. Besides the extra weight as slower speeds is going to help with traction.

kdracer73 · 12-22-2010, 10:16 AM

Glad you are ok. Hydroplaning is scary. We stopped once for a guy that spun into the K rail . He "said" he was ok, I never looked down at him. My eyes where on the traffic coming at us.

94cobra69ss396 · 12-22-2010, 11:51 AM

Glad you're okay Adam. Tires make a huge difference in the rain. I used to have a set of Dunlops on the Cobra and they were terrible. I had the car drift once into another lane doing 70. It had never done that before with the other tire brands I've run (I've been through 5 sets since owning it. Right now I have NT555 and they seem to work well but like everyone else lately I've just been driving the Explorer or Suburban in the rain. The heavier weight helps them push the water out easier so they don’t hydroplane as easy plus the Suburban has narrow tires which helps and the Explorer has deep tread on the mud terrains which also helps.

I remember back one time when Amy was in college and we were heading back to home from her basketball game in her 1984 Toyota 4x4. We were on the 60 heading West around Chino in some heavy rain and we hit a puddle in a gradual left turn. The truck started to hydroplane so I let off the gas and let the truck drift straight into the lane on my right (there was little traffic and no one next to me). After about 50ft the truck got traction again and I continued on. Well about 150ft past where I got traction there was a car backwards up against the guardrail. He must have tried to keep in his lane and when the car got traction it spun him out.

While all this was going down I continued my conversation with Amy. It was funny because after we passed the spun out car Amy stopped me and said she was glad I was driving because she would have been right next to the spun out car.

My parents had also been at the game and were behind us a ways back. When they got home Amy was talking to them about it and my dad said he did the same thing I did to keep it from spinning.