Ways to survive holiday weekends....
Today's Post: Friday, 9-4-2009
You’ll live longer and be in much better health if you avoid being injured or killed while driving on holiday weekends.
Since later today begins this year’s Labor Day weekend, I decided, earlier this week, to write about that for today’s post.
1. Always wear your seat belt; & BEFORE your car is moving at all, make sure all your passengers are wearing their seatbelts.
In our area here in the Silicon Valley, the San Jose Mercury News provides a daily column of local traffic problems, a way to write a proactive expert to see if things such as malfunctioning stop lights or pot holes can be fixed promptly, and the columnist’s comments on safe driving and other driving issues.
The column is called “Mr Roadshow; the columnist is Gary Richards; & you can find his columns online. (He DOES get fast action on many smaller traffic problems that need to be fixed locally.)
Earlier this week, he wrote the following comment that inspired me to do today’s post.
"Now, remember this as well: Last year, 40 people died statewide on Labor Day weekend on California highways and more than half were not wearing seat belts."
Since about 90 % of the people in California wear seat belts and likely were during the Labor Day weekend last year, this shows quite clearly that there were many people who were in bad accidents on Labor Day weekend last year who survived because they were wearing their seat belts at the time.
In fact, of the people who are in accidents bad enough to cause injuries, I’ve read that those who are wearing seat belts only are injured at all a third as often; & that those who are injured are enough less badly injured that their medical bills average only a third as much.
In short, wearing your seat belt not only can help you avoid being killed if you are in an accident, it increases your chances of not being injured at all, and cuts the probable medical bills you’ll pay by NINE to one!
Lastly, if the driver of a car is wearing a seat belt, the chances of being IN an accident go down. People who realize they can be in an accident are more likely to make a successful effort to avoid being in one. And people who are careful and prudent are both more likely to wear their seat belts AND are more likely to drive safely.
When seat belts were just beginning to be used and few cars had them and I was a teenager, I went with a friend and his dad for a brief trip in my friend’s dad’s car.
My reaction to the seat belt was to ignore it and I did so. My friend’s dad asked why I wasn’t wearing the seat belt instead of sitting on it. I was a bit surprised and answered that it was because we were only going on a short trip. His dad reacted as if I was more than a bit stupid. His reply was: “OH! So you know in advance when you’ll be IN an accident I suppose?!”
THAT got to me. Well no, I didn’t really know any such thing I realized and have worn my seat belt ever since then.
His dad was even more correct then than he may have known. Something like 95 to 98 % of all driving miles are on such short trips – so, not surprisingly, so are something like 95 to 98 % of all accidents too!!
So, if you think about what he said and that fact, it becomes quite clear. The logic is inexorable. If you are ALWAYS wearing your seat belt no matter where you are driving and there is an accident, you’ll be wearing your seat belt when you need it. If you do anything else, you probably won’t be.
Why get badly hurt or killed by an accident you could have walked away from without injury?
2. Avoid the 3 most common causes of being in an accident.
a) Following too closely -- or driving faster than your ability to see and stop gives you -- will put you into an accident if something unexpected happens because you’ll be IN the accident BEFORE you have a chance to take action to prevent it.
One man bought a taxi company that was losing money because its drivers were in so many accidents. He found that the biggest cause of avoidable accidents was by following too closely or going faster than his drivers could still stop given what they could see.
He trained them and insisted, up to firing drivers who didn’t comply, that from then on, they had to allow enough following distance; and when they couldn’t see far enough with their headlights at night or around a curve or over the top of a hill, to slow down to the speed that gave them a shot a stopping or taking evasive action if something they couldn’t see and needed to stop for was just beyond what they could see.
His taxi company was then immediately profitable.
The official rule is to allow 2 seconds for each 10 miles an hour of speed. And, it’s certainly nice when you can do that. But in busy traffic during commute times and on holidays on busy freeways, it’s often not very doable because if you leave a space that large someone will pull into it.
