Driving 70 MPH on a Southern California freeway is no big thing, people do it all the time. This 'limit' begins to increase as the number of vehicles dramatically decrease each hour after the sun as set. So when I tell you that the other night we were driving home at the rate of 82 MPH, well that's not really worth writing about.
So what if I told you that while speeding down the road, trying to shave minutes off my best time from Orange County to Los Angeles I looked up from the dash gauges after hearing a peculiar noise to see a white BMW, fifteen yards in front of me, also traveling at 82 MPH but sideways, perfectly perpendicular to my own car.
Time froze. And then it started moving slowly from a solid to liquid state.
There in front of me a man-made object was seemingly defying the laws of physics, because it remained sideways moving at the same rate of speed with puffy white smoke billowing from the tires — the sound and smell of rubber being scrapped across pavement, in a way it was not designed to, filled the air around us.
I quickly scanned the area around me. To the left, in lane one was a Latino family crammed in a small orange Asian import vehicle. A car length behind them, in lane two, was a full-size white pickup configured with a contractor package, complete with a ladder. The third lane was dominated by German engineering: The smoking, sideways BMW and my own Reflex Silver Volkswagen. The last lane, number four, was unoccupied and depending on how the rubber gripped the road it was my intended escape route.
As my wife hit the hazard lights, I started working the brakes to bring our rate of speed down to a more manageable 55 MPH, traffic around me did the same. The BMW continued to slide and I thought for sure it was going to launch into an uncontrolled role as soon as one of the left tires connected with the round heavy plastic dots used to indicate lanes.
It never did. Instead the back of the car started to slide a bit past the front and the vehicles momentum started to carry the car forward into the second lane. The smoke disappeared as all four tires started to grip pavement launching the vehicle towards the concrete sound barrier wall ALA Dale Earnhardt. I thought for sure the BMW was going to become half of it's length in the next second and that the family of five, still in the first lane, would t-bone the wreckage requiring multiple ambulances and a SIG Alert.
The car did hit the wall straight on but instead of crumbling it was, as if from by divine miracle, spun around — facing the Latinos, then the truck, then us. It spun a full 270 degrees until it was once again back in a lane heading down the road in normal fashion. The brake lights went on and the wife reached for her cell phone to call for help, surely the people inside would require some medical attention.
Instead the BMW increase speed and started to flee the scene. I looked over the right to see the family also looking in disbelief as they pulled over, probably to collect their thoughts and stop hypervenalitang. After all we had been through, all seven seconds of it, these clowns were just going to drive away. What a load of crap.
I looked over at the wife, "Follow them", she said, "what if they are drunk or hurt?" Upon instruction I downshifted into third, the RPM gauge jumped by 1000 revolutions and we started pursuit. As the wife dialed the phone the BMW continued to speed off.
It wasn't until I reached 110 MPH that I was able to get close enough to read the license plate but even that was made more difficult as I didn't want to get close enough to come in contact, or be put into a position where that would happen.
As a side note I would like to add that at 100+ MPH the Vokswagen Passat performed admirably, feeling even more solid the faster we traveled. While the sound of the engine was louder than normal, it did not compete with the fantastic sound delivered from the Bose Monsoon stereo system. I can't say that this is the perfect car to pursue idiots on the California freeway system but it is certainly up to the task when neeeed.
The BMW swerved into the next lane the Rocket Scientist barked to the person at 9-1-1, trying to explain what was taking place on the 10 freeway. As we approached a sign advertising the next exit the BMW started to make their way over, the wife still reading off the license plate to the dispatch officer. With our crappy Cingular cell-phone connection a few numbers had to be repeated all the while the car was making it's way to the exit.
As this whole thing was not a good idea I was not about to compound the problem by getting off the freeway and into a neighborhood that I knew nothing about. Especially since we were speeding through East LA. Nice enough in the daytime I'm sure but there is a reason the area has never received an All American City award.
Just as the car left the freeway the last number was read and as the wife left her contact information I slowed our rate of speed back to a more manageable 80 MPH. The rest of the trip back home seemed very boring and uneventful.
