Just finished reading a post entitled 'some people' and it got me thinking about some of the hairy moments i've had in my 13 years of motoring. Now at the ripe old age of 30 i've mellowed in my driving as i've found driving like a mental case usually only shaves a couple of minutes of my journeys. Having kids in tow also puts a different perspective on things. Eg I always said I wouldn't have a 'baby on board' sticker of any kind on my motor but what do you know, I now have one. It's small but it's there.

Anyway back to hairy moments. I thought i'd share one. I can assure that the following story is absolutely true although I accept that it's really quite unbelievable. You really couldn't make this up though.

About 7 years ago I was travelling along the main road to Larne from Belfast on my way to work. The 'Larne Line' as it is known was renowned for nasty crashes mainly due to people trying dodgy overtaking manoevres around freight lorries en route to Larne Harbour.

An accident had occured this particular morning and the police were directing traffic off the road, through a nearby town and then back on to the road about a mile futher along.

The diversion was badly marked and there was nearly a pile up at the turn off. The guy behind me wasn't concentrating too hard. Well he was actually but on a banana he was trying to peel. He got stopped but missed me by inches.

So we went on our way along the diversion. The road opened up a bit but I chose not to overtake as I was unfamiliar with those particular roads. However a kamikazee Audi A4 TDi driver appeared from behind overtaking everything in sight and eventually appearing at my rear bumper.

He tailgated me so I slowed down to pi** him off which he didn't take too kindly to.He eventually did another dodgy overtake and passed me. I pulled up behind him at a right turn diverting traffic back towards the 'larne line'. He turned right as per the diversion then immediately left. I thought, 'left? He knows a shortcut' but dismissed it and just turned right back towards the 'Larne line' following the rest of the traffic.

The traffic was moving well and i was keeping up in my old brown 1.3 Astra. I was probably getting a bit 'co*ky' by keeping the power on as the road became more and more bendy. As I drove out of the last bend I was confronted by a hugh line of traffic waiting to pull back onto the 'Larne line). I was doing about 60mph and immediately started breaking. No ABS so pumping brakes and tugging on the handbrake whilst changing down in between.

I quickly realised I wasn't getting stopped on time and would probably right off my car and 3 or 4 other cars if I piled into them. Then I spotted a grass bank on the left verge at an angle of about 45 degrees to the road. I pulled left, hit the bank and travelled far enough along it to pass 3 cars in the queue. I can still see my right wing mirror just missing those on the other cars at a really precarious angle.

I was sliding along churning up the grass and eventually my front right wheel caught the edge of the road and the car skidded to the right towards the queue. Fortunately there was a gap of a few feet between 2 of the cars and I got stopped with the front of my car partially in this gap. The engine stalled and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Encredably embarrassed, I started the engine again and slowly pulled out into the traffic keeping my head down and pretending nothing happened. I then looked in my rear view mirror and guess who's there? Mr Audi A4 no less. He must have thought I was a physcho because I barely drove over 50 the rest of the way with the shaking and everything (me, not the car, it was undamaged) and he kept his distance behind the whole way.

That wised up my driving for a good month or so I can tell you.

What's your story.

I used to get a lift off my brother as we both worked for the same place and I couldn't drive, now I wouldn't doubt his driving abilities but lets just say he could make some choices that I wouldn't. He had recently bought a new mondeo zetec and an observation you might make if you were a passenger would be that he liked to test the traction control at every possible opportunity, anyhow

This particular night he was in a bit of a rush and the build up of traffic on the m60 was causing him some frustration so we pulled off to drive through trafford park, any one who knows trafford park will know there are quite a few roundabouts over there which would give him an excellent opportunity to once again show me his amazing traction control!!!!!!

We came to said roundabout doing roughly 60 -70 mph went round no problem and on exiting the roundabout the car began to drift over to the other lane which would be fine under normal circumstances however the 40 ft artic coming towards us kind of put a different perspective on things!

ok so lets recap, 70mph driving straight towards a 40ft artic doing maybe 20mph is most probably going to equal dead me, the normal reaction would be to press your brake but this would then stop the traction control and we would have defiantly been dead, so he planted his foot hard on the accelerator and waited for the traction to take effect, as my life flashed before my eyes god seemed to just tap the back of the car and the traction just pushed us back on course.

very lucky, i bet the driver of the lorry was thinking what i was thinking!

Its funny to think that ive only had a few near death experiences and everyone seemed to involve my brother either causing them or saving my life.

Shortly after this incident i began learning to drive!

My brother wonders why i wont get on the back of his motorbike hmmmmm.

LIke the time coming back from Huddersfield when my Pd130 lost all grunt at 60 just as i went to overtake into the outside.....and then lost power.........

and limped back home at a pathetic 45mph........

Or the time, in horrendous rain on a return from huddersfield as a passenger in the old mans' vauxhall corse......and a rear wheel came off an HGV and headed for us....... :eek: