Lucky escapes

Author
Discussion

Dalto

3,198 posts

162 months

Sunday 28th June 2020
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Not as scary as some of these above, but last year a good mate and I went out for a drive in his Exige (this is PH after all).

Shortly after the start of our drive, we went down a narrow-ish country lane. As the car has been standing for about a month we were gently warming up, and my friend did a brake test to make sure they were working properly (thankfully they were).

A few seconds later be went around a double bend to find a BMW 5 series coming towards us on our side of the road, sideways, and well in excess of the 40mph limit. We were only doing about half the limit, stood on the brakes and pointed the car as far over to the nearside as possible. Had we not done that brake test, I'm in no doubt things would've ended very differently.

sjabrown

1,910 posts

159 months

Sunday 28th June 2020
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One springs to mind: uni night out in Aberdeen walking/staggering home pished. Find out the next day someone was stabbed on my route home shortly after I'd passed. I briefly appeared on the local news as CCTV had captured me walking and I was being sought as a potential witness.

2 sMoKiN bArReLs

30,230 posts

234 months

Sunday 28th June 2020
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I asked a girl to marry me when I was 18. She said no.


I was 60 before I actually moved in with (a different) girl

Lucky escape or what! hehe

sutts

896 posts

147 months

Sunday 28th June 2020
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About 10 years ago, around 7 am on a Sunday morning somewhere on a dual carriageway in Norfolk (A11 IIRC) - roughly 15 miles into a 12 hour time-trial race (bicycle). Lovely clear morning, quiet road, I’m wearing nice bright kit with a very good rear red light flashing away as well. Cyclists spaced one minute apart and there were plenty of ‘ Cycle Event’ signs and marshals dotted about.

I’m cruising along at 25 mph tucked in to lane one of two when from behind me I become aware of the sound of very heavy braking/skidding. A Fiesta then appears to my right, overtaking me but completely out of control and fighting a losing battle to control a ‘tank slapper’. Sure enough he loses it completely, bounces off the central reservation and then crosses about 20 yards in front of me across the carriageway, up the near side bank, before gracefully rolling back down it and coming to rest on the roof at the side of the road.

I assume he only saw me at absolutely the last moment before running me down at 70+ mph, and had to hit his brakes and swerve so hard and sharply that he lost control on a straight, flat, dry road.

One or two people a year die time trialling, and I think I came very very close to joining them. God knows how he didn’t see me - maybe looking at his phone. Anyway, since then I’ve had children and no longer time-trial.

TwigtheWonderkid

43,248 posts

149 months

Sunday 28th June 2020
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Sat outside Cafe Nero in Gerrards Cross having a cup of tea. Left the table to visit the loo. Whilst in the loo, I heard a huge bang, screaming, and smashing glass. That's my chair on the bonnet.


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-h...

wazztie16

1,469 posts

130 months

Sunday 28th June 2020
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Bit of a minor one from me that i can think of, me and a mate walking to town (about 25 mins walk) after a few drinks at home, i weren't particularly drunk, don't think he was either, guy comes past us on a bicycle on a very large roundabout (Pentagon Island, Derby for those that know) with a shared cycle and pedestrian path.

I feel something isn't quite right, just didn't seem right. As we keep walking and he's passed us and out of sight, we're chatting away and i spy the guy hidden up in the bushes near the railway bridge, i tell my mate he's there and to keep talking and walking, we do and as we pass the guy he heads down and asks us if we've seen his daughter, she's gone missing.

Clearly a load of bull, just wanted to see if we were drunk, this must've been later in the evening.

When we spoke to him normally and it was clear we were (seemed) sober, he left us and buggered off.

But i do dread to think what he'd have done had we been 2 drunks.

McGee_22

6,654 posts

178 months

Sunday 28th June 2020
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Had a bit of a depth excursion on a submarine once.
Went swimming off Miami beach when a fin surfaced between myself and the shore.
Went snorkelling off New Zealand and was confronted by a stingray.
Had a sniffle that developed into double pneumonia.
Had quite a few knives pulled on me, one axe and one handgun.

Europa1

10,923 posts

187 months

Sunday 28th June 2020
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sutts said:
About 10 years ago, around 7 am on a Sunday morning somewhere on a dual carriageway in Norfolk (A11 IIRC) .
Not to trvialise your experience, but other than the A11, there are very few miles of dual carriageway in Norfolk to choose from! biggrin

My Dad was in BMA House on 7/7. He (understandably) still gets emotional about it.

Saleen836

11,061 posts

208 months

Sunday 28th June 2020
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Driving to work one morning and having a 6 ton troop carrying vehicle come out of a crossroad without stopping and drive over my Astravan!


