RLX-Sport Hybrid

Bad things happen sometimes, but this pissed me off! On one of the local highways near me, no trucks are allowed and one entered this particular stretch of roadway. It was only on for an exit and I was following it about 3 cars back just thinking to myself that that guy better realize quickly that he can't be on this road because of the low bridges ahead of us. He must have figured it out and he moved to get off the highway, but just then he must have blown his engine or something else major because the smoke was tremendous and the 2 cars in front of me suddenly braked hard, and immediately began to spin out. Mind you we were traveling about 75 mph, but it was a beautiful sunny day with completely dry roads so to see cars suddenly spinning got my attention. About 2 seconds later I was fighting for control too! The truck spilled huge amounts of oil and diesel that covered almost 2 lanes. I had no time to prepare for it, nor avoid it as there were cars behind me and next to me on my left. I spun one full revolution followed by a semi-control 4 wheel drift as if I was on ice and somehow managed to slide into the grassy space off the exit ramp finally stopping without hitting anyone or anything. The two cars in front of me ended up hitting one car in the middle lane and came to a stop about 10 yards away from me basically kissing each other front end to front end on the shoulder after the exit. Four more cars slid into the area and hit one of the other two cars. Before looking to see how much damage I might have sustained I carefully moved off the grassy area back onto the exit ramp to get out of the way of other cars still entering the scene. The police got there in a couple of minutes and blocked off traffic. What a mess. Luckily other than dirt getting in the inside of the wheels and some tire scuffs, amazingly I have no damage! Strangely the collision mitigation did not kick in, but the traction control and ABS sure did a good job. It took me all afternoon to get all of the fuel from the truck off the car and clean things up. Again amazingly I have no damage. What a freak accident.

pgeorg

I am glad you are OK! That is the only thing that matters! Of course it is great that the Blackbird survived without a scratch, too!
That happens a lot on the Hutch.......people driving those trucks just don't pay attention, or they just don't care.....:-(

MNH

Wow! Sounds like you really got lucky. Very good to hear that it sounds like there were no injuries (or at least serious ones).

musty hustla

sounds like you did win

Colin

Yikes, glad you're ok!

getakey

yes- glad everything ok
re collision mitigation, was there a point when you thought it should have kicked in?
just wondering if you got close to hitting anything

RLX-Sport Hybrid

I get false alarms fairly frequently (something to take it to the dealership soon about it), but the car in front of me was facing me (head lights facing me but sliding backwards) about 2 car lengths away while we were still going about 60 mph. No warning at all at that point. I get false alarms when I go to overtake another car aggressively, but in this situation it did not turn on. Maybe it did not come on because I was slowing down at about the same pace as the backwards car in front of me? Weird. I missed a guide rail on my right by about 6 feet, the car in the center lane by about 3 feet and generally stayed within my lane. I missed a sign for the exit by inches while in my 4 wheel drift as well as a reflector on a metal pole by what had to be millimeters. I threaded the needle, literally! BTW I am going to the body shop tomorrow to get my reflector on the rear bumper replaced.

hondamore

Glad you're ok RLX-Sport Hybrid!! Hopefully this ends your streak of bad luck/crazy incidents.

holografique

glad you're alright amigo.

Colin

I would imagine that if you were already on the brakes (or off throttle), the CMBS would 'understand' that you're already taking action.

RLX-Sport Hybrid

I'm going on vacation soon. It will give the car a break. I've had it.

hondamore

Of course, the "glass half full" way to look at things is that you've experienced some REALLY dangerous incidents and escaped with only some bat crap and oil on your car. Things could have been a LOT worse. If that is the case, I hope your current streak of crazy good luck continues forever.

RLX-Sport Hybrid

It isn't like I am looking for trouble!!!! WTF????!!!!

RLX-Sport Hybrid

Maybe? I'm just disgusted that these weird things happen to me. I actually put my window down and screamed "REALLY?????? You have to $#cking be joking!!!"

Colin

I agree! It's totally bat shit crazy... wait!? Sorry for the poor choice of words! Just glad that you and Blackbird are ok.

RLX-Sport Hybrid

Good one! You know what I mean about just putting your hands up and screaming WTF????

DASS

iTrader: (2)

I'm glad to hear you're okay, because in the end that's all that really matters.

RLX-Sport Hybrid

Yea yea I know, but I'm frustraiited that these stupid things just keep happening. It is like I have a target on the car for mayhem. The old bird backing into me, the bats, the deer jumping over the hood, and now this???? Thanks for your support. Actually all of you. Thank you.

Limelight

I agree with the others - the fact that you and no one else was injured is all that matters. I appreciate and understand your frustration though.

Just be careful out there - if Elvis is still alive, there stands a good chance that you will hit him...

