I am at a loss for words Just speechless

[Montgomery Scott]

Good special effects on the scripted clips.

Having been in Europe and some of the CIS a few times I can tell you they drive crazier than people in Florida.

[Joe Chritz]

Mitch,

The statistics used to show that all the gore videos didn't effect driving one bit. Accidents happen to other people.

There is only one proven method for decreasing crash numbers and severity but mentioning it will only draw a discussion that traffic enforcement is just about money. Of course it is and will always be until people will accept a day or two jail for speeding there isn't any other penalty.

Having been on thousands of accident scenes and investigated more fatal accidents than I care to get into I can say there are a lot of reasons but it is almost always a lack of attention at some point.

A lot of highway money goes to selective enforcement areas. Those are determined by number of crashes, number of alcohol crashes and severity as well as increase in numbers.

Our area had a dedicated traffic enforcement team, separately funded. It has been gone about 2 years or so and the difference in noticeable in driving habits.

Joe

[Jerome Stanek]

+2 to that.
It made me recall when I was in the service eons ago, before a holiday they would have Commanders Call. Everyone had to go to the base theater and watch a 30 minute Ohio State Highway Patrol movie of blood and gore. It was effective.
And that was before mandatory seat belts, air bags, and cell phones.

I remember that movie I think it was called signal 30. We had to watch it in drivers ed class also when I was in high school. One scene was a car burning and the driver dieing one of the girls in my sisters class passed out becuase it was her father in the car.

[Bob Rufener]

Quite vivid and a real attention getter. I am not great with German but I think the words at the end say something like "I will not get over you" A not so gentle reminder about what can easily happen when a driver "screws up"' Should be mandatory for all drivers training students to view.

[John Coloccia]

re: making things safer

The way you make things safer is you get rid of all the signs, signals and crosswalks. All of the signage and rules tell the driver "You're safe to drive. GO!". Instead, you need to tell the driver, "Nowhere is safe. You had better be nervous and on your toes." This has been done in some places in Europe, and it is absolutely effective but it hasn't really been popularly adopted there either. I'm not really sure why the obviously good and demonstrably effective ideas are always ignored.

[Jerome Stanek]

The only sure way to stop traffic accidents ir to stop all traffic.

[Pat Germain]

The statistics used to show that all the gore videos didn't effect driving one bit. Accidents happen to other people.

Those old "Drivers Ed Movies" had an affect on me and my classmates. I think it was enough to just slightly penetrate that youthful bubble of invincibility. It didn't make us all perfect drivers. But it did have an affect.

Today's young people don't get Drivers Ed at all. And I think it's painfully obvious this has made them even worse drivers than my generation. Sure, my classmates did stupid things. But nobody got out from behind the wheel while rolling through a neighborhood, for crying out loud.

[Mitchell Andrus]

Impatience and Selfishness.


And yes, Selfishness is just another way of saying "lack of caring".


As a parent of young children (age 6-13), I find that selfishness and self-centredness is one of the hardest things I wrestle with. It just is not easy to teach them to overcome that.

Yea, it's an up-hill battle when you can win every video game without breaking a real sweat and every answer is a few keystrokes away.
.

[Rod Sheridan]

It could be me in one of those videos if there had been a camera running.

July 2002, it's a hot day in Toronto and before leaving work I decide to wear the pants that are half of my riding suit, instead of riding home in work pants.

I'm stopped on the bike in the passing lane, at a pedestrian crossing, a city bus beside me in the curb lane, waiting for a women to cross the road.

I do a mirror check, no one behind me in my lane.

A few seconds later, there's a loud bang and the handlebars are leaving, milliseconds later I'm hit and flying through the air with the motorcycle.

The bike lands about 10 metres the far side of the crosswalk on its right side, and I do a face plant on the bike. That part is very clear as I get a close up of my helmet and visor smashing the instrument cluster.

The next part I have no memory of, however we bounce and invert, and now I'm on my back, with the bike on top of me as we slide up the road.

Fortunately the left cylinder on my BMW is between my legs, holding up most of the bikes weight, without pinning me.

The sliding stops, and the adrenaline is pumping, I'm laying on the middle of the road in a major city street, expecting to get hit by oncoming traffic.

I'm trapped under the bike, and can't get out, however a couple of bystanders lift the bike slightly and pull me out.

I lay on the pavement on my back for a few moments, the woman who was in the crosswalk is crying and telling me that she's so sorry she caused this.

I sit up after a few moments, and feel OK, probably the adrenaline so I move to the curb and lay down, still wearing all the gear.

I'm sweating like crazy, however I don't want to try removing my helmet.

