Almost wrecked on the 17 this morning!!

drivin to work this morning, i was on the 17 goin towards santa cruz when all of a sudden I had a weird premonition that a car was gonna spin out in front of me and i was gonna slam into it.

It was misting and the road was wet as it had rained all night, all of a sudden, a little green toyota camry passed me and when it was 3 car lengths in front me started to hydro plane sideways almost hitting the divider.  I swerved off the road where there was some space and did a 180 to flash the traffic coming around the corner.  Fools were hauling ass and this poor girl in her car was sideways facing the divider. 

finally, a minute later, a tow truck saw me and the car trying to right herself and turned on his hazards.  about 6 or 7 cars went by and didn't stop or let the person back out.  she was able then to get her car turned and came over to the side of the road where i and the tow truck driver were parked.  not even a scratch or dent or anything on her car. 

so weird.  that freaked me out, if i wouldn't have had that thought before it happened i would have probabley been right next to her when it happened for I had slowed down a little right after the thought.

You and she and probably a lot of others were very lucky!  There are many curves on that road where even if you are well below the speed limit, it is impossible to see around the corner and you have almost no time to react or to warn people behind you.  Any amount of rain and it is a skating rink at the speeds people drive.  The strange thing is, most cars don't drive that way in the Sierras, but on 17, most of the cars are speeding, following too close, making unsafe lane changes and swerving.  Of course there is a lot more traffic per mile on 17.
   There are a couple of side roads  that usually are a lot less nerve-wracking, but they'll cost you 10-15 mins.  Redwood Estates, Old San Jose Santa Cruz Rd, Summit Rd, Soquel-San Jose Rd. .   

I agree, most folks don't drive as crazy in the Sierras. I lived up there for 11 years and only once did I ever see crazy folks trying to speed on the mounain. Cost them their front ends and a couple of axles. Even having experience with snow and ice, I still am leary of driving on 17 going to SC. I've been on that road since I was a kid and there was no divider wall. I'm not afraid of the road, just the drivers.

My last experience with a wreck on 17 was a couple of years ago when I watched a car blow by me then blow a tire. She hit the wall and came to a quick stop. No injuries, but a lot of sparks and dust. And yes, folks didn't stop at all for that on too.

Good job on avoiding the accident JTF.
I have been the first at several accident scenes to render assistance or first aid but I do understand why a lot of people do not stop.
Most are just plain worthless at assessing the situation and would be useless at rendering any kind of assistance.
Some may not realize what has happened until it is too late to stop to render any kind of help.
There are also situations where stopping would actually make the situation more dangerous.
Better to leave it to the professionals. For most is it best to just cal 911.
The only accident where people were badly in need of assistance and I did not stop was in Mexico.
We were driving from Xcaret to Cancun when it was just a 2 lane road through the jungle with ZERO shoulder on either side. Late at night, pitch black and POURING rain. The kind of rain where one should pull over, but there was no place to pull over.
We came upon some lights in the road ahead, but they were stationary. Turns out it was a head on collision between a VW bug and a Suburban in the middle of nowhere.
The VW looked like an opened can of sardines.
We were in a rented VW bug ourselves. No flares, nothing to signal oncoming traffic and no cell phone.
The people in the VW were unconscious and either badly injured or dead. The kind of  medical assistance they required was way beyond my means. The driver of the Suburban was hurt but not too serious. We stopped for a brief moment and realized we could become part of a bigger problem if we stayed there. Visibility was close to zero. We also realized that if we stayed we were wasting time on getting REAL help. We told the driver of the Suburban we would press on and call for help at the first place we could; which we did.
As unfortunate as it was that we did not stay I feel we made the right decision.

I know that road from Cancun, I rode my mountain bike on it. Most of the time people gave me room, but plenty of times it was up to me to stop, and plunge myself into the grown shrubbery. My dream of riding down the coast along whitesand beaches and turquoise ocean did not come true till 80 kilometers of shear terror was replace by a dirt road that runs from Tulum all the way to Asaccion Bay...That was Kool.

That's a tough spot with that split open VW,  Positioning victims to promote breathing and bleading control and keeping them warm is all ya can do. They have so many accidents on that road. While I was down there, I must have seen @ least a dozen cars that had recently been destroyed, with dozens of crosses signifying lost ones....

Way to stay in one piece JTF..............Danglin

That thought was sure a blessing. 17 is plain dangerous in the rain with those crazy drivers.

I got nudged in the rear from a car that was driving stupid fast and couldn't get around me or slow down fast enough. I am not slow poke on that road either. I got sideways on a turn but slid out of it. That was in my old pontiac, a truck or suv would have probably rolled.

Its sad that when driving you are often the victims of other people's stupidity.

-Brian G

JTF.....you have "spider senses"       

Glad your OK.......just make sure you leave me your T160 in your will 

There was a letter to the editor in the sentinel last week about driving the 17 into San Jose from Santa Cruz. The writer drove as fast as possible, passing, etc one day, and the next day drove 50mph and did not pass anyone. The difference between the two timed drives?
2 minutes.

I noticed today the spot was right after redwood estates, a left turn that states 40 mph.  Theres a dirt turnout on the right.  The pavement is course through there, but, the road slopes downhill towards the fast lane.  The driver was one lucky chica! 

I'm building a winery up there on summit rd. right now.  The only thing crazier than highway 17 is the price of food at the summit market.

When it's wet on highway 17, it's not a question of IF there will be any accidents, but HOW MANY. I was driving a pickup over 17 about 15 years ago on a rainy day. A jerk in a Porsche passed me doing around 90. When I crested the next hill, his totalled car was in the middle of a swarm of smashed and still-moving cars. I was able to stop, but one of the spinning cars knocked off a 20 dollar plastic light cover on my fender. I was lucky, because there were totalled cars all over the place. The cause? A van turned sideways in the road, up against the divider, just like in your situation. After yelling at everybody out his side door, the guy slammed the door and drove away without a scratch! That day, there were 24 accidents on highway 17 between Scotts Valley and Los Gatos.