How Avoid Traffic Accidents

[Canoeboy]

Many great points about accidents. A few years ago the megacorp I worked for brought in the author of this article to help our safety professionals understand risks from a neuroscience perspective.

https://www.safetyandhealthmagazine...ership-neuroscience-and-human-error-reduction

Turns out that repetition and/or being tired can mess with your brain in ways we don’t understand. When you do the same task/routine over and over, what you “see” is based largely on what your brain predicts you will see, not on the actual input from your eyes. Your eyes are only used to occasionally validate what your brain predicts you are seeing and this validation diminishes as you get tired.

I recall “waking up” a few times on my evening drive home only when I came to an unfamiliar intersection that was 5 miles off course. My brain saw me driving my regular route until my eyes picked up on something completely different. Ideally I should have had multiple routes home to keep my brain confused, thus having to rely on my eyes.

 

[USGrant1962]

...

When you do the same task/routine over and over, what you “see” is based largely on what your brain predicts you will see, not on the actual input from your eyes. Your eyes are only used to occasionally validate what your brain predicts you are seeing and this validation diminishes as you get tired.

...

I've read this too in regard to why you have zero detailed memory of your daily commute. Your brain goes in autopilot. When I was commuting 2.25 hours round trip it was noticeable.

 

[Sunset]

My favorite new trend to hit the streets is now when everyone is stopped at a stop light and the light turns green, nobody moves because everyone at the front of the line is on their phone and people have to honk to get their attention. It seems to happen at. every. single. stop. light!

Yes I notice this.
It really bugs me, and last time I was out driving I thought:
What if I see the person in the first vehicle put their head down while at the red light... and I honk honk, will they just start ahead without really looking... right into cross traffic

 

[HadEnuff]

I love it when somebody wants to go faster than I do. Not only are they are guaranteed not to delay me, but they will also be the one tagged by the radar unit. It's a win-win.

I'm not worried about the radar unit, as I don't speed. I am happy to see those faster cars pass me so that they can remove the deer from the roadway for me.

Where we live in Upstate NY, and I'm sure we are not unique in this, you can't drive 10 miles on a reasonably busy highway without seeing at least one dead deer.

I used to occasionally commute to work on Monday mornings on these roads, often before the sun had risen, or the fog lifted. More than once I was passed by a car only to see that car farther on down the road, on the shoulder, or in a field, having struck a deer.

The closest I have ever come to being in a really serious accident was due to hitting a deer on an interstate. Scared the hell out of me.

 

[sengsational]

I got Attia's email, too. I agree with his points but I think the overarching issue is impatience. I think back to the few accidents I've been involved in and impatience is the root cause.

Astute observation. I think this is true for my accidents and close calls. For instance, last week I was behind a slow poke who appeared to be turning right (no signal). So, impatiently, I used the left turn lane in an attempt to not have to slow down. But then she does a hard left, coming perpendicular, right in front of me. I stood on the brakes and stopped 10 or so feet from her door.



Unrelated to impatience, but not addressed by Attia is to use a "blocker". The most obvious way to do this is select the right side when there are two left turn lanes. That way, the guy on your left would be the one to get t-boned and your risk is with a glancing blow and one where you have good visibility to prevent. There are other such "plays" you can consistently run to keep yourself in a slightly safer spot.

 

[OldShooter]

... However, I think it would be a rare private pilot who would say, “Mr. Bryant, I value your life more than your business. We are not flyng today.” ...

Well, the pilot was not a private pilot. But based on this comment I looked him up in the FAA database. He was an 8,000 hour commercial pilot and licensed as a helicopter flight instructor.

Surprisingly, is not listed by the FAA as being instrument rated. ?!!?! Astonishingl So I'm not so sure about my comments above. A news story about him said that he was instrument rated, so its hard to know for sure, though. It's a pretty good article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremy...t-allowed-to-fly-by-instruments/#4659cc526ea3 All I can be sure of now is that the final NTSB report will be interesting.

 

[Pellice]

I read a long and interesting article a long time ago that emphasized REMOVING "making good time" as a basic assumption about how to drive. The positive connotations of "making good time" have been so ingrained in people that they automatically do things to align their driving with this goal. I can almost see drivers sometimes awarding themselves "points" if they make it through a yellow light, or make it around and between two slower cars. "Five points to me if I can make it to the interstate ramp in front of that black car."

I don't know how you do this except maybe by replacing it with different awards points in your mind. Those cars that show your mpg reward a smoother drive. I sometimes in traffic count the number of times the car in front of me has to hit the brakes compare to me - it's often 5x more. I repeat my mantra "Easy Driver." I try to notice when the tailgater behind me zooms around only to bump up against another car within 30 seconds.

But "making good time" is a powerful magnet.

 

[pacergal]

My favorite bumper sticker slogan "Your hurry is not my problem"

I drive the speed limit, stay in the "slow" lane unless passing, and have been known to pull overt the side of the road if someone is tailgating and won't pass. I don't like driving at night as my vision is not as good as it used to be for night time.
I love the safety features in our cars now, the blind spot monitor, lane change warning, automatic brake radar and beep warning.

