Yup... because of autocrossing, I was able to avoid a significant accident in my Cougar. A lady made a u-turn from the right lane (I was in the left) and I almost t-boned her at about 40mph. My initial reaction was to hit the brakes as she was still going forward.... then she stopped.. right in my path. My non-anti-lock brakes locked up and started sliding towards her. At the last second (literally) I let off, and slolommed her. I think that if I didn't have decent autocross tires (Azenis RT-215's) and had been autocrossing for a couple seasons... I would have smacked right into her. I was amazed that I didn't even hit her front bumper. When my wifes car needed new tires, I was sure to put more sticky rubber on.
When my daughters are of driving age, I'll make sure they spend at least one season autocrossing, just for the experience. I'm sure they'll get hooked though (oooh, that might get expensive).
