The wildest near wreck you didn't have.

[bonvo]

True but I hadn't heard this story.. glad he posted it. That's actually my worst fear when daily driving my 510... :( If that happened to me the other driver had better hope I'm too injured to get out of the car on my own....

 

dude i swear to god if something happens to this 610 after all the time money and work i have put into it someone will at the very least be missing teeth lol

[bonvo]

and when i read the first post i could have sworn it said accidents you avoided or wished you could have

[Figbuck]

You know I like to tell stories...

 

April 1985 I rode my motorcycle down Coast Highway One from The Bay Area to Long Beach to go to the IndyCar Grand Prix. After I left out of the Big Sur area, I saw brand new Corvette up ahead of me. As I started to catch him up, I realized that he was hauling ass. It took me a half hour to reel him in. I would get a glimpse of him way up ahead and then the road was so tight and hard to ride, he would disappear going up or down a mountain. Then I would see him cross a bridge or at the end of a straight. I'd put my head down, try to relax and find that sweet spot where I'm going fast enough to feel when the front tire starts sliding, then roll on the throttle, pick the bike back up and use all the cornering speed, to feel the back tire spin up just a little bit. Maximum corner speed, maximum grip. I thought I was going about as fast as I could with my suspension pre-loads set soft for touring.

 

Sometimes the corners are coming at you so fast that all you can do is to relax and react. There are thousand foot sheer cliffs above the ocean, stupid tourists stopped dead in the middle of a blind corner taking photos... ten feet from the turnout for the Vista Point. Oh look Honey, the Ocean!! The potential for disaster is in every pot-holed, dirt and rock strewn hairpin. If you ride 10/10ths race track style... you are going to die out here. Every single corner or hill has some characteristic that makes it nearly impossible to ride or drive smoothly. While smooth is fast on a track, out here, the more violent you are with your braking, and turning, the faster you go. Unless you are sliding both tires in every corner... you aren't going that fast! Hairball shit on a public road!

 

I chased that Vette for a hundred miles, riding so hard that I started thinking I might run out of fuel before San Simeon and Hearst Castle. As you get down there, the road starts to straiten out and I could hit a buck or buck ten for a second or two before hauling on the brakes for the next corners. I really started to pour it on, because I just couldn't believe that this guy was that fast in a car!

 

Finally I was able to use the bike's power band in fourth and fifth gears and truly catch him up. Just as I got behind him, there was a speed zone for San Simeon and he pulls into the gas station. I pull up to the pump beside him. It's a guy about my age who has this big shit-eating grin on his face. His wife looked green, like she wasn't diggin' it too much.

 

I said, I been trying to catch you since Big Sur, you got to be having fun! He said, he saw my head light behind him and he didn't want me to pass him!

 

Waay more fun than is allowed by law.

 

So my brother flew down to LAX with his helmet. I picked him up and we got a motel three blocks from the track and spent three days watching fast cars and chasing girls. On Sunday night, I took him back to the airport and got on the 405 freeway to go back to the Motel in Long Beach.

 

It was about 11:00 PM and there was hardly any traffic out. I was in the fast lane and came up upon a group of five cars in a caravan in front of me. They were going 80 mph, so there was no reason to pass them, it just wasn't that far to where I would turn off. I noticed that every one of these cars was brand new. They all had temporary paper plates and I thought, wow Sunday must be new car buying day!

 

Except for this little train there is little traffic. Out of habit I keep tabs on my rear mirrors looking for HYPO. I see some headlights way back. A second later, lights are closer. Next look and somebody is closing on me really fast... cops? I start to lag back a bit and think about getting over into the slower lanes. These headlight are coming so fast that it surprised me how close they were... gotta be cops.

 

As I start look over my shoulder and check my mirror to get over, this little econo-box car, runs right up behind me, at the last second, before I can even start to get over, it swoops out around the whole group of cars and chops right back in front of the first car, a Mercedes station wagon. If we are going 80 he is going a 110!

 

The Econo-box swerves in the lane for a split second, then lurches across five lanes of 405 to try and make it onto a two lane off ramp for the 110 freeway. I Think It's called the Harbor Freeway. It looked like it made it at the last possible second...

 

but no. You know how there is a series of broken dots then a long solid white line that divides lanes on off ramps? This one turned into a white curb at the gore point. The car clips the curb which sends it spinning back across the lanes and T-bones the Mercedes! The cars in line all start to fan out to the left into the other lanes hitting each other like a drunk pummeling a cue ball to break in pool.

 

All of this happened so fast that all I could do was steer. I couldn't brake, shift or even think. I was dodging spinning cars, flying bumpers, flying glass and body side molding, you name it. Somebody hit the Econo-box, sending it spinning, and it just misses me. I shot through a perfect slalom of flying crap 45% across the freeway towards something big and black. Boom, and then I'm sitting up right on the bike, engine dead... and it's not falling over!

 

I landed half way up this hill on the side of an on ramp overcrossing, wheels buried to the hubs in Ice Plant! I was just sitting there, stopped, no sound when my heart starts pounding! I get off and run back down the hill. The Econo-box is sitting half on the shoulder. It's got paper plates on it and is brand new too... well it was new!

 

I go up to the driver's window, the back doors fly open an two big guys about 20 get out. I start yelling at the driver who starts to get out too. You ^%$#*&^%*&^%*&^%* &^%$#%^&*()^%$#@^&*()& ^%$#^&*()&^%$#^&*()_&^%$ #&*()_*_*&*...

You almost killed me!!

 

Right then the driver of the Mercedes left his family in the car wadded up against the center divide, grabbed a fire extinguisher, runs across the empty freeway. He is fully going to kill the kid getting out of the car with it. Another big young guy come from the shotgun side and grabs Mr. Mercedes. Another one of the drivers in a wrecked car runs over screaming. All three of us are fixin' to fuck this guy up. But the three buddies are playing it off and telling us to back off. So it's kind of a stand of with us yelling at them.

 

The driver says I'm sorry I fucked up... so I made a mistake... look at my new car! We wanted his license, but he says he doesn't have one... or any insurance because he paid cash! Oh man, that was it... the three of us start to grab him and get into a brawl. The big guys are going... "Hey dood, he made a mistake and apologized... fuck you!" FUCK ME?? It's on!! I have a helmet, leathers, gloves and boots on. Nobody is going to hurt me and I'm so pissed, I'm pushing my way to get him. I'm landing punches so hard with gloves on, that my hands hurt for a week. The driver gets back in the car, locks the door and gets it to start. He starts backing up. The wheels are all bent and fluids are spewing. The driver turns and runs over the curb and starts to go down the Harbor Freeway when a tractor trailer comes along and almost hits him. He is getting away at ten 10 Mph!

 

The shotgun guy runs him down and jump back in the car. The two back seat guys run across two lanes dodging traffic, They jump a cyclone fence and run through a trucking company to disappear. The two guys look at me frantically... "Let's go get 'em!

 

Yeah right, go git 'em. I go, you guys chase 'em, I'll go call the police! They ran down there jumped the fence and disappeared too. The scene is pretty messed up with people hurt and yelling. Now there is a lot more traffic and people are hauling ass down the freeway coming up on all this crash debris and cars strewn about, barely slowing down. I had a hell of a time getting my Honda out of the Ice Plant. I fired it up and moto-crossed it.

 

I waited for a while, but the two guys never came back. Not one car ever stopped and after 25 minutes, one of those LA County Sherrif's choppers came over head and shined the spotlight down on me. I'm waving and pointing to the wrecked cars, but they seemed really interested in me alone. A few minutes like this and it left.

 

Another fifteen minutes, no nothing. It's midnight, I was tried, burnt crispy from partying and had to get up the next day... sprint 400 miles back up the endless roller coaster of Highway One... burn gas and rubber, stretch a little chain and have the most fun you can have with your clothes on.

 

Pretty lucky.

[ruckycharms]

Some of you guys might remember this one. While caravanning to SWDP meet in 2010, my 620 started rattling so I pulled off the road on the 91 fwy in Anaheim hills CA and went into a fishtail on some gravel. I thought I was a goner for sure, but old faithful stayed in control and I landed safely. I was terrified, but the the whole team stopped and pulled over to make sure I was okay. I love you guys!

[jrock4224]

omg too many nde's fr me i would fill this thread with stupid decisions

[Ranman72]

one night when I was invincible i was racing through the neighborhood streets in my 69 510( this was late at night no children playing) so I go flying through this s turn as I come through the second part of the s turn the ass end washes out there was a partridge family style station wagon on the side of the road as I was spinning a 180 sliding backwards holding the brakes and wheel for dear life and thinking this is it car totaled etc the car came to a stop and I looked out the passenger widow at the mirror on the door of the partridge family wagon I was way to close to not have hit it so I got out and looked you could barely get your hand between the two cars wheeeeeeeeeeeew that was close !!!!!! so got back in the car and continued driving like a crazy kid that I was

 

NO CARS WERE HARMED IN THIS NEAR ACCIDENT

[Suspect]

I think the closest call I had was when I was hauling a trailer with my 73 620. I was cruising down a 55mph 2 lane road with a small trailer hooked to the truck. I was on my way to my work after hours with a co-worker that quit. We were heading there to pick up his tool boxes and move them to his house. One of the front wheel cylinders leaked and the brakes would pull a little. It was manageable because it didn't seem bad enough to fix them promptly.

 

While cruising with traffic, with a good following distance (which is a must for here and a drum brake datsun) traffic was moving smoothly. 10 miles went by still smooth sailing. I honestly don't know why people race up to a construction site. One side of the road was blocked off, a sign guy was allowing cars to go threw one side at a time. My lane had probably 25-30+ cars in front of me, I hadn't gotten to the construction signs yet. While we were all traveling at 55-60, my friend pointed out a party on the right, and the party had a few girls and a few really nice old classic cars. I just glanced over for a second, as soon as I did, my friends eyes got big and he couldn't even talk. I looked forward and all the cars in front of me were zigzaged standing on their brakes, I was still going 55 and running out of time fast. They were nearly stopped, all I could do was just stomp the break pedal, didn't even get my 1 pump brake still there check. Tires screamed on the road surface, somehow the truck managed to go sideways pointing to the right. I let off the brakes to get it straight, checking my mirrors make sure the trailer was still following me. I got back on the brakes again but it was too late, I couldn't go right because the line of cars from the party was on the shoulder. It was either plant the back of the caravan in front of me with the datsun or take the on coming lane. I had just enough time to see if there was a car oncoming and decided to go that way, so I did. Everything happened so fast, I'm not sure how I managed to slid sideways with a trailer with no room to work with, get the truck back in line, and figure out what I had to do not to cause an accident. The trailer had to have been extremely close to the caravan in front of me, I looked at it in disbelief that the trailer didn't clip the van.

 

My friend was all bent out of shape, looking sick and pale. After we were stopped on the left shoulder, he realized that he didn't have his belt on, and said I could have died. As I filed back into line, I caught the traffic director eye to eye, he just tipped his hat as in good job. He must have been watching me.

[Suspect]

I have lots of stories, most involve some vehicle damage though.

 

Just to let you know the condition of the truck (different 73 620 than above).... it was rusty enough it shouldn't been on the road, the center drive bearing rubber was rotted out and I had chrysler timing belt wrapped around the drive shaft bearing, the cab was completely rusted off the frame (steering column was basically all the body was held on with), brakes sucked, and the rear shock mount bar / spare tire bar rusted clean off.

