what's the scariest thing to happen to YOU while driving?

[charlie and algernon]

Poll question: what's the scariest thing to happen to YOU while driving?

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. Jack knifing semi right in front of me.

:hi:

[mwooldri]

56. Spinning on diesel in front of a semi on the Interstate at 50mph...

funny thing is I can't remember it anymore. - of course the car (Mazda Protege) was a write-off but somehow (by the grace of God if you want) I survived and came out with nothing but glass cuts and being incredibly sore.

[raccoon]

2. Smelling burnt rubber and then seeing smoke fly out the tailpipe.

Scary feeling, that.

[Symarip]

3. I spilled beer all over my lap

How am I supposed to talk on the cell phone and do my hair in the rear view mirror when my junk is all wet and sticky.

Hey, those kids have to get to school somehow.

[eyepaddle]

4. I had my hood fly open while I was driving on the freeway.

Ilost all forward visibility--that was exciting.

Or possibly the time I fishtailed all the way through a sweeping 90 degree turn on an icy freeway.

[Iggo]

19. That happened to me, too.

The hood flipping open, that is.

Quite the adventure!

[TheCentepedeShoes]

90. Me too

new 72 Gremlin
Well, guess that 'splains it Ricky

[SoxFan]

75. Oh, so this was you!

EPPING – Like a scene from an "Ace Ventura" movie, police say a Danville man crashed his car on Route 101 and continued to drive with the crumpled hood wide open, poking his head out the window to see.

James D. Mayo, 22, of 87 Cub Pond Road, was arrested Saturday night and charged with driving while intoxicated after police said he ran off when they approached him at a McDonald's restaurant on Route 125.

Police were called after a dispatcher at the Rockingham County Sheriff's Department received a report of a motorist driving on the highway with the hood up.

The vehicle appeared to have been involved in an accident, and the driver was seen sticking his head out the window to see the highway as he drove, Epping police said.

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Head+out+window%2C+he+drove+on%3B+now+he+faces+charges&articleId=c03b3b4d-440d-45f3-91f6-ab9951b78607

[Inchworm]

76. You could sure have fun with that town's name

I'll be at the Epping Restaurant damnit, and I hope the Epping Police mind their business! :D

:silly:

[SoxFan]

78. What happens in Epping, stays in Epping!

[MorningGlow]

5. Other--being a passenger with a 16-year-old driving

I was 21--read: young and stupid--and so didn't protest when our friends in a car in front of us started leading us on a wild chase on some country backroads. Yeah, that got me some shattered glass from the windshield in my lap, a mailbox WAY too up-close-and-personal with my face, and then the delayed freakout when I realized we had nearly gone over a cliff. Missed it by THAT much.
:scared:

Or...watching a minivan full of daycare kids blast through a stop sign and end up in the middle of the intersection, RIGHT where my car was heading. Yeah, THAT was fun. So was turning wildly to miss them, hitting a street sign head on, totaling my car, phking up my knee, hitting the windshield with my head, and blowing half my lower lip off from the impact with the steering wheel. Good times, good times...

[Sigh Sister]

6. Probably the time a bee got in my car

I almost wrecked because it was dive bombing my head.

[vadawg]

7. to many to mention, though soccer moms pulling in front of you

when you are doing 90 with lights and sirens going and having to slam the anchors on as moms mini van saunters along. you soon discover adrenaline is brown coloured.

[tigereye]

8. sliding on ice pretty much covers it - fortunately i didn't hit anything

[merh]

9. hydroplaned when taking an exit ramp during a down pour

car did a 360 and almost slammed into the railing and the cars following almost slammed into me.

And a wasp in the car, I'm allergic so I freaked.

:scared:

[Kali]

10. somehting in my eye was close, but more like something OUT of my eye

had a lens from my glasses fall out while driving a full size 15 passenger van down THIS:

[mainegreen]

12. What the hell is that?

And what crime did you commit that forced you to drive on such an abomination?

