Well, last Monday, had a "mini adventure" on the way to uni.

Took the ususal route to uni, via a twisty "B" road that I have driven nearly every day for 4 years, and hence know extrememly well. This road has several corners in short sucession, is quite bumpy, and has fields both sides. Most of the fields have ditches around and the road is a good 6ft higher than the fields for most of its length.

Now this is my favourite road. When its nice and dry, the visibility is excellent and its a right hoot when your in the mood for a proper drive. But it was drizzly, and beet season, so was weary of the usual mud on the road at field entrances etc potentially making for a very slippery road, and hence wasn't pressing on too much.

One of my favourite bits of the road is a long seeping left with about 500m before a tight right that starts to double back on itself. For about 5 miles of so I had been following a Polish Cavalier travelling really quite slowly. Knowing the road, started to pull out before the sweeping left, flashing to make sure the driver knew I was there. I intended to pass on the left and tuck back in for the tight right.

However, the Cavalier driver obviously took my "look at me I'm here" flash like a bull takes to a red flag, and decides to put his foot down :eek: . The guy following me pulled out too, so I was pretty committed to the overtake.

Looking ahead, noticed a considerable amount of mud on the road and thought "****, I'm not going to make it" I said to him, ever so calmly "we're going off here Matt", to which he replied "OK".

So, realising I was going to slide all over the mud (as it was spread all over the turn in point, its ultra slippy cos of the drizzle and was travelling a wee bit too quick due to a **** in a Cav) thought "If I touch the brakes here, we're gonna die" so I opted for the "keep a little power on, turn into the corner, and slide down 6ft of steep embankment and into a field" manouver. Think had I tackled it any other way, the consequences could have beed disasterous.

After hitting the reflector post I was parallel to the verge, 4 wheel slide over the verge demolishing it and then sliding down the bank, still at probably 40mph and drove straight around the field.

Luckily, it was quite a graceful manouver, the car (as confirmed by Skoda dealer) is absolutley fine (regardless of having half a field attached to the alloys and undercarriage), and nobody hurt.

Bit of a lesson learnt, but thought I'd share it with you nonetheless :sofahide:

Sounds like a wise move. Around here it would be big granite filled hedgerows on the side of the road. :(

Ironically during my crash I never actually truly left the road, I just had the help of some scenery to start my little roll.

Lucky escape Tom. Just give your undercarriage a good clean, and resume normal service

I used to have a cavalier, but never bothered to polish it.

Just give your undercarriage a good clean

:eek: did you $hite yourself???

Glad everything's OK mate

Now, if only they did a Fabia 4x4, a la Octavia

Steve

Glad your ok, just put it down to experience. Did the other drivers stop to see if you were ok or did they just wave and drive on probably laughing (if they realised everyone was ok).

edit: nice pics btw, I especially like the addition of the driving line and 'whoops', with skills like that you could become an accident investigator. :P

sounds like an excellently planned and well executed crash:thumbup:

if there is such a thing

reminds me of the five car pile up i avoided by using the crash barrier

although come to think of it my car was fooked afterwards

Sorry to hear of your "off".

A couple of tips for next time:

1. When flashing you need to allow time for the other person to see it and for them to react. That takes a few seconds. So your overtaking opportunity needs to allow for this time.

2. BEFORE deciding to overtake go offside and then take a full look at the road ahead. Look as far as the eye can see, look for junctions left and right. Look for a change in the road surface, etc.. Is there anything ahead that will cause the driver in front to suddenly change direction or speed?

3. Calculate the time it will take you to complete the overtake (somewhere in the region of 12 seconds (at a guess) - Can you get to your return point before another car comes into conflict with you?

4. Be very wary when someone is so close to you that they close down your return path. It is better to force your way in left and have a side-side collision than a head-on. The head-on must be avoided at all costs.

It might be worth investing in some additional driver trainig. The local IAM/RoADA group will teach you the basics including overtaking.

Again, glad you are OK - Hope you learned something from it and that you can put it to good use.

