I had a similar incident about 25 years ago and got through the mess left behind as multiple vehicles slammed into each other. Having a great handling car obviously helps an awful lot, but the driver simply must be paying attention to what's happening further down the road than the rear bumper directly in front of them. The driver also needs to be aware of what else is around, or not around as the case may be. And then the driver has to actually know how to react to the situation and even, gasp, know how to handle the car! From the sounds of it, at the time of your recent close call, you were the only person out of the several involved who is actually competent behind the wheel of a car. Good for you!!!