Been at this for 26 years or so now and never previously happened, but twice in the past 2 weeks I have had a car head on towards me where I have had to swerve at the last moment to avoid a fatal accident…statistically these seems insane odds ??? I am not talking crossing the line slightly, I am talking full blown aiming directly towards me and my side of the road,
The first incident I actually contemplated if they were trying to commit suicide, from what felt a very long way back they aimed directly at me, even as I changed course, seemingly happening in slow motion with no input from the controls of the car at all as they sailed directly towards me, thankfully I was empty and able to do a heavy swerve at the last moment when I realised they absolutely were not moving out the way, second time looked more like a distraction and the driver did make a last moment input, this time I was loaded and was only able to offer a half arsed jink to save the day - chilling what might have happened in either scenario !
Let’s hope there is no more of these nutters to dodge in the near future !
The issue of drivers on the wrong side of the road is now as bad here if not worse as driving in the old Yugoslavia.
Cutting right hand bends to banzai overtakes or just no idea of road positioning and vehicle width.
Absolutely no fear or conception of the implications of a head on crash.
Combined with video screens now needed to control ancillaries which were previously controlled by well designed and placed switches with no need to take eyes off the road.
The last thing I would do, best way to get yourself upside down and dead. Many years ago with the family in the car, a mini came over the hill about 200 metres ahead obviously out of control, sliding from side to side on the icy road, and I tried to calculate which side he would be when he arrived.
I got it wrong, but was parked on the pavement just as he did his final swerve towards us. The impact destroyed both cars but he was only saved because he didn’t have a seat belt. His bonnet sliced though the screen and grazed the top of his bent head, thrown forward by the impact.
Me, my wife who was sitting beside me with the baby on her lap (yes, I know ), and the 3 kids in the back were all completely unharmed, because we weren’t moving.
Lesson learned, stop don’t swerve.
Years later, on my way in a car driven by a mate (3 of us all road train drivers) down the Stuart Highway towards Alice Springs, we spotted a car swerving from side to side at high speed. My mate kept cool and slowed right down into 1st gear and crawled along the centre line of the road. He calculated correctly and, at the last moment, moved to the right and gunned the engine. The pisshead passed us at speed on the left and was last seen in the mirrors winding his way towards Darwin.
The closest I ever came was on a two lane, 100kph highwayas the sun was rising. I was traveling at 100kph when I saw an oncoming car suddenly swerve into my lane. I thought he was bein cheeky (and dangerous) forcing me to slow, so he didn’t have to, in order that he could turn into a concealed driveway. I hung on the trumpet and braked heavily, he made a quick exit onto the gravel to his right.
It annoyed/affected me to the point that I looked for the drivewaya couple od days later, on my way back. There was no driveway, so I wondered why he needed to stop at the gravel clearing, so desperately. A couple of years later, I was in the same area, at about the same time of day.
My windscreen suddenly fogged over completely. So, the answer! Weather conditions.
The car driver committed suicide by crossing the carriageway on purpose in to the Frampton’s lorry, the car driver had recently murdered his car wash boss in Bournemouth.
Some people speculated immediately it was the lorry driver at fault as the photo depicted the lorry crossed over to the other side of the road.
The driver could not control the lorry or steer it has it had no brakes.
The fact was due to the high speed of the impact the car disabled the brakes of the lorry as the hoses and pipes with brake fluid and other vital components to control the brakes were incapacitated along with the steering components.
It had happened to a mate of mine.
In Spain the suicide came at him head on, he blew hir s horn, braked and moved to “wrong” side of road, but she followed the lane switch…
I only knew him after the event but it was still there in his mind afterwards. Not every day but always there I think.
Although initially he was under suspicion for bad driving, the driver had a suicide note in her car. Still an awful event of course.
A driver I once knew has never been the same after someone jumped off a motorway bridge and landed in between the cab and trailer on the cat walk, the body parts image will remain with him for the rest of his life.
Me too, met many who have encountered bridge jumpers, on the motorway near Manchester I parked my trailer under the bridge as a young lass was about to jump off.
I spoke to a train driver who said when they get people on the railway track at night they place a black bin liner over their face so the train driver can’t see the reflection of their face so have less time to react and apply the brakes.
I knew a train driver who killed a suicidal person. He recieved support and counselling, as much as he needed, immediately after the incident. Twelve months later, he had to relive the whole tragedy again, at the coroner’s court, with no support.
A long time ago I decided that as my ass is 6ft+ off the floor I have a better chance of surviving than a car driver in an accident, and if it’s a choice between myself and the car driver then I’m taking my chances with picking up my feet/legs at the last minute and kissing my ass to avoid death
For me this has never been about surviving, this has more been about how you deal with the consequences of potentially killing people, imagine either of those cars had been a young family with kids in the back, it isn’t as simple as weighing the odds if your survival, which of course are good.
If your constantly think about this during your work day you will be mentally exhausted and have a mental breakdown. Every time you get in a truck your constantly faced with the lemming like driving behaviour of other road users. So there becomes a point where you have to decide what if, and how much you should care
), and the 3 kids in the back were all completely unharmed, because we weren’t moving.
