TheQuiet1

I had a really close call in my jeep the other night and I'm amazed at how well the Jeep handled the situation. I was travelling along a heavily wooded section of back road. This is a two lane road, the road was wet, it was drizzling, it was dark, and I was traveling at 45 mph. I had just crossed a small bridge and was heading up a small uphill section of the road that had a slight left bend to it. As I came out of the bend onto the one straight section of this road, which is only about 40 yards long, a car coming down the hill swerved to miss an animal and lost control and ended up coming down my side of the road sideways. Now in the short amount of time I had to react I was already thinking to myself "This is gonna be ugly". Before I could even think I had the brake pedal down as far as it would go, made a sharp left turn to avoid a front impact, then a sharp right turn to avoid being clipped in the rear and to get back into my lane, and came to a full stop on the shoulder. At this point I exited the Jeep and went back to help the other driver who had impacted an embankment on my side of the road which caused her vehicle to bounce back across the road into another ditch with the car coming to rest on its side.

This all happened in a very short distance and the thing I find incredible is just how well my Jeep handled the situation! This thing never came close to losing control. Considering the road was wet there was no slide, no brake lock-up (Thank u ABS!... and yes I could hear it doing its job), very little body roll, and even in an extreme evasive maneuver the Jeep felt stable and I had complete control.

I've always loved my Jeep but our bond is now even tighter. Thank you Chrysler for developing such an awesome machine!!

ricksjeep10

Very well stated! Glad everything worked out for you.

MoreOvalteenPlz

Incredible story! Good to hear you're okay.

FallschirmJaeger

Was she alright? I can't remember how many people die from roll overs by swerving to avoid hitting an animal. If one comes on, brake, hold the wheel straight, and hope you'll be Ok. Human life is higher than animal life.

Anyway, good job, and more praise if you helped the girl out. Good job, and take it easy.

TheQuiet1

Yes, she was alright as far as no major cuts or breaks but as the shock started to wear off she was starting to hurt pretty good. When we initially opened her door I couldn't see her, the airbag smoke was too thick. All I could hear was her voice saying "Get me out of here". I don't know if she had her seatbelt on during the crash but when the smoke cleared enough to see her she was laying down on the passenger door (car came to rest on that side).

The JK is just an amazing machine. Not only can they go just about anywhere right out of the box their onroad handling is exceptional. I'm sure a great deal of luck, and a little skill, kept me out of trouble that night but the Jeep was just plain amazing!

TaylarsJK

Awesome. Big man up above was more likely the leading factor of this miracle ha.

PET77

considering what you describe you did, you better say "thank you ESP", otherwise you would have ended on your roof...
anyway, whats important is that "all is well, that ends well"...

GJeep

First of all, quick & good driver reaction, then ESP and ABS...

And, you have stock suspension.
If you were on the edge of the Jeeps' capability, a 4" lift like mine could have changed the result.

Last winter, in heavy rain and poor visibility, I suddenly hit a long stretch of 4~5" deep water on the road. The road curved to the right. I was at about 45mph, and expected some 'floating', but the Jeep moved as if on a dry road, no loss of steering feel.
The tires were BF 245/75/17 AT.

TheQuiet1

I agree, someone was on my side that night for sure





Very true. I mentioned ABS inparticular because I could both hear and feel it working. That being said I'm sure just about every aspect of the ESP system was firing in those few seconds. All I can say is the whole system worked flawlessly in my case.




I don't doubt this for a second. I mentioned that there was very little body roll that night, but there was roll. With a higher stance, and a higher centre of gravity, I'm sure things could have been quite differant.

fmdualexhaust

Glad every thing turned out all right.
As an after thought, by turning left i assume you were now in the opposing lane.
If by chance she had recovered her vehicle and hit you in her lane you are now at fault for driving in the wrong lane.
I would always choose to go right unless there was a tree or a cliff in that direction.