2009 Ford Flex: Pfew! THAT Was Close

When I drove my old car that was on its last legs, I would hope for a moment like this. Take the hit, the car gets totaled, no major injuries.

Why did you care about the car behind you? It's up to him to be able to stop.

thejohnp,
LOL!

yellowbal,
Actually it all happened so fast but, yeah, I should have hit the brakes sooner.

Incidents like that are just terrifying. With 20/20 hind-sight you can think of a thousand ways you could have responded better, but in the moment it all happens so fast you just react.

Hopefully when that moron finally does end up in a terrible accident he doesn't kill anyone. There are just so many people who shouldn't be allowed behind the wheel.

Mercfan:
"Hopefully when that moron finally does end up in a terrible accident he doesn't kill anyone BUT HIMSELF. There are just so many people who shouldn't be allowed behind the wheel. "

Corrected.

Sounds like the typical, S. Ca MB driver. I swear to God that 90% of Benz drivers in S. Ca are clueless, inept, self centered idiots.

Just glad everyone is alright.

There are far too many people on the road who should not be. Driving is a privilege not a right.

I hate when people cut across multiple lanes of traffic or backup on the freeway shoulder. Take the next exit and turn around!

America has the WORST drivers in the developed world. Driving around in Houston, I'm used to seeing rich douchebags like this acting as if the whole road belongs to them & there's nobody else on the roads.

So what's his name? Somebody should be able to identify him. haha!

Looking back what would have been the best thing to do if you would have been stuck there? Slam on your brakes and risk getting rear ended, head to the shoulder and nail the semi or stand tall in your lane and let the Mercedes hit you?

I would tend to think that letting him hit you would be the best situation for everyone. That side impact, if you were ready and braced for it would be better than a highway speed rear-ender or slamming into a park truck.

Any thoughts?

I'd say "unbelievable", except I've seen this all too often as well. I swear the worst "drivers" in the world are in LA -- a bizarre and potentially deadly combination of ignorance, oblivion and arrogance. Why aren't there ever any cops around to catch these reckless morons in action?

wobbly_ears: "America has the WORST drivers in the developed world."

Everyone says that about the place they currently live in. It's no where near that bad.

RICH D-bag? I think not - the guy was driving a C-class!

What a nitwit. I'd have gotten his plate # and called the state highway patrol to report suspected DUI.

@AMTalker,

I disagree. I think it is better to be hit from the back. Flex is a big vehicle & there's more space for the vehicle to absorb the impact. Getting hit from the side is very dangerous as there isn't much to protect you other than some side airbags & some sheet metal.

@brn

I agree I exaggerated a bit there. But having driven in Europe, I still feel that shenanigans like these are more common in US than in, say, Germany. Heck, in Germany they don't even pass you on the right!

I dont know what part of Germany you drove in, but although they say they dont pass on the fight, they most definitely do. There are just as many idiots in America as there are in Italy or Germany (proportionally of course), it just sucks when you encounter one like this. I've encountered many, many idiots on Italian roadways, and the same with Germany, and the same with America. I wish natural selection on the roadways was exclusive to those people, but unfortunatly its not.

wow, passive aggressive.

@wobbly ears

thats because - opposed to the US - its illegal to pass on the right in Germany coupled with huge fines. Getting stuck behind a left lane hogger would suck even more as you can't legally pass until he moves back. Anyone who has driven in Europe will attest you that there is an equal number of dumb drivers. People driving manuals even though they dont have the skill to operate them just because they dont know automatics. People who dont know how to drive an auto. lol, I'm not kidding. They slam on the brake thinking they have to clutch in. Mostly gutless small cars that cant safely merge to freeway speeds... I could go on
Some on here somehow seem to think that all Europeans are driving enthusiasts. lol. Couldn't be further from the truth.

FULL SIZE ACTION ON INSIDELINE TONIGHT

You really should have reported that D-bag to the CHP. He nearly caused a horrific accident to just give him a warning. I would have let him hit me to show him up. Yes it's inconvenient but teaches the Benz driver to be careful.

I think you handled the situation appropriately. Letting yourself get rear-ended or hit on the side by the MB wouldn't have been your fault either way, but it had the potential to be catastrophic, especially considering you were on the freeway. At those speeds, I'd rather not risk getting hit at all, especially from the side because losing control of a (relatively) tall vehicle at high speeds does not sound fun, even if it is just to teach the other person a lesson.

