Driving Each Other Crazy...

[adrianh]

I think that the biggest cause of accidents is the "F*ck you, I do what I want attitude" I take my daughter to school in the morning and there is always some d00$ who feels that he has to push in right at the front. Not only does he p!$$ the row of cars off in the lane that he is trying to squeeze into, he also blocks the traffic up in the lane that he is getting out of.

I want to drive a old F250 that looks like absolute crap with rust and a heavy homemade I-beam bulbar that is about 10 inches too wide. It will have a bullet proof cage and windows, a first class chassis, suspension, automatic gearbox, limited slip diff and a V8 with a blower. Of course it won't have crap like insurance and it will be registered to my terribly poor redneck cousin. I would then misjudge the width of the bulbar all the time and remove various parts of those offending a$$holes "F*ck you - mobiles" (the privileged knobhead this morning was driving a Audi A5 with a local registration)

You see, this is where road rage comes from, some twat who thinks that he is special.

[adrianh]

I am a bad parent

Aye well, my wife and I were talking about my 13 year old daughter this morning. She is very headstrong and does what she wants. If you really want her to be obtuse then try and force her to do something. My wife and I agree that she takes after me. We agree that she was born with the "A don't give $h1t" gene, just like me. You know, when you $h1t on her she sits there and glares at you and you can literally see the "Go f*ck yourself" in her eyes. I can't say that it intimidates me but it sure winds everybody else up.

There is one thing to remember and it is that the kids have minds of their own and they need to learn to think for themselves. It doesn't always work to tell them what to do, sometimes they need to learn the hard way. So what I am saying is that all you can do is to protect them (even from themselves) as well as you can but ultimately it is up to them, when they are old enough, to make sensible decisions for themselves.

Let me tell you a little story; we used to own a VW Kombi when my eldest daughter was about one or two, I don't remember. We always put her in her car seat on the 1st bench behind the drivers seat. So one day our "garden engineer" washed the car beautifully and sommer washed the car seat as well. He put the seat back in the car and all was ok. I took my daughter with me to a shop or something and everything was fine until a car suddenly stopped in front of me because the guy decided that it was just the right time to turn right. It hit the brake hard and heard a hell of a crash behind me. I looked back and saw that the entire car seat had flown across the kombi and hit the back of my seat. The car seat was lying face down on the floor and I can tell you I $h@t myself. Luckily she was ok and I suppose her forehead must have smacked the mid section (the soft part) of the back of my seat. I checked the seatbelt and it was clear that the "garden engineer" didn't strap the car seat in. I wasn't speeding or anything, it was in the middle of town and I couldn't have been doing much more than 60. The reason that the seat went flying was simply because of its mass and the sudden deceleration (f=ma) I think that it was that day when I realized that a human becomes a flying meat bomb if not strapped in. I never drove nor allowed anybody to drive with me unless they are strapped in. My kids know the dangers because I've shown them videos of people getting ejected from cars (even at low speeds when the cars are hit from the side)

I suppose wearing a seatbelt is like wearing a condom. You will be fine 99.9999% of the time. The problem is that 1 unexpected time when it goes wrong. Yes of course seatbelts and condoms are not 100% effective but on balance they are more effective than no protection. My view is that it is foolish not to use safety measures that are free and proven to be effective.

[Blurock]

I am a great advocate of seatbelts, but for me personally driving in town robot to robot seems pointless wearing one. As soon as there is speed I buckle up. I know I know I should always have it on etc etc, but I don’t care

There is just one thing more stupid/negligent than not buckling up, that is to have an unrestrained child or baby on the front seat. The poor child's face will not look so nice after its been through the windscreen.

According to statistics, most accidents happen within 5 km from home. There is more chance of being hit by a moron in town, than on the open road. A drunk driver coming from the pub, a mommy talking on her cell phone on the way to/from school, while trying to referee the kiddies fighting on the back seat.

All I can say is; your life is in danger and you may end up becoming a statistic. You still don't care?

[wynn]

Drive with the attitude that everybody else is an 'arsehole' and everything is trying to get you (the other traffic, potholes, pedestrians, cattle, wind whatever) that way you will be alert to danger.

'SPEED KILLS' simply because the impact is greater, if you are turning left at a stop street and at the same time an oncoming car from your left decides that is the exact time he needs to overtake and swerves into his right lane and semi Tbones you as you enter the intersection even though you took the necessary precaution of looking left, right and left again checking that the lane was clear before you advanced, you are more likely to be dead if he was traveling at 120 than at 60, though you may be hurt at 60, remember that if you are both traveling at 60 a head on is the same as driving into a wall at 120!

I found that after a few years experience driving, even though you are alert all the time, there is a part of your brain that remains on autopilot and starts flashing warning signals when something is out of the ordinary, like when you are approaching a bridge and you notice a car speeding down the opposite embankment and your autopilot has noticed that there is loose gravel in the road on his approach which could cause him to drift towards the center of the road, your autopilot realizes that the road is narrowed by the railings of the bridge, you automatically slow down, even though your conscious doesn't realize why, so that you are not at that point if it happens!

