Spooky motorway incident last night!

[RangeOfCall]

I currently have a courtesy car. I ended up driving very late last night and it was pretty much pitch black (2 hour drive home, motorway).

Anyway, loads of cars kept flashing me and then beeping. I couldn't work out why. But something felt very odd. I couldn't see the rode behind me in my side mirrors. To the left was black. This man drove beside me whilst he was on the fast line and done a hand movement to suggest lights.

I pulled over at the next turn off and came to a side street shortly after. Looked like lights were on '3' to suggest fully on? My own car is automatic lights that adjust so I had forgotten all about this stuff.

Anyway, back on the motorway thinking it was sorted and I still couldn't see well. So more cars beeped. I was frightened that nobody could see me until it was too late so pulled over to the next place and it was this police only thing that went like a turn off but was no entry. I panicked. I couldn't build up speed to enter the motorway again like a hard shoulder. I'd have to reverse and join again like that but there was no space really and it was busy for late at night.

Another car pulled up and all sorts of things went through my head. This woman came to my car and tapped on the window. I rolled it down and she smiled and looked so safe. She told me what to do. The lights came on full beam (it was a bit to the left like the indicator). She told me to keep going and I'll eventually join the M11 again. I looked again. She was gone. Bright blue car gone. Nowhere to be seen. Vanished.

She didn't reverse out and didn't go in front.

Spooky.

They're only dangerous if you use them at night instead of turning the lights on.

Indeed. But how many numpties are there, who assume that dashboard lights on = lights on or that the light symbol being illuminated on the dash means main beams are on when they aren’t. And how many don’t realise that DRLs are only on the back? Or that fog lights should only be used in fog/heavy rain? I see at least 1 of these daily, and my commute these days is reasonably short.

All this automatic everything in cars just means dumber drivers. Why do you need the car to decide when your wipers should be on?!

I wonder if there is an age issue. Or more specifically, a length of time driving. If you learned to drive in an era when you had to do everything yourself, it comes as second nature to check that the lights are on before you start moving

Whereas yours is just so insightful and full of wisdom. 🙄

Well no, made no claim that it was

@popcornlover

Oh come on, that stuff’s not real. More likely your mind playing tricks on you.

Agreed

And now I have read the rest of thread. Bursting with sourness!

I'm not sure spur would be your choice of descriptive had you lost a loved one to a dangerous driver.

Someone should have shown you the basics with the courtesy car.

You cannot be serious. It's the fucking headlights if people need to be spoon fed this very basic information they truly should not be driving.

I wonder if there is an age issue.

No, it's a stupidity issue.

@RangeOfCall, I'm guessing you came off in the emergency service only access road on the M11 just before the M25 junction ???

I must admit my first thought was absolute horror that you were driving WITH NO LIGHTS ON! How did you not realise straight away? And why on earth did you go back on the road a second time, knowing you had no lights on?!

I despair.

Our minds can play tricks on us when we are really stressed.

How likely is it that a woman would pull up behind a car on the side of the motorway and come and tell you how to turn your lights on. If I was a Woman driving alone I would not stop and approach a car.

I'm not sure spur would be your choice of descriptive had you lost a loved one to a dangerous driver.

Sorry if this happened to you. Unlikely it's happened to every sour poster on here though.

In real life if posters were chatting with someone and they told this story, you wouldn't be so rude and judgmental and dish out a big finger wagging telling off would you? Maybe you would unlikely, but hopefully if you did it regularly you'd get some hard push back. Yet on MN posters seem to take real joy in being able to jump all over a poster and tell her how stupid and pathetic she is. Must have been very scary for her too and she clearly did her best to sort it out. Kept stopping etc. Genuine mistake but MNetters just love to stick the boot in. Not all, but most it feels like these days.

It’s not an age thing, unless you mean old age. I’m in my early 20s and wouldn’t have let this happen. It’s one of the first things you’re briefed on whilst learning to drive too.

In real life if posters were chatting with someone and they told this story, you wouldn't be so rude and judgmental and dish out a big finger wagging telling off would you?

Too bloody right I would. Don't assume to know what I would say to anyone in real life. Someone quite so dangerous needs to know exactly how bad their driving standard is, in order to improve. That will save lives. It may not be important to you but it certainly is to me.

@Awwlookatmybabyspider

Wow. I love anything woo. I think she was probably the ghost of someone who had passed there. Have you googled the area for crashes.

Well.... that’s 99.9999999% not the explanation though is it....

@Pobblebonk

Loving the concept that someone spends the afterlife educating themselves on how modern car lighting systems work and hanging around waiting for an opportunity to help out. I wonder if they also help with changing tyres and checking brakes?

Why didn't you just check the car's manual?

Belter! 😂😂😂👏👍

Oh wow I'm a believer In angels and have seen several. From my experience they all have their own 'look'. Some tall, some holding a harp. Some shine very brightly. This sounds to me like someone was looking after you.

My grandmother believed in angels when she was alive. She once told me she believed her own father had become a "parking angel" (as in, helping her find a convenient place to park her car when she went out). Even as a child I thought it must be pretty bloody galling to live over 80 years then die and be assigned to moping around bloody car parks for all eternity! I hope I become the ice cream angel

Wait - is the harp carrying around linked to their afterlife assigned job role - perpetual harpist or does the parking angel need to lug a harp round all the NCPs?

@Ifonlywecouldwishuponastar

Oh wow I'm a believer In angels and have seen several. From my experience they all have their own 'look'. Some tall, some holding a harp. Some shine very brightly. This sounds to me like someone was looking after you.

Does the 'Deal with stupid drivers' angel perpetually slap her forehead and roll her eyes?

In all fairness my works pool cars dashboard lit up when it was dark. I thought the lights were on the first time I drove it and drove a significant way before actually realising they weren't.

Oh wow I'm a believer In angels and have seen several. From my experience they all have their own 'look'. Some tall, some holding a harp. Some shine very brightly. This sounds to me like someone was looking after you

The angel wasn't doing its job very efficiently, given how long OP was left to drive without lights. Maybe the guardian angels of all the other people on the road had to wake it up and boot it up the backside to sort OP out.

Then again, it must be quite hard keeping up to date with how lighting systems on modern cars work when you've also got to learn to play the harp and lug it around with you everywhere.

In real life if posters were chatting with someone and they told this story, you wouldn't be so rude and judgmental and dish out a big finger wagging telling off would you?

I continually get the impression that a minority of posters have literally never had a real person disagree vehemently with them. @YgritteSnow, what would your response have been if someone you know told you a story about how they had driven a long way at night on a motorway without lights, and a mysterious woman had helped them and then magically vanished? 'Gosh, you're just so kerrazzy!'? 'My word, it must have been your guardian angel/ the spirit of a dead motorist killed by someone who drove with no lights on years ago!'? 'Well, I'm sure it was a learning experience!'?

In all fairness my works pool cars dashboard lit up when it was dark. I thought the lights were on the first time I drove it and drove a significant way before actually realising they weren't.

But you didn't go about regaling the internet by calling this a 'spooky incident' in which the 'spooky' bit wasn't that you had unwittingly driven a significant way in the dark with no lights, but that your guardian angel/the ghost of a dead motorist had shown up afterwards to talk you through the car dashboard!

I mean, that shows a really weird set of priorities in terms of grades of fear.

@Ardsallagh
Step awaaaaaay from the internet.