Impending rear-end collison

The scene, you’re in the left-turn lane waiting for the green light*, you are the last car in line, and the thru traffic has the green light, so cars are going by on both sides of you. In your mirror, you see a car coming too fast to stop before it hits you.

What do you do? Brace against the steering wheel? Change gears? - to what Park, Neutral? Assume the airline crash position (difficult with a steering wheel).

What do you do?

*[sub] I woulda said “waiting for the green arrow” but I kept flashing back to DC comics[/sub]

Knowing myself, I’d really tense up. Hopefully I’d have enough presence of mind to cross my arms across the steering wheel, since I have no airbags. Beyond that, I have absolutely no clue.

I always wear my seatbelt so that is gonna help some. I’d probably freak out and tense up some while letting go of the stearing wheel. That’s what I did the last time I just caught of glimpse of some lady who was getting ready to rear end me. Thankfully she only hit me at about 5-10 mph didn’t put a scratch on either car. Still tripped me out though.

If I had the presence of mind, I’d put the car in neutral or press the clutch, and take my foot OFF the brake. I guess this would allow some of the other car’s momentum to be transferred to motion in my car, hopefully resulting in less damage. I’d also press my head back against the headrest to avoid whiplash. If I was really on the ball, I’d place both hands on the wheel with the fingertips inwards and my elbows out. If I held my arms firmly but not stiffly, that should provide a kind of soock absorbing spring effect.
OK OK, I’d probably just look dumb and say “Oh f**k!”.

Foot on the clutch (or in neutral) so that the vehicle rolls with the hit, and after contact, hard on the brakes to stop.

–Tim

It happened to me. I was in a single lane waiting to turn. I could even see her head as she looked at the store windows across the road. She hit us at about 30 mph. I just tensed up and told my wife to hold on. She knocked us into the other lane. Fortunately the traffic had cleared. This happened 20 years ago and I can still see that woman looking at the store. It’s amazing what things stick vividly in your mind.

I have the unhappy distinction of having been rear ended SEVEN times in 26 years of driving! In every single case, I was legally stopped at a light or in a turn lane, was using my turn signals & had working brake lights etc. Once on the interstate I was approaching a bank of stopped vehicles when I happened to see a car coming very fast right at my heinie. I quickly switched lanes & he hit the car in front of me. I felt sorta guilty about that.

Anyhow. I would not put the car in neutral if there was a chance of being knocked into other traffic. A couple of times when I’ve seen it coming, I’ve stayed put & tried not to tense up, but that’s difficult to do! One of the times I was hit at a light, I was actually in neutral & was pushed into the car in front of me.

Last year I was in a left turn lane waiting to turn into a friend’s apartment complex. I saw a car coming very fast…I could not turn because of traffic, so I accelerated forward fast. The guy still hit me hard enough to render his Escort inoperable. Luckily I was driving a 1967 Plymouth Fury, so all I had to do was scrape a little of his paint off my 400lb bumper. :slight_smile:

What would I do? I’d probably panic and do nothing productive.

As for what one should do - I think the single most important thing is to rest your head firmly on the headrest. That should reduce the risk of whiplash and brain injury, since both are caused by the head rolling around.

I’ve been in 4 such accidents. Only in one did I notice the impending accident.

Black ice (for those who don’t live in such areas, it’s when there’s a thin sheet of ice covering the road, you can’t tell by looking at it). I knew it, so was driving very slow and shifting gears vs. braking. I saw ahead a light had turned red so was downshifting to accomodate, looked in rear view mirror and saw this car heading for us, knew he’d not be able to stop.

I had enough time to say “ohmygod” twice before he hit us. It was enough time for me to reflect on ‘what to do’. If I tried to jerk the wheel and get out of his way, since we were on ice, all I’d be able to do is maybe spin the car a bit. I figured that being hit in the trunk was far preferable than taking it on the side where either my son or I would be seriously injured.

My son, alerted by me saying ‘ohmygod’ looked up in time to see us get hit. we went spinning, ended up in the median, perpendicular to the road, the other guy was spun around so he was facing the wrong way and was on the other side of the road from us. the front end of his car came all the way through to the back seat of our car, buckling the undercarriage and making us a ‘trunk optional’ car. Our car was totaled.

I don’t believe there was anything else we could have done.

This happened to us when my wife was driving a few months ago:

We were in our Cavalier. There is a stop light that kind of sneaks up on you. We actually did stop short, as did the car behind us, an Escort. What didn’t stop short is the Ford Expedition behind him. [Inflammatory anti-SUV comment omitted].

My wife saw this unfold and let up on the brake shortly before impact. Our car lurched forward a foot or so, we didn’t impact the car in front of us, we were completely unharmed as was our car. I was completely oblivious and didn’t know what happened until it was explained. I thought we dropped a transmission or something.

The Escort wasn’t so lucky.

Gotta love those big old cars :smiley: I’m working on buying (that is, trying to think of a way to get $3500-ish) a '65 Mercury.