What I’ve found though, is that about a third of that or a bit more IS maintainable most of the time. That’s the distance it takes so say “thousand one” a bit quickly. Less following distance than that is extremely dangerous. So don’t do it at all often and escape situations that cause you to be that close as soon as you can safely do so. You’ll notice that well over half your fellow drivers will follow at shorter distances than that. If you maintain even that much extra following distance but virtually never less than that, your chances of being IN an accident drop by something like 60 to 90 %. And, you’ll not be in accidents those other drivers would have been in!
Similarly, if you can’t see far enough to safely stop if there is a pile of bricks blocking your lane just beyond what you can see, slow down to the speed that WOULD allow you to stop. The reverse is called, “over-driving your sight distance” & tends to happen at night due to reduced visibility or when going over hills or around corners where the road way ahead is invisible.
Lastly, people sometimes slam on their brakes or run into something you can’t see just after they start off from a stop. So, usually come to a stop with enough distance between you and the car ahead to go around them easily if they suddenly can’t make their car go forward – OR
-- when they start out, wait until they are that far from you to start out yourself. Doing either of those starts you out with enough following distance that if they do slam on their brakes, you can probably stop in time.
b) Avoid drinking for an hour or so before you drive; drink only 2 drinks if you are a man and only one if you are a woman, which is the amount to stay down to for good health anyway; and if you have drunk more than that more recently, have someone else drive or wait until the effect wears off. Getting home a couple of hours later than you would have liked is better than not getting home at all.
c) If you have to use a cell phone on a trip, find a safe place to pull over and stop or have the person with you do it. Similarly, if you have to read a map or go online to see one, find a safe place to pull over and stop or have the person with you do it. Better yet, do it ahead of time.
If you aren’t looking at and noticing what’s going on when you drive, how can you avoid an accident if something happens? All too often people don’t.
There are other things that help up to having your vacation or holiday weekend at home instead of driving somewhere. But if you do drive, these strategies will help keep you safe.
Today's Post: Friday, 9-4-2009
You’ll live longer and be in much better health if you avoid being injured or killed while driving on holiday weekends.
Since later today begins this year’s Labor Day weekend, I decided, earlier this week, to write about that for today’s post.
1. Always wear your seat belt; & BEFORE your car is moving at all, make sure all your passengers are wearing their seatbelts.
In our area here in the Silicon Valley, the San Jose Mercury News provides a daily column of local traffic problems, a way to write a proactive expert to see if things such as malfunctioning stop lights or pot holes can be fixed promptly, and the columnist’s comments on safe driving and other driving issues.
The column is called “Mr Roadshow; the columnist is Gary Richards; & you can find his columns online. (He DOES get fast action on many smaller traffic problems that need to be fixed locally.)
Earlier this week, he wrote the following comment that inspired me to do today’s post.
"Now, remember this as well: Last year, 40 people died statewide on Labor Day weekend on California highways and more than half were not wearing seat belts."
Since about 90 % of the people in California wear seat belts and likely were during the Labor Day weekend last year, this shows quite clearly that there were many people who were in bad accidents on Labor Day weekend last year who survived because they were wearing their seat belts at the time.
In fact, of the people who are in accidents bad enough to cause injuries, I’ve read that those who are wearing seat belts only are injured at all a third as often; & that those who are injured are enough less badly injured that their medical bills average only a third as much.
In short, wearing your seat belt not only can help you avoid being killed if you are in an accident, it increases your chances of not being injured at all, and cuts the probable medical bills you’ll pay by NINE to one!
Lastly, if the driver of a car is wearing a seat belt, the chances of being IN an accident go down. People who realize they can be in an accident are more likely to make a successful effort to avoid being in one. And people who are careful and prudent are both more likely to wear their seat belts AND are more likely to drive safely.
When seat belts were just beginning to be used and few cars had them and I was a teenager, I went with a friend and his dad for a brief trip in my friend’s dad’s car.
