Getting it wrong

[FleshMechanic]

DIW35 said:

jdwoodbury said:

I have got it wrong on a motorbike several times, thankfully never threw it down the road but you make a mental note never to do it again!

That statement seems a tad incongruous. It would appear your mental notes are going straight in the bin before being delivered.

You're assuming that he's making the same mistake, repeatedly. You know what... ;-)

[anonymous-user]

Got confused on a large roundabout today and nearly drove into the side of somebody. It happens, but usually life is pretty good at giving you these little reminders to focus, just some people ignore them.

[JayTee94]

I would like to confess something that scared me yesterday on my driving lesson. I have now had ten hours of lessons and nothing really bothers me about driving (with what I am learning) as I am enjoying it and the instructor is praising me on how well I am doing.

Anyway long story short - I got to the junction and I got all the elements right, just not the gears. I left it in third and I tried to pull away. I then realised what I did, put it in first and pulled away. As I was going straight on at the junction I was crossing it and it popped out of first and into neutral.

I thought I had stalled it and with a Audi TT fast approaching my drivers door I pushed the start button to start the engine after the stall - which then killed the engine.

Me confused, I pressed the button again to start it back up and I got across the road. What had actually happened is that when it popped out of gear it was about to stall, hence the quiet engine but I had saved it from actually stalling and the engine was still running but in my haste I turned the engine off whereas I thought it would start again.

It was the first time I actually thought 'Oh Dear, this could end badly!'

[FraserLFA]

Heathwood said:

it just amazes me how quickly lives can be changed by a simple mis-judgement.

Will all the safety features of a modern car, and the frequency at which we use them without a second thought, it's easy to forget you're going along at 70mph+ in a tonne and a half of metal (Or sometimes carbon fibre).

Mistakes happen so easily.

[Tribal Chestnut]

A lex said:

I scared someones Granny, shame on me.

On the other hand, hopefully she is now aware of the danger that she put herself in, so should be a little more cautious next time. You might have saved her life...

[trackerjack]

I built a Gemini kit car and had a Dolomite sprint lump in it and when it gave trouble I did what all the mechanics advised and fitted that awful boat anchor the Ford Pinto.
The car was now much much slower and I too overtook where there was a dip and I suffered a head on and was lucky to escape with no injuries to the bloke I hit and I merely cracked a wrist bone when I punched a hole through 1/2" plywood dash!
This was in Totnes in 96 and I did a driver correction course to avoid a fine and points.
At least we walked away.

[All that jazz]

Buggerlugz said:

Sometimes you get dragged back down to earth and realise youre maybes not as good as you think.

A few weeks agoI finished work and was heading home from a town 30 miles away, I took a road I didnt know, gets out of the built up area following 2 cars onto a country lane thats about 2 miles to the dual carriageway home.

Front car is bumbling along so as the 3 of us come around a right hander i check the horizon and theres a good stretch before a left hand bend that i can easily pass the two cars im following

I drop a cog and as I pass the first car and pull alongside the second I realise theres a blind dip in the road

Im about halfway past the lead car as I crest the dip and see a car coming the other way

I really dont know how I didnt connect with either the oncoming vehicle or the one I was overtaking, I just went onto auto pilot and pulled the car back to the right side of the road hoping Id passed the car I was going overtaking

It seems I did, however I feel like I got off lightly

I retraced the route the following day and while I can see how I missed the dip I know I was just too keen to overtake

Its subsided a bit but I felt like a tt of the highest order

Did something very similar many years ago. Was out for a night blast on the Keighley to Denholme road and when you get up on the tops there's a half mile straight which I'd remembered as being a good overtaking place, at least coming from the other direction anyway. Came over the brow of the hill with a couple of cars in front of me and couldn't see any headlights or headlight glows coming the other way so went for the overtake. Got about half way past them and then suddenly a pair of headlights appeared about 300 yards in front of me . Luckily for me - and like you - the front car I was overtaking eased right off and let me get back over but it really st me up.

Got a pic of where it happened here - you can see the far end of the road and what appears to be road in the middle bit, but actually dips down just enough to "hide" cars in it. Move the cursor along the road to where the roadworks are up ahead and you can see the dip loom into view. They've now got a bunch of "CAUTION HIDDEN DIP" signs up now but they weren't there a decade or so ago when it happened.

[StealthSteve]

danjama said:

A lex said:

I did something today I would like to confess about.

Making progress on a wide-open and well sighted NSL single carriageway - spot two OAP on bikes about 300m ahead waiting to cross from one side to the other.

No cars behind me and a not much coming the other way. I am over the speed limit, but not by much and lift off the gas fearing the inevitable - yup they go for it...... at normal walking pace there would be plenty of time to cross (although you would still question the sanity of not waiting the 10s until I am past and then crossing in complete safety).

However, they are bumblers and kind of begin to hobble across. I am on the brakes and can stop easily in time but blow the horn anyway. Granny gets fright of her life and hobbles more quickly and looks flustered. She is out of the way and I pass.