All that said and done, the MB driver's actions weren't smart either. In fact, I really wish his passenger had thrown up in his car just out of spite. He would have deserved it. It's not worth anything to put your own life or the lives of others in danger. His actions could have led to serious consequences for himself, his passenger, you, your passenger, the person(s) in the car behind you, and/or the innocent trucker pulled over checking his tires. You handled the situation though in a manner which thankfully no one got hurt.

Seriously, what an idiot. If it were up to me I'd have his license revoked and suspended and have him go through driver's ed and defensive driving courses.

This is when you should have used your trunk monkey

^LOL, where are the trunk monkeys when you need them?

First, I hate old people with entry level luxury cars. Since they can't generate much more income and probably think it's their last car, they treasure it as if it's the most important thing in the world. Just get a nice sedan from non-luxury brand, I would say. If you weren't able to purchase one when you were productive, it's probably a good idea to not own one when you aren't so productive anymore.

I spend 70% of my time traveling to stupid countries where some crap like that is the norm. I carry a baseball bat in the trunk (I actually have to explain at the airports why I carry a baseball bat with me) and a loaded pistol in the glove compartment in some of these countries where it's allowed. The funny thing is that I donate thousands of dollars in the States to anti-gun and gun control orgs. Just last week, a semi almost creamed me and my company issued car against concrete road blocks. I barely managed to avoid the truck, paused to catch my breathe, zoomed in front of the truck and just parked my car sideways in front of it. When I got out of the car, the monkey truck driver was just laughing. That just made me totally snap. He wasn't laughing when I took out my aluminum baseball bat and managed to break every single headlights and shatter the windshield. The cop came so I gave them 4 bucks and they just asked me to continue. That was very therapeutic.

BTW, is that Dick Cheney in the Mercedes? Mother Fu@%er! I thought he was loaded!

I'm surprised it wasn't Jay Leno.

@super_ongoy,

Dude, I seriously hope you were joking! WTH??

I've been there, and it is very true that in hindsight you can think of a million better ways to have handled it, but in the moment you pick one and hope it works.

It will never happen because there is too much money to be made (and then squandered) on licensing fees and traffic tickets, but to really solve this problem we need to make drivers ed much more involved (think Finland) and license only the best of the best.

And that group includes all the Inside Line staff and readers, of course!

I was almost forced off the side of the road by a Corolla once.

I was on I-75 NB around Naples, where it turns into two lanes. I was in the left lane passing a truck in the right. A silver Corolla comes barreling up the right lane at what had to be 20 over the speed limit (which was 70). I was passing the truck at 78-80mph so I wasn't going to slow down and let this idiot in front of me. Next thing I know he starts to merge over into my lane. I had to make a split second decision to let me either hit me, or slam the brakes and let him get in. Due to the he-said-she-said that would have occurred if he merged into me, I slammed on my brakes. He gets in front of me and then starts to pace the truck refusing to pass.

Anyways, I took a picture of his plate, called *FHP (the quick line for the Florida Highway Patrol) and called him in as a reckless/possible drunk driver. I paced him about 300 feet back, relaying his movements to the operator. Within 5 minutes a trooper came flying down the highway and pulled him over.

@wobbly ears: No I'm not kidding. Would I do that in a civilized country where people know how to use turn signals and cars have break lights? No. I travel to some of the worst driving countries and I insist on driving myself instead of using a company driver. Have you ever been to some of these countries where they put monkeys behind the wheel and hope not too many people die? In some countries they put wheels and an engine on a trash can and call that a car and use that for public transportation. The worst thing is that most of the time they have no break lights and they stop anywhere, including the middle of a highway, to pick up passengers. I saw one car smash into one of these while some lady was getting off from the back. It was not a pretty sight at all. The driver of the trash can just ran away after trying to process what has happened for like ten seconds. And in some other countries, if you refuse to get pushed out of your lane as the idiot drifts into your lane, you are the @sshole. You can't assume people have a common sense, especially in a developing nation. You come to accept the fact that some countries remain dirt poor and there are very good reasons why that is the case.