[Kali]

24. heeee

it's the road to Batopilas in the bottom of one of the canyons that make up the "Copper Canyon" in Mexico.

Actually it was a very well maintained dirt road, just some hairy, no guard-rail drop-offs!

Just traveling with some friends. My crime was being the only American and thus able to rent and drive the van from here.

[FloridaJudy]

11. The hood flying up and wrapping itself around my windshield

Fortunately, it was five a.m. (nurses work ungodly hours) so there was little traffic, and it was really foggy on the freeway, so I wasn't going very fast. That particular car - an MG - was out to kill me. I sold it to another fool not long after.

Scariest thing ever happened in a car was when the steering wheel came off. I wasn't driving - my ex was - but it was terrifying enough being a passenger.

Infernal combustion engines hate me.

[cherish44]

13. I was driving in a frickin blizzard...

Had to get to the airport. I live in Illinois, deer everywhere. I was going about 10-15 mph it was that bad. A deer runs out in front of me and I fish tailed and managed to get control. Well this deer was a brave one because it keep right on going IN FRONT OF ME. Yes I followed a frickin deer in my car for about mile. Maybe he thought he was being helpful :)

[bigwillq]

14. When I hit

a deer. The poor thing came out of nowhere, I hit it, it flew up into the air, and over my car, and landed with a thud on the other side of the road. The deer died, and my car was totaled. :(

[Arkana]

15. I've been lucky.

Worst thing that happened to me was a slight fender-bender where I bumped a guy's trailer he was hauling a boat with.

Bastard went postal and insisted I buy him a new motor for his boat, even though there was no visible damage. Thank God I called the cops and had them look at it--the cop sided with me.

[charlie and algernon]

18. Cops are great for backing you up

I rear ended a car while driving a company van because the brakes just failed and I couldn't stop or slow down. The woman I hit started yelling about how fast I must've been going and was holding her neck. Then a cop came and checked my brakes and noticed the brake fluid spilling out whenever he tried the brakes. As soon as he told the woman that, she shut up, lol.

[rcrush]

16. I dropped by crackpipe while drinking my beer

OMG SCARRY

[Iggo]

20. In your defense, they do get quite hot.

I hope you were not injured.

[rcrush]

23. No I managed to keep from losing all my crack

Nothin like goin 120 down I10 puffin on some crack.

[HopeHoops]

17. Having a HUGE buck jump directly in front of my car on a foggy highway (at highway speed)

Okay, I was probably going to fast, but the fucker was just THERE in front of me.

I slammed on the brakes and, while probably a stupid thing to do, turned the wheel. Fortunately the car did something close to a 180 rather than rolling over. That would have been bad.

[Eyerish]

21. Sliding on ice into the opposite lane...

right in front of Semi. :scared:

Needed to change my pants when I got home...

[Heidi]

22. Several:

Bird flew into my car through the driver's side window. (Oklahoma)
Hit a stretch of black ice on I-80 westbound, spun outta control, across the median and into the eastbound lanes. (Nebraska)
In front of a semi that lost control on a steep downgrade, but fortunately, for me and the semi, there was one of those over-on-the-side inclined "slow yourself down" ramps for the truck. (Eagle County, Colorado)
Saw a sign that proudly proclaimed, "Welcome to Russell, home of Bob Dole!" (Kansas)

[soleft]

25. I woke up once and didn't know where I was

[LaraMN]

26. Backseat passenger finding and overtly sniffing

my discarded delicates.
I have PTSD from that incident.

[Ikonoklast]

29. I hope your passenger was a dog, the four-legged kind.

Otherwise, eeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwww!

That wins some kind of award for just not being right.

[PaddyBlueEyes]

27. Imagine being a driver here..

[Raffi Ella]

28. I hydroplaned coming off a highway ramp in the rain

Hit the curb, went airborne sideways and landed on the other side of the street. All the tires were blown, windows shattered and there I am in shock sitting' there trying to start the car. It was miraculous that no one was hurt.

