# Pleeeenty of time to stop!



## JasonF (Oct 26, 2018)

I was on a local toll highway today, and I went through the pass-through lane (it reads a sticker) going around 78-ish. As I was close to the end of it, someone came out of the toll booth lanes and merged in front of me going very slowly, maybe 30 mph. I started braking, and preparing to go around. Then the car swerved so it was blocking both the right and center lane - apparently he thought he was going to cross all the way to the left lane at 30 mph. Except once he saw me, with even _less speed_, because he saw me coming, and _stopped entirely._

I'm not sure how I had the presence of mind to do what I did from this point forward, but I was grateful that the Model 3 could keep up without losing any control whatsoever.

I locked all 4 brakes briefly (the Model 3 seems to favor stopping power over antilock at that speed, so you will definitely make a smoky stop!) but immediately realized even with all the brakes fully engaged, there was simply _not enough space to stop before hitting them_. So I swerved hard right onto the paved shoulder, which was a step down because the main road had a new layer of pavement. At that point, the other car decided to pull over to the right when other cars were skidding to a stop around them, so I narrowly missed him with 2 wheels on the paved shoulder, and at least 1 on the grass.

The 3 handled it so well that it didn't feel all that dramatic. There was no oversteer, no skid correcting on my part, and I didn't feel unsafe except just before I swerved to avoid hitting the stopped car. And it's a RWD model! Afterward, the only thing not working right were my hands, which had just started shaking after that near miss.


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

Wow!

Did you save the dashcam footage?


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## Gatornail (Apr 11, 2017)

Glad you and your 3 are ok!


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## JasonF (Oct 26, 2018)

garsh said:


> Did you save the dashcam footage?


I'll check the stick. I was out for quite a while (this was around 1 pm, I didn't get home until almost 6) so it might be gone. I didn't have the presence of mind right after it happened to use the save button.


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## [email protected] (Oct 3, 2018)

Did you have an extra pair of underwear to change into?


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## TomT (Apr 1, 2019)

All other considerations aside, 78(ish) is WAY too fast to be going through a toll lane!



JasonF said:


> I was on a local toll highway today, and I went through the pass-through lane (it reads a sticker) going around 78-ish.


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## eXntrc (Jan 14, 2019)

TomT said:


> All other considerations aside, 78(ish) is WAY too fast to be going through a toll lane!


I don't know the highway the OP was on, so I don't know how safe that is. But just FYI, your statement is a bit judgmental and assuming. Here in Texas it's actually quite common for traffic to be moving 80 MPH in a toll lane. We have toll lanes like this:









Speed limits are posted 75 and everyone drives 5 over. It would actually be unsafe to drive much slower than that.

The problem is when you have tolls like this:










The left lanes continue on full speed at whatever the traffic flow is. The right lanes slow down to pay. It doesn't happen often, but sometimes someone will come out of the right lanes driving WAY too slow and merge back in to the left lanes without paying attention.

Now, I can't say this is what happened to the OP. Only he can say that. But I've had what I described above happen to me, and a blanket statement of "78(ish) is WAY too fast" seems to indicate a misunderstanding common and valid traffic flow patterns. At least for the great state of Texas.


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## gary in NY (Dec 2, 2018)

Most electronic toll pass through lanes are traveled at highway speeds, and are marked that way. It would be a different story for low speed traditional toll plaza lanes (with electronic toll readers), but I don't see too many of those on the highway lanes, just on exit/entrance ramps (there is one right near me posted at 20mph).

BTW, great job by you and the car to avoid a collision.


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## Klaus-rf (Mar 6, 2019)

Most cars - above 40MPH or so - will change lanes quicker than they can stop.


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## JasonF (Oct 26, 2018)

eXntrc said:


>


That's almost exactly what the configuration looks like at that section of highway. The only difference is the merge-out and merge-in lanes for the toll booths are shorter, so you really can't see them coming until they're almost right on top of you. So if someone comes out slowly and merges without looking, you don't see them until you're right on them.

The posted speed _is_ 70, but this being Florida, most of the traffic is moving between 80 and 90. Driving at 78 is a nice compromise, because the cops pretty much ignore you here unless you're going over 80 or doing something really stupid.

Speaking of which, I wouldn't dare go through an actual toll _booth_ that fast. In Florida that's not speeding, it's reckless driving (25 mph "soft limit" through the toll plaza, plus 53 mph is almost twice the 30 over suspension limit) and grounds for immediate license suspension.