Join the fray by reading through and commenting at the end.
Screw web design, Greg. I'm going to start calling you Poncherello.
Fitting we both post California car stories the same day.
Um, things are much slower in Canada. At least Northern Ontario. I had to stop for a moose once, though.
Sweet.
You should quit your job and post freeway stories full-time.
Wow! - as a fellow Angeleno I can relate to the craziness of daily commuting on LA freeways. Nice job getting the license #, although it would have been more unfortunate had your excessive speed ended up making your day even worse with a ticket or (even worse) wreck of your own. One just has to always be alert in LA.
A friend of mine had a 2-foot iron rod shoot through his winshield like a missle on the 10 West. It punctured his empty passenger's seat. Needless to say, anyone who had been sitting there would have sprung quite a leak.
As a former Angeleno, a fellow Passat driver, and one with a strong sense of right and wrong, one summer night in LA I heard a scream as I watched TV. Was it a crime show emanating from my neighbor's open window or was something more lurid taking place outside?
I opened the front door just in time to see a man running down the street with a woman's purse. Even though I was barefooted I ran after him. But his momentum was faster than I could overcome.
Seeing a man walking his dog in the direction the perpetrator was headed I yelled "Catch that guy!" The man and his dog continued my failed pursuit until, cornered, the perp drew a gun. Mr Dog Lover backed off and let the guy go.
Another hot night in old Tinseltown. Ahh, those were the days.
"at 100+ MPH the Vokswagen Passat performed admirably, feeling even more solid the faster we traveled"
Try a new Volvo S-40.
At any point during this chase, did you ever hear, "CUT! Some guy in a Passat won't get out of the shot! Let's take it from the top!"
Amazing story. I'm glad you went after the guy to get a license. He'll get his.
Allow me to tell my own high-speed chase story: A few years ago, I was rear-ended by a beat up pickup truck while stopped at a light. On the pretense of exchanging information, he waits for me to get out, opens his door, then gets back in and peels out and takes off.
I tell my girlfriend (at the time) in the passenger seat to hang on and we take off after him to get a license number. We are screaming past the Denver Country Club at 100 MPH on a quiet Sunday afternoon and weaving through the neighboring Country Club tree-lined streets before I decided to end the chase after the asswipe had no qualms flying through red lights. The truck had plenty of descriptive elements on it but no plates. I had a Jetta with a bashed in trunk.
drivers wanted.
Um, things are much slower in Canada. At least Northern Ontario. I had to stop for a moose once, though.
I will have to regale you with a few good moose vs. vehicle stories set in the Alaskan winter.
Daaaayyuuummmm!
I remember a similar incident on I-5, riding in a Greyhound a few years ago. Heading to Oceanside from San Diego, the Greyhound slammed on its breaks because some jerk cut us off. Needless to say, the bus I was in jolted me awake because it was swerving all over the road.
...And that's one of the few times when I feared for my life in a school bus. Another was when a mildly (read: enormously) obese fourth grader ripped one my dad would be proud of and all the students had to shove their heads out the windows.
Damn. Well, living in Miami, I can relate. I can't even count how many times I've seen idiots on the road doing idiotic things then fleeing the scene like idiots. They are usually one of two: college kids learning how to drive their new BMWs (from Daddy's money) the most wreckless way possible; or business assholes who, for whatever reason, think that the road is theirs and theirs alone just because they're talking on their cell phones closing some deal that will bulldoze a homeless shelter to make way for a condominium complex.
Here's hoping your wife got the numbers right.
Did you get a look at the driver??? It was Charlie Sheen right?
Props to the Passat for keeping up with the Beamer. Go Germans! I drive a Touareg and love it -- I'd like to see how it drives going 110mph, but not under the conditions you faced!
"The California Highway Patrol is accepting applications on a continuous basis."
Benefits include:
* Excellent salary (Starting at $50,952/yr)
* Full medical benefits for the entire family
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Request an Application.
Martin Riggs: You want me to drive?
Roger Murtaugh: No, you're supposed to be suicidal, remember? I'LL drive.