Colin

Only because he's dodging the Greys. Those little guys are hard to see over the hood.

neuronbob

Blackbird wins again. I'm glad you weren't hurt (most important), and that Blackbird wasn't damaged (whew).

Hopefully, the police cited the truck driver.

getakey

should have named it the Habu
Habu's strike, but never get struck

RLX-Sport Hybrid

Or...... win the lottery, cure cancer, and win the next Presidential Election all at the same time. I actually don't know if anyone was hurt because since I did not have any damage I did not have to stay at the scene according to the police. I hope nobody was. I can't find anything online about it in the local news. Maybe it was not a big enough thing to make the news blotters.

1fstTL

iTrader: (1)

wow! sound like something off of final destination

flagship

Did it play out in slow motion mentally or more instant like a lump on the head and wtf just happened.

RLX-Sport Hybrid

In real time, no slow motion. I was thinking at the time, are you freaking kidding me??????? AGAIN!!!!!!

miner

how was your pucker factor? Sounds like quite the ride you had - maybe atrribute some of the crash avoidance to a great car. Glad you are OK and no major damage.

thoiboi

Oh wow...

I hate to say it, but the RLX guys have the worst luck in your cars but the best stories.. Didn't you also get attacked by bats a while ago..?


Glad you're okay OP, 'freak accident' definitely sums that up nicely..


The car is cursed, sell it...

RLX-Sport Hybrid

I know what you are asking. For those who have never driven on ice before as we do very frequently up here in the Northeast, although it is disconcerting to make driver inputs and have little to no mechanical response, the physics are hard to overcome in a slide like this on very slippery conditions. The car did respond beautifully as much as one could expect in the situation. The torque vectoring definitely helped make it more controllable. There was luck involved for sure, but I would sum it up as this: 50% luck, 25% driver skill, 25% car responsiveness in helping to avoid what could have been a decent accident. I still found no information in the local media of the accident. I was hoping to post an article on it if it existed.

RLX-Sport Hybrid

Weird luck for sure. Yes I colony of bats flew across the road in front of me a while ago. That was nasty! Not selling the car. To quote someone famous, "you can take my gun out of my cold dead fingers", or something to that effect.

fsmith

Geez, RLX-Sport Hybrid. You need to be more careful with that car; it is hard to replace! Just kidding. It sounds like your driving skills, as well as the car's handling, were the deciding factors. Glad you and it are okay. Stay safe.

RLX-Sport Hybrid

Got back from the body shop and the reflector piece in the rear bumper was replaced for $125. My dealership told me they will send me a coupon for the equivalent value. Very nice of them. They found 3 pieces of someone else's car parts that were stuck inside the rear bumper from the accident I narrowly avoided yesterday. They also removed some embedded grass from the underside of the car I missed in the cleanup. One of the cars from the accident was there and already torn down for repairs. I did not realize that one of them was a MB E350. That was the car that was at the shop. I could not take any pictures though. It had front bumper, hood and front left quarter panel damage.

banana13

good to know you were safe man. no offence to truck owners , but I honestly see so many bad truck drivers and they piss me off, like some let off a crap load of smoke coal rolling or whatever its called. They think there the shit when they have a truck , and that's what makes me mad.

JM2010 SH-AWD

Glad to hear you made it through unscathed. We've all had one or two experiences like that. All you can do after your knees quit shaking is say "S#!^" and give thanks to whomever or whatever force saw you through it. Sometimes, life is really random.

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

Holy crap, man! glad you and others came out ok.

NBP04TL4ME

Wow crazy story. Glad you are okay Things tend to happen in threes, so maybe you are good for awhile (haven't followed your other incidents - bats, etc)? Maybe you should try the lottery or a casino You mention you are in the northeast, perhaps Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun??

brian6speed

iTrader: (5)

Luck has nothing to do with it. This is what happens when ppl tailgate so closely. If you saw it coming then you should have reacted sooner and got away from the truck instead of staying behind it.

I make sure to leave gaps because of bad drivers, and debree that is scattered all over our highways. Semi's flinging tire chunks everywhere is the worst.

Who needs a safe car when God is your passenger.

NBP04TL4ME

I try and leave the appropriate gaps on the highway, not so much to avoid mishaps like this but not having to slow down and touch my brakes (because people don't know how to maintain their speed when going uphill) but the gaps are always filled by other drivers................ It's a catch-22

RLX-Sport Hybrid

I am very frustrated that these things have happened. I will be on vacation many times this summer so there will be long periods where I will not be driving at all so I guess that is a good thing. I have been to both Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun and they do nothing for me. I am not a gambler by nature and that scene is not for me.

thoiboi

That hindsight bias/ monday morning quarterback working out well for you?


Sometimes sh!t just happens and despite how much you can prep and practice for it, it does not go your way. I think OP got out just fine and doubt he was 'tailgating'. But glad to see you're such a law abiding citizen

JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL!