Had my first close call with almost being involved in an accident at a STANDSTILL in stop and go traffic today in North Conway...

It was a gorgeous day today so I decided to go for a drive to my usual destination...North Conway. Traffic was it's usual STOP and GO. Lots of tourists driving around. I was sitting, waiting at a single lane road on main street when the light turned green. All of a sudden this guy in his Crown Victoria SLAMS on his accelerator and rear ends the car in front of him. BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM! Five cars were involved because of this guy's lead foot! Mind you, it was all the cars in front of him who were at a standstill, waiting for the light to turn.

At this point, there was about 2 car lengths between me and this ****** bag, when all of a sudden, he puts his car in reverse and floors it! There was no time for me to react, so I blew my horn as much as I could, bracing for the inevitable! Miraculously, he swerved his car and stopped less than ONE inch from my right front bumper! WHEWWWW! I immediately put my car in reverse and went around the accident scene. The guy looked stunned and confused! He and his wife looked like they were in their mid 70's and were looking like, "hmmmmmm, what just happened?"

For whatever reason, I was lucky. Things happen for a reason! No matter how well I am as a defensive driver, one can never predict what other people may do in stop and go traffic!

Just wanted to share my CLOSE CALL today.


Vince.

 

Close call indeed, WOW! Glad you and the Porsche are okay!

Jay

 

Glad you are OK!

 

It is incredible to me that in the United States a person can even be 90 years old (or older, as there is no age limit) and drive a car ... all you have to do is pass a vision test. I believe this applies in all states. Glad you are o.k. Cheers.

 

Why should that have to do with age? 90yo and 30yo should both drive if qualified and proficient. There are plenty of young drivers who should not be driving either. I agree that all ages should be properly tested periodically. The best test is a controlled autox event.

 

"Close Call" and the description of the driver hit home to me, as a couple of weeks ago, two cyclists, near where I was staying in Florida, were hit and seriously injured by an 81 year old driver on a Saturday morning at 8:45 a.m. The driver, (according to police), inexplicably crossed into the other lane and hit the cyclists, who were riding in a bicycle lane - in a group, head on. He was driving a 2007 MB. For those women, and for many other victims' sake, I would hope that some reasonable re-testing laws be adopted.

 

I'm not an age discriminator whatsoever.. hell, I'm a senior citizen myself (knocking on the door of 61). But anyone who thinks that age isn't a factor when it comes to driving hasn't spent any time on the roads in Florida. I'm not joking.. it's friggin' dangerous down there...

 

Very easy way to leave age discrimination out of driving laws. In addition to a vision test, also do a quick 1-2 minute reaction time test. This could be administered with an arcade style simulator.

 

That and an autox session for all drivers.

 

It seems like the lowest common denominator of driving skill can be seen with thse types of senseless accidents on crowded roads . I'm glad the original poster was one less on the dent tally.

As for the age issue --I do feel that more stringent testing ought to apply to renew licenses for all ages . In many regions renewals are subject to fees and vision tests rather than taking the actual written and road test to refect an updated driver skill level . At 90 years old a person may be proficient but the fact that he has not been tested in 70 years leaves a lot of guessing .

In fact I just read this yesterday on my welcome screen . It does offer a written test if one wishes to see .
http://autos.aol.com/article/study-driving-test/

 

I am almost 70 and I haven't put a scratch on my car. The most dangerous drivers are the teenagers.

 

This is a tough one. I see no reason not to UP our drivers tests. It is too easy to get a license at 16 and too easy to keep a license at 80. Reaction time, vision, and some type of ability level should be tested regularly. Why not every 3 years when you have to get a new license? I know this would increase work load on the state but wouldn’t it be worth it? I am sure there is some easy way to test major points with little to no involvement from a live person. if we can do it mostly with computers the cost might not be that bad.

 

Very lucky

 

Oh man that was a close one.