I Nearly Died Tonight ... - Page 2

Cruddy · May 23, 2003, 15:32

Congratulations on your survival.

This sort of incident really does change people.

Gatekeeper · May 23, 2003, 16:14

Quote:

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
Next time, don't leave home without anti-tank missiles.

For some strange reason, the military surplus stores around here don't carry such armaments. I don't know why.

Gatekeeper

orange · May 23, 2003, 16:15

I'm glad you're ok Gatekeeper

Imran Siddiqui · May 23, 2003, 16:15

We know you are lying... you like South Dakota, they must leave them around for the militias

.

Gatekeeper · May 23, 2003, 16:16

Quote:

Originally posted by Proteus_MST
Glad you´re O.K.

Did you tell the police about it, so they at least try to find this reckless trucker?
Maybe the next person who encounters this Trucker won´t have so much luck like you.

I wasn't (understandably) able to get a license plate at the time. I must have been pre-occupied with seeing my life flash before my eyes or something.

All I know, it was an empty cattle-hauling 18-wheeler, eastbound on U.S. Highway 12 ...

Gatekeeper

Gatekeeper · May 23, 2003, 16:18

Quote:

Originally posted by paiktis22
You should taken out your pistol and shoot him

Problem is, I don't carry such weapons. And even if I did, I was in no shape at that moment to be taking potshots at a steel-encased truck driver.

Gatekeeper

orange · May 23, 2003, 16:22

I remember my first real drive...i had been learning in a drivers class and then took a road test with an instructor. I was doing blissfully until I got to a green arrow...my perception wasn't good enough at that point, and I thought for sure I had plenty of time, so I went...

...I was wrong. I got about halfway out into the turn and realized that I didn't have enough time to make it, but rather than hit the brakes, I used my instincts and gunned it...tires squeeled, car went on 2 wheels, and I made it just fine...the other guy didn't even really brake or honk or anything...my instructor was amazed that I actually went, and had considered hitting the emergency brake on his side of the car (for the instructor, incase the student does something like what I did)

the best part was, it was a stereotypical "Student Driver moment". There was the sign ontop of the car too...i bet it gave a lot of onlookers a good laugh

I've never been in an accident in my nearly 4 years of driving, though.

Gatekeeper · May 23, 2003, 16:26

Quote:

Originally posted by Azazel
Some scary ****. Things like this happen. I almost got killed some time ago while trying to avoid running over a cat.

I'm like that, too, in the sense that if I can avoid hitting an animal of any sort, I will. But if it's a choice between me and the animal, the animal loses. But even then I'll try to maneuver my vehicle so the animal passes *between* the wheels directly beneath my car body. It works ... sometimes.

Quote:

How was the adrenalin Rush, btw?

Words are hard to come by to describe it. Definitely *not* exhilarating in this case.

Gatekeeper

Gatekeeper · May 23, 2003, 16:30

Quote:

Originally posted by Zopperoni
Good to see that you're fine, Gatekeeper. How are you feeling today?

Much better. Seven hours of sleeping to "meditative" music is good medicine for just about anything.

Gatekeeper

Gatekeeper · May 23, 2003, 16:31

Quote:

Originally posted by Chris 62
Was that YOU?

Yeah. Small world, ain't it? Now, if you'd be so kind, what's your license plate number and the phone number for that "How's My Driving?" placard I saw attached to the 18-wheeler?

Gatekeeper

Gatekeeper · May 23, 2003, 16:37

Quote:

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
First, glad you're okay. Dying tend to ruin your weekend.

Admittedly, just a little bit ...

Quote:

... You migh wish to consider the possibiity that 1), the driver misjudged the light (it happens)

No way. This was in the middle of my green light. There were vehicles stopped at the intersection, and had been for a while, so it's not like the trucker couldn't have had a clue that a red light had gone up. Just looking would've told him that.

Quote:

2) his brakes failed. You don't mention if he honked his horn. He could have just been zoning out, which isn't a mitigating factor.

Nope. No horn screaming. Just a loud whooshing sound as he swept into the turn lane to avoid me while going through a red light. If his brakes had given out, he would've hit something not much further down the highway ('twas a busy time and crowded road). And he wasn't driving into the sun, either, so he couldn't have been blinded. That leaves but one option: irresponsibility on his part.

Quote:

Just saying there are other possibilities than his simply beng an aggressive driver.

Noted, and dutifully shot down.

