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You have said in one word what I said in many LHM :o}
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Once whilst driving in the USA, left a freeway at 50-55mph in a big soft yank tank to be confronted by a circular slip road of probably 25ft raduis with a 25mph limit sign, which was not visible until you had left the freeway and rounded the first part of the bend. Luckily (or perhaps by design?) the turn was banked. Every body in the car (4 up) was leaning into the turn as if we were on motorcycles and wondering if the grip would hold, luckily it did.
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i dont ever feel fear whilst driving,anger yes very very strong anger but the doctor says the new tablets should help :-)
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over 25 years, felt fear, afraid so several times.
1 sitting in the back of a mini,at 6'0" tall, on the fly over going down the Old Kent Road, when it was still dual carriageway,hearing several squeals of brakes, before being rear ended. (1986)
2 driving from Hogs back, down towards Guildford when a car travelling uphill, near the now shut Happy Eater, flew over the central reservation and spun in my rear view mirror- still don't know how they managed to do that( 1984).
3 turned left , down a hill, during the winter and was slowly going sideways towards a bus, fortunately he was able to stop. (1989)
4 turning right across a dual carriageway, when the whole power system shut down, by the time it came back, two lorries were bearing down on me- the car got sent back the next day.(2001)
5 tyre blow out on the M40 at 7 pm in the outside lane - yes that was fear as anyone else who has experienced it will understand (2003)
overall not too bad, bearing in mind on average I've probably done at least 20k per year.
If you drive with a little aprehension, expecting the other pratt to do the worst, it's possible to prevent fear in most cases.
safe driving to all you br's
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Many years ago, en route to the coast one evening, against the flow of the homewards bound weekenders, I was confronted by an old banger on the wrong side of the road trying to overtake a coach. Fortunately there was a field entrance that I was able to take as an emergency exit.
Standing on the brakes ( no servo), I certainly felt another dose of fear as the steel five bar gate got closer and knowing the gravel was not aiding braking.
I stopped it time but it was close X 2 .
More recently, seriously threatened by a biker with road rage, I certainly felt fear. It changed to anger and then to serious planning mode to ensure said biker got sorted.
He was very lucky he gave up when he did.
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I wonder how many instances of "loss of control" have been caused by panic, i.e. not knowing how to regain control, steering the wrong way when losing the back-end etc etc.
Never felt realy fear whilst driving, because every time I've felt the car slip or been in an awkward situation I've managed to get myself out of it. Luck has been a factor, but keeping a reasonable distance and planning ahead does negate the need for panic-fuelled reactions.
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I didn't feel any fear at all but I suffered from something worse - I completely over-reacted. Only been passed my test a short while (literally, 4 weeks) and, travelling 50mph down a single carriage way w/ nat. speed limit, I reacted too much to a bird flying into my windscreen. The swerve made me mount an embankment and, before I could even react and get myself off it, the front nearside wheel hit the stump of a tree and my car rolled/flipped down the road. Ended up on my wheels...but facing the wrong direction to the one I was initially travelling and in the opposite lane. O.o
I didn't even have time for fear but, because of what happened and the fact I think I was overly confident in my abilities, I am now a lot more cautious and sensible.
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In the thirties and forties, when there were fewer cars about, swerving to avoid animals was a frequent cause of serious accidents. I remember my father often saying that one shouldn't run over animals on purpose, but that to risk damaging the car or its passengers to avoid doing so was just foolish.
He suited his actions to his words, and my youth was sometimes enlivened by driving about in vehicles splattered with risk-taking monkey or unfortunate dog.
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In Huddersfield about 12 years ago snowing hard.
Drove through town fine, up a hill, road surface clear, crossroads clear and lights on green , turned right onto blackmoor foot road which after a few yards was a sheet of ice/snow. Its a steepish hill and a pile of cars that had done similar were in a pile up ( imagine a logpile, at all angles) halfway down.
Tried to brake, all wheels locked, used panic mode cadence braking for what seemed like an eternity, managed to slow right down before the pile of cars, exit into a snowed up side street.......
First time ever to try cadence braking in decades of driving.... I wonder how ABS would have coped?
Better I hope as I dont think I can operate my right leg at 10 times a second anymore, fear augmented :)
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Fear:
About 8 years old, father in old Truiumph Gloria, on single track road in Scotland, very steep 200 foot drop on LHS to sea..., stops to open gate across road(!)), handbrake not applied properly, car starts rolling backwards .
Driving into Stonehaven (near Aberdeen) in snow up a steep hill, Mini came down road fast.. braked and spun about 10 times in front of me..just missed me .I was stopped by then.
Spinning Ford Granada in snow outside Liverpool... at 40mph:-(
hitting patch of diesel fuel on road on very fast Left hand bend in S Africa doing at least 80mph, .. long slalom sideways with family in car. Pulled out safely.
Driving along motorway , passing in outside lane, noticed car in front in middle lane was starting to weave, slowed down and did not pass. Driver was evidently falling asleep cos next moment he swerved sideways into outside lane with no signals, braked , swerved into inside lane and pulled onto hard shoulder .. all in the space of what felt hours but could have bene no mor ethan 30 seconds. If I had tried to pass him as planned I would have been broadsided into crash barrier.
Driving along M6 near Birmingham behind an open lorry, a lorry tyre fell off the lorry bed and bounced over my car!
Every time my father drove me when he was over 80..:-(
madf
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Fear...
Rarely as a driver, often as a passenger! ;)
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aged about 21, driving a V6 Ford Sierra 2.3GL........at about 0600 on a summers morning drove up A303 in Devon towards London....saw a tractor in the distance and pulled out to overtake some 200 yards early......nothing else on the road. At the point of absolute no return, noticed a carp encrusted indicator going and the tractor started to turn right into a field...as i was on the overtake.
Made it obviously, but only by chucking it into 3rd and hoping for the best........learnt a lesson that day. Can't imagine i'd still be here if i'd hit that o/s/f wheel that was increasingly filling my path.
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Just to add to earlier post, often get a bad feeling on busy motorways, not so much fear, but a foreboding that something bad is going happen. Normally summer weekends, when the traffic is nose to tail at any speed up to about 80. Quite often take the scenic route as don't feel comfortable dicing with other drivers who dont seem to be fully aware of whats happening around them.
And during my student days a friend introduced me to the mechanic who was restoring an MG Midget for him. The mechanics own car was a Delta turbo that he's had chipped (think it was up to 200BHP), and he took us out for a little spin. All went well till the first overtake, pulled to other side of road, slowly gaining on the bus. Once he knew the road was clear he booted it and my stomach was left behind as the car shot forward. He then proceeded to drive extremely fast round the local roads, including some fairly narrow ones. Didn't even seem to slow down for oncoming cars but could place the Lancia perfectly leaving enough room for all to pass through safely. Has got to be one of the best bits of driving I have ever seen. Was scared, excited and slightly nauseous all at the same time. Stepped out of the car feeling physically tired, stomach doing somersaults but a massive grin on my face.
Oh, and the car restoring was a sideline from the guys main career of driving fire engines, which would probably explain his extreme skill.
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