 

I was in my extremely rusty flat back 73 620. Me and a friend had just got out from a club and was on the highway home. We were cruising 65mph, only had a 4 speed and L16. I had been on the highway for about 5 miles, when a crappy honda accord was passing in the left lane. They drifted into my lane and I gradually gave them room by driving on the rumble strips, then past the rumble strips, then within inches of the guard rail. I had no more room to spare and by the time I decided to slow down they were already past my old white line into the shoulder. I hit the brakes, it was too late, sparks were flying off my fender and side of my truck from the guard rail and the drivers side was getting creased from the honda. Finally someone in the car realized they had pinned me and they flew back into the left lane. I got behind them to get the license plate # and they decided to bail.... flat out pulled away, I had the old rusty datsun throttle pinned to the floor. I had it pinned about 10 miles and started to catch up with them, by then I was at the 100 mark on the speedo which is ruffly 88-90mph, the L16 sounded like it was in neutral on the matt. Just as I was getting close enough to catch their draft, they sped up more, I never let off, just kept pushing my poor truck to go faster. The temp was up to about 2/3 to hot, but I was determined to at least get a plate #. 30 miles went by, at this time the speedometer was bouncing all over past the 100 mark, then it just stopped, thought it broke, and my friend threw the excitement was passed out head bobbing off the door glass. I finally gave up, never got the plate # and now I had another 35 miles north to go, for home. I usually only run the highway to get out of the city.

 

The next day I inspected the damages, and they weren't too bad, nothing a 4$ can of spray paint wouldn't cover on a beat up old rusty Datsun.

[LV Fratsun]

few years ago I attended a Subaru meet in my wrx (sweet i know). we met up in CO springs with the intention to take some dirt roads around pikes peak and up into the front range. My friend decided to follow me down from denver in his legacy SS. So we show up and there are about 20 cars there and 30+ people. We take off for the mountains single file and hit the dirt trail after about an hour of aimless city driving as we get the convoy all together. As the trail begins to wind our entry speeds increase and we start flicking our cars into turns. You can see how about 10 miles of this can get out of hand... Next thing I know I'm going tandem with a wagon in front of me thinking im the next Collin McRae. My friend behind me is really beating on his $1500 legacy and we are in the middle of the group. I come around a blind sweeper using the whole road, as I am about 60% opf the way through the turn I realize I am aimed straight at a park ranger going about 40mph sideways. The wagon in front of me over corrects and ends up in the ditch to my right (my intended destination). Instintcively I pin the throttle and aim the car towards the left shoulder where there is about 20 feet of drop off. My right rear comes within inches of the ranger's cattle guard and I sweep the car around him on the wrong side ripping the wheel left. If I clipped his car it surely would have sent me off the drop and totalled the car. I pulled over and handed the officer all of my documents. He gives me an ear full as i'm still sitting there still shaking, i think he understood what i learned that day.

 

I got off with a warning and a valuable lesson about subaru drivers.

[HRH]

My buddy Mike and I were driving my 87 B2000 longbed down to Boise on a trip and going down one of the most dangerous highways in Idaho (95 south). So we're down near Hermiston or someplace, where it goes along the river and we get into a passing race with some other car. Can't remember what he did, but we were trying to get in front of him. Might have cut me off on a pass, I don't know, we were young and dumb.

 

So I'm hauling balls to catch up to this guy and I make a stupid stupid pass right before a corner, probably going 65+ in a 45 because at that point the road is super curvy. I think the corner was marked 35 with a yellow, and it was meant to be taken at that speed in a crappy B2000. I realize too late that I'm way overcooking the entrance to this corner on a two lane highway. At that point there wasn't an option, so I mash the brakes into it, which brings the rear end around, and we literally 4 wheel drift the entire corner passing right by a few cars going the opposite way. This was back before I even conceived that was possible on pavement.

 

Amazingly we pulled out of the corner and didn't hit anything. I took the next turn off and Mike and I just sat there, hearts pounding. Went really slow the rest of the way. So close to piling up our truck and possibly someone else. Ahhh youth. Lucky times.