Hard panic stop with toad

[Johnontheroad]

Heading north on Hwy 24 in Colorado, doing about 65 mph in my ‘15 Aspire towing a 4500# GMC Denali with M&G braking system. A stream of cars is coming southbound, and the second car in line pulls out to pass right in front of us. DW screams, I hit the brakes hard and aim for the right side and get mostly off the road. I can hear my tires squeal.

Meanwhile, the lead guy coming south also hits the brakes and pulls right, leaving a gap between us. The car making the pass just squeezes between us and other than a moment of fright all is OK. Dash cam confirms how close it was.

But what I wanted to point out that one of these big rigs with toad with proper braking can stop very very fast. I don’t recommend a panic stop if it can be avoided, but I am quite impressed just how fast one of these big rigs can stop.

[Ann n Gene]

Congrats on a great job of driving AND having all the safety equipment(towed brakes) that you needed in this emergency. Unfortunately there are a lit if folks who choose not to spend the money thinking they don’t need it. Sadly, I was once one of them but have had an AF-1 unit installs fir a long time now and haven’t needed it yet and hope I don’t, but I have it if…

[Mwoodofd]

Good driving - I had the same experience on our last trip from DFW to Austin. We departed Mansfield headed to 35W, like many trips, and 914 is a 2 lane road, with many curves. A line of cars was coming at us, and the 2nd car wandered into our lane, texting or using GPS. We hit the brakes and swerved right, and if too far, the rig would probably roll. The car saw us just in time that his driver side mirror hit the louvers covering my radiator, shattering their mirror, and slightly rubbing several of the louvers. We could not stop, and neither did they, so we pulled over about 2 miles further to inspect.

The Entegra, towing the Jeep handled well through this. Just glad they missed the Jeep too!

[philnail]

Glad you made the stop safe as people are just plain crazy never paying any attention to what is around them. The M&G braking system is fantastic and works flawlessly. We also use it on our Chevy 3500 longbed that we tow behind our Anthem. The nice thing is how well it works.

I put a couple links below that a friend set me showing how people don’t think. The first one is car crashes and the second one is train crashes which shows how crazy drivers are.

https://youtu.be/OsbQCYNIATo

https://youtu.be/vDVVpfCZEKE

[jondrew55]

I don't know about other states, but a few years ago, Florida introduced the "blinking yellow arrow" on stop lights with turn lanes. I guess the idea is that when the light changes, first a green turn arrow comes up, then turns red when the other direction is given a green light to go straight, then after a few seconds, the light changes to a blinking yellow indicating a turn is allowed after you yield to oncoming traffic. I notice it is not uncommon for some people to assume this arrow means just go ahead and turn left. I had my discovery 40G with my CRV attached driving thru a fully green light (did not just change) as I got right up to the intersection the driver in the opposite direction turn lane turned right in front of me. I have no idea how I did not hit her. I felt the ABS kick in, tires squealing etc. But I managed to go from 45 to 0 pretty fast. Glad my toad did not get rear ended. I guess I'm also glad I did not T-bone the driver because I almost certainly would have killed her. I always do a hard stare into the eyes of the opposing driver when I come to these intersections trying to decide if they really see me or look like they are about to turn in front of me.

[Dr. Mike]

Originally Posted by Mwoodofd

the 2nd car wandered into our lane, texting or using GPS.

Not to stem too far off topic, no cell phones are to be used in moving vehicles by drivers in Georgia. And, yes, this is enforced.


https://dds.georgia.gov/press-releas...rgia-law-hb673

[mickeybitsko]

Welcome to northern colofornia, highway 24 can be deadly, commuter traffic.
Word to the wise, when traveling e-w on highway 160 south of Pueblo Colo
Is another bad one, commuters and Forrest creatures entering the highway.

[Guernsey]

Originally Posted by jondrew55

I don't know about other states, but a few years ago, Florida introduced the "blinking yellow arrow" on stop lights with turn lanes. I guess the idea is that when the light changes, first a green turn arrow comes up, then turns red when the other direction is given a green light to go straight, then after a few seconds, the light changes to a blinking yellow indicating a turn is allowed after you yield to oncoming traffic. I notice it is not uncommon for some people to assume this arrow means just go ahead and turn left. I had my discovery 40G with my CRV attached driving thru a fully green light (did not just change) as I got right up to the intersection the driver in the opposite direction turn lane turned right in front of me. I have no idea how I did not hit her. I felt the ABS kick in, tires squealing etc. But I managed to go from 45 to 0 pretty fast. Glad my toad did not get rear ended. I guess I'm also glad I did not T-bone the driver because I almost certainly would have killed her. I always do a hard stare into the eyes of the opposing driver when I come to these intersections trying to decide if they really see me or look like they are about to turn in front of me.

And don’t start me on tinted windows that make it impossible to see the driver’s face. I too want to see the other driver looking at me acknowledging that he does see me. It is a crap shoot staring at a blackened window wondering if the driver is looking at me, texting, or changing radio channels…..