 

[ncbill]

My RAV4 had Blind Spot Monitor (BSM) as an extra cost option. And it is worth every penny of the cost. In fact, I would give up some things like the lane monitor before I would give up BSM.

+1000

Blind spot issues are the closest I've come to being involved in a serious accident.

IMHO, BSM should be required same as backup camera.

But no, even those OEMs who offer forward collision alert/autonomous emergency braking standard demand another $1,000 or so for their package that includes BSM.

 

[scrabbler1]

I'm not worried about the radar unit, as I don't speed. I am happy to see those faster cars pass me so that they can remove the deer from the roadway for me.

Where we live in Upstate NY, and I'm sure we are not unique in this, you can't drive 10 miles on a reasonably busy highway without seeing at least one dead deer.

I used to occasionally commute to work on Monday mornings on these roads, often before the sun had risen, or the fog lifted. More than once I was passed by a car only to see that car farther on down the road, on the shoulder, or in a field, having struck a deer.

The closest I have ever come to being in a really serious accident was due to hitting a deer on an interstate. Scared the hell out of me.

Substitute "cop" for "deer" and your unfortunate story reminds me of a time I was driving in southern Florida, from West Palm to Ft. Lauderdale on the Turnpike one sunny Saturday morning.

I was zipping along in the right lane at 65 (the speed limit, one I am not used to, being from Long Island which has nothing faster than 55) and someone in a Caddy goes flying passed me like I'm not moving. Maybe 10 minutes later I see the same guy stopped on the shoulder with a state trooper behind him, about to give him a speeding ticket.

I laughed to myself, muttered "haste makes waste" and continued on my way.

 

[Sunset]

Astute observation. I think this is true for my accidents and close calls. For instance, last week I was behind a slow poke who appeared to be turning right (no signal). So, impatiently, I used the left turn lane in an attempt to not have to slow down. But then she does a hard left, coming perpendicular, right in front of me. I stood on the brakes and stopped 10 or so feet from her door.

.....

When I was a new driver, I did a similar thing, here I was following the school bus and it stopped in the right lane without any flashing signals or anything other than it stopped.
So I move to the left lane to pass it, and as I'm driving along it, a person steps out from in front of the bus, crossing the street.
It was a crosswalk the bus had stopped at and I never saw the person due to the large size of the school bus.
Well BAM .. I slammed my foot on the brakes and made an impressive skid mark, ... I stopped in time and sheepishly sat there as the person crossed in front of me.

 

[JoeWras]

Substitute "cop" for "deer" and your unfortunate story reminds me of a time I was driving in southern Florida, from West Palm to Ft. Lauderdale on the Turnpike one sunny Saturday morning.

I was zipping along in the right lane at 65 (the speed limit, one I am not used to, being from Long Island which has nothing faster than 55) and someone in a Caddy goes flying passed me like I'm not moving. Maybe 10 minutes later I see the same guy stopped on the shoulder with a state trooper behind him, about to give him a speeding ticket.

I laughed to myself, muttered "haste makes waste" and continued on my way.

Aside from sex, drugs and rock n' roll, there is no more satisfying feeling than the above.

 

[kaneohe]

.............................



Unrelated to impatience, but not addressed by Attia is to use a "blocker". The most obvious way to do this is select the right side when there are two left turn lanes. That way, the guy on your left would be the one to get t-boned and your risk is with a glancing blow and one where you have good visibility to prevent. ...........................................

The risk with this tactic is that you assume that the left lane guy will stay in
"his" lane after the turn. It is not uncommon for such drivers to drift into
the right lane esp. if the intersection is not lined for the lanes.

Personally I always take the left lane so I am in control of the situation.

 

[Buckeye]

Well, the pilot was not a private pilot. But based on this comment I looked him up in the FAA database. He was an 8,000 hour commercial pilot and licensed as a helicopter flight instructor.

Surprisingly, is not listed by the FAA as being instrument rated. ?!!?! Astonishingl So I'm not so sure about my comments above. A news story about him said that he was instrument rated, so its hard to know for sure, though. It's a pretty good article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremy...t-allowed-to-fly-by-instruments/#4659cc526ea3 All I can be sure of now is that the final NTSB report will be interesting.

I read/heard the pilot was instrument rated but the company for which he worked was not 'approved' to fly instrument rated which made it sound like the pilot violated company policy by flying that day. This is not important to the accident IMHO but it might be an opening for a lawsuit. It will be interesting to see if Mrs. Bryant decides to sue.

 

[Buckeye]

I'm not worried about the radar unit, as I don't speed. I am happy to see those faster cars pass me so that they can remove the deer from the roadway for me.

Where we live in Upstate NY, and I'm sure we are not unique in this, you can't drive 10 miles on a reasonably busy highway without seeing at least one dead deer.