I had the typical feeling of 'stupid pedestrians' at first, but then I thought if that was my Gran I wouldnt like someone to scare the st out of her, everyone makes mistakes. I spent the next 10 minutes feeling rotten. I scared someones Granny, shame on me.

That was pretty mean. I think I would have stopped and apologised if the road was clear. She probably would have appreciated it and cleared your conciense.

I'm sorry, but na.

What if next time this poor old dear steps out oblivious and get's hit?, the driver hasn't time to stop.. it's not a drivers fault if someone else can't wait the 10secs.

[TheTurbonator]

Were there any signs on solid white lines on the road to warn you of the dip? I'm not having a dig, as we all make mistakes and I've certainly made my share.

It's how and if we learn from them that matters and if there were signs and road markings and you missed them. Then good on you if you learn from it and pay more attention for them in future.

I was following two farmers in Defender's with trailers piled high full of hay the other day. They were doing about 15mph but the roads are very narrow and bumpy so they were trying to make sure they didn't lose any of their loads. I was first in the inevitable queue. It was quite frustrating but I kept my cool and distance and was waiting for an opportunity to overtake but like I said the road is very narrow and twisty. Too my surprise some idiot in a VW van went for it on an incline just before a right hand corner on a blind crest. Sure enough a car came hurtling round the corner and he and the van driver must have got the shock of their lives. The van driver quickly darted to the left narrowly avoiding the lead Defender and the oncoming car.

Could have been very nasty.

[Captain Muppet]

FleshMechanic said:

DIW35 said:

jdwoodbury said:

I have got it wrong on a motorbike several times, thankfully never threw it down the road but you make a mental note never to do it again!

That statement seems a tad incongruous. It would appear your mental notes are going straight in the bin before being delivered.

You're assuming that he's making the same mistake, repeatedly. You know what... ;-)

My motorbike mistakes/leasons:

Don't ride a ZXR400 in snow.

Don't use too much throttle when turning out of T junctions (massive slide, which would have been cool if I wasn't so scared).

Don't ignore adverse camber (big slide).

Don't assume that just because you have a slipper clutch you can change down whenever you like (the one and only time I've backed a bike in to a corner).

When riding off road down a hill with only a plank to ride across when you get to the stream at the bottom don't stare at the tree you don't want to ride into instead (badly ached face and my one and only fall).

I've not done any of those again.

[jdwoodbury]

DIW35 said:

That statement seems a tad incongruous. It would appear your mental notes are going straight in the bin before being delivered.

I was kind of referring to a particular situation, but I get your point

[tyranical]

clarkmagpie said:

I have found that when I first passed my test I took the greatest risks in my little MG Metro, carried out overtakes I wouldnt contemplate these days.

Got lucky a few times.

Maybe it's the fact that the Griff is effortless.
I knoow that I dont trust the Elise in the same way.
Very wary of pulling off overtakes in that.

Similar to me.

My first car was a citroen saxo, I look back now at some places I used to overtake and I wouldn't do it now in a car with 3 times the power so god knows why or how I did it back then in a 60bhp tin can.

[Jimmy No Hands]

My second ever car I bought was an RX-8 and it was my first transition into RWD. There is a roundabout near me that leads onto a motorway slip road and dropping into second and giving it the beans up to the limit was a ton of fun. I got it very wrong one day and got on the gas a bit too early before straightening up, back end slips out and I panic and let off the accelerator and barely manage to wrestle it straight again.

Cue me shaking like a stting dog for the rest of the journey and gaining the much needed respect for RWD. Was certainly more careful after.

[Perd Hapley]

A lex said:

I scared someones Granny, shame on me.

I scared an old lady a few weeks ago and felt terrible about it. I'd stopped at a T-junction on an empty suburban street, looked left, looked right, looked left again and started to pull out before noticing her coming from the right. I hit the brakes and even though my wheels didn't even cross the white line it spooked her enough to swerve wildly and then weave all over the place. A non-event really but scaring a nervous elderly driver made me feel like a prick.

[blugnu]

These are all the things we learn from. I have a rough bit on one of my back molars from when I got a bit carried away on some Scottish A road or other - doing the clenched teeth 'whoah I wasn't expecting that' face, the car thudded into the dip I hadn't seen with enough force for me to chip off a bit of tooth. It's always there to remind me - as was the cracked side moulding at the back of the car.

I also got involved in a very silly bit of driving somewhere north of Ullapool a long time ago - long story but I ended up doing an indicated <far too high a speed> with a 330ci on my tail, but with it too close for me dare to lift off, and we were going too fast for me to get into any of the layby we saw; I was concentrating so much on driving I never saw them in time to scrub off enough speed to get into them, besides which the BMW was far too close for me to risk braking on a straight. After 30 miles or so we came to a t-junction. I went left, he went right. I pulled over immediately and mulled over what an idiotic thing to do it was, and how losing my licence was not high on my to do list.

