Close call, What would you have done?

Wimlore

Member
Hello, I am a new driver. Had an incodent that was spooky. I am sure there are much scarier situations.

What happend: I left one car length of space in front while at a 4-way stop sign behind someone. They thought I was giving them room to parrellel park. From my vantage point, this did not seam possible, and would have resulted in collision. I honked. She moved foward. Then, attempted to park a second time. This time I honked louder. An old lady waved at the driver backing in to me but she did not notice. Two hazards were approaching from north and south. Southern hazard was further, and I just wanted to make a right turn at the stop, which was facing south. I pulled out into the oncoming lane, and made the right turn around the lady backing into me and was a half a block distance from the oncoming hazard who was approaching the intersection.

Here is a diagram.

IncodentDiagram.jpg

I am guessing, in the future: If there is a spot next to me, I must close the gap enough so that it is NO chance of them being able to park. My mistake was I gave her enough space that made her THINK she could park.

If I made the wrong choice let me know! ;)
IncodentDiagram.jpg
 

stink219

Well-Known Member
I had a hard time following. But, my advice is to always wait for other people to make the stupid decisions. We don't only get paid to deliver cardboard, we are now paid to avoid dangerous situations.
 

104Feeder

Phoenix Feeder
I would have thrown on the high beams, hazards, parking brake, all the while wailing on the horn until she rethinks her parallel park move.
 

purplesky

Well-Known Member
Hello, I am a new driver. Had an incodent that was spooky. I am sure there are much scarier situations.

What happend: I left one car length of space in front while at a 4-way stop sign behind someone. They thought I was giving them room to parrellel park. From my vantage point, this did not seam possible, and would have resulted in collision. I honked. She moved foward. Then, attempted to park a second time. This time I honked louder. An old lady waved at the driver backing in to me but she did not notice. Two hazards were approaching from north and south. Southern hazard was further, and I just wanted to make a right turn at the stop, which was facing south. I pulled out into the oncoming lane, and made the right turn around the lady backing into me and was a half a block distance from the oncoming hazard who was approaching the intersection.

Here is a diagram.

View attachment 8618

I am guessing, in the future: If there is a spot next to me, I must close the gap enough so that it is NO chance of them being able to park. My mistake was I gave her enough space that made her THINK she could park.

If I made the wrong choice let me know! ;)

You communicated with your horn and she heard you. I would have layed into my horn to let the driver know that they are not going to be able to make that parking move without you backing up your truck.

If you hit someone (maybe a pedestrian) backing up in that situation to allow her space to park you would be charged with a backing accident. JUST NOT WORTH IT!

That driver should have stopped way before that stop sign with flashers on to communicate her parking move.

There are actually open parking spaces for her just across the intersection so I would have used the horn to get her butt over there. :smart:

If she had made a really fast and wide parking move as you drove by her to escape the situation it probably would have been your fault.

Now if she gave you a clear signal to pass than that would be safe.

Hope I understood this correctly and helped.
 

soberups

Pees in the brown Koolaid
No matter what action you take to prevent an accident, if an accident does occur you will be told (by someone employing 20/20 hindsight from behind a desk) that you should have done something differently and you will be charged with it. So the bottom line is that it is up to you to make whatever decisions you need to... in real time and in the real world..to either prevent or minimize the damage of that accident. In this case, you made the right call. Congrats on being alert and aware.
 

opie

Well-Known Member
...There are actually open parking spaces for her just across the intersection so I would have used the horn to get her butt over there. :smart: If she had made a really fast and wide parking move as you drove by her to escape the situation it probably would have been your fault. Now if she gave you a clear signal to pass than that would be safe. Hope I understood this correctly and helped.
That satellite image is probably a couple years old. Looks like OP erased one of the cars to make a empty parking spot for car #2 to park into.
 

QKRSTKR

Well-Known Member
Sounds like you did good. Left enough space. If you had been closer she may have backed into you. You got the big picture by knowing what was around you, and how far the other cars were from you, and you took your out.
 

Cementups

Box Monkey
I would have thrown on the high beams, hazards, parking brake, all the while wailing on the horn until she rethinks her parallel park move.


Make Sure They See You
· Communicate in traffic — horn, lights, signals.
· Establishes eye-to-eye contact.
· “Don’t gamble. Use your horn, lights, and signals.”
 

TearsInRain

IE boogeyman
it worked out, but IMO you took a big risk going into oncoming traffic just to get around this

the safer course of action probably would have been to:
thrown on the high beams, hazards, parking brake, all the while wailing on the horn until she rethinks her parallel park move.

why complicate the possibilities when you can simplify them?
 
A

anonymous6

Guest
i think you did the right thing. was it legal to go around her and violate the oncoming lane even though it was clear? someone could of been screaming arond the corner from your left if that picture is right.

i don't think anyone can make a proper judgement unless we were there riding shotgun.
 

AKCoverMan

Well-Known Member
Continue to leave a car length of space, you do not need to close the gap just to make sure some idiot does not try to back into you. The move into the oncoming lane worries me, as it put you into that oncoming lane at an intersection. Traffic coming from your left making a right hand turn into the lane you briefly occupied could have ran into you. Had that happened, it's going to not only an "avoidable" but an "at fault" accident.

On the other hand if the other driver backs into you even though you are blaring your horn and flashing your lights, that is certainly going to be the other driver's fault and even Big Brown may have to rule that one an "unavoidable" accident.

I had an accident where I was sitting at a stop sign waiting to turn left, traffic from my left decided to turn right at the intersection but much too fast for slick winter conditions and slid into my PC. The committee actually discussed if I should have pulled away to avoid being hit but it was decided that may have caused a collision with other cross traffic so the best thing I could do was sit still. It was ruled "unavoidable".

I'm glad it was just a close call! It won't be the last, the best thing you are doing is learning from it! Good luck!
 

cino321

Well-Known Member
why complicate the possibilities when you can simplify them?

Says the person who's never driven a package car before.

I avoid multiple accidents on a daily basis. Every time I think about what I could of done to avoid the entire scenario. All that matters is that avoided it.
 

soberups

Pees in the brown Koolaid
.

On the other hand if the other driver backs into you even though you are blaring your horn and flashing your lights, that is certainly going to be the other driver's fault and even Big Brown may have to rule that one an "unavoidable" accident.

I had an accident where I was sitting at a stop sign waiting to turn left, traffic from my left decided to turn right at the intersection but much too fast for slick winter conditions and slid into my PC. The committee actually discussed if I should have pulled away to avoid being hit but it was decided that may have caused a collision with other cross traffic so the best thing I could do was sit still. It was ruled "unavoidable".

The fact that your "safety committee" even wasted time discussing such an option in the first place is yet another indicator of how completely divorced from reality UPS is when it comes to the issue of determining the "avoidability" of an accident.

I believe that the company has already decided ahead of time that an arbitrary percentage (85% maybe?) of reported accidents will be deemed "avoidable" regardless of the actual circumstances, and that whether or not a driver is "charged" with an accident has nothing to do with the reality of the situation and everything to do with whether or not his center has already met its quota of "avoidable" accidents for the year. It is the only logical explanation that I can think of for some of the truly nonsensical definitions of "avoidability" that I have seen over the years.
 
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