Driving Each Other Crazy...

[CLIVE-TRIANGLE]

In 40 years of driving cars and bikes, I have had only one accident. That was way back in the day, my beetle met a horse in the early hours of the morning. The horse removed the roof and had we been wearing seat belts, I and my passenger would have been decapitated.

But I don't use that as an excuse. Both my cars warning buzzers are so loud and annoying that it is nigh impossible to ignore.

My son's Alfa on the other hand will wreck your ear drums if you ignore it.

The original question about relative speed is a really good one. But there is a bit of a flaw there, in that no two drivers have the same skill sets.

I was a clerk of the course for a number of years, up to national championship level, and this issue was demonstrated at every race. Situations that would cause some drivers to lose the plot, are taken in stride by others. I also see this when my son drives me; he drives really fast (without speeding, he just does things very quickly) but way safer than me. He anticipates problems far better and sometimes is aware of issues before they happen, where I only became aware of them after they happen. So, regardless of the speed, he is always better equipped than I to deal with anything.

Then, and this is not a criticism of anybody, people should really, really try to keep their cool when driving. There are far more d00ses than non-d00ses and getting upset is exhausting . I generally have a short temper, or so I am told, but for some reason a'holes never get me annoyed; at most I will shake my head. It's not something I learned or anything, it just is that way. Now when either my wife or son drive, I reckon their blood rush threatens them with a seizure and it achieves absolutely squat. I find I can criticize and curse, but I don't get angry, and anger and driving don't mix well.

[adrianh]

As someone who has been on the receiving end of just such a doos, I can advise that in the event of a side impact, your seatbelt is worth very little if it's a hit on your side (as long as the vehicle doesn't roll, I guess).

In my case the guy ran a red light, unfortunately for him with a camera trap on it. Speed was calculated at 93 kmph and he went through 5.2 seconds after the red light.

There were a few things that saved my ass that day:

1. The centre point of his impact on my vehicle was only marginally back of my front wheels, so most of the energy was dissipated in a spin when it came to my vehicle. If it was an impact on the driver's door or centre doorpost, I'm not sure I'd be here to tell this tale.
2. I was in a Jetta 3 and he was in one of those early Hyundai hatch things I think (I forget the model name right now), and there's no doubt - weight matters at times like these.
3. Blind luck. And I do mean blind luck (I was struck on the driver's side and the Landrover on the right of me obscured the view. The occupants were great witnesses though).

I got lucky - just ended up with a pretty badly bruised foot really.

The driver of the other vehicle was less fortunate - apart from heavy bruising from his seatbelt, he also suffered amnesia and couldn't recall what happened (seems a seatbelt doesn't help much on that front either).

My sister in law was involved in a similar accident. They stopped to turn right into a road. They had a stop sight but the road they were turning into had no stops. The road rises to the left and falls away. So, if you were travelling towards them you would go up a hill and then come down towards them. They use the road often and everybody knows that if the left is clear then a can travelling at 60 wont reach them when they turn right into the road. Except when the clever dick in his BMW 325 is doing 140 in the build up area. They were in a old Toyota Corolla and they were also hit just behind the left front wheel. My sister in law was a passenger in the left front seat. Her knee was shattered and her angle was crushed. The Corolla and the BM were both totalled. It happened about 18 months ago and she still has to undergo numerous operations t repair the damage to her ankle.

I think that seatbelts do more good than bad. Yes the belt didn't make a difference to her but it sure did to the people in the BMW.

[jimmyjjohn]

Thanks

[Peachless]

All these problems could be reduced if South Africans get with the program and start installing dashboard cameras like other first world countries. Then all drivers could be monitored fairly on the roads.