Another ABRUPT Braking Situation

SpeakEasy wrote:
Yesterday I was on my way home from a camping trip about 3:00PM towing my 4300-lb (weighed) travel trailer. I was on a rural road that was winding and hilly; the speed limit was 55MPH. I was pretty much traveling at the speed limit. On the uphill climbs I was really powering into them to keep my speed from dropping too much.

I came to the crest of a hill, and around a blind curve ahead there was a stopped school bus with lights flashing and stop sign deployed. It was in my lane, heading the same direction as me, and there was a car stopped behind it.

I had to slam on the brakes to their maximum in order to be able to stop.

For a split second I was unsure I'd have enough room to come to a complete stop, and I did a quick visual check to see whether to use the opposite lane or the shoulder for an emergency. On what side were the children?

Fortunately, I was able to stop safely.

I was very glad for a number of things: (1) all my gear worked as it was supposed to; (2) I am within my weight limits; (3) I was paying full attention to the road.

If any one of those three elements had not been true, there could have been a bad ending.

Be careful out there, especially during school transportation times.

-Speak

I'm really glad it worked out for you, and you had nothing worse than a momentary adrenaline rush and maybe some rearranged cupboard contents come out of things.

It's really, really easy to drive too fast on curvy and hilly roads--not so much because of one's ability to go up or down hills or around corners with command of the vehicle, but rather because of limited sight lines and being able to stop for unanticipated things blocking one's way. I know there have been a good few times when I've considered after driving somewhere that I would have not been able to avoid a crash if I came upon a downed tree or something around a blind corner or over a blind hill. (Even more frequently, it's likely that the driving is the same but the consideration afterwards doesn't happen.)

Thanks for the reminder to pay attention and be prepared.