I think I’m going to start a "somekind of vehicle vs. C6 Corvette" trend. In my posting over at my ‘old’ blog, I wrote about a guy in an Audi TT who wanted to race my 2005 Corvette. Go read it for a chuckle, and to understand that these things aren’t really about racing…
A few days ago I was driving up a street near my house on the way to some errand or another (don’t you love how I set the scene?). I was going about 40 mph in a 40 mph speed limit zone (IOW not speeding). I was surprised when a BMW motorcycle, that was waiting for me to pass him before he pulled out of a driveway, suddenly pulled out in front of me – AND THEN STOPPED! This was the kind of situation which you have all probably been in before – your thought process is "whoa, there’s not really a lot of room between us buddy so make sure you…<slam on brakes!>" which actually happens in a split second and isn’t the nice chat over tea that it might seem like.
I didn’t stop to talk to the guy, but I did slam on the brakes and stop a few feet before smashing into him. That’s how I knew it was a BMW motorcycle. I was reading it off the bike. He had pulled out onto a busy street and apparently stalled his bike while trying to sprint across in front of me.
Thankfully, I was paying attention and managed to stop a few feet short of hitting him. I waited while he restarted his bike, rather than going around him – that way I could ‘protect’ him with my car which people were much more likely to see than his bike. He got started and waved a few times and away we went. I shudder to think what might have happened if I hadn’t been paying attention, or driving my other car, which doesn’t stop as well as a Corvette.
I was just one of those "Holy cow, that guy could have died" moments. An honest mistake on his part, followed up by an honest mistake on my part could have resulted in a really bad situation. Fortunately, it all worked out. It does server as a reminder of the importance of paying attention while driving and not dinking with your phone or iPod.