IT’S HARD TO STOP A TRAIN

IT’S HARD TO STOP A TRAIN
SCHOENCHEN, KS: Almost daily somewhere in the US there is a serious auto/train collision In fact, due to the size of the locomotive and its speed there is rarely a crash with a thin-skin auto that has no serious outcome. Harris H. in Kansas wrote with these suggestions for drivers of all ages in any type of vehicle:
*Never, ever stop on the track crossing. If the vehicle stalls get out of it and off the tracks immediately. Flying debris can cause terrible injury. Do not run down track, in the direction the train is going.
*Do not attempt to beat the train to the crossing; train speed is difficult to judge.
*Believe the crossing warning light, gates or other warnings; stop, look, and listen (put down your cell phone, turn off that loud radio, stop singing and hush the kids).

Because we have experienced times when the crossing warning signals were telling us a train is coming but none was in sight or it was obviously stopped we have become distrusting. So hundreds of us each year are killed or injured by rushing to judgment that it is safe to cross because once again the signals are false or that we can outrun the train. There may be another train, unseen, coming on an adjacent track. Most of the time the heavy train is impossible to stop in time. Playing chicken with a train is a loosing game

Safety experts say that almost all train/vehicle crashes could be eliminated if the drivers would simply obey the obvious rules. But because a few drivers don’t, the rail companies are closing permanently some crossings where crashes are frequent. This forces us safe drivers to go many extra miles to get around the now blocked crossing.
GHD172 all rights reserved

GETTING DROWSY? TAKE A BREAK.

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

GETTING DROWSY? TAKE A BREAK.
CISNE, IL.: geraldenek@isp.ed? sent us this message. She tells of driving her 6 wheeler home from St. Louis on US 60 and trying to stay awake with the window open and the CB radio blaring. Suddenly she was aware that the 3 right side wheels were running on gravel and that her next stop was going to be a roadside drainage ditch. Fortunately the only damage was to her future self-confidence.

About 100,000 auto crashes and 1,500 deaths occur each year because the driver failed to stop when drowsy. And many of these are more severe because the long distance driver has been shorting his/her sleep for several days running.

If a long trip is planned be sure to get maximum rest and sleep the day and night before. Loading up on refined carbohydrate meals and snacks (sugar, white flour) is a bad move because low blood sugar and drowsiness will appear in a few hours. Caffeine beverages are OK for awhile but after a few hours can lead also to low blood sugar levels. Safe drivers allow enough time for stretch/rest stops every 2 hours or so. We call it “walking the dog”. Changing drivers is even better. I buy only 10 gallons of fuel at a stop. This forces me to stop every 2 hours or so.

A 20 minute nap is the best way to recover from a sleepy feeling. Taking a nap at a roadside rest stop can itself be dangerous, especially for a woman traveling alone. It has gotten so bad in some locales that armed security personnel are there all 24 hours. We regularly see daytime sleepers in vehicles on fast food parking lots. Perhaps they feel safer in crowds. A $80 motel room, even for a few hours, is a lot cheaper than the aftermath of getting mugged, or worse.
GHD171 all rights reserved

CELLING WHILE DRIVING

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

CELLING WHILE DRIVING
MOUNT HOPE, CT: Driving North on CT. Route 89, Dwight L. saw that his vehicle was the only one on the road. So he felt safe picking up his cell phone to call and announce his imminent arrival. Problem is, he arrived hours later. Trying to input his home phone number while driving he misjudged a curve that he rounded twice each day. But this time he squared the curve and ran his new Taurus into a tree for a total loss. Luckily Dwight was not totaled as he was using his safety belt in addition to the air bags.

Hitting a live tree is a quick way to die. Green trees are very flexible and most of the time will throw the vehicle backwards giving the occupants a double whammy. Dead trees and wooden utility poles are more likely to snap off at the ground and cause less damage to the vehicle and persons. Metal poles at best will bend and at worst may not give an inch .But do not try to prove or disprove any of this!

Using the cell phone while driving is a growing cause of auto and truck crashes. Inattention to reasonable driving is obviously foolish in heavy traffic. Yet we can see this unsafe practice almost anytime we look about our moving vehicle. Dwight discovered the hard way that an empty highway is a danger, too.

In Connecticut and many other states it is unlawful to use a cell phone while driving. No doubt many more state legislatures will follow suit.
GHD170 all rights reserved

BAGS AND BELTS

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

BAGS AND BELTS
BETTENDORF, IA: Harlowe tells us that he was driving at 5 miles over the posted maximum on I-74 when he swerved to the right to miss a wandering dog. Then he lost control and hit a roadside sign on the far edge of the shoulder. This sturdy obstruction stopped his luxury auto abruptly, throwing his body forward with great force. Had Harlowe not been wearing the lap and shoulder belts to augment the steering wheel air bag he might not be alive today.

Many otherwise safety-conscious drivers and passengers believe that an air bag is sufficient protection in a frontal crash. Not so! The lap belt keeps the body from sliding downward under the dash where the legs and knees get mangled. A shoulder belt is designed to restrict quick forward movement of the upper body to protect it from head and chest collision with, among other hard objects, the very forceful air bag. To be sure, in a severe crash the belts and bag can cause some injuries themselves. But these are far more acceptable than the injuries inflicted without them. Harlowe is a believer, now.

Another reason to use both belts is that they do offer some protection in side crashes where the front air bag is ineffective. The latest auto models have side air bags but, as before, they must be augmented with the provided belts. Is it freedom loving or stubbornness or stupidity that leads some of us to think we are smarter than the auto safety experts who designed these protective restraints? If everyone would buckle-up I would not have to write so often in this column about this morbid subject.
GHD169 all rights reserved