What was your most terrifying car ride?

[Ben Kenobi]

Driver, probably when driving home on HWY 97 from Vancouver, the stretch after the canyon is usually not bad driving... when you're not exhausted. Drifted slightly of the shoulder, had the wheel grabbed and then we switched.

Passenger. Girlfriend's dad at the time and I were helping her get settled into her new office. Bus jumps out, guy in front of him slams on the brakes. He doesn't see it. Totals the car but we were ok. She freaks.

[onodera]

I can't really think of anything. I've skidded into an intersection once after not driving for a winter. I rode with a guy who wouldn't go slower than 130 kph on a non-empty highway. He was a pro, though. I once nearly overcorrected my steering into a truck I was overtaking when dodging an oncoming car. The last one was probably the scariest incident.

[Pekka]

Many close calls, once I lost the control with a a sports car on black ice, went almost 90 degrees (total lost), but possibly less than that, with a backwheel, not easy to gain back control, between two huge trucks. Certain death. Had to pull aside for a while to calm down, or rather get the heart back pumping blood again and breathe. The ultimate "You idiot, stupid, that was your own fault, never ever do that again! never!"

I'd say that was 100 % on me and scary. The second most scary moment was when my ex wife was having a total melt down and speeding, with kids on the back seat. That was scary. I calmly told her to pull over at the next gas station, and then took away the keys. She went on a raging fit after that. SUre, perfectly in condition to drive. Well, anything negative in the spetrum of human life, prolly got it covered with the ex

Still, personally losing control of a car and knowing you lost it, in high speed, and just acting on instict to try to gain it back was scary. Plenty of water slids, but those aren't too scary unless with high speed.

Once though, I got to a bit of a water slide with a motorcycle, that was scary! Should've driven slower. So my own fault there.

[Uncle Sparky]

This is the 2nd weirdest birthday thread I've had here. But Thank - you Guys!!!

[snrjefe]

Crossing Lake Pontchartrain in the middle of the night during a thunderstorm after spending a week at Mardi Gras. Thankfully uneventful, but definitely terrifying.

[Dry]

Back in the days before internet was such a convenient tool, we had to drive alot to install software at customers locations.
Our company was lead by 2 associates.
One of them - I'll call him Bill - considered car travels as a waste of business time, so when he drove, it was always as fast as he could and he always engaged professional conversation either with the passengers or on the phone. On top of that he had poor eye sight on one eye, so his 3D vision was very poor. And it was even worse at night time. Usually no one wants to be passenger in his car.
That particular Friday evening, after a nice week in Munich, we headed back home, a 800 km drive, the 2 associates, me and another employee.
It was late, so we were eager to get home. Our usual cruise speed in Germany was typically around 150-160kph, but Bill thought this was too slow, so he decided to take the wheel.
He drove 180-220 kph on these german highways, at night when his vision was the poorest, and continously talking, de-briefing the week with his associate.
Not really paying attention to the road and thinking of himself as a fast driver, he was constantly driving on the fastest lane (third lane). If you have driven in Germany, you know that 200 kph does not make you the fastest driver around. And indeed, we had more than once some angry, faster German flashing his lights at us. It was clear Bill never checked his mirror for possible faster cars behind him.
With his poor night vision, at some point, out of the blue Bill jumped on the break for no apparent reason. Already terrified by the drive in itself, I almost pee my pants, because if someone was behind us, we were litterally f*cked. When we asked him afterward why he did that he said because of the car that was ahead... what car? the road was empty... well, except for that truck far, far in the distance... With his poor 3D vivion, he thought the far away truck was a close car.
It was the very first time in life that I seriouly thought about asking a driver to let me step out. I was ready to 'loose' my whole saturday in busses and trains instead of going on in this deathcar.

[rah]

I was ready to 'loose' my whole saturday in busses and trains instead of going on in this deathcar.

We used to call those a "Mad Toad Thrill Ride" in honor of a old friend that had his fair share of "exciting" road trips.
(he was the driver in three of my examples)

[Tuberski]

On a 50 year old bus, driving up and down a mountain in Thailand on a very narrow road.

ACK!

[Giancarlo]

On a 50 year old bus, driving up and down a mountain in Thailand on a very narrow road.

ACK!

That reminds me of a bus trip I had in Ecuador. Creeky bus up some mountains... I was going to visit where they have the equator monument. Except they were off a bit lol.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Driving my father back home, along many miles of rough and rutted country lanes, after he's just had a triple bypass.