Crash this morning
Posted by mentallyillpenguin_@reddit | driving | View on Reddit | 11 comments
It was raining; I was about to try to merge onto the highway's rightmost lane from the ramp but a car going at least 70-80 sped by me when I had checked a second prior and it wasn't in my left mirror or in my blindspot. I'm relatively new to driving so I swerved right hard to avoid it. It was very close; like a few inches. I was already going almost 60 mph when I was about to merge. I think my speed, the weather conditions, and the fact that steered so suddenly contributed this - I hydroplaned, spun a few times across lanes and hit the median, damaging the front, back, side, and one of the wheels of my car in the process. Fortunately I didn't hit any other cars or cause any other accidents; I was also mostly uninjured. I called 911 who dispatched medics and police, and I was able to get my car towed home.
My question is, what could I have done to avoid this? Am I completely at fault here? I just don't know what to do.
Sexy-Flexi@reddit
2 things: immediately start gaging what car you will merge behind AND even take notice of vehicles not in the lane you are merging into including impatient drivers who may be distracted driving behind you. Second, drive slower in the rain especially
fitfulbrain@reddit
You are not supposed to use mirrors. Early in the merge lane you have a good angle to look at the right lane on the freeway and decide whether to get up to freeway speed. You can abort and stop if you have to if the guy at the back doesn't rearend you.
Cars on the freeway can see you clearly and can let you through easily but they have the right of way or else it will be chaos. It is chaos anyway. If I have the choice I will never use the right lane when there is a merge. You can also drive as if you have the right of way. Many people do, 😂. Unless the timing is poor, they really don't want to crash into you.
RunninOnMT@reddit
Glad you're okay and nobody else was hurt. That's the no 1 most important thing.
Accidents happen and merging is stressful and one of the most dangerous situations we face out there.
I'm not going to sit here and tell you "You could definitely have avoided this" because I wasn't there, but in the future, some things to keep in mind:
Tires. I don't know how old your car is, but i suspect you don't have stability control (or it wasn't working, or it was off, or your tires are bald) It's very hard to spin a modern car on good tires with stability control, even in the wet. Have your tires been replaced in the past few years? They go bad due to age after several years and can lose grip very suddenly in the wet.
Try not to make sudden movements in low grip environments. One of the age old adages for race car drivers of all people is "Slow is smooth, smooth is fast." It points to how much more effectively you'll maintain control of your car if you give it smooth inputs.
Be aware when merging. As I said earlier, it's one of the most dangerous places on the road. When i'm merging, i don't just check my blindspot once. I KNOW nobody (in most onramps) is going to come from my right side. That means I can pay extra attention to the left side/what's coming up behind me.
Go pretty fast when you merge. Sounds counterintuitive, but things come from behind you way faster when you're moving slowly. One of the most dangerous things you can do on an onramp is have a big speed differential between your speed and the speed of cars already on the freeway. Personally, i like to be moving a tiny little bit faster than traffic, it's easier to adjust speed downwards quickly than upwards. Also traffic comes from a direction where it's easier to see that way.
Again though, i wasn't there, your accident may have been totally unavoidable. These things may or may not be relevant, but as general advice, i think they're good to keep in mind.
mentallyillpenguin_@reddit (OP)
Thanks for the response. My car is from 2006 so it's pretty old; today's incident was the first time it's ever been in a crash. The speed limit in the section of the highway I tried to merge into was 65 mph; I was going 60 but was still gaining speed. I think I should have been going slower because it was raining. My first instinct was to brake, so that might have contributed to it. It just got maintenance recently and got the tires rotated; the tire pressure and depth are also fine as I checked both just last week. I guess none of that really makes a difference in the end; I think I just really want to be told that it wasn't my fault, but it probably was.
MamaLiza14@reddit
It isn't your fault people habitually and religiously speed like their life depends on it. I try to gain at least the speed limit when merging if not faster
mentallyillpenguin_@reddit (OP)
I appreciate you saying that. I definitely wish the flow of traffic were slower, especially when it's raining as hard as it was this morning. Unfortunately it was rush hour and I feel like most people have a 'push when it comes to shove' mindset when dealing with fellow drivers then.
MamaLiza14@reddit
Yeah it's better to be predictable than even polite. The car in question wasn't being predictable, they were passing in the cruising lane next to a merge. Def not your "fault" but you have to triple check almost every decision anymore
666-3629@reddit
you really need a set of good tires I love raining when everyone drive slow but I can still blasting through traffic like nothing
reddit-frog-1@reddit
Glad you are alright, this type of situation is more "unfortunate probability" than making a mistake.
The reason I say this is because our society has designed the personal transportation with a certain level of safety in mind. What happened to you is within the safety envelope that has been designed. The design of the road and your car is calibrated to compensate for the level of driver training you are required to have. Basically the road barrier and your car prevented injury/death.
As an example, if you were an airline pilot, you would require a much higher degree of training as a plane doesn't do well in a collision with the ground. This is why air travel is so safe.
If you want to improve your driving skills above what society has determined is "safe", you can find some driving schools where you can drive of wet surfaces to understand how a vehicle responds. These are typical for enthusiast drivers in sports cars, but make anyone a better driver.
This is also the reason why many people believe that automated driver systems will one day make automobile transportation safer.
mentallyillpenguin_@reddit (OP)
Thanks for the response. My car is from 2006 so it's pretty old; today's incident was the first time it's ever been in a crash. The speed limit in the section of the highway I tried to merge into was 65 mph; I was going 60 but was still gaining speed. I think I should have been going slower because it was raining. My first instinct was to brake, so that might have contributed to it. It just got maintenance recently and got the tires rotated; the tire pressure and depth are also fine as I checked both just last week. I guess none of that really makes a difference in the end; I think I just really want to be told that it wasn't my fault, but it probably was.
Electronic_Priority@reddit
Never swerve hard in any circumstance. Not in the dry, but especially not in the rain. Also not if a dog runs out in front of you at the last second. Swerving hard can only make everything worse.