Martin Riggs: Anybody who drives around in this town IS suicidal.
Your views of East LA only serve to perpetuate the negative stereotype that is given to it. You only fear it because you don't know it.
Oh, and it was quite lucky that no innocent people got hurt.
Your views of East LA only serve to perpetuate the negative stereotype that is given to it. You only fear it because you don't know it.
"Your views of the taliban only serve to perpetuate the negative sterotype that is given to it. You only fear it because you don't know it."
Stereotypes often exist because they're generally true. What makes a stereotype bad, in my opinion, is using one to generalize about someone. Avoiding the Taliban good, claiming that all Muslims are members of the Taliban bad.
So, were Greg to have said, everyone from East LA is a thug, I'd agree with you. However, he avoided an area of town that probably has a warranted reputation as a rough area. That's just smart.
I've got a couple of those good old Alaska moose vs. automobile stories, too... never been a victim, but seen enough carnage to hands down top anything I've seen on freeways in the lower forty-eight.
Just so you know I was not drunk...
Hehe, the chase sounds like a blast...although i doubt you thought so at the time. Anyway, glad you made it thru it ok...
On a side note, great read!
You lost me at "the fantastic sound delivered from the Bose Monsoon stereo system."
See, now that's the type of weblog entry this community needs. Actually, screw that. That's the type of weblog entry the damn car blog needs.
I've seen plenty of things just as bad here in Tampa. 5 words one acronym: Woman on cell phone in S.U.V. I've also nearly been run off the road by a semi truck coming back from clearwater after almost being clipped by an old school Cadillac while I was going 90. Yes, that's right, I almost got pushed into the median by a Cadillac and a semi truck while I was going 90, and I don't mean kilometers per hour.
Of course I've also driven through 8pm traffic at 110mph, so I guess it wasn't that big of a deal. :)
Wow! that was like something out of a dean koontz novel!
Gripping true-to-life tale, Greg. You got me white-knuckling my mouse!
I don't have an about-to-meet-my-maker driving story, so I can't chime in on that part, but I'm glad to know that you made it out of the incident okay. I was wondering if I was going to read some part about how you're writing on a laptop from a hospital bed. It's good to know I never got to that part. My only recollection of riding down an southern California interstate with some family friends of mine from the area was how the dad driving 90mph still had people passing him like he wasn't going fast enough. Crazy.
Stereotypes often exist because they're generally true. What makes a stereotype bad, in my opinion, is using one to generalize about someone. Avoiding the Taliban good, claiming that all Muslims are members of the Taliban bad.
So, were Greg to have said, everyone from East LA is a thug, I'd agree with you. However, he avoided an area of town that probably has a warranted reputation as a rough area. That's just smart.
Yeah, probably, but stereotyping a location is just as bad as stereotyping an individual or group because it inadvertently projects that negative connotation to the group of people who live there, and no, that is not smart.
Road rage gets to us all. It's hard, but the best thing to do is usually just let it go. I think the reaction 'he might be drunk' was justified, but chasing them at 100mph+ doesn't necessarily put the odds in your favour.
And that is reason #293 why we need better mass transit in this country. ;o)
No, it means that members of a community have to go out of their way to combat the stereotypes that exist in order for people to realize that maybe, maybe it's safe to stroll through. There's an area of town where I live that has a horrible reputation (probably overblown) as being violent and extremely rough. I don't think that avoiding it is steretyping it at all. It's using common sense. Again, we're not discussing "a person" that made Greg decide to avoid that part of town... we're discussing the reputation of the part of town itself, which I find hard to believe isn't warranted.
Live in fantasy land all you want, but I won't be skipping through east LA alone after dark anytime soon.
Seriously. Chasing down someone on the freeways of Los Angeles at 110 in a VW because they might be drunk or hurt???
That = DUMB
Despite being a fun story, I kinda-sorta have to agree with the previous post.
Your first paragraph pretty much sets the stage for what the person in the out-of-control car almost caused. Both of you were attempting to "shave some time" off of your drive home (probably with no need to do so) and one of you was unlucky enough to lose control of your car.