It all started because I was annoyed at the overtake he pulled on me earlier - there was no way he could see far enough to pull it off safely, which I felt put me in danger. I caught up with him some miles later stuck in a queue, but I approached with momentum and a great view, which he didn't have as he was too close to a Transit. I took him and a few other cars in one and went on my way, until I saw him bearing down on me with a ton of speed a bit later. Determined he wasn't going to get past me again I accelerated. He wanted past, so he accelerated. I wasn't going to let him pass, so I accelerated, and so on, until we were locked in a sort of too-fast embrace - I felt I couldn't slow significantly as he was so, so close, but he couldn't quite muster the speed to get past.

Very, very silly, but lesson learned. Let them go.

[oldcynic]

blugnu said:

I also got involved in a very silly bit of driving somewhere north of Ullapool a long time ago - long story but ...

Very, very silly, but lesson learned. Let them go.

My brother let his common sense get the better of him when we were driving from Glasgow up through the highlands. He was in my S2 and was being tailgated by a Ford Galaxy up a long straight section (A82 I believe). Out of curiousity he accelerated to 70, still being tailed by the classic red-faced MPV driver. Up to 80 - Audi rock solid, MPV looking a little unsettled. Up to 90 - Audi starting to feel the uneven surface, MPV bouncing all over the place. He dropped back to 60 for everyone's safety, and watched a white-faced family pass him at 90 or so.

He saw the same driver again a few miles on, taking a break from driving and chatting to a uniformed friend. Sometimes being in front just isn't worth the risk, or the licence.

[FisiP1]

Rob81 said:

I misjudged the speed a car was joing a roundabout the other day and pulled out right into his path. Luckily, he avoided me and other cars around him. Very embarassing and left me feeling stupid all day.

Did this to a Police car a couple of weeks ago(to be fair the junction in question is idiotic, fast approach but zero visibility till you are on the junction), thought I was going to get hit, and when we didn't I thought I was going to get pulled, didn't.

Those moments where you get off lightly with a potentially serious mistake stick with you forever.

Later that day a Bus pulled out into my path in a similar way on a roundabout, luckily I avoided him and the cars in the adjacent lane.

[Ferosferio]

I spun a car whilst entering a motorway slip road - carried far too much speed into the turn and lifted off midway through. Nevermind the mid-engine/RWD, excessive speed for the conditions was the biggest factor.

I spun 180 degrees without hitting anything but ended up facing oncoming traffic. Luckily for me, it was after midnight and traffic was very light. Good thing it scared me stless at the time: I had a new found respect for different handling dynamics/characteristics of different cars and, perhaps more importantly, began to understand how significant road conditions are - this is one of the biggest problems the general motoring public has IMO.

[lankybob]

trackerjack said:

I built a Gemini kit car and had a Dolomite sprint lump in it and when it gave trouble I did what all the mechanics advised and fitted that awful boat anchor the Ford Pinto.
The car was now much much slower and I too overtook where there was a dip and I suffered a head on and was lucky to escape with no injuries to the bloke I hit and I merely cracked a wrist bone when I punched a hole through 1/2" plywood dash!
This was in Totnes in 96 and I did a driver correction course to avoid a fine and points.
At least we walked away.

Where about, if you don't mind me asking?
I live around there and I know some of the roads quite well.

Mine happened the pther day. As seems to be the case with many of the stories I have read so far, I was being impatient. A car was doing 35 in an nsl, it is the road going from Kingswear towards Paignton in South Devon if anyone knows it. As soon as I exited an s bend on to the only overtaking point on this particular road, I dropped into 2nd, floored it and pulled out. As I did so, a car came round the corner at the end of this straight and I held on to a second or two, still accelerating hard. I had to abort the overtake and almost drove into the rear quarter of this Passat in front of me.
I still feel like a dick.

[maniac0796]

I did something a bit silly recently. I run an E30 which normally has 9" wide wheels on the back with good 215/40/16 tyres. Anyway, I'd changed them back to the standard 6" ones, with crap 185/60/14 tyres (Corsa's) or something like that. This was after a short dry spell at the end of may.

Came round a 90 degree left hand corner thats at the brow of a hill. I must of only been doing 20, but being used to better and bigger tyres and the greasy damp road meant that I just pushed the power on a bit too early. Whole car decided to go sideways down the road. I over corrected and flicked the car the other way. I then over corrected again and went the otherway, clipping the grass verge with my O/S/R wheel which spun me 180 and left me rolling backwards into a hedge.

I must of travelled a good 100 metres down a busy road doing this, and although I was only doing between 10 and 20 mph the whole time it seemed to go on forever and just seemed uncontrollable. It's all well and good saying you're a king of car control or that over correcting is a rookie error, but theres a difference between playing round in an open car park and being in the heat of the moment on a road where straying off means a written off car.

I'm just glad no one was coming the other way at the time or I'd of been fked. The thing that made me chuckle and feel like more a knob though was that someone I overtook earlier down the road with some speed came round the corner just as I'd finished my 180. He must of thought I was a right tt.