Vette Jockey

For the past week we have had very high winds, around 25 to 35MPH, with gusts some days from 35 to 50.MPH. Today, was 73 F, with wind around 9 MPH, a perfect day to drive down the Pacific Coast Highway

I go down Las Posas which goes through an agricultural area with acres of cultivated land and it intersects PCH. It is a very relaxing ride with a lot of green and sky. I get behind three cars that are doing 58 MPH. No one does 58 MPH out there, more like 65, and the speed limit is 55. I see a long straight away coming up with no cars. You can see where I am going with this. Drop down to the "M" Mode, drop a few gears on the Paddle Shifter, and I am out of here.

Then, I think about it. The top is down, "Top Gun" is blaring on the speakers, and PCH is just a few miles more, relax and enjoy it.

Then, suddenly, the car in front of me comes to a dead panic stop on a country road! I am thinking, not for the first time, thank you for the Z51 brakes. I am also thinking I should have passed these idiots when I had the chance.

The car in front of the car in front of me, suddenly does a "Three Point Turn" in the middle of nowhere!!! I see the cars white fenders as they cross over the limit line to the other lane, then see the California Highway Patrol Badging on the door, and the uniform/overheads as he passed me going the other way.

Needless to say, this could have been very BAD.

Share other incidents, that have a happy ending, that happened with your car, that could have ended quite differently.

Vetteman Jack

Glad you thought twice about putting the hammer down. Time to buy a lottery ticket.

vettenevodrvr

Haha! Make sure you give a shout out to God later for saving you some serious $$$.

On the other hand, imagine the look on the CHiP’s face if you had zoomed past well over the speed limit.

449er

That move would have cost you some coin for sure

TDCFPC

Here’s one. Was at a track day, NJMP Lightning course. To pass a car a point by from the car in front is required. Me in my, at the time, GT350 and a new Porsche Cayman S are stuck behind two idiots driving rental race BMW’s. For 3 laps they do not check mirrors as they tussle with one another meanwhile the Porsche and I are bunched up and stuck behind them. So, finally the BMW drivers wake up and give the point by to the Porsche but don’t give it to me. For a brief second I thought, “Let me sneak on by with the Porsche because I don’t know how long I’d have to wait for the next point by”. Responsible side of me says, no point means no pass so I hang back and wait. This all happened in what would normally be a 120mph straight into a hard left 60 mph turn under hard braking. So I’m loping along at 80 and the Porsche heads into braking zone at 110+. He gets on the brakes but they don’t work because about 20 seconds earlier a race prepped Corvette blew its engine and oiled down the braking zone. No flags from the flag stations were waving. Porsche flew off the track and crashed into the Corvette. The new Porsche was TOTALED. If I had broken the rules and passed without the point by I would have crashed as well. Instead my lower speed allowed me to gently drive into the grass and get the car turned.
Follow the Rules

roadbike56

Had an incident where I looked down at the radio briefly, when I looked up again, the line of cars had stopped for a traffic light. I must have been doing at least 50 or 60. I thought no way this car will be able to stop, but had to try. Climbed all over the Z51 brakes. The car stopped with about a half car length to spare, it wasn't even close. If I had been in any other car or my former C5, it would have been a mess.
With the C7 I no longer worry about my ability to stop, I'm more concerned with the guy behind me. There's no way they can stop as fast as a C7.

TyBoo

When my Vette was less than two years old we were on the first long road trip cruising out of Phoenix on I-10 doing about 75 just to keep up with the heavy traffic in all four (at least) westbound lanes when an empty dump truck with a trailer locked up the brakes a couple cars ahead of us in our lane. I never did figure out what caused him to panic stop, but by the time the cars ahead of me got out of the lane and around him there was no room for me to move over. So here we are about two car lengths behind the dump truck which was sliding sideways at 90º to a trailer that was really trying to push him all the way around. For a brief second we were beside the trailer which by now was in the lane to my left and I'm surprised I didn't bust the brake pedal clean off. The vert top was down so we got a real good view of the underside of the dump box on the trailer.

The way he got that truck slowed down and straightened out without touching another vehicle was an amazing feat of driving with an incredible amount of luck mixed in. The luck carried over to me because my still new Corvette didn't touch anyone and all the cars behind me got slowed down without any rear enders that I could see. After getting his rig under control the truck driver signaled right and exited at the next off ramp. To this day I wish I had followed him to shake his hand. Half a minute later everyone was right back up to 75 mph like nothing happened. I guess that's how they do it in Phoenix, and after witnessing the driving abilities of all those folks on that freeway I wasn't too worried about it once my heart rate settled down.

VetteDrmr

I guess my closest was getting caught in a hard rainstorm in fairly heavy traffic. In the left lane, everyone moving about 45 mph, suddenly the SUV in front of me stands on the brakes. I have a habit of trying to stay aware of traffic around me, so I stood on the brakes, dove into the middle lane, and grabbed 2 lower gears (we were just loafing around) because of the 18 wheeler that was quickly closing in on me. Got a great view of the SUV plowing into the SUV in front of him.

The Grace of God was that no one had moved into middle lane in my blind spot. Thank You, Lord!

Y'all stay safe out there, and have a good one,
Mike

dvilin

Lucky day, saved you some serious money.

Vette Jockey

Wow! Those were amazing saves!

fsvoboda

You never know. Decades ago I passed a Michigan State Police trooper on the expressway while I was going 80 in my British Ford Cortina GT. The trooper smiled and waved.

On Thanksgiving morning one year I was pulled over for doing 80 in a 55 zone. County Sheriff Sergeant said, "Please slow down a little--and Happy Thanksgiving."

Of course there was a sheriff's deputy who wrote me up for 60 in a 55, my only ticket that stuck. Everybody was going 60. Cost me maybe a hundred bucks sent by mail to the court, and no points on my driver's license. (They just wanted the money, I think; eventually the state raised the speed limit on that stretch of road.)

Boxcar

Got one of my favorites and believe it or not....it's true.

I was headed south to Pocono on 81 doing my usual 78ish (closer to 85ish) in my C4 headed to a NASA track event. Had three cars as always using me as a radar gun/magnet. Just south of Syracuse a highway patrolman pulled out of the bushes with the lights going and I knew it was me. So I slowed down a little and believe it or not he pulled all four of us over. I laughed to myself thinking, "good you tail wagers". So, the patrolman comes to me first and after a brief conversation he says, " I see you're a vet?". Yes Sir. He says, "OK, you slow down and stay safe, by the way which track are you going to? The toolbox gives it away". Handing me my warning he says, slow down, I got some tickets to write and have a great day". Then proceeded to ticket the other three cars...at his own pace.

So, as promised I set the cruse control to 63 MPH, turned up the radio and cruised on down to Pocono. After all, I am a man of my word.

DWillys

I'm driving in rush hour traffic, the kind where you're going 75 then a near stop and then 75 again. I'm in the #2 lane (1 is carpool) and I see a motorcycle merge onto the highway. It's a sportbike and the rider is in full leathers. He works his way over until he's in front of me. I back off a bit as I keep extra room for bikes. He's waiting for a opening into the carpool lane. A couple Harleys go by and I can see he's checking them out. At this time there's another sudden slowdown. He brakes late and drops it at just about 70. I'm on my brakes pretty hard. he slides a bit and comes up in the carpool lane on his hands and knees looking for the vehicle that's going to kill him. I can see his eyes. It was his lucky day that there was a break in the traffic and no one close.