Well, today I got to really test out some of those saftey features.

I was on the hwy behind a big dump truck dropping rocks. I signaled to get into the lane to my left. The car in that lane pulled back a little and waved for me to go ahead. I was almost into the lane when a SUV from the far left lane decided to go across three lanes. I swerved to barely miss him. Unfortunately, this was the point in the hwy that took a sharp left turn and when I swerved to the right, there was the wall to the overpass. I swerved severely to avoid crasshing straight on into the wall. I never lost controll of the car, no skidding, no fishtailing, nothing.

I've very happy that I didn't have to learn how good the airbags are!!

 

Dear bethwisdom,

Sorry to hear of the misfortune...happy to hear the outcome!

BTW, your signature is not showing right on your post. Go back to your Control Panel and check that the HTML was properly copied.

 

Beth... <whew>... take a deeeep breath.

 

Bethwisdom:

Glad to hear it turned out OK. So you didn't hit anything, right?

Out of curiosity, do you think that the electronic stability control (actually called "VDIM" on the TCH) on the car helped keep the car in control? Could you feel it intervening (through the steering wheel or brakes)?

Just wondering...I am going to find an empty parking lot this winter and do a little experimenting on slippery surfaces to see how the VDIM works. My understanding is that it "guides" your steering by making it difficult to turn the wheel in a direction that will be detrimental to your emergency situation.

 

I didn't hit anything. The first swerve (to avoid hitting SUV) was a bit more than a minor swerve, but the swerve to miss the wall was a full on yank on the steering wheel. It may have airbags - but I didn't want to hit the wall head on. But when I yanked the steering wheel the second time I missed the wall and was still in complete control of the car. I didn't feel anything strange, but then again, I wasn't really "feeling" the steering wheel - I was thinking of the best way to avoid the most serious of injuries and thinking of my partner and kids.

My guess would be that it was the VDIM. I once had to swerve to avoid an accident in a 4runner and that little yank on the steering wheel almost made me flip and the truck was all over the road.

 

Wow, glad to hear that you didn't get hurt.

 

I used ABS the other day and it worked great. I almost hit a Heep (jeep)

 

Beth.

Great job of driving and a pat on the back to the TCH for helping you put the car were you wanted it to be at the instant you wanted it to be there. Without the VDIM, you would have had to make dozens of instant decisions, had perfect awareness of the vehicles position and directional momentum as well as an instant and updated feedback on the state of each tires grip on the road surface each fraction of a second. It is great to hear that a good driver can work with the car’s handling system and produce a safe outcome. I am very glad to hear that you are OK!