Thank you rider ed....

Today I was so glad that i took the rider ed class.... I was headed down the parkway in the left lane in pretty heavy traffic. We were doing about 50mph. Next thing I know is i hear the screech of tires - you know, the kind that usually ends in a CRASH! I immediately rolled off the throttle, reached for the clutch and both brakes. As I was doing this, i started to see brake lights in front of me as cars swerved left and right. I hit the brakes hard and at the same time looked in my mirrors to see if I was going to get rear-ended. I was prepared to swerve between the car in front of me and the k-rail to my left. Somehow I managed to shift down from 4th to 1st at the same time. Luckily the guy behind me was quite a ways back. I stopped about 5 feet from the car in front of me. If it wasn't for rider ed I don't think i would have reacted as well.