A most dramatic lane change

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Originally published at: A most dramatic lane change | Boing Boing

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I think this is an outtake from “TENET”.

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That’s some James Bond shit, right there.

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Came here to say this (just watched it on a plane yesterday: not sure if the comprehensibility of the story would be improved if I could actually hear what people were saying).

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I recommend watching it with subtitles.

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I think the judges were all holding up cards with 9/10 for style.

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I really don’t even understand how that person got the car turned around and going the right way.

I am pretty sure they don’t know how either.

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It wouldn’t.

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Sad to see Jim Rockford not talking retirement well.

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Maybe they were trying to put it in reverse…

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Those autonomous vehicles are getting good.

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Some car guy named Issac said something along the lines of “a car going forward wants to keep going forward.”

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Only Tony Hawk could land that.

I think Colin McRae or Ken Block would be more accurate.

I suspect the driver has had a driving class or several with maneuvers like this. That shift into reverse probably doesn’t come natural during a panicked situation unless you’ve practiced it a lot.

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Always, ALWAYS, do a head check.

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Well, I guess that’s one way to do it.

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Clutch, more likely, so free-wheeling. Momentum does almost all the rest of the work. Lucky SOB.

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It looks like it was a dance of which tires had the most (or least) traction at any given moment. Unless the driver was Tanner Foust, it’s unlikely they changed from forward gear to reverse. Which means that, at the moment the car swapped ends the traction changed from front-dominant to rear dominant, causing it to swap ends again and recover.

If I recognize the model (Saturn/Chevy Cavalier) then it is front wheel drive, automatic transmission only. No clutch.

ETA: looks to be a 2003-2007 Saturn Ion sedan. So it possibly is equipped with a 5-speed manual.

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Teeneages up here where the roads are ice half the year practice these kind of moves. Not in traffic though, but it can come in handy I guess. I’ve been in cars that did this on empty roads late at night - not something I ever would dare try myself.

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Front wheel drive cars will only do a 180 degree spin; how the driver managed to get it facing the right direction again is either very good luck or very skilled driving.

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I find it somewhat reassuring that, despite the potential hazard of the poorly executed lane change, it resulted in a nothing burger. Most of the other drivers seemed to have done exactly the right thing from the moment things started to go badly. Every driver screws up from time to time (some more often than others, but everyone occasionally). That the system has enough flexibility to absorb such unexpected choreography without necessarily setting off a chain reaction of disaster and insurance claims tells me that all is not hopeless. Driving is neither racing nor pure defensiveness. It’s a cooperative task to make sure everyone gets to their destination without incident.

It reminds me of the time a failing helicopter suddenly dropped out of the sky into the middle of four or five lanes speeding traffic. Right smack in front of me, with a big rig right behind me. To this day, I’m amazed how well all the drivers reacted smoothly, making room or the aircraft and their fellow commuters.

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