Gatekeeper

orange · May 23, 2003, 16:41

can you diagram the intersection for us using paint or some other program?

Gatekeeper · May 23, 2003, 16:42

Everyone:

Thanks for the well wishes and contributions to this thread (except for you, DaShi, you crabapple

).

Y'know what? It makes you wonder what really happens to handles who no longer post at 'Poly or any other online forum, for that matter. I mean, if someone on the forum(s) doesn't know just what happened to a handle that no longer posts ... well, maybe the person died unexpectedly.

Gatekeeper

Imran Siddiqui · May 23, 2003, 16:44

OH NO! The Brain is dead?!

chequita guevara · May 23, 2003, 16:45

Among 17,000 posters, it's always a possibility. Only a few people who aren't online junkies understand what our online communities mean, and aren't necessarily likely to notify people in the event of a death.

When it does happen, you have to take into consideration the possibility it's a hoax. It's happened on more than one occasion.

Gatekeeper · May 23, 2003, 16:48

Quote:

Originally posted by orange
can you diagram the intersection for us using paint or some other program?

I don't have a program like that on my computer.

Basically, it was an ordinary "cross" intersection, shaped like this (the main highway is the east-west axis, the side road the north-south axis):

+

There's an Arby's restaurant in the upper right-hand corner of the intersection and a car wash in the upper left-hand corner of the intersection. There's a park in the lower right-hand corner and a photography business in the lower left-hand corner. The intersection is completely controlled by lights that are activated when a vehicle from the side street is waiting to cross or turn and merge into traffic.

The 18-wheeler was coming from west going east on the main highway, and I was turning west onto the highway from the south half of the side road.

Gatekeeper

Gatekeeper · May 23, 2003, 16:56

Quote:

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
OH NO! The Brain is dead?!

The Brain, huh? Well, he came within a foot of meeting the Grim Reaper, yes, but he lived to create this thread about the whole ordeal.

Gatekeeper

Imran Siddiqui · May 23, 2003, 16:57

.... the other Brain, GK

... as in the poster

.

Gatekeeper · May 23, 2003, 17:25

Argh. Hey, I got smarts, too, ya know.

Adam Smith · May 23, 2003, 23:45

Gatekeeper:

Glad you are still with us.

Quote:

Originally posted by JohnT
Actually, reading the DOT's Fatality Analysis Reporting System you will see that semi's are, at worst, just slightly more likely to be involved to be involved in accidents:

http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/pubs/4.pdf

"In 1999 large trucks accounted for 4% of all registered vehicles and 8% of total vehicle miles driven.... In 2000, large trucks accounted for 9% of all vehicles involved in fatal crashes and 4% of all vehicles involved in injury and property-damage-only crashes."

Otoh, as one would guess, these accidents tend to be more fatal, with 12% of all auto fatalities coming at the hands of the laws of physics which argues that big, steel boxes will tend to crush aluminum framework.

In short, I just don't see the evidence that supports the assertion that truck drivers are inherently more dangerous than any other class of driver... but I do see plenty of evidence that trucks are more dangerous than any other class of vehicle.

This is actually a very misleading set of statistics due to aggregation problems, though most people have no way of knowing that. A good chunk of truck traffic is long-haul trips on interstates, which are much safer (on a vehicle mile traveled basis) than other types of highways. When you take out the relatively safe interstates, the accident involvement gets much higher, especially as you work your way down through US highways, state highways, local highways, and onto city streets as in Gatekeeper's case. Each type of road is less and less capable of coping with a mix of large truck and auto traffic.

JohnT · May 23, 2003, 23:52

A set of statistics I wasn't able to find are percentages regarding whom was charged with the accidents in a truck vs. passenger car accident. That would really tell us who's at fault in these situations.

Bereta_Eder · May 24, 2003, 00:56

Quote:

Originally posted by Gatekeeper

Problem is, I don't carry such weapons. And even if I did, I was in no shape at that moment to be taking potshots at a steel-encased truck driver.

Gatekeeper

It was a joke of course

Glad you are OK. Got to watch for those crazed truck drivers... and also bus drivers with empty buses on their way to the bus shelter station

Gatekeeper · May 24, 2003, 01:20

Quote:

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
Among 17,000 posters, it's always a possibility. Only a few people who aren't online junkies understand what our online communities mean, and aren't necessarily likely to notify people in the event of a death.