Not a place I want to be again! nono

Geffg

1,113 posts

104 months

Sunday 28th June 2020
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finlo said:
2005 had earmarked two car's for sale one in Bristol the other in London had I not bought the one in Bristol we would have been in London on the day of the 7/7 bombings.
2007 went to Liverpool for a few day's, gets off the bus to walk the last few hundred yards to where we were staying had to leap out of the way of a hoodie'd chav on a pushbike speeding down the pavement. Shortly afterwards we were passed by more 5 series police cars than thought possible for one force to have. Put the tv on once back in the hotel only to find out we'd just walked past the scene of the Rees Jones murder!
Where where you staying at round there? I dread to think and couldn’t think of anywhere worse to stay.

finlo

3,731 posts

202 months

Sunday 28th June 2020
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Geffg said:
Where where you staying at round there? I dread to think and couldn’t think of anywhere worse to stay.
Opposite the Brookside set, the motel in the carpark of the Beefeater or Toby carvery.

Don1

15,936 posts

207 months

Sunday 28th June 2020
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Mikebentley said:
As a kid was on the Herald of Free Enterprise within 24hrs of the disaster.
In March 2005 wife and I were staying in Egypt all inclusive and needed to escape the hotel. Rented a private taxi and went to Dahab. It was April 2006. What a dump it was too. Found a cat infested place called Alladins and sat there alone eating our meal which we shared with a million flies and almost as many cats. The next day a terrorist bomb killed some American tourists where we were sitting. Very sobering.
My mum was, supposed to be on that boat, it was half term pickup. She was caught in traffic and missed the sailing.

eltax91

9,842 posts

205 months

Sunday 28th June 2020
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I was very young (6) and so don’t remember this at all, but I’m told that my grandads car wouldn’t start one day as we were heading off to football.

A quick help from a local mobile mechanic and we were late, but on our way. By the time we got to the ground, there was some serious chaos going on, queues everywhere outside and despite having tickets, we weren’t getting in.

It was the day of the hillsborough disaster.

andySC

1,187 posts

157 months

Sunday 28th June 2020
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2001. I was onboard my R1 between Cherbourg & Le Mans when my entire luggage that I’d fastened to it’s rear came adrift & wrapped around the back wheel. The bike was completely wayward & sideways, white smoke covered both carriageways & a black line disappeared into the distance. Applying the front brake seemed to make things worse so I distinctly remember shutting the throttle & pulling the clutch in at 149mph. I genuinely thought I was done for & my Mum would be properly disappointed with me but the whole process seemed remarkably serene, no panic, a calm resignation & realisation that I’d fked up & my luck had run out. Probably less than 30 seconds start to finish but genuinely it felt much longer.Once I’d pulled up & taken stock I decided Valentino Rossi would have to do without my support that weekend & I turned 180 degrees & headed back to Blighty .

anonymous-user

53 months

Sunday 28th June 2020
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Bit of a long story sorry.

This was before the days of mobile phones, internet etc but you were supposed to ring in for the next day's work list but stay in the area you were working just in case there was a local emergency... craftily the office would phone you back so could tell roughly where you were.

Having finished my allocated work early I drove as far as I could before my own town STD code so they wouldn't recognise it when I gave it to them to call me back.

I pulled into a laybye with a phone kiosk.....looked at my watch and realised it was a bit too early to phone in so decided to park up at a local viewing area and look across the South downs for a while ..........as I went to pull out a van was approaching, I was in no rush so I waited and let him go past before pulling out.

The route up to the top of the Downs was fairly, narrow, twisty and steep, about 2/3rds of the way up round a tight bend I came across the earlier van that had collided with a car on its way down the hill....both drivers with life changing injuries, passenger behind car driver dead as a dodo, front passenger was someone I knew and it was his dad that was dead in the back............ I called an emergency on my CB radio but stopping him pulling his dad out while waiting was the worst and longest 10 minutes of my life.

Charlie1986

2,016 posts

134 months

Sunday 28th June 2020
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For me it was the Nice attack - was there with my daughter and took a few pictures On the sea front in a restaurant and posted them on Facebook. Daughter felt unwell so we drove back to St Maxine. Next morning woke up to lots of phone calls and messages unaware what had took place from family and friends Only to find out we had missed it by 5 mins

Skyedriver

17,661 posts

281 months

Sunday 28th June 2020
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Higgs boson said:
av185 said:
So you rode a bike 20 miles to the nightclub instead of going in the car with your mates.

Wise decision.
scratchchin
Yes, I understood the OP, either a few others didn't or they're being obtuse...........

Daveb257

996 posts

138 months

Sunday 28th June 2020
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spikeyhead said:
The plane that crashed whilst displaying at Carfest a few years ago landed 80 yards behind me

I've fallen off when 60 foot up whilst rock climbing free solo. Managed to grab hold of a ledge after dropping about 10 foot.

...and I also grew up in Luton
I’d given up on the traffic queue at that junction and came back to oulton a different route, which car were you in?

take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey

5,071 posts

54 months

Sunday 28th June 2020
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McGee_22 said:
Had a bit of a depth excursion on a submarine once.
How close... In general terms.. not meters obvs?

I worked with some of Traf's back afties immediately after she tried to mate with a sea mount. Lot of shaken up folks then.

Also worked a few old timers who were on sceptre when she boat hit the phospher-bronze ice burg.

Near misses go with the job.


Stedman

7,213 posts

191 months

Sunday 28th June 2020
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The only ones I can think of are where either, a train I should have been driving, or one in front/behind me has been involved in a fatality. Bit weird