A quick-thinking bus driver in the UK managed to avoid triggering a potentially dangerous crash in a demonstration of just how important it is to always remain attentive when behind the wheel.
This clip is actually from 2017 but we only recently came aware of it, with the near-miss happening on the M40 motorway.
At the 6-second mark of the video, the driver of a silver VW Golf GTI a few hundred feet ahead of the bus, slams on the brakes. This causes the rear wheels to lock up, sending the hot hatch into a spin where it appears to lightly tap a crash barrier in the center of the road before sliding to a stop sideways across two lanes.
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Had the driver of the bus been distracted, he could have easily T-boned the Golf, potentially with catastrophic consequences. However, as soon as he noticed the Golf spinning out of control ahead of him, he hit the brakes anticipating there was a chance he could hit the Golf. It took about 7 seconds for the bus driver to brake from 61 mph (98 km/h) to a standstill, stopping just a few inches before slamming into the side of the VW.
Many of the passengers riding in the coach started clapping to applaud the quick-thinking driver.
It’s hard to say for sure just why the driver of the Golf slammed on the brakes of the hatch but he was likely distracted and didn’t notice the slowing traffic ahead.