On 25 Oct 2004 21:50:13 GMT, (Ppelectron) wrote:

>><snip>
>>>It's not me, it's those other manics on the road that I worry about .
>>
>>A deeply unconvincing reply. Anybody that hits *you* will probably say
>>the same thing.
>>
>>The trick is to anticipate other road users actions and properly read
>>the road ahead. It's also possible to be trained to a drive at a
>>higher safety level. I do/did all this rather than buy a Volvo. YMMV.
>>
>>--
>>Z
>>Scotland
>>Alfa Romeo 156 2.4JTD Veloce Leather
>>'Oil' be seeing you..
>>(Email without 'Alfa' in subject are auto-deleted..sorry!)
>>
>
>There will always be a chance you could be involved in an accident that you
>could do nothing about. I had a psycho driver shoot out from a side road onto a
>main road in front of me with no warning. They were going fast and I didn't
>even have time to brake.

Could you have anticipated the side road (there's usually signs or
some advance warning for these)? If so, you could have anticipated
someone coming out of it. Were you *fully* alert at the time? I don't
mean this as an insult but many drivers drive in a semi-daze and you
have said that a car came out in front of you but you were unable to
brake.

I've been in a similar situation to this (before my anticipation
skills were fine tuned, or I owned an Alfa) and had to do a full-on
emergency stop to avoid someone coming out a side street.
Unfortunately, the hooligan that tried to T-Bone me never saw me as
ABS is silent and I had no chance to take a hand off the wheel to hit
the horn. I just missed hitting him.

> Wrote my audi off completely.

!

>It is unrealistic to
>assume that you would be able to miss all the nutters on the roads.

I've managed - and I'm not young either (sadly)!

>Look in the
>Daily Mail today (UK) for a picture of a nutter on the M4 motorway driving up
>the middle of a carriageway in rush hour in the wrong direction. The picture
>speaks for itself.

It's very dramatic but just because there are lunatics on the road
doesn't automatically mean good drivers will crash into them. If you
don't leave enough space in front of your car so you can react and
avoid accidents you get what you deserve in this kind of situation.

Almost all drivers I see on the roads these days are poor drivers and
most of these will have an incredible, unfounded self belief that they
are good drivers. That is my Road Rage theory too!

--
Z
Scotland
Alfa Romeo 156 2.4JTD Veloce Leather
'Oil' be seeing you..
(Email without 'Alfa' in subject are auto-deleted..sorry!)