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If you follow this advice, your chances of being in an accident will be significantly reduced. And if you are in an accident, your chances of being judged 'at fault' will be reduced exponentially. Speeding As an engineer, I feel that I can say with some authority that posted speed limits are not randomly selected. A municipality determines speed limits based on a variety of factors: camber of the road, curvature of the turns, historical accident-rates, worst-case road-conditions (rain, ice), frequency of cross-walks, etc. The limits aren't chosen at a whim - serious consideration goes into their assignment. Perhaps you think that you're a better driver that most, and you can drive more safely at a higher speed. Well, perhaps my neighbour feels she can drive safely 60 km/h in a a 50 km/h zone, and I bet the teenager down the street thinks he can drive safely at 80 km/h in a school zone. Hell, I bet there's some people out there who feel they can safely navigate a residential road at 120 km/h. The fact is, though, that speed limits are not relative to your confidence level - they are selected as a matter of PUBLIC SAFETY. Chew on this: If you strike a pedestrian driving at 30 km/h, their chance of survival is 95%. If you strike a pedestrian at 50 km/h, their chance of survival drops to 80%. If you strike a pedestrian at 65 km/h, their chances of survival drops to TEN PERCENT! When you speed, you endanger peoples' lives! (Source: http://www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk/campaigns/slowdown/040212pn.htm) If you choose to speed, especially in a school zone or residential area, you deserve everything that the law can throw at you. I have no sympathy for self-centred shit-heads who consider being two minutes late for work more important than the lives of others. Here's a tip if you're going to be late for your destination: Leave earlier!
Tailgating Any auto-insurance company will tell you that safe following distance is 2 feet for every kilometer per hour. (Forgive me for mixing the metric and Imperial measurement systems, but for Canadians it should be easy to understand.) In other words if you are going 50 km/h, you need to keep a safe distance of 100 feet (about 8 car-lengths) between you and the car in front of you. Unless you have cat-like reflexes, you cannot be any closer to the car in front of you and expect to stop in time if the car ahead of you has to suddenly brake. Think about it: what if little Johnny chases his ball into the street and the car ahead of you jams on its brakes when you're 10 feet behind? What's going to happen? Surely you don't need a lesson in classical physics to figure this one out. Here's the rub. If you rear-end a car, you are liable. No questions. Any insurance company will peg you at fault. If you habitually tailgate, you are an accident waiting to happen, and when it does, you will have to pay through the nose (especially if the person you rammed claims whip-lash - which it notoriously un-provable in a court of law). Again, if you're tailgating because you are running late and want to be going faster, you should have left earlier. Humans have been given the wonderful gift of fore-sight, and have the ability to plan ahead. Use it.
Turn Signals Studies have shown that 0% of the population are psychic. If you need to change lanes, you need to give some warning to the cars beside/behind you so that they can safely make room for you (see Tailgating). The time it takes you to pass three telephone-poles is the recommended length of time to signal (relative to traffic) suggested by most insurance companies. You are also more likely to be safely "let in" by other drivers if you signal your intentions. (Source: http://www.accesscom.com/~dave6592/puts.html.) If you jump lanes in heavy traffic, you're paying too much attention to fitting into the space - and if the car ahead of you has to break suddenly, that's not where you're looking. Rule of thumb - don't signal and accelerate into a space ahead of you. Signal, wait, and fall back into place behind you (this also gives drivers time to make a space for you). One more tip: shoulder-check, shoulder-check, shoulder-check. All cars have blind spots not covered by their mirrors. If you use your turn indicators, you are five times less likely to cause an accident. (Source: http://www.ohiobike.org/bicycle-law-digest.html.)
Right on a Red It doesn't matter if it's a stop light or a stop sign. If you're going to turn right, come to a complete stop. Otherwise, it's only a matter of time before you nail a pedestrian or a car with the right-of-way. I have a friend who is left with only one functioning knee because some prick rolled through a stop sign and nailed him on his bike. If you're going to gamble, play the slots. Don't risk other peoples' lives.
Drinking and Driving This is a no-brainer. However, since I willingly offended on a few occasions in my youth, I don't feel in a position to lecture about this topic. Since then, I have mended my ways... and I maintain that the driving age should be raised to 19 years of age. There's no way I should have been able to possess a driver's license at the immature age of 16. Males at that age have no real understanding of the concept of 'consequence'. See my Political page for further opinions on this matter... More to come... |
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