The amazing story on HIS post was that he managed to drive his car sideways @ 82 miles an hour and "somehow not hurt a single person." Either way, both of you were driving fairly recklessly.
So, part of me is "Kick Ass... Great job!" And part of me is... hrm, you're lucky it wasn't YOU who was spinning out of control in the first place.
My husband and I "gave chase" once, though not at speeds like yours---it was on the George Washington Parkway in Northern VA, along the Potomac River that separates VA from Washington, DC, and 82 to 100 mph on that road would be asking to do a Thelma and Louise straight down into the water.
We were coming home late from a party and came up behind a car whose driver had to be so drunk, we'd've smelled booze if we'd just rolled down our windows. He was doing maybe 50mph, and was all over the two lanes, off the road and back on, just an absolute hazard. The husband kept a safe distance while I got the U.S. Park Police on my cell. The dispatcher told us they were sending a car, and that we should keep following the guy to make sure he didn't turn off someplace before the fuzz could show up. For about ten minutes, I hung on the phone with the dispatcher, narrating landmarks as we passed them (such as exist on GW Parkway: trees, river, groundhogs), hoping dude didn't kill himself before the cops came. Eventually, I guess our buddy realized how drunk he was, because he turned into a parking lot for a boating marina, parked, and just sat there. The police dispatcher on the phone had us follow the guy in, so we parked and hoped the cops would show up before this random drunk guy noticed us lurking---not a lot of marina traffic at that hour. Fortunately, the cops showed up lights ablaze in just another minute. We took off with the phone dispatcher's blessing, so I'll never know what happened, but I sort of hope that the fact that he was stopped when the police met up with him didn't mean they couldn't breathalyze his ass and haul him away to sleep it off in a holding cell.
For probably two weeks afterward, my husband and I joked about how we FIGHT CRIME, and walked around singing "dun nun nun nun NUN NUN nun nun, dun nun nun nun NUN NUN nun nun, BATMAN!"
I can read the tags on the wall... Police don't run East LA, and I am not itching to have a run-in with the local "authorities."
Q: What's the difference between a BMW and a cactus?
A: The cactus has the pricks on the outside.
/BMW driver
sounds like he was drifting... i had a similar situation once, on southbound hiway 101 in redwood city (south of san francisco). i was in the 2nd lane from the right, and was planning to exit at whipple avenue. the freeway makes a nice curve to the left just after the exit, and a car passed me on the right going perhaps 100 mph (i was doing 75-ish), then turned to the left, putting the car into a slide, and crossed directly in front of me. he had a nice drift going, but was slowed down by the center divider, which he hit instead of sliding along past it. after a quick bounce he straightened his car out and drove off...
Check out userdriven.com/2005/05/got_airbag.html
;-)
Exciting, and well written, but truly immature. However, I have no idea what I myself would have done with both a wife and a passat. I like to think I'd rather protect them, but maybe, like you - I'd rather just have fun. Because really, I'm all but positive you know that the relative reward (I doubt the police cared) was worth the lives you yourself were risking. This is a case, of like you essentially said, needing to puncture the boredom of an American commute. On behalf of those poor people who don't have the money to drive cars faster than they ought to, get a video game, please.
A slightly similar thing happened to me on I84 in Portland, coming back from Seattle. My friend is driving at night and we're merging with an onramp. A semi is up ahead of us when we notice car lights pointing into our lane of traffic, perpendicular to the truck. The truck slams on the brakes, we go past and see a couple of very shocked girls. We pull over to make sure everyone is ok. Luckily they were.
Seems that the girls tried to pass the truck and got over too early, clipping the rear of the car, spinning them onto the front of the truck. Amazing that no one was injured. It's a very odd feeling to see something like that, though. Takes a second for your brain to realize something isn't right.
You're nuts. Except Mrs Riggs was right along with you. 110mph, dear! As Robert said, quite immature, and then some...
Obviously unnecessary and irresponsible behaviour.
Yeouch. The closest I can remember to something like this was in.. oh, 1988 or thereabouts. A buddy of mine was driving myself and two other of our friends home after school.