Fire department and EMS arrive, riding suit and helmet are removed.

The guy who was on his cell phone driving the SUV, pulled out to pass the bus, without seeing the flashing crossing lights, or me, wearing a retro reflective vest and an orange helmet.

The BMW took out the grille/rad and my back and head shattered the windshield.

The guy in the SUV keeps repeating that he didn't need this, he had another rear ender in February.

The woman in the cross walk is still crying and apologising, eventually I get her to understand that it's not her fault, and I'm glad she hadn't got past the bus when the collision occurred.

End result?

I had extensive bruises in many places, including between my legs where the rear turn signals of the bike went as it was propelled by the SUV.

Every piece of armour in my suit except the left shoulder was crushed, my helmet had extensive impact/abrasion damage, my gloves and boots had extensive abrasion damage.

I had some back problems that were solved through chiropractic treatment.

The people on the bus and the woman were treated to a great show of flying rider/bike, and my BMW that had carried me 298,000 miles was reduced to scrap.

If I hadn't put on that pair of pants, and just rode with my work slacks and riding jacket/helmet, my outcome would have been much worse.

If I had been one of those who ride in T shirt/shorts, or even worse, no helmet, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation.

If I had left work 1 minute later or earlier, same thing.

Any one of those variables changing would have been the difference between a normal ride home, and the one I had.

I continue to ride, it took me almost a year to find a replacement mid seventies 900CC BMW, it's the one you see in my avatar. I hope to put another 298,000 miles on it.

That's the thing about driving, a few seconds of not paying attention, or being in the wrong place at exactly the right time can change everything.

So fortunately can taking all the right steps, and wearing all the right protective gear.

Regards, Rod.

[Marko Markovich Jr]

It could be me in one of those videos if there had been a camera running.

July 2002, it's a hot day in Toronto and before leaving work I decide to wear the pants that are half of my riding suit, instead of riding home in work pants.

I'm stopped on the bike in the passing lane, at a pedestrian crossing, a city bus beside me in the curb lane, waiting for a women to cross the road.

I do a mirror check, no one behind me in my lane.

A few seconds later, there's a loud bang and the handlebars are leaving, milliseconds later I'm hit and flying through the air with the motorcycle.

The bike lands about 10 metres the far side of the crosswalk on its right side, and I do a face plant on the bike. That part is very clear as I get a close up of my helmet and visor smashing the instrument cluster.

The next part I have no memory of, however we bounce and invert, and now I'm on my back, with the bike on top of me as we slide up the road.

Fortunately the left cylinder on my BMW is between my legs, holding up most of the bikes weight, without pinning me.

The sliding stops, and the adrenaline is pumping, I'm laying on the middle of the road in a major city street, expecting to get hit by oncoming traffic.

I'm trapped under the bike, and can't get out, however a couple of bystanders lift the bike slightly and pull me out.

I lay on the pavement on my back for a few moments, the woman who was in the crosswalk is crying and telling me that she's so sorry she caused this.

I sit up after a few moments, and feel OK, probably the adrenaline so I move to the curb and lay down, still wearing all the gear.

I'm sweating like crazy, however I don't want to try removing my helmet.

Fire department and EMS arrive, riding suit and helmet are removed.

The guy who was on his cell phone driving the SUV, pulled out to pass the bus, without seeing the flashing crossing lights, or me, wearing a retro reflective vest and an orange helmet.

The BMW took out the grille/rad and my back and head shattered the windshield.

The guy in the SUV keeps repeating that he didn't need this, he had another rear ender in February.

The woman in the cross walk is still crying and apologising, eventually I get her to understand that it's not her fault, and I'm glad she hadn't got past the bus when the collision occurred.

End result?

I had extensive bruises in many places, including between my legs where the rear turn signals of the bike went as it was propelled by the SUV.

Every piece of armour in my suit except the left shoulder was crushed, my helmet had extensive impact/abrasion damage, my gloves and boots had extensive abrasion damage.

I had some back problems that were solved through chiropractic treatment.

The people on the bus and the woman were treated to a great show of flying rider/bike, and my BMW that had carried me 298,000 miles was reduced to scrap.

If I hadn't put on that pair of pants, and just rode with my work slacks and riding jacket/helmet, my outcome would have been much worse.

If I had been one of those who ride in T shirt/shorts, or even worse, no helmet, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation.

If I had left work 1 minute later or earlier, same thing.

Any one of those variables changing would have been the difference between a normal ride home, and the one I had.

I continue to ride, it took me almost a year to find a replacement mid seventies 900CC BMW, it's the one you see in my avatar. I hope to put another 298,000 miles on it.