When it does happen, you have to take into consideration the possibility it's a hoax. It's happened on more than one occasion.

Yep. It happened once on an old forum I used to post at years ago. It certainly dealt a severe blow to the sense of trust for a lot of people there at the time. I believe a number of them had sent flowers, some money, food. The moral of the story? Some folks will take advantage of others no matter what. It's sad, but a fact of life. The good thing? Such folks are usually outnumbered by good-hearted counterparts.

Gatekeeper

Bereta_Eder · May 24, 2003, 01:28

quote:
Originally posted by Proteus_MST
Glad you´re O.K.

Did you tell the police about it, so they at least try to find this reckless trucker?
Maybe the next person who encounters this Trucker won´t have so much luck like you.
------------

I wasn't (understandably) able to get a license plate at the time. I must have been pre-occupied with seeing my life flash before my eyes or something.

yep, in situations like these you're just glad to still be alive basically... can't really re-compose yourself in a milisecond after something like this.

Something similar was me getting in a cab whose driver was high on some kind of drug. I still thank god that I'm alive after that experience... but when I got out of that cab my mind wasn't anywhere getting his license plates... just indiscribably glad to have my two feet on the ground.

Gatekeeper · May 24, 2003, 02:24

It appears a number of folks have horror stories when it comes to encounters with 18-wheelers, buses and taxi cabs.

Gatekeeper

DRoseDARs · May 24, 2003, 02:28

Quote:

Originally posted by JohnT
Oh, please. Believe it or not, truckers say the same damned things about you. Your problem lies that fact that you are "unwary" - your words, man.

Bite me, JohnT. The only place I speed is the left lane on the freeway (so-called fastlane). All the other lanes I slow to 65mph. I use my turn signals effectively, allow safe driving distance in front of me, I don't weave back and forth through traffic just to move ahead one car length, I don't cut people off, I let people merge in front of me, I stop at red lights and stop signs, I don't turn the ignition until all seatbelts are fastened, I slow to a crawl at RR crossings and look both ways before proceeding, I give 18-wheelers a wide berth both in front/back/and sides and so on.

How dare you acuse me of being "unwary" when you don't know sh*t about me!

I've had other people acuse me of being just "another teenage driver," then retract their ignorant statment and prejudgement of me because of my age. I'm damned paranoid about other drivers on the road, so I'm never more alert then when I'm behind the wheel.

I actually paid attention during drivers' ed.

If I've got someone riding my ass, I'll move out of the way when I can, but at that time I couldn't; there wasn't anywhere for me to go because traffic was dense at that part of the freeway, which thins to 2 lanes (in Reno, "city planning" is a joke). The only thing I could do was go faster than 75mph which I'm not willing to do except in emergencies...like having an 18-wheeler riding my ass. I hit 83mph before I could change lanes safely. I'd been in the left lane for 10 miles already at that point, with no one behind me for the previous five or so minutes until that d*ckhead appeared in my rearview. He was on me in less than 2 minutes. I check my traffic situation every few seconds...just in case. Glad I saw him coming well beforehand.

(God that pisses me off when people blindly and wholly acuse me of being a bad driver when the only thing I do is speed 10mph over the speed limit on the freeway in the leftlane...

)

orange · May 24, 2003, 02:50

be so kind as to take the flamewar *****fest off of the "I nearly died" thread, mmmmkay? Thanks.

Frankychan · May 24, 2003, 03:11

Gatekeeper-Man, really glad to hear that you're ok.

(to cut the tension with humor) At least you can say that now you're truly "The Man" for staring death in the face and giving him the finger.

I hope someone got that stupid mofo trucker's license plates.....

DRoseDARs · May 24, 2003, 03:20

Who's flaming? People are sharing stories of poor driving, with 18-wheelers being the conversation starter, and here comes someone acusing me of being in the wrong in my story.

I have no interest in a flame war, nor shall I engage in one should it start, but damn right I'm going to defend myself against acusations. He came after me and I've set the record straight in response.

Orange, I'm sorry if you felt I've lessened this thread, but I wasn't going to let the other post stand unanswered. How would you feel if someone had quiped "Well, Gatekeeper should have stopped sooner" critiquing his driving? All of you would be taken back a little.

Gatekeeper, my apologies. It's no one's place to acuse other posters of poor driving in this kind of thread. I wasn't about to take it.

JohnT · May 24, 2003, 03:36

When did I mention Gatekeeper?