bad driving

I had a bad driving experience this morning. I love my little car, but I miss my ABS so much. 15 years of driving with ABS plus human instinct is not making the switch back to the old ways easy. I coach myself all the time, 'pump your brakes, pump your brakes,' but I don't think that is what I do when faced with an emergency.

On the block right next to my place, there is a side street coming in from the right with a stop sign. 98% of the traffic from that street turns right because that's the quickest way out of the neighbourhood. This morning, as I was leaving, a van barreled up to the stop sign, and I had time to note that he wasn't going to stop and had not so much as glanced in my direction to see if any traffic was coming and I was slowing down - not that I was going very fast anyway since I'd only just turned out of our driveway. And it would have been fine if he'd turned right, not great, but fine, but, no, he turns left right in front of me.

I think I locked my brakes, because the next thing I know I am going sideways down the street and the side of his van is awfully close. I thought we were going to hit broadside, but he swerved to the left and we managed to pass without hitting on opposite sides of the street to where we were supposed to be. Then I ended up almost on the sidewalk on the correct side of the street and he went merrily on his way - probably cursing crazy women drivers that don't know how to drive.

From his point of view he would have turned left and only then seen a car coming sideways towards him - which I'm pretty sure was a bit of an adrenalin rush. I wonder if it would occur to him that stopping at a stop sign and looking both ways might be a good idea in future?