From: jtchew@csa3.lbl.gov (JOSEPH T CHEW)
Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving,rec.motorcycles
Subject: Re: Deer Claims Another; Thoughts
Date: 21 Jul 92 19:58:57 GMT
Reply-To: jtchew@csa3.lbl.gov
Followup-To: rec.autos.driving
Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory - Berkeley, CA, USA
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.254.198
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.3-4

In article <9900936@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM>, ron@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Ron Miller) 
writes... 
{Deleted story of lessons learned from an accident scene.}

Flares are a very good idea.  I keep some of the long ones for me
and a handful of the $0.99 15-minute jobbies for Samaritanizing
people who have busted down on the freeway.  (My usage: drop
'em 100' and 50' behind the hapless motorist, stick an unlit one in
his hand, and, barring injuries, go along my way after enjoining
him/her to buy some of the damn things and carry them in the trunk.
The Highway Patrol drops enough of them to direct a B-17 raid, but
then again, it's their line of work, not mine.)  The prospect of
even sitting in my stalled car on our freeways without one or more
flares, much less trying to do anything to it, is downright terrifying.

(And for those who think they'll always be able to find a safe place
to pull over:  There isn't always a safe place, and sometimes a car
simply dies where it dies and refuses to go another foot.  Both have
happened to me.)

Note that (at least around here) you have to stay on red alert even
after laying down a flare pattern.  I once almost got hit by a
numbskull who decided to use the flare lane to leapfrog ten or so
of his opponents in stop-and-go traffic.  It's a good thing he was
going fast; I had a lit one in my hand for safe walking, and he had
his windows down, and a man can only resist so much temptation.

Use good sense. No extra points for lighting off a gas leak with
a flare. (As always, size up the scene before doing anything.  Those
few seconds up front can save a lot of grief later on.)  This is an 
advantage to those reflective triangles, which also don't burn out. 
They don't seem to get the same amount of attention as flares, 
though, especially in daytime and/or fog.

You can buy reflective vests (and wristbands/ankle bands, etc.)
cheaply at any bicycle store.  The best of them now combine the
retro-reflector tape with a fluorescent background.  They come in
a variety of colors, including, inexplicably, green (bzzzt! wrong
message!).  You can also enhance the visibility of your emergency
flashlight with reflector tape.  

I'd suggest keeping the vest under the front seat so you can put 
it on before getting out of the car. I feel as though the first 
few seconds, when I've committed to getting out but do not yet 
have an escape route other than vaulting up on top of my car and
praying, are especially dangerous.

The official word on helping at an accident or breakdown scene is
to go _past_ it before pulling over.  This not only helps ensure
your safety, but keeps you from blocking emergency vehicles.

Take a first-aid course at the next opportunity.  Comes in handy
at the damnedest times, and tells you what not to do as well as
what to do.

Finally, BE CAREFUL.  There are meatheads who simply won't recognize
anyone attempting to direct traffic who isn't a uniformed official
of some kind. For that matter, even the cops get hit once in awhile.
(One lady responded to my warning signal -- an ambulance was on the
scene and I was a few hundred feet down the road -- by taking both
hands off the wheel and fluffing up her hair.  Didn't slow down a bit.)
Rule Zero is always "There are enough victims here already -- don't
become one more!"  That means maximum alertness and a suitably updated
theory about an escape route to use if the oncoming car doesn't seem
to see you.

The above are not the official opinions of anybody, just some lessons
learned after being the first guy on the scene at several urban and
rural accidents.  (And oh, yeah, the only two fatal ones involved
drunks, so think about THAT before having "one for the road"... A
dead baby lying next to an overturned truck is not my idea of fun.)

Drive, ride, assist, whatever carefully,
--Joe
"Just another personal opinion from the People's Republic of Berkeley"
Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving