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erasmus_gw

Be careful on the road during the holidays

erasmus_gw
16 years ago

Yesterday I saw two near car wrecks...one I was almost involved in. A guy in a huge pickup truck tried to do a U turn right in front of me while I was going 55. He couldn't make it and went into the ditch. His son in the passenger seat is the one who would have been t-boned. I had to swerve into a parking lot.

What I'm thinking is that Christmas is a time when many people get depressed and stressed, unfortunately. People also drink more. So maybe there are more accidents waiting to happen. Just a caution to keep your defensive driving skills a little sharper perhaps!

Linda

Comments (20)

  • devon_in_the_garden
    16 years ago

    Linda, you are so right. I'm so glad you avoided that
    accident. I've avoided a few close calls myself. It's
    like playing football out there. You have to drive with
    an offense and defense strategy. You have to scan all
    around you and anticipate all the time. So many drivers,
    drive like there are no rules. Stay safe, Linda.

    Your friend,

    Devon

  • Terry Crawford
    16 years ago

    People have so much on their minds this time of year and also drive carelessly around any holidays. You can always tell when it's a 3 or 4-day weekend...they drive like it's the Indy 500. I tend to avoid driving if at all possible around the New Years Eve and stay home. It's just not work taking a chance on amateur nite.

  • iowa_jade
    16 years ago

    My co-worker was in a bad accident on the way to work this morning. Bummer! Hopefully he is OK!

    Totaled his car.

    People are a little bit stressed out at this time of year.

    I am very very glad I no longer handle auto claims anymore.

    Slow down and be safe out there.

  • carla17
    16 years ago

    Driving home the other night, car on road without lights and almost wrecked. Then he proceeds speeding towards the lake on 127, still no lights!!! Yikes! People in cars are scary.

    Carla

  • erasmus_gw
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Thanks, Devon. Yes, it seems that being distracted is a problem during holidays..I know it is for me. I can't talk on a cell phone and drive at the same time because I have enough distractions as it is! So I tell people I'm driving and can't talk. The other near wreck I saw yesterday was a man on his cell phone drifting in to the next lane and at a green light, sitting there on his phone at a standstill while everyone drove around him. Cell phones, speed, stress and distractions are a bad mix. Sorry about your coworker, Iowa jade. TErryjean, another night I'd rather stay home is prom night or hs graduation. Carla, when I see a person with lights out in the dark I flash mine at them in case they don't realize their lights are off.
    Linda

  • anntn6b
    16 years ago

    It IS that time of year.
    Yesterday we were almost hit by a car that had almost hit us, same situation, two weeks ago. That car, coming from a full stop on a major, though secondary road, seems to be driven by someone who thinks that once they've stopped, they've the right to start, even though cars are on the main road at 55mph.
    We can and do avoid driving when the roads are wet. The phrase "playing bumpercars on the interstate" fits.
    I like terryjean's "it's just not worth taking a chance on amateur night."

  • iowa_jade
    16 years ago

    Co-worker is fine. He went down a ski ramp on a ice covered road approaching a stop sign and ran into a Tundra. His car is one of those that come with a funeral wreath allready attached to it from the factory, so it kind of was raining plastic for a while.

    The Tundra was, well is a pickup, a big one. A tree might have been more forgiving. Hopefully those folks are OK. My co-worker was worried about the Tundra as it was a brand new one and no one likes their ride scratched up.

    Foghorn

  • harryshoe zone6 eastern Pennsylvania
    16 years ago

    "So many drivers drive like there are no rules"

    Not true in New Jersey Devon. The New Jersey "No Space Left Unused" rule mandates that all drivers of large SUV's or pickups, especially black ones, be on the lookout for any space between two cars that is more than 6 inches longer than the length of the SUV or truck they are driving. They are required to pass on the right at high rates of speed and squeeze into the opening while making an angry face and Italian hand gesture at the other driver.

    During the holiday season it is permissible to squeeze into a space which is smaller than the length of your SUV or truck.

    Fines for violation of this rule are doubled in inclement weather.

  • anntn6b
    16 years ago

    Is anyone else an observer of the "Hat Rule"?

  • carla17
    16 years ago

    Goodness Harry, that sounds like a place I don't want to drive in!
    Ann, please tell us about this rule.

    Carla

  • erasmus_gw
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Yes, Ann...what is the Hat Rule?

