Most terrifying moment you've had on the road?

[French Castanut]

What's the most terrifying moment you've had on the road?

[French Castanut]

On my end, I was in Revelstoke, on the highway heading East.

I was waiting at the intersection in the left turn lane. There was two traffic lanes on my right. I don't know the street name but on my right was Shell & McDonland's, and on my left a hotel.

Well, the light was red so we were all stopped at the intersection, I was waiting to turn left... But right beside me there was another car waiting to keep strait, and another car in the far right lane. So the 3 lanes were occupied. And... there was a huge semi-truck coming right behind the guy beside me... no braking!!!! He was horning like crazy and coming at full speed.

I was pretty sure there would be a crash, that the car was to be pushed into the intersection before getting smashed a second time by opposing traffic, but god save him, the light turned back green and the car was able to speed quick enough not to get rear bumped by the semi truck driver.

I swear, one more second and that was it.

I was in shock, might not even be there myself to tell you that story if the colllision had occured.

[netfreak]

Involving my car: I was going down Chute Lake Rd / Lakeshore Rd from the upper mission doing about 60-65 at night (its a 60 zone) and right around the bend next to Crighton Rd there was pretty much a river flowing across the road. Didn't see it until I hit it and went right into the ditch like I was driving on ice. Back when this happened the ditch was deeper than it is now, so my car was almost on its side

Involving others: Was on highway 5 north of Kamloops up around Clearwater and a semi truck decided to start passing other vehicles, except he wasn't going much faster at all and kept driving in the wrong lane after the passing zone ended and entering corners. He ran another semi and a couple smaller vehicles right off the road in the process (oncoming vehicles)

[Indica]

A number of years ago, I was on a camping trip in Lilloet. Myself and a friend had driven up in my mom's car and had a reasonable amount of gear with us. A friend's car died over the course of the weekend and I ended up having to drive 5 people and camping gear back to Vancouver. While driving down a giant hill on the Duffy Lake highway, my brakes overheated and essentially stopped working. I had to gear down to first, use the e-brake intermittently and hope that we made it down the ridiculously long ridiculously windy hill in one piece (which we did). When we eventually got to the bottom of the hill and I managed to get the car to stop, I pulled over and threw up. I will never drive with an overloaded car again.

[givenrfarm]

Traveling on the interstate, the speed was 70mph, there was light snow falling, and there was wet snow sticking to the ground. I was just shy of 80,000. About as heavy as a semi can get in the states for the axels I had. Everyone was being fairly smart and traveling about 50mph. All except the guy in front of me. He chose to do about 40mph. So, I pulled out and started passing him.
We'd just come off an overpass when out of the corner of my eye I saw headlights, tail lights, headlights in the opposite direction. My mind didn't quite comprehend what it was for a split second. Witnesses later said it was a pick-up that fishtailed in the slush, seemed to panic, and slam on the brakes causing it to go out of control. They also stated, and later evidence was given, to state the pickup was traveling, at the very least, the posted speed limit for GOOD conditions.
Slow motion does happen. The pick-up skidded across the soft/wey median, directly head-on to me. There was about a split second application of my brakes before it hit. There was even a split second to look in my mirror to see if I was past the guy in the slow lane so I could attempt to swerve out of the truck's way. Nope. We hit.
Driver, his passenger in the front, and one passenger in the backseat were taken to hospital with broken bones, cuts, and bruises. The other passenger in the back wasn't wearing his seatbelt. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
I remember sitting in the truck with a bunch of witnesses running all over the place assisting the pick-up. I remember a man screaming that I was (a very mean word) for not driving off the road to avoid the impact. What I remember the most was hearing the paremedic attending me tell the state trooper that the "stupid trucker" just killed "that guy".
I quit my job/driving after that for a few years. I was and still am terrified to drive a rig in the snow. I'm that truck driver that goes WAY to slow for joe-4x4 on a mission to get somewhere behind me. Honestly, I don't care.
People always talk about how some idiot that killed someone because they were being dangerous/drunk/texting have to live with the guilt of it. Well, no matter how many times someone tells me that accidents happen, it wasn't my fault, or there was nothing I could have done, I still have to live with the guilt of having killed someone with my truck.
Terrifying.

As for other drivers? I have a bumper sticker that says "Don't make me have to save your life today."

[givenrfarm]

December 19th the worst was put in the past and a new worst. I couldn't get a woman out of her jeep. I couldn't get the window broke. I couldn't open a door. I couldn't stay in the water long enough to do anything than kick the glass a few useless times. My straps broke twice. I couldn't save a woman from Wood Lake. Worst day driving. Worst day for her family. The terrifying part? The whole time, not knowing how many people were in the jeep with her. Not knowing if I was failing getting not just her out, but babies too. Terrifying doesn't even begin to describe that day. I don't want to drive truck anymore. I'm tired of being terrified that way.

[dirtybiker]

I don't want to drive truck anymore.

Thank you for your selfless actions.
We need more people like you out on our roads everyday(and night),
not less.

-a fellow 'trucker'

[Alvis]

Any time I have to drive through Kelowna. Serious.
Vancouver? Easy.
Edmonton? No problem.
Vernon is a close second.

[Verminator]

The scariest incident for me happened on Hwy 3 between Christina lake and Castlegar. I was coming around a blind curve when I saw a big SUV coming straight at me in my lane. I instinctively dodged to the right and onto the narrow shoulder, the SUV missing me by what seemed like about 2 inches. As the front wheels hit the loose gravel on the shoulder my car felt like it was going to slide and possibly roll over, but I managed to stay in control and come to a safe stop. I think it took all of half an hour before my heart rate got back to normal.