I love my aluminum baseball bat BTW because even monkeys seem to understand that it might hurt.

BTW, when you have to come to an emergency stop in a car equipped with ABS breaks, at first you can't even tell if you hit something or not because the car shakes too violently as it comes to a full stop. And even when you realize you came to a full stop without hitting anything, the shaking and getting pushed forward just leave such a bad taste in your mouth that you would want to go swing your baseball bat a few times. I just hate it when some idiot makes me slam on the breaks.

i've made this same drive many times (or well I probably do it roundtrip 6-7 times a year for the last 3 years). i once was run completely off the road by a bmw 330i E90 sedan, with a douchebag in it (i was in an acura TSX DIRECTLY to the right of him). He didnt actulaly hit my car as I saw him coming and drove into the the dirt part of the freeway at 70mph.

I was a little shaken up, but unlike you guys after about 5 seconds to collect myself and in complete anger, i got back to speed caught up to the guy and high beamed him for half an hour. I don' tknow I just couldn't let that go, the guy could have killed me.

Yeah, hindsight is 20/20 and I'm glad everyone is safe, but consider this: 1) You were in a Flex (bigger, heavier) and he was in a C230, 2) He would be at fault (not you) for not watching where the f$%k he was going if he hit you, and...uh...3) Shhh...(the Flex is not your car).

If he were smart he would have gotten to space ahead of you or behind the guy to your 6 so that he could have gotten off on to the shoulder.

I would have called his bluff and not moved. Maybe it's me but I don't care for bullies.

As a male, if the guy stoped, I might stop behind him, reach in for my tire iron and bust his windows.

You probably saved the trucker from being hit by this guy. But I agree with some of the above posts...that it should have been up to the person behind you to see what's going on, and slow down in anticipation of the worst. People just don't drive defensively anymore these days, and it's unfortunate. Everyone is so selfish, in cheap and expensive cars. Cheap, probably because they don't care...expensive because their name is embroidered into the few square miles they can see around their car.

Yeah, when we encountered him again we were trying to find out how to report a reckless driver (my sister was on the phone via the Flex's Bluetooth and looking it up on her computer). And calling 911 seemed too extreme considering there wasn't an accident. We found one way online but you'd have to register first and register again or something. I'd wish there was a more convenient way to report reckless drivers but then think that might be too Big Brother with everyone reporting every person whose driving they didn't like.

And it was only after I got back on the road that I realized that I should have got out of the car when I was stopped and given the guy the what for. But this being SoCal, he would have probably thought that *I* was the one driving like a jerk, you know, not letting him get in my lane right away like he wanted to.

CA drivers are awful. I drove down HWY 1 last summer and actively looked for a turn signal. I got to San Jose before I saw one. I have dozens of really scary stories from my time in CA (lived there in '04) but I won't bore you.

Houston does have awful drivers. They WILL hit you and just drive off. Hit and runs are very common. However, I think Russia lays claim to the worst drivers.

Should've taken some pictures of his plates instead. Goddamned elderly drivers

@estreka: yeah, Russian drivers are terrible for the most part, although this applies to any country which went from "few cars for the rich" to "cars for everyone and ability to bribe your way out of the driving test"in the past two decades.

@hans007: That's actually one of my favorite thing to do. If someone drives behind me with a high beam on, I let him overtake me, pull up behind him, throw in my relaxing Chopin piano concerto CD, turn on my high beam and just hum as I follow him until we go our separate ways. I never ever use the high beam because I don't really find myself driving on roads where it serves much purpose and my auto headlight never really switch over to high beam (saw that happen only three four times past two years). I use high beam strictly for getting back at @ssholes. But I think the worst I had done was throwing a beer bottle (not an open container) out the window at a punk kid who was driving a sticker plastered Type-R Momo Mugen Honda Racing Civic (at least the stickers said so).

Ahhh don't even get me started on Russian drivers. I was using a Toyota SUV there and I had a run in with an @sshole who drove a 20 year old Mercedes. When we were yelling at each other, he finally said, "I drive mercedes. You drive $hit! I win!"

So I told him, "Look, statistics say that you will very likely die from liver failure or alcohol related disease in 10 years. If I don't run into dip $hit like you too often, I will most likely live another 50 years or so."

He didn't understand what I said but he cursed at me and drove away.