Never, ever put your transmission into Park when you see an impending collision - you could cause more damage to your transmission that way. The Park position is designed to lock your transmission so your car doesn’t roll.

Also, this is very important, never brace against the steering wheel. First, you can injure your wrists, elblows, shoulders and/or cervical vertebrae unnecessarily. Second, it can interfere with airbag deployment. Third, if enough of your momentum is transferred to the steering column, you can damage it, too. Modern steering columns are collapsible telescoping shafts, with just a breakaway pin holding the assembly extended. If you shear that pin, it can take hundreds of dollars in labor to replace.

If you see any collision coming, the best thing to do is to lean back in your seat, assume a neutral posture, and avail yourself of any head support. Don’t press yourself into your seat with your legs or arms. This works even better in cars with airbags.

Of course, I know all this backwards and forwards, and what did I do the last time I was in an accident? I stiffarmed the steering wheel and locked both elbows. It’s instinctive, and you have to fight it. (I didn’t have quite enough time to realize what I was doing.)

If I envision the OP’s scenario correctly, I would try and move as far forward into the intersection as possible, giving the person behind me enough room to stop.

If he were going far, far too fast, then I would try to use the center of the intersection to accelerate and merge with the thru traffic on my right. In fact, if the person behind me appeared to be about to hit me at 30 mph or above, I’d prefer to accelerate and sideswipe another car rather than take a collision like that, sitting still.

Of course, then that would make the question of liability a huge mess… :frowning:

Both my hubby and I have been rear ended twice. Now we are both quite gun-shy about anyone talking on a cell phone, or looking distracted behind us. We constantly are bracing for impact. Not that tensing your muscles will help you in a crash, just an involuntary reflex.

The last time I was rear-ended was May 3, 1999. Why remember a date so vividly? The horrible tornado that devastated Oklahoma City happened that evening, so when I tried to call my overwhelmed insurance company to report the damage, they kept trying to send me to a rental car company to get a loaner car! It was just a dented bumper, but after the 500th call of the day they just were not listening!

Mrs. PlanMan has been in this situation twice.
The first, just a few months after we got our (then) less-than-year-old 1991 Toyota Corolla (2 body style changes ago). She was on a 4-lane road, with one of those center turn-lane medians, in the left thru lane. Another car was in the right lane. Approaching intersection, light turns red, both my wife and the other car stop. The semi with the low-boy trailer, and the tracked back-hoe, didn’t. Split the difference between both cars, except right-lane car saw it coming and got mostly out of the way around the corner. Mrs. Plan man is bounced into the intersection by the cab, then the passenger-side is destroyed by the “tank-tread” of the back hoe. Mrs. PlanMan is OK, shaken up. I get call at work, she has been hit by truck. When I arrive, I see a pick-up leaving, she says no, THAT truck. HY SH!! The body shop is able to put the car back together.

2nd was at THE SAME INTERSECTION about 2 years ago. She is last car in left turn lane, little old lady is zipping along, oblivious. About 3 cars in line get various degrees of crunch. The driver’s seat failed, so Mrs. PlanMan had a temporary back injury. Body shop puts the Toy back together again.

I’m driving the Corolla now, but that’s cause we traded my 92 Escort (in worse shape engine-wise) in on a new Echo - guess who got the new car? The back doors are a little stiff, and there’s some wind noise on the highway, but otherwise, its fine. Hope to drive it for a couple more years.

Only time I’ve been in a rear ended care I was seven. No one was hurt, but I feel really sorry for the guy driving that hit us. You see, my dad was driving my mom home from the hospital with my not yet day old baby sister Anna.

What would I do?

Freak out and freeze.

Should? If I can safely get out of the way, do so. Otherwise, prepare for impact and try not to get nudged into traffic.

Okay, I haven’t had caffeine yet, so I’ve just scanned this thread.

I was in a rear-end collision on a freeway in March. I was stopped in traffic and I looked up (it stops a lot around here) and I looked in the rear-view mirror. There was time for me to register that there was a car behind me, that she was coming up fast, and that she couldn’t possibly stop in time. I mashed down on the brake an braced for impact. Although the brakes were on, I was pushed into the car ahead of me.

Don’t move forward to try to give the person enough room to stop. This may give the illusion that traffic is moving and the person behind you won’t try to stop. Don’t put your car in neutral to try to minimize the damage. You’re going to get hit. The person behind you probably has insurance (around here, where insurance is required to legally drive almost 75% of drivers have it). If he doesn’t, then you can use your uninsured motorist insurance or sue him for damages. If you put your car in neutral you may be pushed into the cross-traffic and get “T-boned” by a fast-moving car. This could be fatal. Also, you could be found partially at fault because you knew or should have known that putting the car in neutral would allow it to be pushed into the traffic (which had the right-of-way) that hit you.