The weirdest moment happened in Vernon, about 1993 IIRC. I was in the outside south-bound lane waiting for the light at 32nd St and 25th Ave. There was very little traffic except for a Camaro that I first noticed coming down the hill near the hospital. I saw the Camaro suddenly swerve into the curb on the opposite side of the road, bounce off and slide sideways back into the curb on the north-bound side, and then bounce off that. I'll always remember what happened next - the Camaro went straight into the opposite curb again and stood on it's nose, and in slow-motion fell end-over-end right between 2 motels, taking out a 30-foot section of the pedestrian guard rail in the process and landing on it's roof. The Camaro's throttle was wide open and there was smoke everywhere, no way I figured anyone could survive that. I parked off the road to see if I could help, but by the time I got down to the car the driver was already outside, staggering around and yelling incoherently. Drunk as a skunk, and not a scratch on him.

[French Castanut]

December 19th the worst was put in the past and a new worst. I couldn't get a woman out of her jeep. I couldn't get the window broke. I couldn't open a door. I couldn't stay in the water long enough to do anything than kick the glass a few useless times. My straps broke twice. I couldn't save a woman from Wood Lake. Worst day driving. Worst day for her family. The terrifying part? The whole time, not knowing how many people were in the jeep with her. Not knowing if I was failing getting not just her out, but babies too. Terrifying doesn't even begin to describe that day. I don't want to drive truck anymore. I'm tired of being terrified that way.

So sorry to hear that givenrfarm. Must be such a terryfing and aweful experience. Thanks for putting all these efforts to try to save her. I'm sure her family are deeply touched by what you did.

My most sincere condoleances to the lady's family as well. This is really sad.

[rideforever]

On my end, I was in Revelstoke, on the highway heading East.

I was waiting at the intersection in the left turn lane.
...
there was a huge semi-truck coming right behind the guy beside me... no braking!!!! He was horning like crazy and coming at full speed.
I was in shock, might not even be there myself to tell you that story if the colllision had occured.

Glad to hear this accident was avoided. I've been there, except it was just a pickup going about 90 and the accident wasn't avoided. That hurt for a long time.

Has it affected the way you act on the roads? Are you less likely to brake hard for a yellow instead of going through it? More likely to watch your mirrors? If you spend any time in the shoulder, walking, jogging, biking, whatever, does this make you less likely to trust every driver passing you enough to turn your back to them?

[flamingfingers]

Just got my UAE driver’s license and was driving to work in my cheap little Hyundai Elantra. Went into a roundabout to make a right turn ¾ through (I know how roundabouts work) and got to the halfway mark when out of the corner of my eye there was a BMW who had driven THROUGH the roundabout boulevard, chewing up grass and flowers. If I had not panic braked I would have been T-boned at my driver’s door. I managed to complete the last ¼ and safely make my right hand turn.

Driving to Dubai it is not at all unusual to have a Jeep Cherokee or other some such vehicle have ‘fun’ with you by bumping into your rear end, regardless of the lane (3 and 4 lanes available).

Comparatively speaking, Kelowna is only slightly annoying.

[Graham Adder]

I've had a few incidents that would qualify, were it not for this one.
The one incident that frightened me was one involving others. I was an eye witness, as well as one of the first on scene.
It frightened me more that my own accidents, because in my own experiences, I had no time to feel the level of fear. I was much to busy reacting and acting to feel an emotion. Focus is not an emotion.

When I saw time slow instantly to slow motion, my mind knew before my vision caught up that something was terribly wrong.
Slightly into my peripheral vision I saw a car spinning like a top...horizontally...about four feet off the ground.
It must have spun a full turn by the time my mind read what I was seeing. It continued to spin like that...almost hovering as the angle it was coming toward me was such that it didn't have a lot of lateral movement.

A small car had been T-boned by a mid sized car going about 140kph, with about 50 feet of skid before impact...so...not sure...but guestimating about 100kph at impact.

I didn't realize how constricted my throat had become until I tried to swallow and couldn't. It felt like trying to swallow too many mashed potatoes without enough gravy. My face flushed and got hot and tingly and I started to review how to deal with what I was about to potentially see. It seemed to take another eternity to get to the scene, which was good, because I needed that eternity to get myself together...HERE GOES...ALL SYSTEMS GO!!!

The fear...the lump in my throat...the shakes...the sweats...and clammy, pasty gotta be green feeling...it all stuck with me until the paramedics and fire department arrived. They took over everything and I got to let go.

I was higher than I'd ever been. Adrenalin is powerful stuff.
Increases capabilities exponentially.
Rye never tasted better.

[GoStumpy]

Any time I have to drive through Kelowna. Serious.
Vancouver? Easy.
Edmonton? No problem.
Vernon is a close second.

I find as soon as I get to Chilliwack, road ragers & idiots seem to multiply the closer I get to Vancouver.

Kelowna is like relaxing on the beach compared to Van! And I grew up there!

[underscore]

I've had a fair few near misses, but this was the one that could've most easily killed me. I was sitting in the left turn lane at the bottom of Dilworth on Summit, waiting to turn onto Glenmore. Normally if I'm the first car in line I pay attention to the opposite roads light, so I can shift into 1st and be ready to go when I get a green, but this time I was just keeping an eye on my light and skipping through songs on the stereo. It turned green faster than I expected, so I was slightly delayed as I put the car in 1st and moved my feet, just as I was letting out the clutch a bigass black truck blew through the (now very red) light at about 70 or 80 in the right lane, right where my door would've been had I gone right on the green as I normally would've. I'm pretty sure I would've been dead as their bumper was about level with my head.