[MilesColtrane]

30. I can't declare a winner between these three.

1) Hydroplaned on the freeway at 70mph sending my car into a 180 degree spin. I ended up against the inside guard rail facing oncoming traffic.

2) Front right wheel broke off of my car doing about 60mph on the freeway. The rear end began lifting off of the road. If the axle had really caught in the pavement I would have flipped end over end.

3) Shot fired in my general direction from someone driving the other way on the freeway one night. The paper the next morning revealed that this same psycho had fired at at least two other motorists permanently paralyzing one.

[Orrex]

31. Spun about 540° on I-79 in traffic

Christmas Day, 2003. We hit a patch of black ice and swerved first to the left and then spun in a full circle to the right, somehow winding up more or less unscathed at the left shoulder, not even off the road.

Other cars behind us and ahead of us were totally mangled, but we zipped through with only a half-dollar sized ding in the front bumper.

[Arkansas Granny]

32. Stepping on the brakes and finding out that you don't have any.

My master cylinder went out when I was approaching a busy intersection and my light was turning red. All four kids were in the car with me.

[Throd]

33. Having the car body lift off the ground at 110mph

One Sunday morning, I found out that if you drive a '68 Oldsmobile at 110mph it gets a bunch of air under it and lifts up so the front tires aren't touching the ground very much.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

34. Got lost at night in a freeway construction zone

went up what looked like an entrance ramp, and realized, as soon as I got to the highway, that it was actually an exit ramp. Ended up going the wrong way on a freeway for about the length of a bridge. :scared:

Fortunately, it was late at night so that there wasn't much traffic.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

35. Falling asleep for three seconds on the interstate.

Of course, the sudden movement of my car across the median into oncoming traffic jerked me wide awake. Amazingly, I wasn't close enough to hit anybody and my car ended up in the grass.

I sat there shocked for a few moments until a very nice group of people in a van stopped to assist me in getting back on the highway.

[Skittles]

36. when it suddenly rains so hard a highway becomes a sea of white

I literally can only see the tail lights in front of me and cannot even pull over because I cannot see to safely do so - it's only happened a couple of times but it really scares me

[SteppingRazor]

37. Defying all laws of probability, I've been in an accident 8 or 9 times.

So, there's that.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

38. I once got hit by a dog.

No, I did not type that incorrectly.

[Danger Mouse]

39. I hit a fucking bear. Thread over, I win.

Seriously. A fucking bear.

[Rhythm]

45. So you only hit one of the pair?

:hide:

[krispos42]

51. *snort*

:rofl:

[Deja Q]

73. Dammit, you beat me to it!

:cry:

:rofl:

[One_Life_To_Give]

40. 17

Many were sure I wouldn't live thru that.

[Moondog]

41. Side railing, broken loose from accident going the other way, coming through

my windshield. Imbedded in the front passenger seat. Which, fortunately, was not occupied. Scared the snot out of me.

[nini]

42. seeing a car coming at me - head on - right before we crashed

was knocked unconscious and broke both ankles.

That split second before the crash was something I just can't describe.

[JanMichael]

82. oh jesus

I am so glad you are OK now, and lived to marry Zombiewoof!

[Swede]

43. My nephew and my godson where in a car in front of me,semi loses control

in the other lane. I thought I was gonna see them both get killed. Semi driver yanks it back into his lane,my nephew dodges off of curb,and it was over. My palms still sweat when I think of that split second.

[rurallib]

44. A VW microbus crossed the center line and came right at me

the ditch was shallow so I was able to drive into the ditch. As he passed I saw he had a bible opened on his steering wheel.

[martymar64]

46. When I was 17, I drove 50 miles at night while high on LSD

Too scary for words.

[Mr. Ected]

47. Careened off a grassy embankment, missed several large trees

Went airborne and landed on top of a large tree.

No injuries. But when I jumped from the tree and crawled up the grassy embankment, I contracted the worst case of poison ivy ever suffered by homo sapiens.

