Vehicle: 2002 ML 500, 1994 Ford Explorer donated to Doctors without Borders
Location: Boston, MA
Posts: 2,030
MB Safety systems: saved by BAS!
I was driving this morning and the car in front of me stopped suddenly to let a pedestrian cross in the cross walk. Cool! The problem is that the pedestrian was so far off the street that the next 4 cars could have passed before he entered the street. He was so far away, in fact, that I never saw the man. I suddenly realized that the car in front of me was not just slowing down, but going to stop in the middle of the road. I hit the brakes hard, but as things transpired in slow motion in my head, I was absolutely sure that I was going to slam into the car.
The traffic was moving at around 45 mph and when I saw the brake lights, it never occurred to me that this car would come to a complete stop. What idiot does this for no reason? It was only after the near accident that I saw the pedestrian, who still would not enter the street because he thought the car behind me was going to hit me. I was pissed at this well-mannered, inconsiderate idiot!
Afterwards, I realized that I probably had not hit the brakes hard enough in the first few seconds, thinking that the idiot was just slowing down a bit. It was only after panicking that I applied harder. The brakes, however, hit hard with my first step, thanks to BAS. Even though I was sure that I would not only make contact, but bash the hell out of the idiot, I stopped well 2 feet before contact. Way to go MB safety systems!
It only occurred to me after the near miss that this would not have been a simple, exchange addresses fender bender. This would have been a first time experience with the airbag for me. Not too pleasant, I'm sure. As I continued my drive to work, once again, my appreciation was increased!
Something similar happened to me a few months back.
There's a large traffic light intersection on the road leading to my part-time workplace, with a slipway with a yield sign for traffic turning left, which I have to take.
It was a Sunday afternoon, so there wasn't too much traffic on the road. I drove behind a 2000-something 3-series BMW which also turned left. It's a very wide bend, so you can easily take it at about 50 mph when there's no traffic that you have to merge with. Obviously you have to look back to check for oncoming traffic, which I did. A mini-bus taxi approached rather slowly, so I didn't expect the BMW to stop at the yield sign, thinking that it would take the gap before it, and me taking the gap as well.
Not so! As I turned my head back to the road in front of me, the BMW was stopped dead in its tracks at the yield sign, the taxi still far from passing it by. Now, I was probably doing 37 mph when I noticed the stationary BMW, but probably less than three car lengths behind it.
It's phenomenal how one's brain simply takes over in these situations. Within a split second after I noticed the BMW, my foot was pressing the brake pedal through the floor. I realised afterwards that this was not the correct procedure to follow in such an emergency, but as I said, my unconscious mind took over.
I was convinced, in that brief moment, that I was going to hit the BMW's rear-end at quite a high speed. But sure enough, with smoke billowing from all four tires, my car managed to stop in time, with only a foot or two to spare, though. I could see that the occupants of the BMW had a nasty fright, judging by there hand gestures and rapid head movements.
It's in times like these that I can see the advantages of technology such as ABS brakes. This was the first time that I had such a near-collision encounter where I had no control of my actions at all - it's truly scary! In a less dangerous situation, I would never react in the manner that I did that day. I think it's in these types of situations that the electronic wizardry saves the day.
Be that as it may, my 22-year old Benz managed to rise to the occation and quite literally saved my butt that day. I'm quite impressed with the braking abilities of the W123.
__________________ F R A N S
1985 Mercedes-Benz 230E
340 000 km / 211 000 miles Full MB service history...still
MB Safety systems: saved by BAS! 
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