Craig

edited to add - PLEASE don't just chalk it up to experience. It wasn't just "one of those things". The warning signs were there. You just need to develop a few techniques to improve your observation and overtaking.

Apologies if this sounds patronising - It isn't meant to be. Please be safe - For all our sakes.

Is there anything ahead that will cause the driver in front to suddenly change direction or speed?

I did a pretty daft thing last Sunday while traveling home in appalling weather, I overtook a very slow vehicle that was really getting on my nerves, I mean there is slow safe and silly safe.. anyway, as I pulled out to check, the road was clear so I excelerated then when I was almost level noticed half the road was flooded (his side) which he hit at a safe speed due to him only doing about 25mph on an unrestricted road, well he was in no danger but I lost my vision for quite a few seconds while the cascade of water covered my car lol, it was almost like I had driven off a dry dock into the drink.

If he had swerved to miss it I would have been in trouble. A lesson learned.

God knows what the large queue of traffic behind me thought about it as I didnt see anyone else catch up with me so can only conclude nobody else attempted to pass him.

When I said 'put it down to experience' I really meant that to mean 'learn from it also'.

Cheers Cra. Being a mature kind of guy, I have absorbed all of your comments

However, I AM an advanced driver, and passed my IAM test back in March this year.

1. When flashing you need to allow time for the other person to see it and for them to react. That takes a few seconds. So your overtaking opportunity needs to allow for this time.

Point taken. However, I did flash, he only poked his toe down when I was beside him. The guy behind me followed also, leaving me pretty committed to the overtake.

2. BEFORE deciding to overtake go offside and then take a full look at the road ahead. Look as far as the eye can see, look for junctions left and right. Look for a change in the road surface, etc.. Is there anything ahead that will cause the driver in front to suddenly change direction or speed?

As I mentioned, I know this road intimetely, and the visibility is excellent. It was dawn, and the lack of headlights confirmed there was nothing coming. There are no junctions, just farm entrances.

3. Calculate the time it will take you to complete the overtake (somewhere in the region of 12 seconds (at a guess) - Can you get to your return point before another car comes into conflict with you?

Absolutely. Again, nothing coming at all, and by judging the speed of the Cav over the past 5 miles or so, I knew I could comfortably make the overtake in a safe way. It is a manouver I do on that corner frequently. However, I did not make allowances for slippery mud all over the place or some ***** speeding up:finger:

4. Be very wary when someone is so close to you that they close down your return path. It is better to force your way in left and have a side-side collision than a head-on. The head-on must be avoided at all costs.

Again, no risk of head on.

It might be worth investing in some additional driver trainig. The local IAM/RoADA group will teach you the basics including overtaking.

Beat you to it pal! I am IAM passed' date=' as well as always obtaining full marks in my frequent driver improvement things I have to do for work...

I guess my more sensible courses of action would be to have

[list']

[*]carried on beside him, dual carriageway stylee and not just gunned it by him.

[*]Left more of a safety margin

[*]Anticipate that mud will be on the road when you want it least! (I live in the Fens, and am more than used to mud on the road, but didn't occur to me, because as you can see the field is fallow.)

Ah well, lesson learnt anyway! Its certainly rekindled methods of having a driving "plan" for anticipating the worst... and cheers cra - definitely worthwhile comments. By no means am I shunning them, just reitterating I don't drive like a hooligan!

And no, I didn't **** myself. Was a very calm manouver, and seemed to happen in slow motion.

Oh, and when I said there was no damage, the front of the car has a wee scuff where I ****ted the reflector post... It blends in well with the stone chips though!

Tom what happened to the guy behide I'm guessing that he made it with out coming off?

I know what you mean about plonkers that speed up as you over take them, I've never understood why they have to do that :confused:

Atleast the only thing that was hurt/damaged was your pride matey

Glad your ok' date=' just put it down to experience. Did the other drivers stop to see if you were ok or did they just wave and drive on probably laughing (if they realised everyone was ok).

edit: nice pics btw, I especially like the addition of the driving line and 'whoops', with skills like that you could become an accident investigator. :P[/quote']

As it happens, I am currently in the process of applying for a job in accident investigation!

