Out of Control on the Freeway
What started as a beautiful mornning yesterday turned seriously close to deadly on the way to a charity run. We were supposed to meet up with some friends of ours at 8:00 a.m. to head down to Glendale, CA Harley Davidson for a poker run. As it was, we were running a little late, only a few minutes, and got there around 8:10. It's funny how you look back and think, "Wow....if we'd left on time..."
The morning was absolutely beautiful, clear skies, about 65 degrees. As it was early on a Sunday there was very little traffic on the freeway. We had about a 40 mile shot down the freeway to the dealer and even though traffic was light, people were still driving pretty fast.
One of the things about L.A. traffic is that it is so bad, so congested virtually night and day that when people do get an open road, 80-90 mph in a car is not unusual at all.
We were in the fast lane doing about 70-75 mph , me and my wife in front, our friends on their bike behind us. There was a woman in a Toyota Camry in front of me about 5-6 car lengths ahead. Other vehicles in the slower lanes keeping pace with us and a kid on a sport bike who had just changed lanes from the #2 lane to the #3 lane.
We still do not know why she did it, maybe she started to change lanes and saw or thought she saw a car coming up behind her but without warning, and seemingly for no reason, the driver in front of me in the Toyota lost complete control of her vehicle, fishtailing all the way from the fast lane to the #3 lane.
At this point all I could hear was rubber squeeling everywhere as any car around us realized what was happening and started hitting the brakes. Not wanting to lock up the tires on my bike I hit the brakes praying that my buddy and his girlfriend and anyone else behind them wouldn't come crashing into us from behind. It all happens so fast that you barely have time to think but after sliding over 3 lanes, the Toyota, still completely out of control, did a 360 and looked for sure that it would flip and roll. But what happened was that she started sliding all the way back over directly to us in the fast lane again.
Even if I'd had time to, I had nowhere to go to my left from the fast lane as there was freeway contruction and nothing but cement barriers where the breakdown lane use to be. Just as I was coming to a stop thinking for sure she'd wind up nailing us from the side, she stopped in the #2 lane next to us and about 30 feet ahead.
Unfortunately, the kid on the sport bike wound up slamming into the back of an SUV who had jammed on the brakes right when the Camry came into his lane. Amazingly, the kid walked away with a few scratches and a mangled bike.
We made sure he was okay, stayed around to help the driver who was shaken up and gave a report to the CHP. Needless to say, the rest of the ride down to the Harley dealer was with a lot of trepidation.
I was proud of myself that I was able to control the bike and didn't freak out in that situation but all day kept thinking that it was only because of God that we rode off safely.
Be safe everyone
The morning was absolutely beautiful, clear skies, about 65 degrees. As it was early on a Sunday there was very little traffic on the freeway. We had about a 40 mile shot down the freeway to the dealer and even though traffic was light, people were still driving pretty fast.
One of the things about L.A. traffic is that it is so bad, so congested virtually night and day that when people do get an open road, 80-90 mph in a car is not unusual at all.
We were in the fast lane doing about 70-75 mph , me and my wife in front, our friends on their bike behind us. There was a woman in a Toyota Camry in front of me about 5-6 car lengths ahead. Other vehicles in the slower lanes keeping pace with us and a kid on a sport bike who had just changed lanes from the #2 lane to the #3 lane.
We still do not know why she did it, maybe she started to change lanes and saw or thought she saw a car coming up behind her but without warning, and seemingly for no reason, the driver in front of me in the Toyota lost complete control of her vehicle, fishtailing all the way from the fast lane to the #3 lane.
At this point all I could hear was rubber squeeling everywhere as any car around us realized what was happening and started hitting the brakes. Not wanting to lock up the tires on my bike I hit the brakes praying that my buddy and his girlfriend and anyone else behind them wouldn't come crashing into us from behind. It all happens so fast that you barely have time to think but after sliding over 3 lanes, the Toyota, still completely out of control, did a 360 and looked for sure that it would flip and roll. But what happened was that she started sliding all the way back over directly to us in the fast lane again.
Even if I'd had time to, I had nowhere to go to my left from the fast lane as there was freeway contruction and nothing but cement barriers where the breakdown lane use to be. Just as I was coming to a stop thinking for sure she'd wind up nailing us from the side, she stopped in the #2 lane next to us and about 30 feet ahead.
Unfortunately, the kid on the sport bike wound up slamming into the back of an SUV who had jammed on the brakes right when the Camry came into his lane. Amazingly, the kid walked away with a few scratches and a mangled bike.
We made sure he was okay, stayed around to help the driver who was shaken up and gave a report to the CHP. Needless to say, the rest of the ride down to the Harley dealer was with a lot of trepidation.
I was proud of myself that I was able to control the bike and didn't freak out in that situation but all day kept thinking that it was only because of God that we rode off safely.
Be safe everyone
posted by Mike at 1:23 PM PERMALINK
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