[bluedigger]

48. Flashing blues in the rearview!

[many a good man]

49. Bridge to nowhere

I was speeding down a highway late at night one night when I came across this bridge over a deep valley with a wide river at the bottom. The bridge corkscrewed up and to the right until I was upside down. I had no choice but to accelerate full throttle to avoid plummeting. I was completely successful until, at the last moment, when declining rapidly, the roadway just completely disappeared. I plummeted. And plummeted. And plummeted some more. And more. And more. And more....

[GoddessOfGuinness]

67. Lucifer? Is that you, honey?

[Adsos Letter]

50. Front right tire & rim came off the truck...at 45mph...

[Sisaruus]

52. A big 18 wheeler ramming the back of my car at 80 miles an hour

On a Maine highway. It crossed into my lane and didn't see me.

[Turbineguy]

53. My friend's new snow tires.

On the road between Lake Tahoe and Reno.

Luckliy the ditch welcomes us gently.

[kwassa]

54. Sliding upside down and backwards into a phone pole

I have many experiences much worse than anything in your poll.

The accident in the title happened after I came around a curve and discovered a snowdrift across the road. A snowdrift.

Falling asleep while driving on the PA turnpike, with a carload of passengers already asleep. On the way back from Woodstock.

Several different black ice incidents. Sliding across a parking lot to hit a concrete bumper on which my car became suspended. I was grateful, because just beyond the bumper was a 20' sheer drop off a small cliff.

Sliding about 150' sideways down an ice-covered street. Another car had done the same thing just before me. I hit a dry spot just before I would have side-swiped that vehicle, swung around, and only knocked out their taillight.

Being touched by the tires of a semi that pulled out without looking from the right lane on an uphill incline on I-80. I was quite shaken to discover rubber on the side of my car from the truck tires. I would have been knocked off a sizable mountain.

I got many more. Want to hear them?

[sgsmith]

55. Much younger

Somebody in a junky van pulled out in front of me, making me hit the brakes very hard. We drove down the road side by side and exchanged pleasantries. Finally we got to a stop light and the van was in a left hand turn lane, while I was in the second of two straight through lanes.

Then the passenger in the van got out, carrying a meat cleaver. And beating on the drivers side window. He got back in the van after making his point, no damage to the car.

I do think the guy in the car next to me messed his pants. His eyes were about the size of dinner plates.

[Hayabusa]

57. Two People nearly pulled right into me.

One was a girl about my age on my way to college. I was only two miles from home and I was so shaken up that I immediately turned around at the latest offramp and headed back home.

The other was two miles from my school. An old lady wasn't paying attention pulled into my lane, thankfully not actually hitting me.

[Blue Diadem]

58. I've been hit a few times, had many close calls, but the most frightening was the car load of teens

sliding sideways at us as we were coming around a curve. It had just rained and the roads were slick. They were in a spin and continued to spin back into their lane and then off the road. The only thing they hit was a mailbox. Seeing that kid's face in that rear door window directly in front of our car for that brief moment is something I'll never forget. That poor kid thought he was going to die that day. I thought he was too.

[many a good man]

59. Leader of the pack

I prefer to be the leader rather than the follower. One night I was traveling the Pennsylvania Turnpike. It was late at night. The roads were slick. Raindrops turned into giant snowflakes that dried instantly on impact with the windshield. It dried so much that the wipers only made matters worse. I was in my usual place: red tail lights of the wolf pack in front of me, blinding white lights coming up on me fast from the rear. I was swaying back and forth from all the declining S curves. I blinked my eyes twice and all the lights in my rear view mirror were red. The were fast approaching, no matter how hard I pushed down on the pedal. The back of my neck grew so tense my entire upper body grew rigid. The tires of my car left the road, hovering several feet above the roadway. I could see the red lights fast approaching. Gradually their red eyes and slobbering fangs came into view. They galloped past me, under me, as if I were not even there. After what seemed like an eternity, the reflection in my rear view mirror became nothing but blackness. My car slowly descended until the tires once again touched pavement. The snow had lifted and the skies cleared. I sprayed window washer fluid and could see clearly once again. The North Star was clearly visible out my window and a full moon appeared in front of me, guiding my way. I felt a surge, a sense of peace, confident that I would finally make it home that night, safe and in one piece. I exhaled deeply and lit another cigarette.

