lucky to be alive

[CAP1]

My first car was an 83 Ford Fairmont, which is basically the 83 Ford Mustang except a different body, one time just as it started to rain I came to a stop light, the light was at the bottom of a hill, I went to apply the brakes and the wheels just locked up, I pumped them but no luck, the road was just too slick, I plowed right into the rear end of an Escort, I totaled the Escort, it's rear doors wouldn't even close anymore, but my car was a tank, not even a dent or scratch, back then when cars were made of steel they could take some hits.

yep. that's what i was going for. intersections. especially heavily traveled ones. cars sit in traffic, leaking oil, and/or other fluids. add a little water, and you get what happened to you.

 and the fairmont thing.......yep. ford built close to 26 cars on that chassis i think. the drivetrain from my wrecked mustang resides in a 78 fairmont futura.

[branch37]

I learned to drive on unpaved, ranch roads in a 67 Ford pickup.  I still prefer to drive it over my new truck,  it feels like your actually driving something.

[RTHolmes]

... nothing to do with my age or my speed the bend was rated a 35 mph turn and as we all no 5 more mph is always acceptable so do not critisize my driving plz ...

sry but this is all wrong. after you get a bit of experience you'll work out that driving safely is about driving to the road and conditions (varies according to a massive range of factors, your own vehicle and ability, other vehicle numbers, types, abilities, the road, the weather, the time of day etc etc.) speed limits are just suggestions for max speeds in ideal conditions.

[CAP1]

sry but this is all wrong. after you get a bit of experience you'll work out that driving safely is about driving to the road and conditions (varies according to a massive range of factors, your own vehicle and ability, other vehicle numbers, types, abilities, the road, the weather, the time of day etc etc.) speed limits are just suggestions for max speeds in ideal conditions.

exactly right.

 do you know how many people look at me like i'm six kinds of stupid when i try to explain that to them?

[Dichotomy]

yep. that's what i was going for. intersections. especially heavily traveled ones. cars sit in traffic, leaking oil, and/or other fluids. add a little water, and you get what happened to you.

 and the fairmont thing.......yep. ford built close to 26 cars on that chassis i think. the drivetrain from my wrecked mustang resides in a 78 fairmont futura.

*facepalm

you are, of course, correct.  I have a nasty hill with a stoplight at the bottom in my morning drive.  In non weather conditions as I top the rise I check the light, the amount of traffic (if it's green are they spread out meaning it might change yellow to red... start slowing and so on and yes during or after a rain I treat it like it's black ice). 

[CAP1]

what i AM very very sorry about, is that the OP is taking this all as criticism.....i know i don't intend my statements as destructive....but rather constructive criticism.

 i truly hope, that when he calms down, he'll come back and read this thread all over again, as he'll glean a lot of good advice from this, and learn. 

[Limbo0]

iv already learned enough from the crash sorry to say.

[1pLUs44]

here's a question for you . it's raining hard, you go to the mall. when you come out, it's pretty much stopped, and the roads are still somewhat wet.

which is more dangerous?

I'd probably say the 2nd one. I think it's the worst whenever it rained just enough to get the roads wet, but not enough to get all the oil and everything off the roads (especially in town by stop lights and everything.). My 'lil Mustang will start spinning tires everywhere no exceptions when that happens. (and I drive the damn thing like a granny anyways, my friends always give me hell for that too.)

[greens]

Well limbo0 I'm glad to here your alive for better or worse. Now since theres a Co position in your old squad and you almost died you can come back and be Co for the 2nd wing. You don't half to but your welcome to come back and run the squad with Swoops and everybody. Remember it's vox 177 just in case. Good luck and don't get in anymore car crashes or in your case rail crash.

boy i oughta slap u stealthy , glad yer ok Limboni <S>

[CAP1]

iv already learned enough from the crash sorry to say.

no, no you haven't. in fact, if that is your true stance, i think it'd be safe to say you've learned nothing.

re-read the thread. look at all the advice here.

[Lepape2]

One question for you CAP if I may: In an emergency braking (without ABS & no change of direction needed), is it better to lock up the wheels on a wet surface rather than having the tires kept at the point of maximal efficiency or "threshold braking"?

As to the seatbelt issue, last time I brought passengers with me, one of them didn't put on his seatbeat on. I had to argue with him to put it on because he didn't want to (said something about being stuck and possible need to get out in a hurry). Couldn't believe my ears about what he said. Also placing the seatbelt around your hip as low as possible might save you from internal abdominal injuries in the event of a head on crash.

[CAP1]

I'd probably say the 2nd one. I think it's the worst whenever it rained just enough to get the roads wet, but not enough to get all the oil and everything off the roads (especially in town by stop lights and everything.). My 'lil Mustang will start spinning tires everywhere no exceptions when that happens. (and I drive the damn thing like a granny anyways, my friends always give me hell for that too.)

and mustangs stop in the poor weather, about as well as they accelerate. 

[CAP1]

One question for you CAP if I may: In an emergency braking (without ABS & no change of direction needed), is it better to lock up the wheels on a wet surface rather than having the tires kept at the point of maximal efficiency or "threshold braking"?

As to the seatbelt issue, last time I brought passengers with me, one of them didn't put on his seatbeat on. I had to argue with him to put it on because he didn't want to (said something about being stuck and possible need to get out in a hurry). Couldn't believe my ears about what he said. Also placing the seatbelt around your hip as low as possible might save you from internal abdominal injuries in the event of a head on crash.

never deliberately lock your brakes. once you've done that, you've lost the ability to control the car. you'll go farther before you stop.

 the key is to keep them just short of lockup, and you'll stop pretty quickly. i think it was rt that mentioned about possibly taking a performance driving course. this is an excellent idea, as it'll safely allow you to find your limits, as well as your cars, and learn to maximize them. i didn't have the benefit of such a course, but rather i learned by experimenting(playing) in big empty parking lots. these days, i don't recommend that.

 i don't move my car, unless everyone in it is belted in. if they don't want to put it on, then they can hoof it. 

[Imowface]

Come to canada to learn about winter driving I have a 92 Mitsubishi Delica for the winter, and not exagerating anything, took it through a foot of snow last winter on the way to school, on a main road in the city, best winter vehicle I have ever owned, and now I am regretting buying a 94 GTO for the -2 months I can drive it here

[CAP1]

i was driving a ford superduty tow truck during the blizzard we had here in 1996. there was no cleared roads, as they weren't expecting it.
  my winter driving is fine, although i learn something every time i go out in the snow.