Whew! I drive thru there all the time. People are pretty crazy thru there
too. They like to go thru at 80, semi's ain't no different. Then they
realize lanes are gone or Caltrans shifted them etc. That's probably what
started the mess to begin with plus the fact it was dark. Fantastic driving
job, Steven!
Ron
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-dakota-truck@buffnet.net
[mailto:owner-dakota-truck@buffnet.net]On Behalf Of Steven T. Ekstrand
Sent: Monday, June 12, 2000 10:08 AM
To: dakota-truck@buffnet.net
Cc: Ed Halterman
Subject: Re: DML: Bad Accident
Last Monday night I almost became a flattened owner of a flattened Dak.
Four or five cars tangle up ahead of me they spin and slide and come to a
stop facing all directions and block the shoulder, 1, 2, and 3 lanes of
traffic. All that is left is the car pool lane and fast lane. It all
happened in a construction area near the Orange Crush in SoCal where there
is little light (it was midnight). I'm in the third lane not a problem for
me. It caught me by surprise but I could probably panic stop in time or
whip it to the left and duck by. The problem was the Semi tractor trailer
in the lane to my right going 70mph. He was about to strike the 5 crashed
cars like bowling pins. He couldn't stop and had NO place to go. He
cranked it to the left. As a reminder.... I was to the left. His left
side wheels lifted off the ground and I was practically underneathe him. I
turned hard left like it was one of those autox turns I forgot to brake
for. The backend came around a little and I was headed for a meeting with
Mr. CenterDivider. I countersteered and I could just feel the "pause",
thats when the rearend in an oversteer changes direction. Usually the
driver is too slow to react and a spin in the opposite direction occurs
that would have put me back under the out of control semi again! But I
unwound the wheel and got smoothly on the gas as it straightened out. I
speed by the accident now in the carpool lane and hugging the divider. The
Semi truck made it around as well but what a show. He snaked back and
forth for what looked like an 1/8th mile trying to get her under control.
It was definitely not the kind of adrenaline rush I'm into. Good thing I
spent the whole weekend before that in an SCCA driving school!
Steve Ekstrand, Pasadena, CA Driver: '00 Dakota CC SLT+ 4.7L 3.92SG 255's
Stacey's Driver: '00 Inferno Red Intrepid ES-3.2L-24V Autostick w/Leather
Race Car: 69 1/2 Road Runner 440-6 (NHRA SS/GA future B/SA???)
Project Car: 69 Barracuda Notchback (Weekend Driver/AutoXr/Beast)
Homepage: http://sites.netscape.net/professormopar/homepage
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