[baldguy]

60. Driving in a blizzard.

I was third in a line of five cars moving at 15 mph. Visibility was about 20 ft. Another car came up behind us & passes in the left lane @ about 50 mph. As soon as he passed the group, he hit an SUV head-on coming from the other direction, barely missing all the other cars.

[Inchworm]

61. I saw sheep

that weren't there.

Oops.. 20 hours in must do that.

:P

[grace0418]

62. I've had a few but tonight was definitely up there for scariness and freakiness...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=8864683&mesg_id=8864683

[MrScorpio]

63. I've had three separate 180s in my lifetime

I was lucky enough not to hit anything in each of those instances

[Tikki]

64. You know those big ole tool boxes that sit in...

the open bed of a truck up near the truck cab!!!....
Well, the lid came off the tool box in front of me...
I was on a two lane road and that big lid was headed right
for my windshield....and then at the last minute it lost
velocity and dropped just off to the side of the road a
few feet ahead of me...Whew!!!

Tikki

[tabbycat31]

65. doing a 360 on a bridge during a snowstorm

and this was before I was scared to drive on that bridge (the latter happened after the MN bridge collapse)

[OhioBlue]

66. it would either be sliding on ice or slamming on the brakes

to avoid hitting a deer. Both have happened several times.

[LibDemAlways]

68. Stopped well behind

a garbage truck that was nearing a corner. Instead of going forward, the idiot suddenly backed up and destroyed the front end of my car. Fortunately no one was hurt but the car was out of commission for two months and never was the same again.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

69. Deranged sonofabitch played games with me on the road...

I was about 24 or so. It was a rainy night, and I was alone, driving from the Eastern Shore back home. The road was pretty deserted, as it was a Sunday night in the off season. One of my windshield wipers came out of its track as I crossed the bridge in Cambridge...the old one that's now a fishing bridge, not the nice wide new bridge. So I pulled into a liquor store parking lot just on the other side of the bridge to fix it.

This guy in his car rolled down his window and said, "Excuse me." So I looked over at him. Then he said, "Could you come here a minute?" So I got in my car and drove away. But the creep followed me, and started messing with me by getting too close, honking his horn, slowing down when I slowed down, speeding up when I sped up, and so on.

In the midst of this terror, some little animal ran out in front of my car, and I could feel my tire go over it. It wasn't big...some little rodent; but it really upset me. I snapped, and started giving the jerk a little of what he'd don to me...edging into his lane a bit. I was so pissed.

Then I saw a truck coming up behind me, so I slowed down to let him pass, flicking my brights quickly to signal him back over into my lane. Sicko got out of his way pretty quickly. I followed the trucker to the next State Police station and reported the asshole.

Awful experience...Poor little mouse...

[rrneck]

70. Pulling into

Bubba's Chitlins and Live Bait Emporium.

[Pharlo]

71. Hitting white out conditions when driving in bad weather.

It's happened to me about three times, and it's a bad feeling each time.

You're driving along in limited visibility - usually about 30 miles an hour or you'll get stuck in drifts (backroads are not a high priority for plowing while storms are raging) when you realize you can't see anything beyond your windsheild. You can see everything to your windsheild, then, a wall of white. Nothing else.

You know: If you slam on the brakes, you'll wind up in the ditch; there is a big drift in the middle of that white out - so, maybe you won't wind up in the ditch, maybe you'll just wind up stuck in the drift; if you get stuck in the drift, the next car coming won't be able to see you...

