pbaylog

Not sure how many of you have had a close call with your AMG, but I just had one.... It's a beautiful sunny and warm day here in Chicagoland, and I was sitting at a red light a couple hours ago. A BMW driver behind me decided he wanted to turn left, so he zipped in to the left turn lane and sideswiped an SUV. Thankfully he didn't get pushed in to my car, but he was only a foot away.

We ended up side by side, our windows down, him cursing up a storm like it was the other guys fault. I couldn't help but point out to him that it was he who pulled out, at which point he called me an ***hole. I could only smile and pull away as my light turned green.

I have to admit I did pucker when I heard the crash and expected some contact, and thankfully, no injuries involved. I even felt bad for the guy - ruined his day, I'm sure.

black lavender

Every day I drive it there are close calls, from the driver next to me trying to race, the guy weaving in and out of traffic trying to impress me, or the guy riding my tail behind me, even though I'm going 10 over.

INS1GNIA

That explains it all. Agreed though, every day there are close calls from idiots who don't know how to drive, talking on their phones, don't look in their rear view mirrors, mom's in mini vans thinking they are more privileged than you...the list goes on. That's why it pays off to be aware of your surroundings and a good defensive driver.

Glad you weren't part of that accident though pbaylog.

pbaylog

While I was at a standstill here...it is nice to know we have vehicles that can pull hard and brake even harder should we need to evade something. A good evolution on this is taught at the ADA too.

As far as cell phones go...don't get me started. Fortunately I work for a company that has a strict no phone in the car policy, even hands free! I've been phone free in the car for over 3 years now, and I don't miss it one bit.

Adi-Benz

The weather was lovely today wasn't it!


I experience this all too often as well. What comes to my mind is, we have these cars for a reason, and most of us deserve it. I could give this idiot next to me a million dollars, he could drive a ferrari or something, and he wouldn't deserve it. And that's why he's driving what he is. A crap driver usually doesn't get to have a nice car, and when they do, well, things like that happen ^^

Savage-wp

Yeah. Too many idiots on the road who do not pay attention.
Glad to hear you did not get any damage from this close call.

Diabolis

^ Same in Toronto. I don't know whether it's some kind of a "big city / rat race" phenomenon, but unofortunately idiots and a$$holes on the road are now the norm, not the exception.

beejAMG

try driving here in Sydney. youll see the true meaning of the idiot. and thats just the first 5 minutes after you pull up from your garage.

604 C63

Best be keeping your head on a swivel here in Vancouver.

We are overpopulated, have a lot of 'prestige and performance cars' and a huge percentage of those have N (new driver) or even L (learner) stickers on the back and are driven by people not familiar with North American driving. My business partner lives near a high school and a kid there is in an Aventador with an N plate. Pretty common.
You take your life in your hands every day.

beejAMG

^down here they wont allow you to drive a high powered car if youre still on your "P plate". we start from L (learner) then red P (probationary) then green P before you can get a full license and only then you can get a V6 and over.

How can your govt allow a high powered car be driven by a new driver?

604 C63

How does anything stupid get allowed anywhere? The right people greasing the right palms, I guess. I think there was some debate over the constitutional aspect but......

Sick AF

This is exactly how I feel in Miami. Especially here on the beach.
There are a million Uber drivers everywhere, constantly changing lanes and stopping in the middle of the road.
I practically have a heart attack every time I go anywhere!

Alex.currie44

Not that it is any consolation but I drove in the GTA from 16 to 62 before moving out here to la la land in Victoria a city which Ron James describes drivers as being a pair of knuckles on a steering wheel doing 15 kph.
Not so. My trips back east driving in the GTA, while maybe worse than 10 yr ago are still easier than the knuckle heads we see out here.

Alex.currie44

Diabolis

LOL... while I have yet to venture further west than Edmonton (at least on this side of the border), things have changed somewhat in Toronto in the last few years since the condo boom - the knuckle draggers are here too. I have no basis for comparison... but I would be absolutely horrified to learn that there are even bigger (and more numerous) knuckle draggers elsewhere!

Celicasaur

I've had loads of close calls, mostly self-inflicted on country roads and in the wet.

Without wanting to give my car the kiss of death though, the Mercedes traction control system is really good and will do a very good job most of the time of bailing you out when looking down the barrel of a gun.

Cozy

I envy the wide roads in America and Canada. Sure, you are still plagued with idiots on them but, there's a lot more space to swerve and avoid based on my personal experience driving out there. I actually find it more pleasing than my roads, here in the UK except when you get a long stretch of country road with no other cars on it; that is a very satisfying experience and with beautiful scenery.

In the UK the roads are so narrow that there's not a lot that you can do to avoid people if they've literally tried to ram you. Driving on the wrong side of the road is apparently normal now, as is pulling out of junctions without looking, driving around roundabouts the wrong way or sweeping across all the lanes without looking. It's also ok now to drive at 30mph on a 4-lane motorway (freeway) which has a speed limit of 70mph and by law a minimum of 45mph.

My closest call in my C63 was at a roundabout where someone pulled right out in front of me within the smallest amount of meters. I stopped somehow an inch from a hard impact and I was pissed but, the other driver didn't even acknowledge what she'd done, like she thought it was perfectly normal.

This is basically what it's like in the UK now and I don't know why. It's like people are more dumb than they were 5yrs ago, or they care less, or they aren't educated. I don't know, it's like everyone thinks they're invincible in their little metal box until the day that they seriously wipe-out and lose limbs.

Celicasaur

Where abouts in the UK are you from buddy? The description you gave of the roads/drivers makes me think somewhere in the North or midlands?

Cozy

I'm from the South. Little country roads with a few A-roads mixed in and a motorway not too far away. From dash-cam clips I've seen, the Midlands looks like a war-zone for driving.

Celicasaur

Interesting...

I like going to Leatherhead around Boxill when I feel like killing myself at 3am (that's slightly south of London, but not 'The South', i know )

Cozy

Ha, my old stomping ground...well Dorking anyway. I'm now not too far from Petworth in the South Downs, a little further down the A24 then A272. I notice the mobile speed-camera van is back at Boxhill, North of Ryka's, so be careful although at 3am you should be ok

The A24 is one of the roads I refer to when I see wrong-way roundabout manoeuvres and generally **** lane changing without notice. My near-crash above was on the A27 in Chichester.