But with the County Council - investigating cluster sites and designing necessary remedial schemes.

Well it seems its definately open-season judging by the number of casualties..

Tom what happened to the guy behide I'm guessing that he made it with out coming off?

I know what you mean about plonkers that speed up as you over take them' date=' I've never understood why they have to do that :confused:

Atleast the only thing that was hurt/damaged was your pride matey[/quote']

The guy behind pulled back in, I guess he was in an underpowered car... Think it was a Fiesta. Me flooring the vRS to get by an aggravated 2.0 Cav...

And neither stopped... I would have done. Thing is, I would have kicked the **** out of the Cav driver, and whilst I don't condone irresponsible driving, if I see it again action will be taken. (Has anyone else got one of the "baseball bat" looking steering locks? )

Again, should avoid the red mist and calmed down. Had I done it wouldn't have happened. I suppose we all get overcome occasionally, but its really driven home to me that I should be thinking safety first instead of proving a point to some retard.

oh no not again!!! :(

Well it seems its definately open-season judging by the number of casualties..

Whats the story then!? :confused:

Whats the story then!? :confused:

Volvo pulled out infront of me..

its not as bad as it looks, only new bumper reqired.

the volvo is a write off

Tom

Sorry. I hope I am not trying to teach you to suck eggs.

Whenever I have an incident I always sit down and try to work out what I could have done differently and whether I followed Roadcraft to the letter. But sometimes these things do happen.

My last incident was as follows. I was approaching a roundabout and intending to turn right. Rear mirror check, indicate right, check right, left and right again, decide to go when I saw a flash to my right hand side. Quickly on the brakes, they did a quick left, right round the roundabout and were off. Organ donors in training.

Two bikers travelling below the limit but well over a speed where they could stop in the distance they could see to be clear. If I had pulled out they would have had no chance to stop.

I visited the rounabout the next day, parked up and had a good look at it and came to the conclusion that there was nothing more I could have done yet it was so very very nearly a serious collision.

Am I correct in thinking that your incident occured in darkness? If so, then it is even more important that we drive within the distance we can see (actually see with our own eyes) to be clear. I always find myself driving slower in darkness because the darkness will hide hazards that daylight would make visible.

Cra

my accident was in daylight.. wasnt speeding.. wasnt bad weather

he pulled out on me, and admits that fact.

the annoying thing is i should have been able to stop.. but the furbys "suspect" abs threw a skitz when one wheel went over a manhole cover, and im sure other people may know that the abs pretty much stops the ability to brake when that happens.

luckily it was low speed.. hence the small amount of damage on my car.. but i hit the volvo on the drivers-front wheelarch so it would need a door, a wing and a couple of suspension components.

Good job you dont live round here - the verges have a mixture or bollards, humps and ditches!

colin I've often worried about the fabia's ABS it does seem over sensative.

Who's Matt? His name crops up halfway through the story and I can't tell if he was a passenger or the car itself. The fact he replied suggests it was a passenger but it just seemed strange there was no mention of him upto this point.

Who's Matt? His name crops up halfway through the story and I can't tell if he was a passenger or the car itself. The fact he replied suggests it was a passenger but it just seemed strange there was no mention of him upto this point.

or it is his cars name and tom hears voices :P

or it is his cars name and tom hears voices :P

It does read a little like that, hence my question.

Who's Matt? His name crops up halfway through the story and I can't tell if he was a passenger or the car itself. The fact he replied suggests it was a passenger but it just seemed strange there was no mention of him upto this point.

Sorry to confuse, Matt was my passenger.

Cra - it was dawn... fairly light, but dark enough to expect people to have lights on...

And, a slight twist. Just washed the car on my lunch break, and its gonna be expensive - 2 nice long dents in the bonnet from the reflector post...

Will post pics up later.