Experience VS Fate

if a driver did that for me, i would probably buy him dinner or something purely out of respect. i respect you for not telling him to mind his own just the same.

I took alive at 25 for my 4 wheelers license. it clearly taught, and reinforced that its after 2 years most either get ####y or too relaxed and thats when it hits the fan. although my best friend rolled his car, with me in it, cause he knew how to "handle" it. he wasn't a week past 16. however, it was exactly what he needed to put him in his place, and he hasn't had a problem since.

on another note the one time that i have bent a fender was when i hit some black ice in my little ford ranger. as soon as it began to slide i instinctivly countersteered and hit the clutch. i was doing 40 mph and drug the right front fender along the guard rail. i drove it home. 2 hours later my grandparents rolled thier toyota 3 times at the next exit west, later that evening a straight truck went off the same bridge i slid on. the driver didn't make it.

I am a 4th generation driver, i couldn't hardly believe my ears when i overhead my roommate tell his fiance (who is just getting her license) that she should have me teach her to drive cause im the best (i taught him to drive a manual double clutching a forklift). i quickly corrected him and told him that im not the best, i just learned from him. when i told my dad about it he laughed and said he has told people the same.

experience, attitude and training. i'll take it over luck anyday. now to just get more experience...

 

I think experience will keep a good driver from getting into a precarious situation to begin with. I don't want to toot my own horn, but what happened to me back in October is the best example I can think of. I was on a 2 lane road, 55 mph speed limit, and an old man pulled off of a side street and I T-boned him. I don't know what his deal was, he stopped at the stop sign, I had a blinking yellow caution light, but when I was 20 yards from the intersection he just darted out in front of me. There was nothing I could do. I guess that was fate. But, the guy lived. I was only going about 30 mph at the point of impact. My ten speed transmission was in 8th gear. The DOT people told me I did a great job getting the truck stopped. No, I didn't. I wasn't going that fast to begin with. The speed limit was 55, but traffic was heavy, it was raining, and I saw the busy intersection with the caution light. All the signs were there telling me to slow down, so I did. The old man in the minivan went home from the hospital after a few days. If I had been doing the speed limit, the story would have had a far sadder ending.

 

okay me being a 4x4 in really ###### weather i do tend to follow you big rigs at a distance... i do what i can to keep the hemorrhoids off your #$$ as far as respect goes, i have an emmence amount of respect for all of you big riggers. i have never talked to anyone on the cb that hasnt been at the very least respectful and helpful. the way i see it, ya'll are the kings of the road.

to the heart of the matter, experience vs fate. somone had mentioned there buddy rolling the car with them in it and it putting them into there place. i had a similar experience in my first car. cruising along cr 42 in rosemount mn, got stuck behind some people driving slower (and for good reason) i got an opening an i took it, soon after i hit a patch of ice, over corrected hit pavement again got traction... so there i am back an forth trying to regain control, i ended up tapping the breaks and instantly i remember my father (ex trucker) telling me if im ever in a situation icy never hit the breaks..... there i am spinning i finally came to a soft stop in a snowy ditch facing back towards traffic, the two cars i passed just drove on by... as i thought to myself, i hope you are laughing right on along with fate cuz i sure am (#######)

this all happened because i was over confident in my driving skills and yes ####y

so earlier this winter in my jeep im comming back from up north im on 94 just shy of the laury tunnel to 35w south bound. hit the first patch of black ice corrected regained control. started bragging to my buddy "is that all you got huh is that all you got old man winter." keep on driving "i got this shi...." another patch of black ice dammn near drove it into a wall corrected and regained control. i thought to myself okay you won this round.

ill say i havn't gotten all that coky on the road since then.

if it wasnt for my experience whippin ####ties in the parking lot and driffting the ### end around corners near the begging of winter in my new jeep i prolly would have crashed. so yes experience helps out alot. but if it wasnt for fate in both situations i doubt i would be sitting here writing this.

the car 65 mph missed a light pole by less then 50 feet, the jeep 55 less than 2 feet from the cement barrier wall... you be the judge

 

Stats only show numbers with no real cause. I blame the CDL schools and the companies that take other drivers with the same experience and turn them loose. I believe there should be another endorsement on the CDL for Driver Trainers and they should be paid more all the time. Also the company should be held accountable for a good safety program with endorsed Driver Trainers.

 

i agree with the trainer endorsement, at least as far as doing it as part of your job

 

I don't believe in fate, so I have to go with experience on this one. The notion of fate is a crutch for people who refuse to believe that life is not a controlled system.

When the unexpected happens, experience will always help more than it hurts. Black ice is the perfect example of this. No one may be able to see it, but experience will tell you when the conditions make black ice likely. Experience tells you the difference between the traction you feel in your feet, and the traction you feel in your lower back and the traction that you feel in rump (insert joke here if you want, but its true). Experience tells you to stay off the brake and on the gas when a steer tire blows.

Experience minimizes chance and changes 'fate,' if you want to call it that.

 

At the end of the day I will take luck everytime.

 

yeah but a wise man once told me, we make our own luck.

 

I take experience hands down ! If you think about it most accidents someone is at fault.Blowing a tire ,black ice ect are just hazards of the job! If one of those hazards happen to you you know what & what not to do.

 

As Fate would have it,
Experience comes out on top...

You can control the experience of driving before any trip by relaxing or meditating 10 minutes or focusing on the trips requirements and get yourself in the 'Zone'.
Keep a journal of the trip and reread it one year later to re-enforce your learning.
Experience is what you make it and you can make it better.
Fate on the other hand is like a wind that blows when you least expect it.
Fate takes no prisoners but with experience you can steer around fate in some cases.