Was out with the fam today in Quarry land, headed east on a concession Rd in the Explorer (black line). Came upon a huge float with a giant excavator stopped at the side of the road. No room for two cars. Maybe small ones.
Doing maybe 70, looking forward, dropping down to 50, a quarry service van came out onto the road, went wide, straightened out then headed west towards me. At that point I was just beginning to move out to pass by the stopped truck.
At this point (green stars) we both saw each other, I figured I was closer (maybe not), so I went for it and kept going. He never let up, we made hard eye contact, he never gave way at all. I went right as far as I could. I had no room and we clipped drivers mirrors. BAM!
We stopped, I backed up. We both got out, he came out to me excited, arms waving, excited, but I didn't get too much adrenaline going. Kept cool. I said, calm down! Stop already buddy it's no big deal, we'll sort it out! He stopped.
I got the papers out. He went back to his van and called his boss. The convex part on the lower mirror was gone. I lost my entire glass as well. But the case is ok. He was worried about his record.
Comes to me and says the boss is ok if we just forget it and let it go. I agreed. I'm relieved actually and so is he (drives for a living). We shake hands, both apologize and have a bit of a nervous chuckle about it all, shake again, and agree that we both share the blame. And we're on our way.
Could have been worse, but it's a wake up call for me even though I don't think it's all my doing.
But how would you argue this anyway? I do have a dashcam (which I don't even want to see right now), but I'm in his lane. How would it go?
You would be in the wrong...... Either failing to yield the right of way or driving on the wrong side of the road.
You did the best you could considering the circumstance, new mirror will be cheaper in the long run. BUT, the other driver should have been more considerate seeing that he had just turned on and he should have seen you were carrying speed....
What happened to you is a bit of a sore point with me.
You have been to my house, my town. This is one of the prime bicycle and Triathlon areas in Ontario. From May to late September there are any number of bikes or events on the area roads..... With all the hills and curves, "Share the Road" signs, bikes are here almost every good weather day. Luckily most of the roads have wide shoulders for this reason.
BUT drivers who are travelling in the same direction, usually fail to slow, they just stay at their speed and drive over the line. This may be in a turn or at the top of a hill, of course you are coming in the other direction. Lots of time its a dump truck or delivery truck... and then you have to take defensive moves, often right over past shoulder on to the 12" of gravel.
The HTA states that bicycles, slow moving, parked on the side and emergency vehicles, MAY be passed when it is safe and with the minimum of driving over the center line ...
But nobody wants to give anyone a break..... As in your case the oncoming driver should have recognized the the obstruction and the situation. By what you describe, him turning right wide into the wrong lane, hints to me, he changed his mind making the turn, talking on the phone, not coming to a complete stop or all of the above.....!!!
I do think it was a shared responsibility on this one, but I fear I'd have been the guilty party as I was in his lane when we clipped.
In the end it'll only cost me about 200 bucks for a new mirror portion (blind spot detector/heated), I'll see if a wrecker has one, it's easy to remove. The mirror glass broke when the mirror was whipped into the drivers side window. I'm surprised the window wasn't busted and the mirror unit wasn't destroyed.
I'm glad we could just go on our way.
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65 Laurentian post, 67 Grande Parisienne 4 door HT.
Thanks Randy, great site! Looks like there might be something in Brantford or Ft Erie.
New, the entire assembly is in the 600 range from Ford. The thing has heat, blind spot detect/led, puddle lamp, signal lamp and power fold. So it's no simple little mirror.
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65 Laurentian post, 67 Grande Parisienne 4 door HT.
Many trucks have mirrors that stick out a mile now, Id say losing a mirror is common now. My instinct when Im in the position of the guy who didnt give way is to give way. If my vehicle is damaged, the best I can hope for is it gets fixed back to what it was before the accident, no gain/benefit? He probably is a lousy driver or wasnt paying attention.
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63 Parisienne sport coupe (The Big GTO), black, maroon interior, 409 4 speed; former owner of a 59 El Camino, 63 Corvette SWC, 62 Chev Bel Air SC. 1963- Pontiac top selling car in Canada
Mahone Bay, NS Still not old enough to need an automatic
Many trucks have mirrors that stick out a mile now, Id say losing a mirror is common now. My instinct when Im in the position of the guy who didnt give way is to give way. If my vehicle is damaged, the best I can hope for is it gets fixed back to what it was before the accident, no gain/benefit? He probably is a lousy driver or wasnt paying attention.
Had he moved right as little as 5", we would not have clipped. His mark on my mirror housing is only 5" from the outside edge.
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65 Laurentian post, 67 Grande Parisienne 4 door HT.
The famous final thoughts before an accident, "I didn't expect it." You have to plan for the unexpected, especially on a motorcycle if you want to live. Just because you have the green light doesn't mean that socialite on the phone noticed the red. Maybe
Sometimes stuff happens so fast, as in multiple cars deflecting, 18 wheeler crossing the median, 22-year-old tires blowing... As for bridges, you just have to have faith to cross them. If they go its up to kinetics.
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67 Chevelle Malibu Sport Coupe, Oshawa-built 250 PG never disturbed.
In garage, 296 cid inline six & TH350...
Cam, Toronto.
I don't judge a man by how far he's fallen, but by how far back he bounces - Patton