So, you just keep your speed up, continue forward, and hope like hell there is no one coming from the other direction, because, if there is, there is going to be a collision.

I hate whiteouts. Fortunately, I've never had an accident due to one, and they very seldom last more than 20 yards or so, but it's an eerie feeling when you're in the middle of one.

[Deja Q]

72. In those situations, I would:

Sneezing attack:
Turn on the car air purifier and try to never drive through ragweed patches ever again

Sleepy:
Put the seat back and catch up on my naughty dreams

Something in my eye:
That's never happened.

Spill liquid on myself:
Don't you carry an extra set of boxer briefs in your vehicle?

Coughing Fit:
Spank it until the fit subsides

have to pi$$ like a racehorse:
I already said it, I keep handy a spare pair of underwear. :P

[SoxFan]

74. Spinout on an icy I-495 with an 18 wheeler in an adjacent lane

Even scarier than an actual collision, because a shift of about four feet would have shuffled (well, violently propelled) me right off of this mortal coil.

[mikeargo]

77. Hit a moose

Windshield smashed, car totalled, moose dead. We got away with a few cuts on our hands.

[semillama]

79. ....

http://www.superpoop.com

[nuxvomica]

80. Tornado

I drove through a really dark storm from Dover, NH, to Concord, MA. I first saw the storm from a distance. It was a swath of black, boiling clouds that reminded me of "The Wizard of Oz." Inside it, the rain was solid, it seemed almost night it was so dark but it was the afternoon, and there were tree branches and litter flying all around me. I was so fricken' scared that I was starting to think I was too old to drive alone on these long trips if an ordinary Massachusetts rainstorm got me that scared. Once I was safe in my hotel room, I turned on the local news and they were saying it was a tornado and showed a truck that had been picked up and deposited in a tree.

[theNotoriousP.I.G.]

81. My sister behind the wheel

ran a red light, got tee-boned, hit a fire hydrant, flying mashed potatoes and pasta prima-vera left overs from dinner all over our clothes and faces, hours long wait in the ER, broken bones. Years of recuperation and surgeries. It's all water under the bridge though :P

[seemunkee]

83. Sheet of plywood suddenly appearing right in front of me

On the DC beltway. A tractor trailer was in front of me and when he drove over it the draft behind him suddenly sucked it off the pavement and stood it square in my lane standing straight up. There were cars on eithe side of me so I couldn't shift lanes. It was starting to fall over towards me when I hit it and it slid across me roof over the back of the car and back down onto the road. It must have only been 1/4 or 1/8' thick since it did very little damage to my car. If it had fallen over any further it would have knifed into the windshield.
I've driven in blizzards, spun my car several times, and done a bunch of other crazy stuff but that sticks out in my mind as the scariest.

[rocktivity]

84. Posted at DU June 2, 2006

I've seen SUVs do gymnastics before--the reasoning seems to be, "So what if the roads are starting to get wet? I can keep doing sixty because I have four-wheel drive!" So when I saw a Hummer 3 in the westbound lane execute a sudden U-turn ACROSS THE GRASS MEDIAN into the eastbound lane (regrettably, I missed its opening spinout), I floored my Mazda Protege and almost made it.

I didn't feel a thing--just heard a bumping noise. I was already in the far right lane, and I wasn't struck hard enough to be knocked out of control, so I just eased onto the shoulder and slowed down. Then I looked out my back window and saw three completely totaled cars (along with the Hummer) and three more with major damage. My driver's side tail light was knocked off, with some dents around the gas tank door and trunk.

After giving my info to the cops (one seemed quite surprised that I kept my license, registration and insurance in one place in my wallet), and watching a victim get cut out of one car via the roof and get helicoptered to the hospital, I left-turn hand-signaled my way home.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x5228554

:headbang:
rocktivity

[GCP]

85. Wheel coming off a truck going the other way

Bounced over the Jersey Barrier, right in front of me, over the car and off down the road behind me. There was no chance to swerve, it all happened so fast, I had my Father-in-law and two kids with me at the time. We could all have been killed.

