# Just WHY did you hit the fucking brakes, idiot? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 15, 2001, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-why-did-you-hit-the-fucking-brakes-idiot/93607 "2001-11-15T21:27:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Heloise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e36b37/32.png) [@Heloise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heloise)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-why-did-you-hit-the-fucking-brakes-idiot/93607/41 "2001-11-19T03:06:58Z")
I’m sorry about your accident, but glad you’re okay. And it looks like you have volunteers to make sure you aren’t/don’t get sore anywhere. 🙂 I almost hit someone on a motorcycle once. Actually, a couple of times. When it happened, I made certain to apologise, as it certainly wasn’t on purpose and they were completely in my blind spot. I felt horrible about it, but they were gracious each time and accepted the apology and went on. This was when I was quite a bit younger, but I still tend to cringe when I think about it. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-why-did-you-hit-the-fucking-brakes-idiot/93607/42 "2001-11-19T19:00:25Z")
Damn **Coldfire** , it must be the right week for accidents caused by idiots. Check out my new Pit thread, my nice new Land Rover got damn near destroyed by a fuckwit who turned left in front of us without checking for oncoming traffic… ---
**Author:** ![Tomcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Tomcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tomcat)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-why-did-you-hit-the-fucking-brakes-idiot/93607/43 "2001-11-20T10:13:55Z")
Add me to the list of people who have been on both sides of that situation. I was on a new bike, paying more attention to it than to traffic, and looked up JUST in time to see traffic stopped. I hit the brakes so hard I slipped sideways, sorta like doing a hockey-stop on skates or ski’s. At the last moment my momentum started to send me over sideways, and I caught myself on the trunk of the car in front of me- actually catching myself with my arm on the trunk and pushing away. I hit the gas and was outa there. STOOPID! A few years later I was driving my mom’s car to the store in the middle of a blizzard (she had front-wheel drive). I was in the turning lane to go into the parking lot and when a break in traffic came I accelerated- only to find myself spinning tires on black-ice after 5 feet. The car behind me thought I was going, accelerated, and then hit the same patch of ice when he saw I was stopping- BAM! I was in a small Toyota Corolla, he was in a truck. Crunched bumper and trunk for me - bent left fender for him. His fault, but I still felt bad. -Tcat ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-why-did-you-hit-the-fucking-brakes-idiot/93607/44 "2001-11-20T10:37:16Z")
Ah, yes, idiot drivers. My bike got wiped in September by a learner driver who taught that red lights meant “SPEED UP, GODDAMN YOU!!”. I think he might have been blindfolded at the time also… Anyway, he realised the error of his ways, paid up for my bike repairs (which I promptly traded in) and got this years model of the same bike 😉 Now I’m back riding an Italian regularly. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-why-did-you-hit-the-fucking-brakes-idiot/93607/45 "2001-11-20T12:01:51Z")
No stories here (although I am guilty of many stupid deeds behind the wheel!)… just thankful that you came away un-maimed, **Coldy**! Be careful, man!😉 ---
**Author:** ![puk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ea5d25/32.png) [@puk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puk)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-why-did-you-hit-the-fucking-brakes-idiot/93607/46 "2001-11-20T12:35:30Z")
> [@](#): > > …Like NOT having to go over there tonight to fill out the damn insurance papers because little miss greedy decided to try and cash in on an accident in which her car suffered almost no damage. 1500 Guilders, my ass. We’re gonna do it the official way, and if the damage is REALLY 1500, the car is a total loss, as my insurance agent said it has a current value of NLG 1000. So that’s the max I have to pay. I can then always decide to repay the insurance company, so my premium stays the same. I’m not happy about a thousand guilders damage, but I’d rather pay that than making this girl 1500 guilders richer because she thinks she can take advantage of the situation. I’ve been on the recieving end in a rear fender bender a few months ago, and was in pretty much the same situation as you (and the girl) are in now. some guy in a pickup bumped me when I didn’t accelerate fast enough from a traficlight. My car is an old peugot 205, for which I payed around 5000 guilders a year and a half ago. The damage is a cracked fender and a broken taillight, which I could probably (hopefully) fix myself. The frame is also bent, but only slightly. I took the car to a garage and they told me that fixing it would cost 3500 guilders or maybe 1000 guilders if they could find the second hand parts. The car is valued at 1500 guilders, (allthough I can sell it for a lot more) which means that the car is technically total loss. I get 1000 guilders from the insurance and am unable to sell the car (it’s total loss, which means I can only get scrap value for it). So I’m screwed. Never mind that fixing it costs almost nothing and the car is fine othewise. Anyway, the point: that girl was probably not trying to screw you. It’s more like the garage or insurance company are trying to screw her. In these kind of situations, it realy is best to leave insurance out of it. anyway, good luck. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-why-did-you-hit-the-fucking-brakes-idiot/93607/47 "2001-11-20T14:03:44Z")
> [@](#): > > Now I’m back riding an Italian regularly. Does she have a sister? 😉 Hey, I thought of a time when I was riding too close. It was in high school, and it had been raining. The guy in front of my stopped suddenly in the parking lot. I hit the brakes on my Yamaha 250 Enduro and it slid out from under me. It continued to slide, under the car ahead of me, and the passenger footpeg punctured his gas tank. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-why-did-you-hit-the-fucking-brakes-idiot/93607.md?page=2)