That's the thing about driving, a few seconds of not paying attention, or being in the wrong place at exactly the right time can change everything.

So fortunately can taking all the right steps, and wearing all the right protective gear.

Regards, Rod.

WOW

[Carlos Alden]

Mitch,
...
Having been on thousands of accident scenes and investigated more fatal accidents than I care to get into I can say there are a lot of reasons but it is almost always a lack of attention at some point....
Joe

Yes. Like millions of drivers I took mandatory Driver's Education in high school in 1970. Saw the films ("Blood on the Asphalt" or something, made in the fifties, great...), did the trainings, heard the lectures. But the thing that REALLY stuck with me was the NY State Trooper who said that in any accident involving two cars one driver says "I didn't see you" and the other says "I saw you but didn't think you were going to do what you did."

So he boiled it down to lots of defensive driving AND clear signaling of your intentions, both with blinkers and your movements in the car. That stuff really stuck with me, and the only two (very minor) accidents I've been in have not been my fault and there was NOTHING I could have done to avoid them.

My In-Laws were in an accident 6 years ago. FIL was driving, about to turn left off a road, slowed down and waiting for the oncoming driver to pass. But he mistakenly thought the oncoming driver was slowing so he went and turned right into it's path. We're not clear on the details because FIL won't talk about it, but MIL did not die immediately. Left a huge sudden hole in the family, one which still impacts in every conceivable form.

Carlos

[Colin Giersberg]

That is a very sobering reminder about how a lack of attention in your driving habits can affect others.
I work for the Alabama Dept. of Transportation, typically working along side a paving contractor. We usually stand on the left side of the paver, where the passing traffic is going, and because of the width of the paving, we are forced to stand on the traffic side of the centerline. It is not a comfortable feeling being there, with traffic passing by at 65mph or more, less than two feet away from you. We get hit by flying rock several times a day that gets kicked up by passing traffic, and our arms and legs bear the brunt of it. But I have been hit in the head and face several times. How much longer before I lose an eye is anyone's guess. We do get wrapped up in our work, and we don't always pay full attention to the traffic. We may step out into the traffic lane without thinking, and that can be deadly. Granted, most construction zones have a reduced speed, usually around 45mph, but that doesn't really slow anyone down. Nevertheless, we are STILL THERE and in harms way.
If it helps, imagine yourself standing where we are, with the traffic flying by, and yet, you still have to do your job, knowing that you may not get to take that next step.
There is a simple answer to that. Know what it is? SLOW DOWN. That is all it takes. The posted speed limit is the maximum speed that you can go, but you can always go slower.
Even though we have state troopers working most of our paving projects, and the fines are doubled for speeding through a work zone when workers are present, the fines are just not big enough to convince them to slow down. The fine should be much higher, and their license should be pulled for several months. Maybe then, the speed limits will be more effective.
I will never stop posting this information each time I come across a subject like this. Yes, I did deviate from the original subject, but it is still related too.

SLOW DOWN, because our lives depend on it.

Regards, Colin

[Pat Germain]

But the thing that REALLY stuck with me was the NY State Trooper who said that in any accident involving two cars one driver says "I didn't see you" and the other says "I saw you but didn't think you were going to do what you did."

I remember a State Trooper lecture from my youth. At one point he said, "I've never unbuckled a dead man". Now, I'm not suggesting a seat belt will always save your bacon. But, by golly, every time there's a vehicle fatality in my town, without fail, the person wasn't wearing a seat belt. To this day I always buckle up and won't operate a vehicle unless everyone in the car is also buckled up.

And I get kind of annoyed with people who swear a seat belt will kill you in a serious accident. "Oh I know a guy who would have died if he had been wearing a seat belt". Really? Where is he? Let's call him right now. I want to hear that story because if it's true, it's truly an AMAZING story. Dude, if the force is strong enough for the seatbelt to cut you, you're NOT going to survive without it!

[Mitchell Andrus]

NY State Trooper who said that in any accident involving two cars one driver says "I didn't see you" and the other says "I saw you but didn't think you were going to do what you did."

I drilled into my kids' heads... patterns, patterns, patterns.

Stick with the patterns of behavior that people have all agreed upon and you won't take another driver by surprise. A break in the standard patterns is what causes traffic accidents.

Doing what others don't expect you to do is what causes them to drive in a way that they aren't prepared for. Then you'll have two drivers out of their comfort zone and for a split second, out of control.
.

[Clarence Miller]

I used to work in a salvage yard, every once and awhile I would have to scrap out a car from one of these types of accidents. Would lose sleep for awhile after each one.