[pink-o]

86. Been in 2 accidents involving hydroplaning--almost 20 yrs apart!

Nothing is scarier than thinking you're correcting the skid, then finding out there's no road under you to correct to!! I went over a ravine in '91 and rolled the car 3 times, emerging without a scratch. Now I know why they plant Iceplant along the freeway--like a little spongey cushion for impact!

Then, just last December, hit a huge puddle in the middle of the first torrential Bay Area rain. Dry road now wet, bad traction. Headed horizontally along the freeway, but before hitting the guardrail I got nailed by a Chevy Tahoe that couldn't stop in time. Luckily, both me and the other driver had no injuries.

Telling you, already tempted Fate twice. Gonna stop driving before I'm 70 so I don't go for the three strikes and you're out!!

[Liberal Veteran]

87. I left a 12 pack of soda in the car while at work and it exploded on the way home.

Scared the living shit out of me and made a fucking mess.

[bookworm65t]

88. Bee-Vision

About 2 1/2 years ago I was in the left turn lane of a busy intersection with my best friend and some of her cats. I was having some issues with double vision at the time, but nothing prepared me for my vision going out in the middle of traffic. No warning. Instead of the usual double vision, my sight resembled a bee's or a kaleidescope(sp?). :scared:

My best friend had to guide me through the turn and into the parking lot of a shopping mall there.Pissed off a lot of traffic due to my slow speed. I had to wait 40 minutes before my sight returned to normal.

I was thanking God that she ws with me, because I don't know what I would have done if I had been alone. But I didn't tell her that since she is an atheist. :yourock:

[dixiegrrrrl]

89. Couple come to mind.

1985....

Sitting behind 3 cars on a 2 lane country road as the first car waits for approaching traffic to clear before making a left turn.
I am in my wonderful 74 Beetle, look in the rear view mirror and see a semi coming at us wayyyyyyy too fast to stop.
This was one of those very very slow motion moments.
Can't pull into left oncoming lane, cause I can't see what cars are coming.
Thought about swinging over to very narrow right shoulder, next to steep bank of dirt, but realized I would still be in path of cars when semi hit all 3 in front of me.
So I sat there and let go of my life. It felt very calm. I was totally certain this was it, I remember letting out an enormous sigh, thinking of my son, and letting go of everything at same moment.
Semi choose the right shoulder, skidded and slid past us all, somehow, great cloud of dust and gravel.
My car had a few dings from rocks.
We all drove slowly past the then stopped semi.
I was remarkably calm the rest of the day.

1980..
late rainy night, drove around a long wide curve by the huge Boeing plant outside Everett Wa. There is wire fencing on both sides of the road.
So how the hell is a damn 4 point deer standing smack dab in the middle of the road?
Again , I am in my Beetle. So I am looking up at this apparition.
And time really seemed to slow.
The deer slowly starts to move to the left, I don't dare SLAM the brakes on the wet curve, but I did shift down. I was doing about 40 .
And knowing I could not avoid hitting it ,I aimed for the rear haunch.
Deer went OVER the car, one hoof dented left headlight ring, its haunch dented the right front of the car, no other damage.
I stopped at gas station at bottom of hill and called Highway Patrol, it was required then to let them know, just in case the thing was lying in the road.
Pounded the dent out when I got home.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

91. Negotiating

I635 in Dallas toward an exit to I35 for Denton
Me in the lead with Mr 'pede and the dog trying to keep right behind but falling about 3 cars back
Scariest (and I will admit Dumbest) Driving Experience Ever
After we got to Denton and stopped at some fast food place, I said I needed to go to the restroom to pee, but what I did was throw up

[TheKentuckian]

92. Other:

1. A TV box fell off a semi and when I swerved to avoid it coming through the windshield I ended up doing three 360's on the interstate.

2. While going like 110 I lost electrical on a dark stretch of highway with two of my sisters in the car.