A Close Call (Almost lost another one a few minutes ago)

[squat]

No breaklights = rather dangerous for people behind you. Humans are good at seeing objects at a distance, but we're not all that great at judging how fast those objects are coming up on us (some more than others). That's why we have the breaklights, to warn others that we are slowing down or stopped.

My state just passed a law saying that motorcycles (ok not exactly the same, but for the same reasons) cannot downshift to avoid breaking. The reasoning being that the breaklight serves as a warning and motorcycles are harder to see already.

That being said, if the person was paying more attention they probably would have seen that you were stopped behind a van.

[mcdoogle6969]

Originally Posted by squat

No breaklights = rather dangerous for people behind you. Humans are good at seeing objects at a distance, but we're not all that great at judging how fast those objects are coming up on us (some more than others). That's why we have the breaklights, to warn others that we are slowing down or stopped.

My state just passed a law saying that motorcycles (ok not exactly the same, but for the same reasons) cannot downshift to avoid breaking. The reasoning being that the breaklight serves as a warning and motorcycles are harder to see already.

That being said, if the person was paying more attention they probably would have seen that you were stopped behind a van.

I agree with you on some parts, but it was also the drivers fault for not paying close enough attention to the point were the OP heard the guys tires squealing behind him. If you are incoming onto a car very quickly i would think people would have the common sense and the reaction to slow down. The kid behind the OP could also have been speeding, and that's why he hit the breaks so hard, who knows.

In my state if you rear end someone, no matter what happened, you are automatically at fault because you were not being a cautious driver. You should be aware of whats going around you at all times as a driver and tailgating is also a big no no. If that happened to me and the guy started to tailgate me after wards, i could have break checked him and he would have been at fault...but i wouldn't do such a thing to my own car. haha.

[HDDAN]

When I am on my motorcycle, which has a lot of engine braking, I give the front brake a little tug to turn on the brake light so that my intentions are known to the driver behind me. I am not saying that you are at fault, I am just sharing a technique that I use. What is a fender bender in a car is an ambulance ride on a Harley.

[REEFBLUE93]

I don't own a Camaro but just something else for you all to be aware of in case you don't already know. Three yrs ago I had an 87 Mustang 5.0 convertible. The car was in very good condition and I was about to pull the motor and rebuild it. I was heading south on US-183 and was behind a woman in a Lexus. She'd been jabbering to the people in the back seat for a couple of miles and would occasionally look forward in the direction she was travelling at 60 mph. We came up on a flashing yellow light and she jammed on her brakes. I locked mine up and stopped about 8-10 ft from her back bumper. I was trying to get over to the other lane but the traffic was too steady. As i laid on the horn, she finally accelerated and then I heard it. There were more than 1 set of screaching tires behind me and a dump truck rear ended a Toyota Tundra and shoved him into the back of my car. I had to exit the passenger side of my car because the driver's door was jammed shut. I asked the moron in the Lexus why in the hell she stopped at a flashing yellow light and she replied "I thought it was going to turn red". In the process of flapping her big fat mouth to the people in the back seat, she hadn't noticed the light was a caution light and when she turned around she saw the yellow and slammed on the brakes thinking it was about to turn red. Of course my Mustang was a total loss as it had the ass end shortened by about a foot. The guy in the dump truck got the ticket for following too close to the Tundra and the Lexus lady went on down the road to wreak more havoc. Just be aware of the person in front of you when approaching a flashing yellow light because they may not be aware of what's going on around them.

[butterfingers]

2 words for ya ...... Defensive Driving , you did great! Moat people think that the other drivers should know what their doing ... WRONG! By being a good defensive driver such as our boy here, you can always avoid these type of accidents. Great Job!

[Dan3]

It's a hopeless mess to leave the house any more. This country suffers from a huge misconception.

Driving is NOT A RIGHT. Driving is a privilage. One that should be taken away from more irresponsible, incompetant, and downright stupid people before they kill or injure some one, not after.

Just like that douchenozzle that was driving like a dick in the OP. Follow him around for a few days and you would most likely see a pattern of tailgating, hard breaking, and generalized stupid driving. At that point take his license, not after he rearends someone and causes injury or death.

Of course I think anyone caught driving without a license sould be charge with reckless endangerment automatically, and DUIs should be treated as attempted murder. But I'm just a self-righteous prick like that.

[squat]

Originally Posted by mcdoogle6969

I agree with you on some parts, but it was also the drivers fault for not paying close enough attention to the point were the OP heard the guys tires squealing behind him.

No argument there, in fact I would say it's entirely the other persons fault

Originally Posted by mcdoogle6969

If you are incoming onto a car very quickly i would think people would have the common sense and the reaction to slow down.

That was my point, human beings are terrible at judging how fast we are coming up on an object, that's why we have break lights and why we need to use them. It's nice to be able to save brake pads by riding the clutch in your manual but you also send out less information to the driver behind you because of it.

In a perfect world where everyone gave driving 100% of their attention you wouldn't need brake lights, but we live in a world far from that.

Originally Posted by mcdoogle6969

In my state if you rear end someone, no matter what happened, you are automatically at fault because you were not being a cautious driver. You should be aware of whats going around you at all times as a driver and tailgating is also a big no no.

Exactly as it should be.

I'm not defending the other driver by any means, just being realistic about the world we live in and the roads we drive on.

[mcdoogle6969]

Originally Posted by squat

No argument there, in fact I would say it's entirely the other persons fault



That was my point, human beings are terrible at judging how fast we are coming up on an object, that's why we have break lights and why we need to use them. It's nice to be able to save brake pads by riding the clutch in your manual but you also send out less information to the driver behind you because of it.

In a perfect world where everyone gave driving 100% of their attention you wouldn't need brake lights, but we live in a world far from that.



Exactly as it should be.

I'm not defending the other driver by any means, just being realistic about the world we live in and the roads we drive on.

A perfect world with perfect drivers would be nice

[qbert48]

Originally Posted by Dan3

It's a hopeless mess to leave the house any more. This country suffers from a huge misconception.

Driving is NOT A RIGHT. Driving is a privilage. One that should be taken away from more irresponsible, incompetant, and downright stupid people before they kill or injure some one, not after.

Just like that douchenozzle that was driving like a dick in the OP. Follow him around for a few days and you would most likely see a pattern of tailgating, hard breaking, and generalized stupid driving. At that point take his license, not after he rearends someone and causes injury or death.

Of course I think anyone caught driving without a license sould be charge with reckless endangerment automatically, and DUIs should be treated as attempted murder. But I'm just a self-righteous prick like that.