Julie's story
I found out first hand what the "ESP" is for... I was on my way home westbound on the 101 freeway in Los Angeles at about 10:15 pm, going about 65 mph, when a car went speeding by me at about 85... I was in the middle lane and he was cutting in and out of traffic.
He got about 3 car lengths ahead of me and apparently clipped someone -- he was in the far left lane and suddenly spun out across all five lanes of traffic right in front of me and went crashing butt-first into the right hand side guardrail, about 4 or 5 feet from my front end.
I had to swerve hard to the left to avoid him. I was just about to spin out myself, when I felt my left rear wheel brake just a bit, and my smart just righted itself and got me back into the lane! No skidding, no fishtailing. Just 'eep' and I was right back on track.
I got by the accident and took the Van Nuys Boulevard off-ramp, where I pulled into a gas station, called 911 to report the crash, and then sat there in the car and tried to get my heart to beat normally again.
I realize now that had I been in my Volkswagen, I may very well have continued spinning after swerving to avoid the crash, and may have even flipped over. After all, my old VW has weird brakes and not the most stable steering.
Thank you, smart people. Max doesn't have a scratch. And more importantly, neither do I.
Julie O'Malley
Los Angeles, CA