DANGEROUS HIGHWAY ETIQUETTE

WRECK-LESS DRIVING ©
by Gunther Doerfert, Auto Safety Columnist

DANGEROUS HIGHWAY ETIQUETTE
TIPTONVILLE, TN: Driving south on TN state route 78 there were 7 autos ahead of Wilma Dean. As she approached the left turn into the Reelfoot Lake State Inn all 7 began blinking the left turn signal. Wilma Dean thought it strange that so many vehicles were making that turn. The first auto turned and the others canceled the left blinker and went straight ahead.

At first one might think that this quaint local custom of signaling what the vehicle ahead intends to do is very nice. But on second thought it is also very dangerous. Drivers coming from the opposite direction would believe that all these autos intend to turn in front of them and would begin evasive action. If they knew that only the first car will turn in front of them they would have a different mindset about their speed than when anticipating that all will turn. The latter possibility would cause these on-coming vehicles to use much more braking force and might result in some rear-end crashes.

This may sound far fetched to you but it has happened. There is no need to signal the intentions of the vehicle ahead of you. In fact, in some states, including TN, it is unlawful to do so. Another danger is that the vehicle ahead fails to signal its intention to turn or change lanes. That, too, is unlawful.
GHD73 all rights reserved wellnessebooks.com/ebookstore.asp

SOBERING FACTS ABOUT YOUNG DRIVERS

WRECK-LESS DRIVING ©
by Gunther Doerfert, Auto Safety Columnist

SOBERING FACTS ABOUT YOUNG DRIVERS
EVERYWHERE, USA: This column is written for licensed drivers of all ages. But today I am addressing the mature drivers. Since most have children or grandchildren age 16 to 24, these sad statistics should cause us to seek more auto safety for them (or from them?):

· 30% of all persons killed in road vehicle/train crashes are age 16-24.
· 24% who die in wrecks with other vehicles are age 16-24.
· 34% who die in wrecks with fixed objects are in this age group.
· 28% of all crashes are caused by drivers this age.
· 33% who die in single vehicle wrecks are age 16-24.
· This age group, more often than any other, refuses to use the safety belts.
· 26 young persons age 16-24 die every day on US roads.
· 13 of these 26 deaths involve alcohol consumption.
· Most of these young persons have had a formal driver education class.

Surely parents and grandparents try to be safety role models for them. These reckless youngsters kill and maim a lot of innocent passengers and other drivers while doing the same to themselves. There must be something more we can do to assure them a long and healthy life. Some states have issued now restricted time-of-day- and location licenses for the youngest drivers. Other states demand passing grades in school in return for the privilege to drive.
GHD72 all rights reserved. wellnessebooks.com/ebookstore.asp

A NEW WAY OF CAR-JACKING

A NEW WAY OF CAR-JACKING (NOT A JOKE)
>
>Please keep this circulating, caution to women especially.
>
>Lieutenant Tony Bartolome
>
>You walk across the parking lot, unlock your car and get inside. Then you lock all your doors, start the engine and shift into REVERSE, and you look into the rearview mirror to back out of your parking space and you notice a piece of paper stuck to the middle of the rear window.
>
>So, you shift into PARK, unlock your doors and jump out of your car to remove that paper (or whatever it is) that is obstructing your view. When you reach the back of your car, that is when the car-jackers appear out of nowhere, jump into your car and take off! Your engine was running, (ladies would have their purse in the car) and they practically mow you down as they speed off in your car.
>
>BE AWARE OF THIS NEW SCHEME THAT IS NOW BEING USED.
>Just drive away and remove the paper that is stuck to your window later, and be thankful that you read this email. I hope you will forward this to friends and family...especially to women! A purse contains all of your identification, and you certainly do NOT want someone getting your home address. They already HAVE your keys!
>
>Lieutenant Tony Bartolome
>Bureau of Investigations
>Florida Highway Patrol
>P.O. Box 593527
>Orlando, FL 32859
>(407) 858-3233

4,300 DAILY DISTRACTED CRASHES

WRECK-LESS DRIVING
by Gunther Doerfert, Auto Safety Columnist

4,300 DAILY DISTRACTED CRASHES
MAWAH, NJ. Charlene S. says she frequently arrives home after a day’s work and cannot remember stopping at the several stop signs and yellow/red traffic signals. She wants to know “Why ?”.

Several situations, singly or combined may cause this dangerous distraction, Charlene. You are tired (drowsy) after 8 to 10 hours of work, you daydream about your work or your planned evening activity, your bio system is stressed due to eating or non-eating habits, or your auto’s exhaust is leaking deadly carbon monoxide in your closed air space.

Whatever the cause you should fix it now before becoming one of the US daily distraction/inattention crash statistics. Driver mistakes cause 85% of our crashes. Driver inattention causes 25% of these. Inattention causes 67% of rear-end crashes (such as at stop signs and signal lights). One of 4 crashes (1.5 million each year) is due to inattention. Are these frightening statistics enough to convince you to pay 100% attention to your fulltime job of driving your vehicle? Or are you one of the doubters who say “it won’t happen to me?”.

I could list here the dozens of driver distractions but you already know these and many more personal mental and physical ones which tempt you as you drive. Don’t do them!
Yes, you must frequently and quickly glance into your three mirrors and at your gauges. But to do all those personal, non-essential to safe driving things while in charge of a moving deadly projectile is inexcusable. I know, you’ve done it before or seen other drivers do it without loss of control. And so did those millions of drivers in the statistics above, until their “number came up” and gave them a real-life lesson.

At 60 mph a 2 second distraction to admire your face in the mirror is 176 feet at deadly speed where you have voluntarily given up control. Every mile we drive requires up to 200 operating decisions. We owe it to ourselves, our occupants, and all those on the road near us to be responsible full-time drivers,

Oh yes, we cannot end this discussion without reporting that 5,000 teens die each year in vehicle crashes. That is the number one cause of teen deaths. Inexperience, fun loving, and immaturity (to age 26) combine to take away our precious children in the most horrible way. It is up to us parents and grandparents to pro-actively teach the children the deadly results of foolish distractions. A rapidly increasing problem is the number of teens with the newest cell phones having added visual services. Teens, cell phones, and flimsy high-speed autos – a bad combination!

Oh, one more while we are beating on the kids – they are the worst offenders on refusal to fasten the safety belts. The belts seem to interfere with whatever else they are doing in the moving vehicle. I get a sick stomach every time I see kids in an open “Jeep” and none of them are belted.
GHD363 all rights reserved wellnessebooks.com/ebookstore.asp