"Near-miss" driving experiences - tell us yours! Watch the video to see that you can't sit in an intersection on a highway!
How NOT to Turn Left | Traffic Smart
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Introduction
Hi there smart drivers Rick with Smart Drive Test talking to you today about that heart-pounding, adrenaline rush when you have that near miss in your vehicle, and you're just like, "what happened?" The point today is be predictable on the roadway. I was going down to Kelowna, BC, Canada to pick up a truck so that I could do some videos tomorrow on air brakes, and how to hook up trailers, and those types things. And I was driving back in the dark and had my dash cam on and pulled over to the left hand lane to get past the car that wasn't driving very fast.
Unpredictable Action
So I was going to pass him and I see the car up at the intersection--as you can see here in the footage--it's at the intersection making a left-hand turn. And I didn't know at that point that they're looking for the hotel--the airport hotel--which is the next light up. They pulled into the intersection --left signal-- you can see the left signal. And the traffic clears and I'm expecting them to turn left. Well they didn't turn left because they figured out that where they wanted to turn was not there.
No Left Turn
So they sat in the intersection and then took off. Well the heart pounding was the truck being locked up - it didn't actually lock up because the ABS (Anti-lock braking system) engaged. But you can see the truck start to deviate to the right because I'm trying to move the truck over to the right to get around them because there was no way that the truck was going to stop in time. Fortunately just as I was coming up on them at a hurdling speed and I'm bracing for imminent impact they realized that that was not where they wanted to turn left and took off.
Out-of-State Licence Plates
At that juncture I also realized that there was a Manitoba licence plate, so obviously they were lost. So one tip for professional drivers--bus and truck drivers--always look for out-of-province - out-of-state license plates because that's a good indication that they could potentially be lost. Now I probably would have picked up on the plate had it been daytime. And knowing that they might have been lost, but being dark I didn't see the plate until I was right on top of them and then I noticed that it was a Manitoba plate from out of province. That's the other thing is being predictable - DO NOT STOP in an intersection! You are just asking to be rear-ended, especially when those circumstances culminated that the traffic cleared coming from the other direction and I was expecting them to turn left.
So I didn't let off the hammer, I just kept on the throttle--kept on going--which you know is probably bad on my part as well, so you know I've got some responsibility in this as well. But anyway, the point of all of this is be predictable in your actions. It's better to go around the corner and turn around and come back out then to sit in that intersection on a highway where the speed limit is 80 kilometers an hour (50mph) and people are doing much higher than that in the traffic flow.
So we've all had those experiences where, "oh my god! Impact is imminent!" And that's what it was. So you can see here in the footage that I just about clobbered that person. So be predictable - out-of-state; out-of-province license plates are good a indication to professional drivers that the other person could potentially be lost. So take note of that.
Question for my smart drivers:
Salutations
I'm Rick with Smart Drive Test. Thanks very much for watching. If you like what you see here share, subscribe, leave a comment down in the comment section. All that helps us out. As well, hit that thumbs up button. Check out all the videos over here... yes they're over there. Check out those great videos for those of you working towards getting a license or endeavouring to get your CDL license or starting a career as a truck or bus driver. Thanks again for watching. Good luck on your road test. And remember; pick the best answer not necessarily the right answer. Have a great day. Bye now!
