I got a close call today...

"Flavien Vidal" (flyingfrenchy) 04/29/2018 at 10:50 • Filed to: None

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... and I still feel freaking terrible about it. I NEVER have close calls, nothing ever goes wrong, and I make sure close calls simply don’t exist in my life in spite of what I do for a living. Today though, I wasn’t working... So I took my own car with a friend on local mountains, followed by another friend and his 400+hp Skyline. I drive fast on those roads, it’s not new, but I keep it as safe as possible. Of course I catch up with people from time to time, they let me pass, they don’t... it varies. I also know that those roads are used by other people like me, driving or riding very fast on cars or bikes... I keep all those factors in mind and I drive accordingly. But today something went wrong... I caught up with a Honda who was enjoying the road like we were, but driving quite a bit slower than us... I got behind him, slowed down, still keeping a decent pace and after a few corners, the driver in the Honda pulled his warning lights and went as close to the left side of the road as possible to let me pass... I told my passenger something along the lines of “Not exactly the best place to let me pass...”. The road was real tight, blind corners after blind corners... I downshifted into first as the Honda almost came to a stop and I passed him, putting over half my car on the other lane, sticking as close to it as possible, but still going quite over onto the other lane. That’s when 6-7 bikes going at Mach 2 uphill came out of nowhere from the next corner.

The two leading bikes were GOOD riders... They knew what they were doing. That’s mainly why they are still alive. I threw my car back onto my lane, still in first gear, probably real close from touching the Honda... they narrowed their turning radius, sticking even more to the inside in a fraction of a second... And it was over... I was back on my lane, the other bikes would pass on the other lane and everyone was alive.

FUCK. ME. Why did I pass the Honda? Yes it was stopping to let me pass, but I shouldn’t have gone there, it just wasn’t right... Worst is that people letting me pass on sketchy places happens ALL the freaking time... And I go for it... I pass. And it went fine all the time. Today could have ended real bad though. Real fucking bad and I feel absolutely terrible about it...

Stopping behind the Honda to force him to let me pass at a better spot would have been surely better... Yes, someone might come behind us at Mach 2 and crash into our asses, but a head on crash with one or two bikers... Fuck.

I am NEVER passing a car that lets me go if they stop on a sketchy spot ever again. Fuck close calls... Seriously, fuck it.

Picture of a corner for your time. (Probably Irohazaka)

vondon302 > Flavien Vidal 04/29/2018 at 11:06

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Yikes!

Ash78, voting early and often > Flavien Vidal 04/29/2018 at 11:13

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When I’ve been in similar situations, I’ll usually just take a 10-second break at a pullout. That would give the Honda a bigger lead and hopefully you can continue your run without catching him again...

/hindsight

Flavien Vidal > Ash78, voting early and often 04/29/2018 at 11:14

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It’s not possible to stop anywhere on that road unfortunately. Otherwise it’s what I typically do yes...

AdverseMartyr > Flavien Vidal 04/29/2018 at 11:27

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uggh... I’m sorry, it was probably someone visiting from Okinawa. The people here stop at the worst places they could possibly stop. Crest of a hill - great place to throw your flashers on and stop. Inside of curve that can’t be seen around - perfect spot to stop. Middle of a busy T-intesection where the other lane has 20 cars trying to turn right - perfect place to park and hop out to buy a bento.

I guess at least they will let you past up there. Down here people don’t let anyone by in my experience so far.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Flavien Vidal 04/29/2018 at 12:21

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Had a similar once. On a back road that was known for about 6 corners in a row that are very fun. I was running them in my 91 Civic cutting a left hand corner, but there was a Celica running the other direction also going a bit fast. Thankfully we saw Escher earlier enough, he dipped his inside tires of the pavement, I did my best to get back in my lane.

Lesson learned back roads, empty as they usually aren’t a track. That was 10 years ago. And I haven’t run a back road as aggressively since. Logging roads excluded.

Flavien Vidal > AdverseMartyr 04/30/2018 at 10:51

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Nah it’s the exact same thing here... Sometimes they let you pass, sometimes not... but they have NO IDEA where to stop to let you pass... Makes things really sketchy.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Flavien Vidal 04/30/2018 at 11:39

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Shit - glad you and all are okay. Definitely agree that you should never let someone else make a decision on the road for you.

My closest call involved coming up fast on A HORSE just after a rise on a curvy, hilly road. A guy and his kid were riding on it. Only choice I had was to swerve around into the incoming lane. Very scary to think about what would have happened had there been an oncoming car.