Comment by Stratoscope

Oof!

Here are my two scariest recent ones...

I was driving north on Highway 87 in San Jose in the #2 lane (second lane from the left) when directly in front of me was a big metal rack, standing up in the road! It looked like something you might hang clothes hangers on. Which made it all the worse because it wasn't as visible as a heavier rack.

I hit the brakes and swerved into the #1 lane to avoid it. Luckily no one was in that lane. I try to keep situational awareness of the lanes to my right and left, so I felt pretty sure that no one was in that lane next to me.

The other was driving on northbound El Camino in Menlo Park, in the rightmost lane, at night.

Someone was riding a bike in that lane, dressed all in black (and even a black hoodie), with no lights or reflectors or anything to make himself visible. And he was doing that thing that some young people like to do where they weave back and forth for no reason at all except that it's fun?

Another brake slam and swerve to avoid him. It ended OK but was definitely a white knuckle moment!