From: Mike.Oniffrey@launchpad.unc.edu (Mike Oniffrey)
Subject: Staying alive (was: Re: Car-to-car contact at high speeds)
Organization: UNC EBBS
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 04:47:00 GMT

In article <_bj2+ak@rpi.edu> kaminl@rebecca.its.rpi.edu (Matt Garretson) writes:

> PS- What would be the implications of being rear-ended on the highway at
> high speed? Someone said it wouldn't be too bad (relatively speaking). 
> But I'm sure that my car would stall in such a case. Might this cause
> other problems? 
                                                                        
My initial answer to this question would be the same one I would have
given to Matt's earlier question concerning the car-passing experience
from hell: When on the road, the best defense is good defensive driving
technique. 

I live in the Triangle (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill) area of North
Carolina, and commute to my workplace along Interstate 40.  This area has
its share of drivers who never signal their intentions, tailgate, impede
traffic flow in the left lane, pass on the right, bob-and-weave through
traffic, apply eyeliner while driving, tie and affix neckties while
driving, read their mail while driving, read BOOKS, fer cryin' out loud,
while driving...shall I go on? 

If confronted with a situation where vehicle contact was unavoidable, I of
course would ride it out, trying not, in descending order, to die, cause
others to die, or destroy property.  I'd try not to spook other drivers
(especially the ones reading books), all the while doing my best to slow
down and get out of moving traffic. 

However, nothing beats looking ahead - I mean WAY ahead (and way behind),
and continually assessing traffic conditions, keeping note of who and
where the oblivious and/or deranged drivers are, continually taking
glances at all four mirrors mounted in/on my vehicle: 

1) Center top windshield
2) Left door - standard flat glass
3) Left door - convex mounted on ball-and-socket; aimed to see blind spot
4) Right door - medium convex, aimed such that any vehicle which pulls so
   far forward that its image leaves the mirror, I will see it with my right
   eye's peripheral vision.  I guess this goes for the ball-and-socket on
   the left side, too. 

Early in 1992, a westbound morning commuter, after having been bounced
around by other vehicles, crossed the grassy median and met oncoming
eastbound traffic on I-40 at a particularly busy section near the Research
Triangle Park.  When the car came to rest, only the passenger box, without
doors, was intact; the engine block and the front end, trunk, and other
components were strewn everywhere.  Miraculously, only one fatality. 
That's not to say the survivors were ready to disco. 

Last week, it happened again.  Same three-mile stretch, same rush-hour
conditions, same cross-over the median stuff, same vaporization of car and
body parts. 

I am reminded of the oft-repeated remark that the road is the most
dangerous way to travel.  With the "typical composite American driver"
(tm) as part of the equation, I agree 101%. 

onif

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