Of course, we were speeding, big time - we were 17 or so. As we were passing an 18 wheeler, about half way along, it started to move into our lane - the second lane of two lanes.
No matter what Dave would do, the semi would hit us and demolish the car - I don't remember what it was other than it was an 8 cylinder Chevy.
So, what did Dave do? He moved into the ditch, hit the horn, driving around 90 MPH through grass as tall as the car, tilted to the left. The Chevy acted like a lawnmower, tossing cut grass everywhere.
The truck moved back into its lane and we got back onto the highway just before a turnaround that would have been a rude surprise. When we got back to Dave's we spent a fair amount of time pulling grass out of every corner of the car before his parents got home.
Obviously unnecessary
Really? How so? When the police dispatcher asked for a license plate number I guess we should have just replied that her request for that information was 'obviously unnecessary'. License plate numbers are soooo 20th century anyway right? Right?
Irresponsible behavior
Since when is aiding the Police irresponsible behavior? I was always under the impression that it was the duty of all citizens to aid our men and women 'in blue'. I guess next time I'll just shrug and hope that the police find this person on their own. How many white BMWs can there be in a population of 36 Million people?
Truly immature
Oh this one is my favorite. So if this had all taken place at 35 MPH would have have been mature? Maybe if we were in covered wagons? Exactly what was immature about this? Was it the speed at which this took place or the fact that I did more than just watch this happen and do nothing about it? We were after a license plate number, not a two-second spot on the next episode of Cops.
driving 110 mph is not risking ones live
here in germany you can drive as fast as you want and reading your story convinces me that this is very good...
except of the bmw of course
Yeah I agree with "Dosenwurst" I never travel slower than 110 mph you can easily hold that speed for some hours...
A friend of mine risked our lives when he drove along the Danube between Linz and Passau with 160 mph ...
Mountains \\\ _street_ \\\\\\Danube ////// + dark + small road + uahhhh....
.... but in other circumstances 160mph is ok ....
You americans chose the wrong parts of freedom ;)
Greg - you did the right thing. The problems on the roads are very real and nowadays require the public to take astute action.
I think car manufacturers should be giving away digital cameras to record such bad behaviours of other drivers and have them prosecuted in some way. At the very least, getting a license plate # and reporting it was a good thing to do.
When I moved from England to Canada, I was appalled by how poorly a number of locals in the Toronto area drove. And doing it at a third of the speed I was used to.
Yeah, Greg, I'm sure you'd be defending what you did even after you ended up splattered all over the highway. Or if you'd gotten murderized in East LA (they like to hurt the white folks there, you know).
You know, if you were in the car by yourself, that's one thing. I can even understand that a little. Cool, be a boy scout. But with your wife in the car? Let's add some kids in the back seat. Still necessary? Still responsible? Still mature?
But, hey, that Passat can hold its own with a BMW, right?
My issue isn't with Greg's safety, they made a decision to take chase, and the consequences that could have come with it. My issue is with my grandma's, or my daughter's, or anyone else who is driving at our around the "legal" speed limit on that highway... One second, there isn't anyone in their mirror... It's safe to merge a lane... BAM! I can accept Greg's death as a risk he might have found acceptable. Their deaths I could never accept.
And, chasing the guy didn't make it any more likely that he would slow down, likely the opposite. And, it probably didn't make it any more likely that the cops would be able to prevent what might have happened.
I also am willing to bet that any cop in his right mind would NEVER ask a citizen to be involvved in any "action-packed" way in the pursuit of a criminal.
As for immature, my guess it that they feel your "exciting story" was more important than the possible consequences.
Great story, not at all what I expected to read on Airbag, that's for sure. More like something I'd see on Cops (not that I watch that garbage).
I can't believe how many people have commented on how immature and irresponsible you were to proceed with such a notion. I have to expect that either they're a) boring, conservative people with no sense of adventure or b) driving crappy American cars. Going 110MPH in a fairly new German-built vehicle is not at all uncommon, ask anyone from Germany. And the previous comment about a "Passat can hold its own with a BMW" is probably true in many cases (especially if we're talking about an older BMW).
