Tag Archives: speed

General Safety Issues

SHARING THE ROAD SAFELY

After a fun day of shopping and visiting with close friends last week, we parted ways and headed for home.  I might mention that we were shopping in a city that we were unfamiliar with, so it’s even more important to drive with care, and watch for the other guy, too.  My dear friend left first, to head for her home town, and the rest of us were close behind going our way.  We reached the corner where we needed to turn, and there had been an accident – sirens, police, an ambulance, and then the most frightening realization, my friend walking to the crash site!

She had taken a turn to go home when a young man on a motorcycle smashed into her car.  Thankfully, he was wearing a helmet – but his bike was probably totaled, and her car sustained quite a lot of damage.  Witnesses said that he had been standing on the seat of the bike earlier, then “popping a wheelie” just before he came back down on the street, when he hit her.

It woke us all up to the fact that accidents happen so fast, and this could have ended with a much sadder outcome.  There are some tips that have been given in previous articles about motorcycle safety, but I want to repeat some of them and hope that a parent or biker will pay attention before it is too late.

From the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Share the Road Safely:

Watch the No-Zones: Never hang out in a truck’s blind spot or “no-Zone”.  These are at the front and back and on both sides of the truck.  They cannot see you when you ride in these spots, and cannot stop as fast as you can.

Always Wear a Helmet: Make sure helmets meet US DOT standards.  Check for the DOT label in your helmet.  The accident I am telling you about, the rider’s helmet was scratched where he hit the car, and the visor was completely off. 

Drive to Survive: Remember that motorcycles are the smallest vehicles on the road.  There is virtually no protection in a crash.  Be extra cautious, watching the signals and brake lights of other vehicles.  Don’t ride inbetween lanes in traffic or share a lane with another vehicle. You must respect the law just as other drivers.  Don’t instigate aggressive driving with other motorists.  This only increases your chance of a crash.

Check Yourself and Your Bike: Conduct a safety inspection of the bike prior to each ride, and wear protective clothing including gloves, boots, and a jacket.  Some high-visibility stickers or vest will help others see you.

Watch Your Speed:  Motorcycles accelerate the fastest, while trucks and buses are the slowest. Watch your speed around trucks, especially in bad weather or riding at night.  If you collide with the back of a truck, your riding days will most likely be over.

For those of us driving cars, be sure to watch for signs, especially in surroundings you aren’t familiar with, and some cities should ask themselves if there is appropriate signage for visitors to navigate safely, staying with the flow of traffic in their towns?  It only took a few seconds for what could have been devastation for my friend and that young man on the bike.  Cars and motorcycles can be replaced; material things can. But my friends can’t be replaced.  Thank Goodness for Guardian Angels! Drive and ride safely!

General Safety Issues

Avoid the Risk – Wear Your Seatbelt! (Guest Post)

Don Elfrink is the owner and operator of AutoMatStore, an auto flooring company based out Columbia, Missouri. Before AutoMatStore, Elfrink was the operator of an automotive production site. AutoMatStore focuses on logo, carpeted, molded and all weather floor mats. 

Staying safe while on the road requires more than just ensuring that your car is in good shape and being an observant driver. It also requires that you pay attention to safety laws – one of the most important of which is to wear your seatbelt. Seatbelt use is mandatory in almost all 50 states in most situations (there are some instances where you’re not required to wear them). However, even if you don’t have to wear one, it’s still a good idea to buckle up. Why should you go through the discomfort and hassle of wearing one? Here are some pretty convincing reasons.

Don’t Become a Statistic

Wearing a seatbelt is vital to saving your life. While there are documented cases where not wearing a seatbelt has saved someone from death, those few instances are the exception, not the rule. 40,000 people every year are killed in the US because they were not wearing seatbelts. Don’t become a statistic. Buckle up.

What Happens to You

When you have an auto accident, your car impacts another vehicle (or more than one depending on the situation). Most people assume that’s pretty much the extent of things, but it’s far from the whole story. During an accident, there are two impacts – the first is your car impacting the other vehicle. The second is your body impacting the dashboard, the door or the seat in front of you. To put it in perspective, hitting an immovable object at just 30 miles per hour is the equivalent of falling three stories straight down. Wear a seatbelt and avoid that second impact.