I used to occasionally commute to work on Monday mornings on these roads, often before the sun had risen, or the fog lifted. More than once I was passed by a car only to see that car farther on down the road, on the shoulder, or in a field, having struck a deer.

The closest I have ever come to being in a really serious accident was due to hitting a deer on an interstate. Scared the hell out of me.

I will never forget as a child of 8 or 9 riding with a family friend on a winding road in a rural area when a motorcycle went zipping by. He said, "That's not going to end well!" Within a mile or two we came upon the motorcyclist crashed into a dirt hillside. We stopped so he could give aid (he was in the Secret Service so he probably had some good first aid training) and he had me run to the closest house to call an ambulance. The rider was banged up but was probably going to be okay. I have thought of that accident scene more times than i can count over the last 50+ years as cars go flying by me as I drive at least close to the speed limit. Let them go find the hillside instead of me!

 

[aja8888]

I read/heard the pilot was instrument rated but the company for which he worked was not 'approved' to fly instrument rated which made it sound like the pilot violated company policy by flying that day. This is not important to the accident IMHO but it might be an opening for a lawsuit. It will be interesting to see if Mrs. Bryant decides to sue.

There will be lawsuits....probably several of them.

 

[scrabbler1]

Aside from sex, drugs and rock n' roll, there is no more satisfying feeling than the above.

Oooh, I have another story you will find even more satisfying.

Once I was driving home on the parkway late at night from a friend's house. It's like a speedway at that hour so I drive in the center lane so all the speed demons can pass me on either side while I can avoid the slowpokes and those getting on or off the parkway at the many interchanges.

There is nobody on the road as far as I can see behind and in front of me (yay!) until I see a pair of headlights in the distance behind me at the other end of a long straight stretch. I can't tell which lane it is in until it very soon gets closer and closer to me and I see the headlights are in the left lane.

I hold my position in the center lane and the car soon passes me in the left lane. He's not flying passed me but is going at least 70 (limit is 55). But before I could ask myself, "Where's a cop when you need one?" on his tail is a state trooper with its police lights off, at least for the moment.

They go around a curve so they are out of my view for a few seconds until I go around the curve. Now in a well lit straightaway, I know it won't be long until the trooper lights him up. And just as I am wondering about that, there goes those police lights. They go around another curve and a few seconds later I pass them both by while they are on the grassy shoulder, a speeding ticket about to be written up.

 

[Elbata]

Driving a motorcycle it's routine for drivers to pull into my lane, even run red lights. I've learned not to get upset, try to be as visible as possible and expect most contingencies.

To those who have mentioned truck drivers--After a cross-country drive vacation, I've grown a huge respect for those folks. Tough way to make a living.

 

[frayne]

Become a motorcycle pilot late in life (52), took the MSF course and have read many a book on bike safety that apply to driving a car. One, pretend like everyone out there is trying to run you over, two, never drive faster than your line of sight and three, never look at another driver's eyes at a stop light/four way stop, always the front wheel. Four, intersection are dangerous. With the advent of cell phones and driver distractions like touch screen GPS, etc. the risk of accidents increase substantially.

 

[JoeWras]

What I don't get is why a motorcyclist would want to temp fate with lane splitting. Now I hear that there is a pretty good safety record where it was common, which just dumbfounds me.

With all the people distracted, surely they'd change lanes right into a splitter, no?

And as an auto driver, a lane splitter will scare the crap out of you if you are not used to them, as I wasn't when I encountered them doing it in CA.

 

[Amethyst]

I briefly dated a guy who got me to ride on the back of his bike just once. I was too scared to ever do it again, and said so. He drove 100 miles an hour, split lanes, etc.!

His explanation: "Motorcycles are made to go fast."

What I don't get is why a motorcyclist would want to temp fate with lane splitting. .

 

[scrabbler1]

What I don't get is why a motorcyclist would want to temp fate with lane splitting. Now I hear that there is a pretty good safety record where it was common, which just dumbfounds me.

With all the people distracted, surely they'd change lanes right into a splitter, no?

And as an auto driver, a lane splitter will scare the crap out of you if you are not used to them, as I wasn't when I encountered them doing it in CA.

It's not just distracted drivers, but the motorcyclist driving between lanes in a traffic jam is very tough to see because of the other cars and SUVs and trucks behind you blocking the lines of sight in case I decide to carefully change lanes.

 

[JoeWras]

It's not just distracted drivers, but the motorcyclist driving between lanes in a traffic jam is very tough to see because of the other cars and SUVs and trucks behind you blocking the lines of sight in case I decide to carefully change lanes.

If you search for any info on lane splitting in California, you'll find they (DMV) changed their website to be hands off on the issue!

Basically they say: it is neither legal or not legal. Therefore, we won't discuss best etiquette for the practice.

What

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/about/lane_splitting
The CHP discussed the issue with the Office of Administrative Law and chose not to issue, use or enforce guidelines and thus removed them from the website.
...
California law does not allow or prohibit motorcycles from passing other vehicles proceeding in the same direction within the same lane, a practice often called "lane splitting," "lane sharing" or "filtering."