You did the right thing. Oh, and to all the "you risked your life AND your wife's life?" people: his wife TOLD him to follow the BMW.
You did the wrong thing. Maybe driving 100+ mph is a thrill for you, but it's no fun for the people doing 70-80 around you. When you drive irresponsibly, you risk your life and the lives of people around you. You have your own life to risk or not as you choose, but the other drivers specifically did not ask for that.
Patrick Haney: Way to generalize! Being responsible doens't necessarily make one fall into either your a or your b category. One can disagree with something without falling into such easily spouted generalities.
Whether a car CAN do any given speed isn't the argument people are making, but the argument your trying to defend... for whatever reason. In America... (most of it anyway) we have speed limits. Whether YOU like it or not, we do... Because of that, people tend to drive at or around those limits. The safest speed to drive is the speed that the rest of traffic is driving. 10 cars at 70, and two (one of whom is wildly trying to escape the other) driving at 110. Who do YOU think is going to cause the accident? Who do YOU think I'm going to never forgive for killing one of my loved ones, in the name of a "great story?"
Don't get me wrong, it's nothing against Greg, I just happen to think that some of the people here have valid points... the fact that you think that makes them a sissy doesn't make their points any less valid.
Don't like it? Don't drive on roads with posted speed limits, or make some attempts to get the laws changed.
What would be truly funny is a third blog entry, all about this white BMW that was drifting in front of a Passat, and how they then sped off together down the freeway, all while the folks in both cars talked to each other on their cell phone.
But seriously, good job calling the police. Whether it did any good or not, you made an effort. 99% of us just figure the police will catch him and leave it alone.
Of course, I'm glad I live in a different state. I like driving 100 MPH without having people call the cops... :-)
Hey, Real American Hero in the Passat, take that shit to Texas already.......you're gonna fit right in. Yeehaw! All that's left is you'll need to swap the passat for a Chevy Avalanche, set your VCR schedule to record "Knievel's Wild Ride", and look into a nice gun rack - FYI, most churches in Texas won't allow guns inside, but the Dairy Queens do (yup, I know, paradise).
Way to do the "right thing" by doubling the number of cars on that stretch ripping by at 110+ where the flow is usually 70. One unexpected lane change and it's alooooohaaaa for you and the poor bastard who never saw you bearing down.....
LOL, classic....(again)
Hey BEC, talk about stereotypes................Chevy Avalanche? Don't think so, Ford is the truck of choice in Texas......tight wranglers.....big cowboy shirts...... great big shiny belt buckles, ..........tall cowboy hats.......and "sigh" ....REAL MEN, EXCITING MEN .......yes Greg, you would fit right in!
We have an assumption in the house:
"Driving at 110mph in 80mph traffic is dangerous."
This is an assumption--no more, no less. It is perfectly reasonable to drive twice or three times as fast as the "general concensus" speed, if you know what you are doing. Cops routinely drive down the freeway at breakneck speeds. What allows them to do so? The title of "police officer"? No: it's because they've learned how to handle their cars at those speeds. More crucially, they've learned how to navigate around other traffic at those speeds. People who speed CAN be responsible.
Americans are notoriously bad at handling their vehicles. Watch the cars pile up in southern California when it drizzles, for a quick example.
But if you say Greg's behavior is irresponsible, without ANY knowledge of
1. Traffic density,
2. Road and lighting conditions,
3. The condition and capabilities of (specifically) Greg's car,
4. (most importantly) Greg's driving ability,
you are, quite simply, an asshat.
Interestingly enough, it's NOT uncommon to see that high speed chases involve cops crashing into regular motorists. Cops are not immune, skills or no. I'm pretty sure that some places don't even allow COPS to be in high-speed chases. Your suggestion that anyone is immune from making a critical mistake in a high speed chase is absurd.
The skills of the driver mean absolutely nothing, when the variable that matters is the skills of the drivers around him. Not only do WE not know this information, but the highly-skilled driver of the speeding vehicle sure as hell doesn't either. So, your number 4 isn't the most important factor at all.