The Faster the Speed, the Greater the Impact

As mentioned, your body reacts to an accident impact at 30 miles per hour in the same way it would if you fell three stories. Now imagine if that impact happened at 45, 50 or 60 miles per hour. Chances of survival (we’re talking whether you live or die, not injuries) are very slim at higher speeds if you are not wearing a seat belt.

Your Reasons Don’t Make Sense

Most people understand the importance of wearing a seatbelt, but they rationalize the act away with reasons that are silly at best and downright wrongheaded at worst. What are the most common reasons not to wear a seatbelt?

It’s Uncomfortable – Chances are good that you’re not wearing the seatbelt correctly if it’s not comfortable. In addition, once you have become used to wearing one, you hardly notice it at all. Most seat belts are also adjustable in different ways, allowing you to get as comfortable as if you weren’t wearing one.

My Clothes Will Wrinkle – If you’re more concerned with the state of your attire than whether you live or die, you might need to rethink your priorities. Having a few wrinkles is a pretty low price to pay in exchange for the chance to walk away from a devastating auto accident.

It’s Just a Short Trip – If you think you’re safe because you’re only driving a couple of miles, think again. Most accidents happen within just a few miles of the house (80% of fatalities occur within 25 miles of the home). Buckle up no matter how far you’re driving.

There is no better way to protect yourself during an accident than just clicking that buckle in place. Your air bag won’t help you (they’re designed to supplement your seatbelt, after all), and no matter how skilled you are at driving, there is always the chance for an accident. Keep yourself and your family safe and always wear your seatbelt.

General Safety Issues

HOW ARE YOUR REFLEXES?

I was with a group of friends this week, and while driving in some pretty heavy traffic, a car suddenly whizzed by us at a high rate of speed, and was so close to us that my friend and I who were in the back seat gasped at the same time!   Our driver assured us that she saw the car coming, but the two of us experienced a type of “panicked” reflex at that exact moment. 

Reflexes are involuntary or automatic reactions that our bodies do in response to something that we aren’t even thinking about.  We are born with “hard-wired” reflexes.  Most are located in the spine, but some are in the motor centers of the brain.  These reflexes work to keep our bodies safe from injuries.   Have you ever felt that you were about to fall, when you started twisting your body and putting your hands out to regain your balance?   What if you were carrying something valuable, and you had to choose whether to drop it as you are falling, or hold on to it?  Your brain’s conscious motor centers will take control, and you can modify the reflex action and keep your grip on the object you are carrying. However, you are still probably going to fall. 

Babies have a vast amount of reflexes.   They stretch, grip your finger, yawn, suck, and blink their eyes, which are all involuntary actions.  When you tickle the bottom of their feet, see how they straighten them out, and then curl them up again.  They throw their arms up in the air swiftly when they are moved certain ways.  A physical therapist once told me to observe how a baby, cat or dog will stretch naturally, while we adults don’t, unless we think about it.  

If someone throws something at you at work, how quickly do you react?  If your concentration is broken by a sudden action of a co-worker, are you ready to respond?  Jobs that are high-stress, or ones that cause physical or mental fatigue can cause us to sometimes have a delayed reaction.  If you get too close to a power tool, though, your reflexes tell you to pull away pretty pronto!  We should keep ourselves fit and alert for our job duties.  There is no room for substance or alcohol abuse in the workplace; either would cause us to have slower reaction time, in addition to breaking the safety rules of our employer.  

Our reflexes must work well when we are behind the wheel of a vehicle.  Statistics show that texting while driving is as dangerous as driving a vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol.  While you are looking at that smart phone screen, you are losing valuable time to react to a car or truck that may suddenly stop or pull out in front of you.  What if a child runs in front of you and you are so busy making a call or texting that you are unable to stop in time?  There are too many risks that aren’t worth taking, and you should never depend on your reflex time to save the day! 

Some people are born with faster reflexes than others.  Electrical impulses actually travel more quickly through the nerves.  Practice can speed up nerve conditioning – this is the key to reaction time, whether in athletics, learning skills, or work.  With much practice, a movement almost mimics a reflex, according to experts.  Also, our reflexes may slow with age.  These also vary from person to person, in regard to reflex and reaction time.  You can either slow down, or reverse  the effects of aging by staying physically active.  Remember, “If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it!” 

Source: Brigham and Women’s Hospital, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School