I was driving home around the afternoon on light traffic on a 45 MPH road. I was on the left lane of a two lane road, following this Nissan Sentra. He had a bumper sticker "This car is my treasure." All of a sudden I saw what looked like a piece of rope flying up in the air and the biggest BANG. Like a gun shot. Everything happened so fast. The hood from the Nissan in front of me popped up and the driver slammed on his brake. I was going around 42-45 on 5th. gear. I swerved to the right to avoid hitting him and avoid debri. As I was passing him he started merging to right lane, if I braked it would be too late. So I shifted down to 3rd. and floored it. After I was safe, I pulled over to check if everyone was ok. One of the cars behind me previously got hit by random debri and I saw cracks and etc. My MINI suffered nothing. I was completely shocked to my own reaction and how I played with the grears since I've been only driving manual for about a year. Turns out the Nissan had his hood roped down to his bumper as he was in a previous accident. So much for a treasure.

 

Way to go... Good story. I'm happy you're safe!

 

well done! i bet that would have made a hell of a scene for a movie hahaha its all i could think of was u whipping it wide and around as the debris whips past your mini square into the car unfortunate enough to fill your void.

I'm glad you and the mini made it out unscathed. mayb the "treasure" is about ready to be buried!

-Hutch-

 

You have Red Necks in MA too? Good to see you and your MINI made a safe escape. Did you offer them a roll of duct tape to replace the rope?

 

Great story. Sorry for your scare but glad (and proud as a MINI driver) that you were able to navigate the crisis unscathed.

 

Had you tried that maneuver in an SUV you might have rolled it. Just goes to show you that small doesn't necessarily equate to unsafe.

Glad you and your MINI came out clean and unharmed.

 

Oh my gosh, so glad to hear that you and your Mini made it out okay. It's scary how many stupid things people do that cause accidents every day.

 

Whew, close calls around every turn, aren't there? Good move--fortunately your instinct was to step on it and NOT to brake!

Isn't there a saying that one man's treasure is another man's junk? I guess that that man's treasure and junk are one in the same, eh?

 

Haha thanks guys. I think what was most priceless throughout that experience was my girlfriend's reaction. From the time the hood popped up to the point where we pulled over she was just like.

 

Glad your MINI pulled you through....you obviously have learned to drive it well!!!

 

Priceless indeed!! My heart stopped while reading this...I'm sure yours' came close...glad you made the exactly right decision at exactly the right time!!

 

A true redneck knows that 1 foot of duct tape is better than 20 feet of rope

 

Definitely a heart stopping moment but your fast reactions in your Mini at avoiding the possible accident paid off

 

Good story!

In AZ baling wire is popular.

 

I've escaped accidents by hopping on the gas too. It feels odd, the first time you try it, but often slamming on the brakes just puts you in harms way while speeding up gets you away from it.

Its not the answer every time, but I no longer automatically go for the brakes if I see trouble.

Glad to hear you escaped unscathed.

 

Glad to hear that no one was injured! I can relate 100%

While driving back x-country bring my new Clubman home. While near Memphis, a truck carrying large/old windows hit a bump and two windows (wood frames and all) caught air. I checked my left mirror and before I knew it, I had changed 2 lanes to the left... the glass was old and broke into shards (not pieces) - was VERY dangerous. The car behind me suffered a broken windshield and had several shards of glass penetrating the hood. The driver said he saw the windows go air-borne, then it appeared that my car disappeared! No damage to my Clubman any no one was physically hurt. No doubt, if I'd attempted this in my Land Cruiser, I would have rolled out of the way!

 

"The faster your drive, the faster you can get out of danger." ---a friend of mine

 

But sometimes gets you to the accident scene first!

 

hmm, that is an interesting take on it. I never thought of it that way.

 

Good job THINKING!

Most of the time, failing to THINK is what makes things worse.

 

whew..as long as you're fine and nothing's damaged..
good thing on downshifting to speed up..
when i need to break hard (to prevent hitting the bad drivers infront of me..) i downshift to 2nd gear without even realizing it..

but there's too many bad drivers out there..
i always tell my friends that people trust other drivers without really realizing it..
that trust is how it all starts..

 

this reallllly COOL guy was in the lane beside me with his front bumper about even with my rear (2 lanes each way separated by a curbed median) I assumed he was gunna squeeze in behind me as the lanes merged for construction... he hit the gas, but not enough to fully pass, so I let off the gas, he pulled into my lane (not just cutting me off, but he swerved into my lane while his rear bunper was about even with the center of my front wheels) there was a gap in the median for u-turns, and w/o even thinking about it I stood on the brakes (no cars behind---AT ALL!) and pulled into that small gap-barely getting the car to a stop before hitting the curb. After the ordeal, I looked around before starting off again, and there was a cop in the parking lot across the street, who likely saw it all happen, but he continued what he was doing and drove off, I looked at the merging zone and the truck could have easily gone another 100+ ft before merging-luckily there was no damage, but w/o that gap in the median---