Thankful for the Downshift Switch

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01-18-2010, 09:18 AM

Dirt

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Thankful for the Downshift Switch

I came upon some stalled traffic on the interstate shoulder yesterday. There was a motorist assist behind him and the drivers were out walking between cars. I and most of the people in the slow lane did the sensible thing and moved over to the middle lane. The guy in front of me decided to be non-committal and only stuck two wheels in the middle lane, now directly in front of me, and slow down to 45-50 mph. I might’ve squeezed by but I thought the better of it and kept behind him. I’m glad I did my habitual rear view mirror check because when I did I saw the trailing 18-wheeler coming up fast with a very ominous howling as he tried to stop. I reflexively stomped on the gas but nothing much happened. I like to drive in manumatic mode and I’d been in 6th and I was focused enough on the traffic ahead I neglected to downshift. Fortunately, the shift switch at the bottom of the accelerator travel clicked and kicked me down from 6th to 4th. At the downshift point the 18-wheeler was probably no more than four feet off my rear bumper and still closing.
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I guess the moral of the story is Pay Attention and Be Decisive. I’d consider the root cause of my experience to be the guy in front of me who slowed up so much and wouldn’t commit to a lane. I witnessed a very similar accident last summer in which an 18-wheeler coming up on stopped traffic on the shoulder ended up on its side and on fire when the traffic in front slowed and changed up.<o></o>