“Leave yourself an ‘out’”, say the safety films. On the freeway I drive in the #1 lane. This is mostly because I drive fast and the fast lane is where I should be. The other reason is that there is usually a left shoulder or a car-pool lane that I can duck into in case of an emergency. I’ve been in traffic that lulled me into driving too fast and too close, and when the brake lights come on the left shoulder is a good place to avoid hitting someone. That rarely happens now because I leave more room in front of me. More room means you can duck out more easily or possibly accellerate into your “safe area”.

The bugger of driving is that no matter how attentive you are, you can’t make someone else be more attentive. People have little knowledge of physics (including me – I know what I know from observation and high-school science class). They don’t understand things like mass, energy, force, etc. They also don’t realize that cars are somewhat complicated machines that take skill and attention to drive.
There are stereos, passengers and cell phones that divert attention. I know they are distractions so I almost never use the phone when I’m driving. When I do, I “drive the car” first. My stereo is pre-set and I can push the buttons without looking at it. I rarely look at my passengers, keeping my eyes on the road instead. (I just read a rather mysoginistic passage in Thunderball where James Bond rants about how women “have to look at each other” when they talk instead of driving the car. – Another tangent: When I was taking my flight examination for my helicopter license, I told the FAA examiner to excuse me while I maneuvered the helicopter through a pass. He told me later that it was right to interrupt him and fly the aircraft.) Since through self-training and through “carry-over” from flight training I have taught myself to pay attention, I don’t think cell phones, stereos or passengers should be outlawed. But I do think people should be taught to avoid distractions.

One thing often heard on an aircraft radio is “Traffic is not a factor”. If only people would not hit the brakes when someone is way off on the right shoulder broken down or changing a tire.

<minor hijack>
To all the people saying “I’d probably freak out” you might surprise yourself when you actually do find yourself in a bad spot. I was driving to work last St Patty’s day, during a snow storm when I hit black ice. I couldn’t get out of the skid, and started to slid over the enbankment on the side of the road. Though I was terrified, I knew that slamming on the brakes in ice was the worst thing I could do(“don’t brake on ice” is something drilled into your head before you’re old enough to drive, if you grow up in colder climes), so I down shifted, and eventually the car stopped. I had to be towed back onto the road, but I believe had I not had the presence of mind to remember not to hit the brakes, I probably would have skidded into the trees lining the incline instead of stopping. You all should give yourselves more credit :slight_smile:

MAN!!! this thread has me anxious!

Lots of good points and lots of debatable opinions, but I don’t have time… I’m at work!

But I say even if you see the impending accident even a full 2-3 secs before it happens, you can’t override adrenaline (sp) or any knee-jerking that may occur…

I was in the back seat of a Prelude when the driver, passenger, and other passenger in the back seat were all talking about which CD to put in, also all looking at the CD holder. I was looking out the windshield as a Subaru wagon chose to turn across our lane (oncoming) and I started going “NO NO NOOOOOOOO!!!” (the only word that comes to mind when you are in this situation) driver completely oblivious. But my point:

I doubt, thinking back that I could’ve instead yelled “Theresa!! Brakes… BRAKES!!!” (which I didn’t do) AND think to relax myself enough to put my head against any headrest in case she hadn’t jumped on brakes. IN SHORT, I WITNESSED THE ACCIDENT BEFORE IT HAPPENED AND NOT ONLY WAS I NOT CAPABLE OF MERELY UTTERING THE RIGHT WORDS IN PANIC, I ALSO TENSED UP AND PUT MY HEAD INTO THE CEILING FROM PUSHING AWAY WITH BOTH ARMS AND BOTH FEET RIGHT INTO THE DANGER ZONE. Even in a slow (less than 25mph) collision, I was the only one that saw it coming and the only one that got hurt… head into the roof=spinal compression upon impact. NOT a biggie, but I slept on ice and ate a bottle of Advil as the others laughed it off.

I swear that’s what they say about drunks in accidents is true… they stay relaxed through it all and are the one’s that sustain the least injury. Nobody was drunk at all, but you can’t train yourself to relax like a sloth on Percoset in 2.173 seconds.

YOU JUST CAN’T.

I tried. This is one of the things (IMHO) that just sucks about driving. It’s So F**king dangerous and so many people do it poorly… but keeping it relative we are all capable of mistakes… or accidents…

Sure you can!

It’s true that some people are more liable to panic. There was a terrible accident here in Denver several years ago. A woman driving a UHaul hit the gas instead of the brake, panicked, and kept going faster & faster on the freeway until she hit stopped traffic at 60mph killing herself & at least one other person. Even if the brakes failed, as first charged, she merely could have let up on the pedal, steered to the shoulder & used the hand brake to stop. Tragic because the whole thing could have been avoided had she merely kept a level head. :frowning:

If you’re the panicky type, you may have to train yourself, & it would probably be wise to do so! But if you read the above posts, many folks had time to think rationally & act if possible in the nanosecond before impact. Most people who have done any amount of driving have at least one, if not many, times they have avoided or prevented an accident by thinking auickly and NOT panicking. I know I have! (And I used to drive a semi OTR, so that’s a Good Thing.) :slight_smile:

Soil myself.