speaking of variables on the roads.. my crazy story from last weekend.
So i was traveling Northboud on 101 in the far left lane(carpool lane) Infront of me was a Silver 3series 01'ish Bimmer, infront of her was a Camry 04'ish. We were all traveling at 80mphs, at least the bimmer and I were...the time was 2pm'ish.
Infront of the Camry, i'm guessing was a Truck of some sort. From the bed of the truck fell a trashcan.. one of those heavy duty Plastic Trashcans,
Okay so this is what i pieced together:
Well the Camry which i'm guess was about 6-7 car lengths infront of the Bimmer hits the trashcan(i did not see that but we can assume so, cus the trashcan was basicly busted in two), and immediately pulls to the emergency lane and slams the brake(kinda saw that).
The bimmer then quickly swerves to the emergency lane to avoid hitting the trashcan. I was pretty close behind the bimmer, i'd say 2car lengths (some say that would be tailgating.. lol) so once the bimmer is out of the lane, I see this huge Grey and black thing flying at me(couldn't tell it was a trashcan at the time) I jerk the car to the left and follow the bimmer into the emergency lane.
Here's the crazy part. When the bimmer pulled to the emergency lane, as soon as he pulled back into the Carpool lane she began to break traction and lose control, This was probably because she had slammed her brakes while in the emergency lane, and still was on the brakes when she pulled back in. She basicly busted a phat U turn, clockwise.
So what i'm seeing now is a Silver Bimmer, crab walking, and a Big grey thing coming at me(or me driving towards it)
I kinda panic, and jerk to the emergency lane. The damn trashcan still hits me(yes hits ME, i didn't hit it! lol) on my passenger side. Because I jerked in then out, my rear began to break traction(Road Debri + high speeds caused it?) By this time the Bimmer is basicly facing me(south) while i see her out of my driver side window(car facing east). She continues to slide sideways(east to the "slow" lanes), but facing south towards traffic,
I've already pulled my wheel to the left and shifted down to 4th to try to counter steer(while also sliding east).
The counter steer works.. but it works too well. With my foot still on the gas, never touching the brakes..My car lunges forward and my Rear whips counter clockwise.. too far. I'm now facing west, and seeing traffic coming towards me out my driver side window. I counter steer again, this time to the right. I'm in 4th gear, and by this time i'm kinda bogging. The car whips back around.. just as bad as the first time, but a full 360 degrees. This time my speed has decreased by alot, and my car stalls. I'm now perpendicular to the free way, in the "slow" lane.. at the junction where Santa Clara/Alum Rock ramp enters the N-101. I turn my car on, and immediatly put it into reverse and park at the "Triangular Space" where the Ramp meets the Freeway.
I sit in my car, in disbelief that i'm still alive. I see a few cars drive by, as if nothing happened. The freeway had white tire smoke lingering in the air. I turn to my right, and see the Bimmer. Sitting in the on ramp lane, her car still facing south, directly facing my passenger door. No cars entered the freeway for that 30-or so seconds before she shook it off and turned her car around to go northbound. I look down the freeway to my left, and see the Camry(maroon btw) just sitting there.. i'm going to guess about 300 feet away? .. The Bimmer and I were out of control for a damn long time.
I sat for another minute, and turned on my car.. listened to it to see if anything sounded funny.. sounded fine. The when i could, busted a left turn into the freeway lane and went home. But when i first began to move i heard a scrapping sound, then it went away. I got home to see my Lip dangling on my passengerside,and the diverside of the lip seemed to pop foward a bit. I had some black scuff marks on my bumper. I cleaned and buffed them out pretty well, but if you look close, you can see some crap.
Anyways, i'm okay, and Keiko is as well. She had some visible tire wear on the walls of the rear driverside, but it's really nothing. No flat spots, so that's good. My steering wheel shakes a little more then before, but it's expected.
i'm waiting for my eS bushings to arrive ...then slap on my KoniYellow/RSR setup, install buschings, and get an alignment.