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## TomT (Apr 1, 2019)

80 is too fast anywhere where you have the potential of traffic merging... Based on the OP's description, such was the case at the toll collection point in question.



eXntrc said:


> I don't know the highway the OP was on, so I don't know how safe that is.


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

TomT said:


> 80 is too fast anywhere where you have the potential of traffic merging...


Every highway and interstate onramp has that potential, yet the speed limits are generally not lowered for those areas. Maybe they should be, but the issue can be mostly eliminated by having sufficiently long onramps.


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## Love (Sep 13, 2017)

garsh said:


> Every highway and interstate onramp has that potential, yet the speed limits are generally not lowered for those areas. Maybe they should be, but the issue can be mostly eliminated by having sufficiently long onramps.


And self driving cars!!!


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## eXntrc (Jan 14, 2019)

TomT said:


> 80 is too fast anywhere where you have the potential of traffic merging...


Well, if that's a hill you want to die on. Each to their own.

Glad everything worked out well JasonF. And hopefully you gave Tesla some data to improve the NN with. 😁


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## JasonF (Oct 26, 2018)

TomT said:


> 80 is too fast anywhere where you have the potential of traffic merging... Based on the OP's description, such was the case at the toll collection point in question.


I'm surprised you're in Georgia. Usually I get the "nobody should ever be going faster than 50 mph!" from people in Michigan, New York, or New Jersey. I'm not making fun of Michigan or New Jersey - it's a perspective that comes from states where speed limits are lower. I was actually shocked at how fast drivers in Florida drive after moving here from Ohio - if you go past 70 mph there, you will probably get a ticket. In Florida, that's the speed limit on most highways, and no one notices you going 80 mph.

Back on topic, though, it doesn't matter what my speed was, within legal limits. The other driver merged in at less than 30 mph, so I would have nearly hit him at 70 mph as well. If I tried slowing down to 30 or even 45 or 50 approaching the merge, then *I* would be causing a hazard. There's really no way to avoid what happened - since I can't control what other drivers do - unless I start keeping to the far left lane (there are only two straight-through lanes) until I'm past the merge. Which is exactly what I'll do from now on if I see the roof of a car driving out of the toll booth as I'm approaching.


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## iChris93 (Feb 3, 2017)

JasonF said:


> I'm not making fun of Michigan or New Jersey - it's a perspective that comes from states where speed limits are lower.


Heh? We have roads up here with limits of 75 mph. Most of the interstates are 70 mph. Moving from Florida, I did not have to adjust my driving when I got here.


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## JasonF (Oct 26, 2018)

iChris93 said:


> Heh? We have roads up here with limits of 75 mph. Most of the interstates are 70 mph. Moving from Florida, I did not have to adjust my driving when I got here.


So _you_ were the one who passed me going over 100 mph!

What about the legendary Michigan State Patrol that will make you pay a fine on the side of the road for 1 mph over?


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## iChris93 (Feb 3, 2017)

JasonF said:


> So _you_ were the one who passed me going over 100 mph!


Everyone knows you only go 99 mph to avoid the 30 mph pain. 


JasonF said:


> What about the legendary Michigan State Patrol that will make you pay a fine on the side of the road for 1 mph over?


We have that legend here for Ohio and in Florida we had it for Georgia haha.


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## JasonF (Oct 26, 2018)

iChris93 said:


> We have that legend here for Ohio and in Florida we had it for Georgia haha.


Except for the side of the road part, in Ohio it's absolutely true. There are small cities scattered everywhere like Fairfield, Reading, Glendale, Springdale, etc that will ticket you for 1 mph over. In fact, Reading will ticket you if you're _within sight_ of a lower speed limit sign, even if you haven't crossed it yet.


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## GDN (Oct 30, 2017)

Very glad you are safe and no bumping of metal. You just truly have to wonder what anyone would be thinking driving like that even with a 20 MPH speed limit. Some people are going to cross as many lanes as they want, turn in front of others, not give a **** as long as they get where they want to go.

Come on down to TX - we'll let you drive on our roads with legal 80 MPH speed limits. Oh and get this - the one around Austin is a TOLL ROAD. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_State_Highway_130

But on the topic of brakes, I truly think it could be one of the least talked about, undernoted/underrated, but perhaps best features of this car. If you don't think so and haven't really used them, find a good open road and try them out. I found myself needing them one morning many months back and I was I was just almost impressed and amazed about the brakes and stopping as I am the torque and take off of the car. They saved my ass and the car.


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