[cvn-e2]

I think God must have been looking over me today because I am thoroughly surprised at what I was able to pull off with my i8 today, despite being under the weather all past weekend.

Gather around folks, story time:

TL;DR: it was NOT my fault. Some dbag in his pickup veered out of an office parking lot in broad daylight, completely on to the lane I was driving on (from what I assume was an overestimation of his brakes, as visibility on the road is good). I narrowly avoided crashing into his driver's side at a high speed.

Setting: the road was a wide one, 2 lanes on each side, and a center turn lane. Good California weather, evening time, and the visibility along the road is good - no trees lined up on the sides. Only some single/double story business offices/warehouses, and parking lots. The road is not that busy as one side is almost completely taken up by a defunct/large warehouse. The posted speed limit was 50mph, and as is very common in Southern California, I was going 5mph over (55mph), with 2 or 3 other cars following suit a ways behind me. Opposite traffic was a bit further down the road. I was in Sport Mode, Traction control off (DSC on). I had just done a fun 0-50mph sprint at the last light, and was cruising at 55 after.

As I was driving along on the right most lane, I noticed (from what must have been around 150 feet away) a pickup that was barreling towards the exit of one of the parking lots on the right side. As it was coming at about 80-90 degrees to me, I instantly tensed up, gripping the steering wheel at 9 and 3. Driving around LA in an i8 definitely makes you a defensive driver. I figured it would be one of those idiots that just likes to slam on brakes at the last moment. It was.

Except this time, it looks like he overestimated his brakes (or something went wrong with the car while it entered the dip between the parking lot and road) as the car did not look like it was going to stop in the parking lot. And as I later saw in my rear view mirror, it stopped all the way into the right lane, barely clipping the left lane. I had some 70-90 feet (I had to double check on Google Maps after I got home safely) before an imminent collision based on his failure to stop before the road. At 55mph, that’s literally a second away (80 ft/second).

It was one of those moments which you will always remember in slow-mo: eyes open wide, you take in some air, and instincts take over. I knew I only had two options:

1) Brake as hard as I can, and hope that by some miracle, the i8 will be able to stop from 55mph to 0mph in less than 60 feet.
2) Or do the "moose test" evasive maneuver where not only do I swerve left, but also accelerate, and hope to God this retard's brakes slow him enough so I can put just enough of a gap to avoid a collision.

Despite being under the weather, I made the (literally) split second decision, and chose the latter. Instead of letting off the accelerator, I pushed it, and swerved to the left. The i8 responded beautifully (glad I was in Sport Mode), and it handled extremely well with the aggressive swerve and AWD acceleration. I honestly don't know how much of a gap was left between me and the retard, but it could not have been more than 10 feet. I ended up going past the center turn lane, on to the opposite direction. I lifted the foot off the accelerator, but didn’t slam the brakes. Got the car pointing straight, and back on to the center turn lane, before coming back on the left lane. Luckily, traffic in the opposite direction was far enough where they slowed down from seeing what happened. I looked in my rear view mirror and saw the retard was completely on to the right lane (where I was driving), and was hurriedly reversing back into the parking lot as the sounds of horns of the angry drivers behind me took over. I finished the drive back home uneventfully, thanking God for watching over me. I don’t think I even changed my music on the remaining drive back home.

Interestingly, the i8's onboard sensors and camera did not pick up the idiot's car, and did not give me warnings or try to stop. I guess it was beyond its limitations. Lesson to be learned here? You may be a good driver and follow all rules, but don’t overestimate other drivers. Seriously, there are some truly shitty drivers on the road.

• Scan the road and your mirrors frequently
• Always be aware of your surroundings and traffic moving around you
• Always be focused on the road ("eyes on the road")
• A second your eyes are off the road at 50mph, you can travel 60-80 feet. That was pretty much all the distance and time I had to react.

Anyway, the i8 and I made it unscathed, but I was certainly shaken. The i8? I don’t think as much. If it had been some other car, perhaps even another BMW, it might not have swerved and straightened out so easily. It may also not have accelerated fast enough to avoid him. I honestly don’t know, but I am SO glad my instincts and reflexes kicked in as fast as they did, under the eye of someone. Huge shoutout to BMW racing schools and track events for teaching me these skills and knowledge of driving physics. This saved me (and that idiot) a ton of pain and misery, hospital runs, insurance calls, etc. etc.

Lastly, I am definitely glad that of the other cars I could have been driving today, it was my i8.

[Mr.SugarSkulls]

Glad your safe man. The i8 truly is an amazing machine all around.

[MalibuBimmer]

Where were you exactly? I'm unaware of any public streets in L.A. adjacent to parking lots where the speeds are 55 MPH between lights.

Of course it wasn't your fault.

[jcpca356]

yikes!

[363ny]

Scary stuff. Glad you are alright.

[JasH]

Wow, lucky escape. And good decision on avoidance. Most would have braked.

[YWGT3]

I would be inclined to agree it's God's grace. You were afforded a set of unique circumstances. Your attention and anticipation were drawn to the right place and at the right time in order to make a split decision. This combined with your BMW training and the i8's: agility, handling, and mid range acceleration prowess enabled you to avoid the collision. Glad to know you came away unscathed.

[Aye-eight]

Originally Posted by MalibuBimmer

Where were you exactly? I'm unaware of any public streets in L.A. adjacent to parking lots where the speeds are 55 MPH between lights.

Of course it wasn't your fault.

This may not have taken place in LA. He just said driving in LA makes one a defensive driver. So, I suppose that's where he normally drives.