So i was traveling Northboud on 101 in the far left lane(carpool lane) Infront of me was a Silver 3series 01'ish Bimmer, infront of her was a Camry 04'ish. We were all traveling at 80mphs, at least the bimmer and I were...the time was 2pm'ish.
Infront of the Camry, i'm guessing was a Truck of some sort. From the bed of the truck fell a trashcan.. one of those heavy duty Plastic Trashcans,
Okay so this is what i pieced together:
Well the Camry which i'm guess was about 6-7 car lengths infront of the Bimmer hits the trashcan(i did not see that but we can assume so, cus the trashcan was basicly busted in two), and immediately pulls to the emergency lane and slams the brake(kinda saw that).
The bimmer then quickly swerves to the emergency lane to avoid hitting the trashcan. I was pretty close behind the bimmer, i'd say 2car lengths (some say that would be tailgating.. lol) so once the bimmer is out of the lane, I see this huge Grey and black thing flying at me(couldn't tell it was a trashcan at the time) I jerk the car to the left and follow the bimmer into the emergency lane.
Here's the crazy part. When the bimmer pulled to the emergency lane, as soon as he pulled back into the Carpool lane she began to break traction and lose control, This was probably because she had slammed her brakes while in the emergency lane, and still was on the brakes when she pulled back in. She basicly busted a phat U turn, clockwise.
So what i'm seeing now is a Silver Bimmer, crab walking, and a Big grey thing coming at me(or me driving towards it)
I kinda panic, and jerk to the emergency lane. The damn trashcan still hits me(yes hits ME, i didn't hit it! lol) on my passenger side. Because I jerked in then out, my rear began to break traction(Road Debri + high speeds caused it?) By this time the Bimmer is basicly facing me(south) while i see her out of my driver side window(car facing east). She continues to slide sideways(east to the "slow" lanes), but facing south towards traffic,
I've already pulled my wheel to the left and shifted down to 4th to try to counter steer(while also sliding east).
The counter steer works.. but it works too well. With my foot still on the gas, never touching the brakes..My car lunges forward and my Rear whips counter clockwise.. too far. I'm now facing west, and seeing traffic coming towards me out my driver side window. I counter steer again, this time to the right. I'm in 4th gear, and by this time i'm kinda bogging. The car whips back around.. just as bad as the first time, but a full 360 degrees. This time my speed has decreased by alot, and my car stalls. I'm now perpendicular to the free way, in the "slow" lane.. at the junction where Santa Clara/Alum Rock ramp enters the N-101. I turn my car on, and immediatly put it into reverse and park at the "Triangular Space" where the Ramp meets the Freeway.
I sit in my car, in disbelief that i'm still alive. I see a few cars drive by, as if nothing happened. The freeway had white tire smoke lingering in the air. I turn to my right, and see the Bimmer. Sitting in the on ramp lane, her car still facing south, directly facing my passenger door. No cars entered the freeway for that 30-or so seconds before she shook it off and turned her car around to go northbound. I look down the freeway to my left, and see the Camry(maroon btw) just sitting there.. i'm going to guess about 300 feet away? .. The Bimmer and I were out of control for a damn long time.
I sat for another minute, and turned on my car.. listened to it to see if anything sounded funny.. sounded fine. The when i could, busted a left turn into the freeway lane and went home. But when i first began to move i heard a scrapping sound, then it went away. I got home to see my Lip dangling on my passengerside,and the diverside of the lip seemed to pop foward a bit. I had some black scuff marks on my bumper. I cleaned and buffed them out pretty well, but if you look close, you can see some crap.
Anyways, i'm okay, and Keiko is as well. She had some visible tire wear on the walls of the rear driverside, but it's really nothing. No flat spots, so that's good. My steering wheel shakes a little more then before, but it's expected.
i'm waiting for my eS bushings to arrive ...then slap on my KoniYellow/RSR setup, install buschings, and get an alignment.
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