The idea that people are ignoring is there are an infinite number of factors that COULD have caused a fatal accident. Thank god that's not the case, but it doesn't make it MORE responsible. It just means the odds favored him.
Your comments only make sense if the driver of BOTH speeding vehicles are somehow God and can control the variables. Feel free to be excited about the story, I just don't see how you can try and refute that there was avoidable danger involved.
Point 1: It only takes one car to not notice Greg or the Idiot he was chasing. Point 2: Road conditions are so fucked up on such an upredictable level that there's no way that Greg or Idiot could have predicted them. One Kansas City pothole @ 110 MPH and you're toast. They pop up overnight. Point 3: Again, the conditions of his car are only as good as the conditions of any one other person on the highway that night. Point 4: Same as point three.
I guess I'm an asshat. (Again with the name calling based on having an opinion.)
Definitely valid points Brian. I guess the main, unassailable opinion I wanted to contribute is this:
If you know what you're doing, you drive carefully, even at 110mph.
I'm not saying there is no risk involved. I'm not saying there's no chance of not seeing a pothole and turning into Passat Sunny Side Up.
But if you're a conscientious driver, it's possible that you're SAFER going at 110mph, fully aware of your surroundings, than if you're the average American driver commuting at 80mph (while on the cell phone talking to the kids in the back). In other words, if a "good driver" is going to drive at 110mph, he better damn well be sure he has the proper escape routes, lane changes, and appropriate levels of fellow-driver skepticism. If not, then he is reckless.
People jumping to the conclusion that Greg was "irresponsible" are themselves irresponsible, at least as far as the realm of scientific inquiry is concerned.
Well, I'll certainly agree that the whole point of the story has gotten somewhat mucked up by an unfortunately accusatory post that could have expressed his opinion a bit more tactfully.
(And as everyone knows, once someone goes off the deep end in ONE direction, the other side has to be equally over the top in their defence.)
here in oregon, we don't have as much fun. people get freaky if you go over 65mph. i did however see a similar situation when we had ice. A) oregonians should drive in ice and B) when stupedly driving on ice, don't change lanes. i watched an suv slide accross 4 lanes, slam into the barrier and then tumble over the barrier into the median. nice blog by the way
I must agree... Passats perform admirably above 110mph. And a lot of the time, you mightn't even notice. Case in point, my first year in college, I was on a date with my then girlfriend. I drive fairly fast regardless, but that night on the freeway, I took a second to divert my attention from her to the cars around me. It was evening, and the traffic was sparse, yet zipping past at an astounding rate in the other direction. At this time in my life, my personal car was a beat up old Ford pickup, with a top speed of about 80, at which point you'd fear the truck would fall apart. So, used to that, I tended to gauge my speed by the rising noise levels rather than by looking at the speedometer. I was after all, 18, and teenagers know everything.
Well, I had borrowed my mother's fancy new Passat for the date, and judging by the sound, there was no way I was even over 70mph (even taking into account, in my young mind, that this was a new car and was bound to be more tranquil than an old pickup). Upon noticing the traffic, however, I looked at the gauge... I was doing 120mph.
I let off the throttle, eased it down to 80, and had a nervous laugh. My gf looked at me and asked what was wrong. "Oh... nothing..."
Now, don't get me started about chasing cars off the freeway...
I can only add my experience of 'crossing the T' in front of a fully-loaded semi with my beaten-up Subaru. I was in a hurry to get to Boston one snowy December night, deep past midnight, on Massachussett's I-90 when I passed a Freightliner on the right. Not that fast, really, because the snow was thick, but fast enough to be foolish. I felt the car wag a little, and suddenly I found myself sailing gracefully across the bow of the truck I had just passed. My car swung completely around as I entered his lane and I distinctly remember watch his headlamps cross my windshield left to right in the five calmest seconds of my life. Fortunately, the arc of my car was not the same as my spin, and I was carried across to the far side of the highway and into the nice, soft, fresh, fluffy snow. The truck thundered past on my left and disappeared into the storm. I was left with not a light, not a sound, not a scratch and not a witness, save one. I could only imagine the surprise of the truck driver when he saw my ghost white Subaru cross in and out of his headlights, staring him down, before he could probably react. At that point, I realized I was facing west on the downslope of an east-bound lane. I restarted my motor, swung my car around and reentered the storm toward Boston.