My reaction to the seat belt was to ignore it and I did so. My friend’s dad asked why I wasn’t wearing the seat belt instead of sitting on it. I was a bit surprised and answered that it was because we were only going on a short trip. His dad reacted as if I was more than a bit stupid. His reply was: “OH! So you know in advance when you’ll be IN an accident I suppose?!”
THAT got to me. Well no, I didn’t really know any such thing I realized and have worn my seat belt ever since then.
His dad was even more correct then than he may have known. Something like 95 to 98 % of all driving miles are on such short trips – so, not surprisingly, so are something like 95 to 98 % of all accidents too!!
So, if you think about what he said and that fact, it becomes quite clear. The logic is inexorable. If you are ALWAYS wearing your seat belt no matter where you are driving and there is an accident, you’ll be wearing your seat belt when you need it. If you do anything else, you probably won’t be.
Why get badly hurt or killed by an accident you could have walked away from without injury?
2. Avoid the 3 most common causes of being in an accident.
a) Following too closely -- or driving faster than your ability to see and stop gives you -- will put you into an accident if something unexpected happens because you’ll be IN the accident BEFORE you have a chance to take action to prevent it.
One man bought a taxi company that was losing money because its drivers were in so many accidents. He found that the biggest cause of avoidable accidents was by following too closely or going faster than his drivers could still stop given what they could see.
He trained them and insisted, up to firing drivers who didn’t comply, that from then on, they had to allow enough following distance; and when they couldn’t see far enough with their headlights at night or around a curve or over the top of a hill, to slow down to the speed that gave them a shot a stopping or taking evasive action if something they couldn’t see and needed to stop for was just beyond what they could see.
His taxi company was then immediately profitable.
The official rule is to allow 2 seconds for each 10 miles an hour of speed. And, it’s certainly nice when you can do that. But in busy traffic during commute times and on holidays on busy freeways, it’s often not very doable because if you leave a space that large someone will pull into it.
What I’ve found though, is that about a third of that or a bit more IS maintainable most of the time. That’s the distance it takes so say “thousand one” a bit quickly. Less following distance than that is extremely dangerous. So don’t do it at all often and escape situations that cause you to be that close as soon as you can safely do so. You’ll notice that well over half your fellow drivers will follow at shorter distances than that. If you maintain even that much extra following distance but virtually never less than that, your chances of being IN an accident drop by something like 60 to 90 %. And, you’ll not be in accidents those other drivers would have been in!
Similarly, if you can’t see far enough to safely stop if there is a pile of bricks blocking your lane just beyond what you can see, slow down to the speed that WOULD allow you to stop. The reverse is called, “over-driving your sight distance” & tends to happen at night due to reduced visibility or when going over hills or around corners where the road way ahead is invisible.
Lastly, people sometimes slam on their brakes or run into something you can’t see just after they start off from a stop. So, usually come to a stop with enough distance between you and the car ahead to go around them easily if they suddenly can’t make their car go forward – OR
-- when they start out, wait until they are that far from you to start out yourself. Doing either of those starts you out with enough following distance that if they do slam on their brakes, you can probably stop in time.
b) Avoid drinking for an hour or so before you drive; drink only 2 drinks if you are a man and only one if you are a woman, which is the amount to stay down to for good health anyway; and if you have drunk more than that more recently, have someone else drive or wait until the effect wears off. Getting home a couple of hours later than you would have liked is better than not getting home at all.
c) If you have to use a cell phone on a trip, find a safe place to pull over and stop or have the person with you do it. Similarly, if you have to read a map or go online to see one, find a safe place to pull over and stop or have the person with you do it. Better yet, do it ahead of time.
If you aren’t looking at and noticing what’s going on when you drive, how can you avoid an accident if something happens? All too often people don’t.
There are other things that help up to having your vacation or holiday weekend at home instead of driving somewhere. But if you do drive, these strategies will help keep you safe.
Labels: following too close, how to avoid being in a fatal car accident, safe driving, survive holiday trips, survive holiday weekends, survive Labor Day weekend, why wear seat belts
posted by David at 1:25 PM
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