Beware of ignorant farmers!

[justsomeguy]

I thought the objective was to be able to stop safely in the length of road visible to you - no matter what speed you are doing. Whether or not this guy was a tosser who didn't indicate, you failed to brake to a safe speed or otherwise avoid hitting him when he stopped. If he was travelling at 100kph and decided to turn into a driveway I find it hard to believe he had not slowed prior to doing so because I would imagine he would have rolled and/or jack-knifed the trailer if he'd tried. If you had to swerve to the other side of the road to avoid hitting him from behind (which would have definitely been your fault), then you were obviously following too close. And it sounds like you over-corrected if you ended up in the gravel, no point blaming the car. You are bloody lucky in so many ways - I'm amazed you didn't kill yourself or your children, nor any innocent motorists you encountered on the other side of the road.

Sorry if I am lacking in sympathy here, but I really feel you contributed a lot to this accident. If you had been travelling at a speed where you could brake and avoid something stopping suddenly in your lane (or a dog running out or something falling off the back of a truck), then you would not have hit another motorist nor been hit yourself. Even if the guy did stop suddenly without indicating, you were following him and had a responsibility to avoid an accident.

I can't believe everyone has dished out sympathy instead of a lecture here. It will be interesting to see the outcome of this accident and who gets charged. I will be amazed if you aren't charged with careless driving.

You're right -

Feisty:

With two kids in the back - you should have thought about braking distances.

If you were still carrying enough speed to spin across the road - you were either too fast or that Subaru has no brakes......

Hard luck though. Hope the kids weren't too scared by it all.

[Biff]

Glad you're all ok Feisty.

I only dislike one 'farmer'. He's the one that left his gate open recently. A gate on a blind bend. A gate that normally helped keep a young bullock safe in it's paddock. A bullock that decided to take make best use of the fact the gate was open and to take a run around said blind bend with a Blackbird doing about 90 in the opposite direction.

I love Honda's dual combined braking system.

New pants please.

[cowpoos]

Glad you're all ok Feisty.

I only dislike one 'farmer'. He's the one that left his gate open recently. A gate on a blind bend. A gate that normally helped keep a young bullock safe in it's paddock. A bullock that decided to take make best use of the fact the gate was open and to take a run around said blind bend with a Blackbird doing about 90 in the opposite direction.

I love Honda's dual combined braking system.

New pants please.

I hope u called the cops and made a compliant...if not just to get the hamburger off the road...if a car or bike hits a cattlebeast at even a low speed it can easily cause a major or death