Potentially dangerous situations.

In the wake of the terrible accident in California, I feel compelled to start this thread. I was going to do it because of something that happened last Saturday eavening.

What are these dangerous situations that we should be aware of. The first two are the most important.

Don't drink and drive.

Don't street race.

If you don't believe this, you may never see it coming.


Now, I had something happen Saturday night I want to share. I was going down the straight street in front of my house to a "T" intersection at which I will have to stop and go left or right. Fifty yards before this intersection there is a road that enters this road at about a 35 degree angle and at a stop sign for that road. It is a stop sign that I have seen people take at probably 25-30 MPH proceding to the next stop sign. Saturday this guy runs it, I thought he was going to stop, My wife yells "STOP!! They're not stopping!" Well the guy locked them up well past the sign, some distance from my side as I continued to take the right of way.

I know that people run this one sometimes and I know that there may be a blind spot for them. Try looking over your right sholder at 145 degrees. Luckily this is playing out before me and I see it coming so there was never going to be an accident that day. We can learn a lesson from boaters here. On the water there is no "right of way" both captains are obliged to avoid an accident.



I am going to see if others will share some insight. I don't want to run on. I hope people see this and learn. I wish it could be in a place more people are going to see it but education seemed like the right spot. More to come.

 

Keeping your wheels straight is a good thing. That "T" intersection I am stopped at often waiting to turn left, the road is posted 40 and people do 50 and I've seen two rear end accidents in five years. One of those was pushed into the other lane but only gave the oncoming car a glancing blow. I wonder how many happened that I am unaware of.

I put my turn signal on about 200 yards from the intersection and start hitting the brake pedal early and often enough to make the brake lights come on. My wife also knows to keep the wheels straight.

 

I was a new driver. I had gone to the bank drive through. This bank was all alone with nothing around it. I finished and was driving away and got clobbered at the corner, totally unsuspecting. Neither of us had a stop sign.

I'll never look at a blind corner the same again. I approach them all with suspicion of what is just around the corner.

Alley ways you have to be especially careful of pedestrians. Parking lots are full of blind corners. Defensive driving is a habit.

I hope there is a young reader out there that just learned the easy way.

 

Beware of oncoming cars trying to turn left. Head on collisions are to be avoided. Sometimes a driver will try to beat the oncoming traffic to make a left hand turn.

They will generally try to cut the corner short. This can make for exciting moments when a third car enters the picture on the perpendicular road onto which the hurriedly turning car is committed. It becomes a matter of time, distance and space, all of which will be in short supply because of the mistake of the turning car.

I see this all the time and you probably do too. It is usually an inexperienced driver making this mistake that will lead to an accident. Often a head on.


This would fall under the look before you leap category but not everyone knows it. They just don't expect someone to be occupying the space they wanted.

Beware of this very dangerous behavior.

 

You won't believe it but I have to tell you. Not ten minutes ago on a 30 mph street a little old lady turned left into her driveway not 70 feet in front of me.70 feet!! And she stopped at the entrance!!!! Luckily I was driving the truck and had good vis and there was no oncoming so I went around. I don't know if I would have been able to stop. I was doing 30 and being tailgated very badly by an Audi.

No turn signal mind you. Just turned right in front of me.

I'm shocked. Luckily I was doing just 30. If I were doing 40 I'm pretty sure there would have been some contact.

The Audi had just come up behind me very quickly, probably 45. Lucky for both of the other parties I was just going around the block to show my 2 1/2 year old the horsies.

 

Several months back I was on a 45 mph road. A driver two cars in front (and in the left lane) is under the posted speed. I'm passing on the right and about to overtake with a speed advantage when.... you guessed it. They go for the right hand lane with no signal. There was a hard curb to my right.

Luckily they were moving that way slowly. At such a time you must brake or accelerate. I downshifted, hit it and the 360 squirted through with room to spare, probably surprising the dimwit.

Just goes to show you though. There have been as many times that I chose to brake.

It's why I usually use several seconds (like five) to change lanes. Give people a chance to react. I know I can change lanes in one second but that means the car that I may not have seen I'm going to strike.



I think that some of these realizations come about with age.

 

Left hand turns are more dangerous than a right hand turn. That's pretty easy to figure. When there is more than one lane approaching from the left it gets worse. A right hand turn in comparison is ease personified.

Left hand turns should be taught like a dance step. There should be a rhythm to it. Left,1,2.. right,1,2.. left, right, left. Alternatively l e f t, r i g h t, left, right, left. Or... If it's clear, if it's clear, check, check, go. See what I mean. It's all about the tempo. If you don't have it you start over.

Of course all this goes right out the window when you are trying to text, shift and turn all at the same time. Text could be interchanged with change the radio station in this case.

Honestly though, this should be taught to young drivers and I don't think it ever has been for any one driver ever. It should also be taught that if you are unable to make the left, then make a right and get to a controlled intersection or something better.

My hate for left hand turns (I don't want or need more stress or accidents in my life) even effects the way I choose where to live. I know where I'm going and will take a right every time if given the opportunity. And there are certain Friday afternoons when I don't want anything between me and my pop shop. Where I live now I can simply go around the block to the right if it's rush hour and the most direct route which involves a left is going to be hard to get.

I'm not kidding about my preference for going around the block to the right.

 

I learned this here. A fellow F-Chatter had a litte run in (his first ever) after many years of safe driving. It happened in the cener turn lane.

He was wanting to turn left (of course) across a couple lanes no doubt. This is the kind of road that has these center turn lanes. Multiple lanes and multiple points of entry or exit.

Well probably a hundred yards to his left on the other side of the road there was someone considering the same action. They make their move. Get to the center, check over their right sholder and... WHACK!!!

Maybe a little obtuse but it just goes to show you. You gotta be careful out there.