Your normal brain sees the cattle grazing on the side of the road (lots of them in the Transkei and Ciskei) so you automatically take precautions and slow down, your autopilot then notices in your peripheral vision that the cow at the back of the herd lifted its head and flashes that this girl is going to move, so you automatically slow down some more without your conscious realizing it.

There is a joke in the Eastern Cape that cattle are yield signs, horses are stop signs and those little black pigs are accidents waiting to happen. (thank goodness the swine flu epidemic got rid of most of those, but they are on the increase again)

[Houses4Rent]

Let me tell you a little story; we used to own a VW Kombi when my eldest daughter was about one or two, I don't remember. We always put her in her car seat on the 1st bench behind the drivers seat. So one day our "garden engineer" washed the car beautifully and sommer washed the car seat as well. He put the seat back in the car and all was ok. I took my daughter with me to a shop or something and everything was fine until a car suddenly stopped in front of me because the guy decided that it was just the right time to turn right. It hit the brake hard and heard a hell of a crash behind me. I looked back and saw that the entire car seat had flown across the kombi and hit the back of my seat. The car seat was lying face down on the floor and I can tell you I $h@t myself. Luckily she was ok and I suppose her forehead must have smacked the mid section (the soft part) of the back of my seat. I checked the seatbelt and it was clear that the "garden engineer" didn't strap the car seat in. I wasn't speeding or anything, it was in the middle of town and I couldn't have been doing much more than 60. The reason that the seat went flying was simply because of its mass and the sudden deceleration (f=ma) I think that it was that day when I realized that a human becomes a flying meat bomb if not strapped in. I never drove nor allowed anybody to drive with me unless they are strapped in. My kids know the dangers because I've shown them videos of people getting ejected from cars (even at low speeds when the cars are hit from the side)

I had same experience, not caused by my garden engineer, but by my premium "we care" Volkswagen mechanic. At a service they wash and hover the car and then they did not put the seat back in properly. My child went flying at a fast-ish corner, but luckily unhurt, but stressed. I was livid and complained at highest levels incl Dealership owner and Volkswagen SA head office for negligence. All I got was a lame apology. Next service I explicitly instructed not to touch the car seats. Guess what. They learnt nothing from the previous episode. On return I checked and the seats were lose again. Damn idiots. Next time I told them NOT to clean the car at all as I did not want to risk that I forget the check the car seats upon return. Then my maintenance contract expired and from then on I took it to my private (ex Barons) mechanic who does not clean it anyway, but is better and cheaper.

So all this "service obsession" causes huge risks. Checks yours after each service or garden engineer intervention.

[pmbguy]

There is just one thing more stupid/negligent than not buckling up, that is to have an unrestrained child or baby on the front seat. The poor child's face will not look so nice after its been through the windscreen.

According to statistics, most accidents happen within 5 km from home. There is more chance of being hit by a moron in town, than on the open road. A drunk driver coming from the pub, a mommy talking on her cell phone on the way to/from school, while trying to referee the kiddies fighting on the back seat.

I don’t know why you said this after quoting me because clearly we agree

A child on the other hand will fly out the car at 60km, so my daughter always always sits in her kiddy chair and always wears the seatbelt. I will not even reverse out the driveway without her totally secured.

Like I said my daughter always wears her seatbelt. She has never sat in front or outside her special chair, she is not allowed to stand or move around the car at all. I always wear my seatbelt as soon as I go over 60km. I have never driven a long road without a seatbelt. I am a fan of the seatbelt it saves lives everyday... all that I am saying is that I personally don’t wear one driving below 60. Yes I am sure it would be safer for me if I did. I feel the likelihood of Me getting flung out my car under 60 to be small enough not to wear one, call me a rebel.

I agree that setting an example is important and I want my daughter to wear her seatbelt as habit at any speed so I am willing to wear it whenever she is in the car starting today.

[Houses4Rent]

Good, we are making progress .
How about your 60 km/h plus the oncoming 60 km/h = 120 Km/h? Still not worth the wear a belt?

How do you do that anyway? In town one easily goes slightly above and below 60 km/h. Do you then constantly buckle up and out or hit the brakes once you reached over 60? And then make people like me wonder why people brake for no reason at all with nobody in front of them.

[pmbguy]

How do you do that anyway? In town one easily goes slightly above and below 60 km/h. Do you then constantly buckle up and out or hit the brakes once you reached over 60? And then make people like me wonder why people brake for no reason at all with nobody in front of them.

I hired a trained (Ex circus) monkey to stare at the speedometer and buckle or unbuckle me constantly as my speed fluctuates above or below 60.

[Houses4Rent]

I hired a trained (Ex circus) monkey to stare at the speedometer and buckle or unbuckle me constantly as my speed fluctuates above or below 60.

Ah, that is in line with the name of the thread then. The insanity will most certainly first set in with the monkey though. Beware the SPCA is watching you. Do animals don't have to be secured too? Probably not, but on a more serious note a heavy pet can smack a passenger pretty badly when coming flying past. So the monkey might get splashed over your windscreen or hit you on your back or become insane or all of the above.

[Dave A]

Hm, maybe picture yourself the traffic from the side skipping a robot and hitting your drivers side with 60 km/h. Make that a heavy duty truck (with failing breaks or just a dumb driver on the cell phone) for more convincing power.

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).

[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.