  • bettym_grow
    16 years ago

    I was out in the snow w/ DH celebrating our 17 wedding anniversary and I found all the snow a refreshing change from the usual drippy, wet, depressing weather. The few fools that were out (us included) were having a blast and enjoying the big fat snowflakes coming down.

    We drove through an older part of Ann Arbor which was decorated vintage style Christmas decorations and lights, simply beautiful! The ambiance was so romantic and old fashioned!

    I love snow and the 4 wheel drive on my new Jag DH bought me for our anniversary made driving fun:)

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!:)

    Betty

  • anntn6b
    16 years ago

    Betty, that sounds lovely. And what the season has the potential to be.
    (The new Jag isn't bad, either.)

    The Hat Rule isn't seasonal. I first learned it in grad school, decades ago, from some Botany grads (they do a lot of field work ). The Rule is "If the guy driving in front of you is wearing a hat while driving, he's more concerned about his head getting cold than he is about driving.....Caution.....Will Robinson....he'll do something stupid."
    Only pass a hatted driver if you've room to swerve left when he crosses the center line.
    Expect a left turn when the right turn signal is on.
    Etc.
    And especially, expect a full stop on a major highway when turning right. Unless there's a stop sign.

    (Gimme hats don't count in the hat rule, most times.)

  • peachiekean
    16 years ago

    Be careful when out on foot too. Last night as dh and I were walking up to the restaurant for my company's Holiday Party, we came real close to being mowed down by a woman (on her cell) in a big SUV. This was in a parking lot! It was raining and just after sundown and she was accelerating until dh held up his arm and yelled for her to stop. Scary!!

  • iowa_jade
    16 years ago

    Gimme hats? What are them- ratty old hats with sweat coated brims? And here I was thinking about replacing my old hat. Perhaps it is good for another 10+ years.

    You have ol' Foghorn worried.

    ITOH I resemble that remark with or without a hat.

    Be careful out there we still have New Years Eve to get through.

    F.L.

  • anntn6b
    16 years ago

    Gimme hats are the single billed (Baseball) hats that used to be given away. Lots said "John Deere". Some were worn backwards. Some even sprouted two bills. Then there were those that were worn sideways.

    And lest you think that lapses in reason are the sole purvey of drivers, I've linked to the story below.

    Here is a link that might be useful: 'Fire trucks cleared the scene at noon'

  • erasmus_gw
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Hmmm, I often wear a hat and have never had a wreck. Could it be that most people - aware of the hat rule- have been steering clear of me on the road? If so, hats might be like the new collision sensors but cheaper. Foghorn, I bet your old hat still works.

    Betty, it sounds pretty in Ann Arbor. Peachiekeen, that sounds scary...it amazes me how fast some people go in parking lots.
    Linda

  • michaelalreadytaken
    16 years ago

    Palm Springs was the epicenter of hatdom as well as invisible drivers whose neck-levels coincided with the top of the driver's door.

    In other news, for the first time ever, a semi changed lanes on me--leaving me nowhere to go but the shoulder--day before yesterday.

    I was so upset that I couldn't talk, couldn't say a word, so I suppose some good came of it. LOL.

    I just sat there on the side of the freeway with this strange mixture of feelings: intense anger mingled with intense gratitude that I was still alive--all at once.

    Certain words came to mind but the grateful part of my brain just immediately suppressed them and they wouldn't come out... :):):)

    So I just sat there for a while in numb silence as the traffic continued flowing by as though nothing had happened...

    Anyway, be on the lookout for a big long white tractor trailer. He was headed east on 80 so he could be just about anywhere in the country by now.

    MichaelAT

  • morz8 - Washington Coast
    16 years ago

    Oh Anne....Loved your hat rule, and it's a very small world :)

    Part of my 100 mile trek to my mother's takes me about 30 minutes on a two lane, hilly, zig zag highway next to a river - and I can't tell you how many times I've gotten onto that no-chance-to-pass (without risking meeting a loaded log truck head on) stretch of road behind a little old man, driving the sedan he probably bought in the 60's, barely clearing the steering wheel but for his HAT.

    About all I can do is sit back, slow to 35 in a 50 mph zone, relax, and wish I still smoked. DH will call and say how was your drive, I reply Arghhhhhh! A man in a hat again!

  • erasmus_gw
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Michael, I'm glad you're ok! Thanks for the heads up about the white truck, lol.
    Linda

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