I drove in LA for many years before moving to Ireland for a life of public transport and walking. Thank you very dearly for this story as it reminds me of the times when similar things happened on the 10 the 405 and the 110. Crashed into, flipped off and shot at.. there are times when I really miss LA and driving but next time I am sitting beside a sweaty drunk on the bus I will remember your story and weigh it all up. Can't wait to move back!
My brother often does 100mph down freeways, jumping median strips and going into oncoming traffic and stuff like that.
Him: What did you do today?
Me: I made a wizzy webpage! You?
Him: I drove 100mph in to oncoming traffic.
It makes making wizzy webpages seem somewhat less impressive. OK - totally non-impressive.
But he's a Paramedic, so he has flashing lights and sirens to warn people of the impending doom he brings (or is trying to avoid or solve or however you want to look at it).
Cecily's ""what if they are drunk?" should really have been "what if they're drunk and have a gun?" Unfortunately, it's too common for freeway hijinks around Los Angeles to end in gun play, as it's easier to get your paws on a handgun than a drivers licence in some LA neighborhoods. I think there's been 10 shootings on or around the freeways in the last 2 weeks. I'm sure for this reason and others, citizens giving chase is not a practic encouraged by the CHP. I've seen a lot of craziness on the freeways in 20+ years driving in LA. When it happens I try to get myself as far away from it as possible, as quickly as possible. Good story though.
Yet another reason why I need to get a video camara installed into my eyes. Camara phone? Bah. We need pictures over heeya!
BMW: The Ultimate Fleeing Machine
Glad you and the Mrs. are okay. Stuff like that makes you appreciate life just a little more...
LA is so much fun, I remember looking in my rearview mirror and seeing 27 CHP cars with lights-a-flashing...For a second I about crapped my pants, till I pulled over. That is where they surrounded my car, drew their shot guns, an aimed it at the car infront of my now parked car.
Nothing like being caught in the middle of a high speed pursuit, except maybe pursuing in high speed.
Once I made it from Rancho Cucamonga to the LA Convention Center in 32 mins.
Now that a few people have brought cell phones into the discussion, I would simply like to add: GET OFF THE PHONE, FOR CHRISSAKES.
Enforcement here in NY state is a joke - it's against the law but nobody seems to care. I think it's time to stop with the "Buckle Up!" campaigns and switch to "Hang Up!"
Man - that is a crazy story. Totally like something out of a movie. Good of you to keep your cool (or so it seemed by your story telling) and get the license number. Hopefully this BMW driver will get some TLC from the Po-lice.
Please don't kill my sister
I drive drive 100+ on LA freeways routinely with my Valentine 1 in my VW GTI. Before you all criticize me, I've driven on numerous tracks, spent over $5K on expert driving school, and never gotten a ticket nor an accident in the 10 years I've been driving. Cars are meant to be driven.
You really captured how shitty LA freeways are in that story. People drive around crashing into everything. I drive the 118, 10 , 405, etc. all the time, and I've seen some crazy things too. Cars on fire, people racing and flipping their cars, pursuits. This place is straight out of a movie.
Thanks you for that. a nice break. my wife drives a VW Golf TDI. You all should have one. 50MPG. Stick it to bush.
I live in San Diego where the roads and the drivers on them are only marginally better at best and I say good for you Greg. If I was in that situation I would have done the same thing.
I delivered pizza for about 5 years here in San Diego and I have seen more than enough bad driving so I won't hesitate to try and get some jackass off the road now. If he crashes at 110MPH and I need to "chase" him to get the tag number, then so be it.
I personally am with Greg when he said...
As a side note, I've been robbed at gunpoint, had 2 cars stolen and had an intruder in my house while my wife and I slept. Perhaps that's why I feel the need to aid the police.