That late apex probably reduced the body damage.
One of my tenets on the street is not to do things that would surprise
people who haven't a clue -- although I'm not sure I'd have done a different
"line" than Dan on that one; the kid wasn't behind him, he was stopped
cross-traffic. Mentally I may be "racing them" in how I position my car, use
the traffic, etc., (NOT in how fast I go) but they are not racing me and so
are not in that mindset.
It's like, what to me was a late apex turnoff (which I often do on exit
ramps, for example), to them was "he cut me off." So if that is the
situation my late apex would create, I don't do it. Yeah, it means taking
that turnoff 5 mph slower, but it also means not creating a situation.
My stepson had an accident a couple years ago. He was at a T intersection,
no stopsign, and this lady comes down, inattentive, looking at a school
parking lot on her left, drifts right and clips the front end of my kid's
car. Cop ticketed him for failure to yield. He was freakin' stopped, how
yield could he get, nevermind he was car on the right at an unmarked
intersection. But he was the teen-ager, the other lady an adult (and this
cop notoriously no friend of teen drivers). Case closed. Convicted in Muni
court (kangaroo court), upheld on appeal (incompetent lawyer/senile judge).
BUT, the insurance company held the other gal violated HIS right of way and
was inattentive to boot and paid nothing to her. Had it gone to a civil
action, an affirmative defense would have been raised that she "failed to
keep a proper lookout."
--Rocky
-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Dalessio <dalesd@mediaone.net>
To: Autox@autox.team.net <Autox@autox.team.net>
Date: Monday, October 02, 2000 3:04 PM
Subject: Practicing on the street (was Re: No skirts in this email)
>(I know this was from a few days ago, but I'm on digest)
>Rocky wrote:
>> Practice on the street (almost) everything you learn on course/track.
>>
>> This one kinda surprises people. It's been said one of the problems with
>> motorsport is you cannot go down to the local plaground and practice,
like
>> you can go shoot hoops. I disagree. I tell students the only thing you
>> cannot practice is mashing the right pedal, but that's the easiest part.
>> Everything else -- hand positions, seating positions, looking ahead,
lines
>> around corners (your "course" defined by the limits of your driving
lane),
>> use of the gearshift, even "advanced" lessons like left-foot braking and
>> trail braking, can and should be part of daily driving technique.
>
>I had an instructor tell me this in July of my rookie year. Wow, I can
>practice my autox skills all the time, although back at 4/10ths or so.
This
>is great!
>
> In October, I was clipped in the rear quarter while late apexing the
>corner onto the on-ramp on my way home from work. The other car, a pretty
>new Chevy Impala, had a stop sign, and was stopped as I began my left turn.
>The driver, a 16-year old with a learner's permit, his mom in the passenger
>seat, started to make a left as I was in the middle of the intersection,
and
>hit me. He said he thought I was going straight. Not that it really
>matters, but I had my turn signal on. I was driving about 20 mph and the
>Impala moved less than a car length from a stop, so it was going slow too.
>Nobody was hurt.
>
>As I conversed with the mom and the kid while we were waiting for the cops
>to arrive, it was understood that he was at fault. I was totally calm.
The
>mom was a nervous wreck. The kid knew he was in deep sh|t for damaging the
>car, and kept pretty quiet.
>
>The cop that showed up on the scene was a personal friend of their family.
>Though he didn't see the accident at all, his accident report declared I
was
>totally at fault and fell just shy of calling me a liar. Nobody was issued
>a citation. I filed my own accident report, and the insurance companies
>compromised on a 50/50 settlement. I was pissed because I know I
absolutely
>wasn't at fault. The kid had a freakin' stop sign!
>
>Anyway, that's what happened to me while late apexing a typical corner.
>YMMV. Now I take a different route home from work so that I don't have to
>drive through that intersection any more.
>
>Dan Dalessio <team.net lurker>
>'95 PGT
>#99 STR
>"Drive now, talk later"
>http://cartalk.cars.com/About/Drive-Now/
>
>
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