One Less 2007 Blazing Blue Yaris on the road....(large res pics)

[Nicfin]

The Yaris can be replaced, you and your wife cannot. Glad you are OK.

The Yaris is a small car and people pay less attention to the road than ever before...........a bad combination. Since I have started driving my Yaris as opposed to my Tacoma, I can tell people just don't notice me as much. Of all places, I almost got rear-ended on the interstate about two weeks ago. I had my cruise set on 70mph and a Chevy S-10, of all things, comes racing up behind me. I can only guess he was going about 100mph. Just before he hit me, I swerved towards the shoulder and he apparently noticed me at the last second and swerved over into the left lane almost hitting a car that was passing me. Had he clipped me, I probably would not be typing this right now. I don't know how well a Yaris will do flipping at 70mph. Probably not too well.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by Nicfin

The Yaris can be replaced, you and your wife cannot. Glad you are OK.

The Yaris is a small car and people pay less attention to the road than ever before...........a bad combination. Since I have started driving my Yaris as opposed to my Tacoma, I can tell people just don't notice me as much. Of all places, I almost got rear-ended on the interstate about two weeks ago. I had my cruise set on 70mph and a Chevy S-10, of all things, comes racing up behind me. I can only guess he was going about 100mph. Just before he hit me, I swerved towards the shoulder and he apparently noticed me at the last second and swerved over into the left lane almost hitting a car that was passing me. Had he clipped me, I probably would not be typing this right now. I don't know how well a Yaris will do flipping at 70mph. Probably not too well.

^^^^^ This.

People/Your Loved Ones are irreplaceable. My grandparents get 100% of the credit for providing whatever stability I had while growing up. Things would happen, and my mom would freak out about the situation costing my grandparents money to rectify. My grandfather would always ask the same two questions. He'd ask if I was okay and he'd ask my mother if she was okay. My mother would say yes and he'd say "that's all that matters, it's only money". He was a thoroughly happy person who got great joy out of trying to bring joy to his wife, daughters, grandchildren, father, and brother (his mother died before experiencing the same joy). I had clueless parents, but I had (on MANY levels, not just a saving us when needed level) the most wonderful maternal grandparents anyone could wish for in ten lifetimes.

I had your same concerns re people physically seeing me in the Yaris when I was trying to decide where to live in the Houston Metro. I narrowed my choices down to Southern Montgomery County and to the Katy area. Katy is on the far west side of the Houston Metro and Montgomery County is north of Harris County (Houston comprises a majority of the population of and land within Harris County). During the time I was trying to decide between the two areas, I visited a supermarket in Kelliwood (a farily upscale part of Katy). I pulled into the only parking space available and I had to laugh. I was surrounded by three of the biggest SUVs available -- an older Durango, a new Suburban and a new Excursion (if I remember the models correctly) -- and all three of them had jacked up suspensions. I drove around after the supermarket trip, and on other days, and noticed a huge percentage of the local traffic being huge SUVs and Pick-up trucks --a much higher concentration than in other parts of the Houston Metro. I don't know if there is a correlation between concentration of big family vehicles and (truly wonderful in many ways) native Texans, BUT I do know that my area has a wide range of vehicles, I feel safer on the roads on a local day to day basis (situations where some people, unfortunately, pay LESS attention) and 58% of the people near me were born outside of Texas.

The rudest that anyone gets on the road on local streets is a very occasional 'pull up too close to my bumper' which you mentioned. It is intentional and happens at stoplights. I haven't had the experience here that you describe where a person is barreling along in a vehicle like that and didn't see me. I want my next car to be white, but after reading what happened to you and to the original poster (and given all the pale colored concrete roads in Texas) I wonder if I should choose a different color!

P.S......BUT the main reason I picked Montgomery County is the trees!....part of one national forest (Sam Houston National Forest) and also the southern end of the Texas Forest Trail. In the 1890s (before much logging) the county was 88% forest!.........also have to throw Lake Conroe in there as well.