Close shave

I almost killed myself last week, along with my driving partner Ahmed. Waking up at the crack of dawn, followed by a heavy breakfast in freezing cold, the lightly snowing Alps weather isn’t something out of the ordinary for me. And we were scheduled to drive the big Bentley Continental GT Speed for over 350 kilometers in four hours, with coffee stops, driver changes and the all-important beauty shots meant driving was going to be brisk, to put it lightly.

I didn’t think too much about it at first. After all we had Bentley’s flagship Gran Turismo, the Continental GT Speed, with its high-tech all-wheel drive system, coupled with dynamic traction and stability control, ABS-EBD and multiple airbags, with massive 275/35R21 Pirelli high-performance tires. My confidence level was at an all-time high, but my respect for the car and the driving conditions were almost zero, probably because of the technology backing me up, and the fact that I had done this (or so I thought) countless of times already.

There’s just one thing I totally and completely forgot: The road is not just mildly damp, it’s also cold. And cold roads produce far less traction, an occurrence we in the Philippines (except perhaps in Baguio) very rarely experience and vaguely know how to react.

So after the morning briefing, Ahmed, who is far more jet-lagged than me, offered to let me drive first down the Alpinstrasse, leaving the posh Hotel Intercon Resort in Berchtesgaden (and not Bertischsgarden as I wrote earlier last week) and back to Munich. After a slow start, I came upon an ageing Ford hatchback, which looked like an old Focus to me. It was going maybe 40-50 kph down the road, and ahead of the Focus, it was wide open. I bid my time and opportunity as the Alpinstrasse was barely 5 meters wide, quite narrow for a two-lane road, with the mountain facing to the right, a 3,000-ft drop to the other, and a short Armco barrier separating the road from freefall.

After what seems like an eternity, the road widened slightly, enough for me to safely squeeze the behemoth Bentley between the Armco and the Focus. As the road opened up, a quick scan of the opposite lane showed no incoming cars, so I opened the taps. Completely.

The Bentley accelerated viciously from 50 to about 150 kph in almost a blink of an eye with a good amount of tire squeal as the road was cold and damp, before the electronics reined in the fun. As I overtook the Focus, horror of horrors, the road suddenly veered to the right, and tightened in width and radius! As I turned in the steering wheel, Newton decided I’ve had enough fun and the big Bentley plowed straight for the guardrail, and for the cliff with a 3,000-ft drop!

Right before my life started flashing by, the Bentley saved my now equally damp arse by judiciously applying the brakes to the inner wheels, triggering the ABS-EBD, which redistributed the torque from the front to the rear wheels, and left to right, and almost as quickly as I thought my life would meet a very painful (but most certainly glorious) death, the Continental tucked its nose in and dived straight for the apex, and onto the correct, inner lane. The Focus was nowhere to be seen, probably shocked as the driver almost witnessed a very dramatic, expensive and ultimately stupid crash. Down 3,000 feet.

I am by no means a very good driver, nor a fast driver, nor a daring driver. I’m pretty normal, if maybe a bit too eager to try something new so long as it looks safe. In short, I’m a pretty average driver (modesty here), just like the vast majority of people. But I try to take the time to feel the road, the driving conditions, and the car I am driving, and treat it with respect. I could have avoided that near-death experience if I had been prudent, patient and respectful of the car, the roads and the conditions. I believe we can all avoid accidents if we did the same. Driving has, for most people, been simplified to an activity as natural, but sadly, as thoughtless as breathing: we get in, turn on the engine, and start driving without thinking. It’s good that things come naturally, but we need to think about our driving, rather than what is in store for us at our destination. Besides, driving is a break for the hustle and bustle of life, if you will just focus on it. You might even enjoy it as much as I do.

As for the Bentley? As soon as we hit the A9 and A88 of the autobahn, I hit 270++ kph. My undies had dried up by then.