So Tuesday morning I rode in to work as a passenger in my buddy's car. Let's call my buddy "Danger Dude". So Danger was driving and I was typing away, brainstorming for future blogs, when I witnessed something horrible (aka a teachable moment).
On PCH heading north, just south of Rosecrans (where Fry's is), the right hand lane was backed up. Traffic though began to move on all lanes as the light turned green. On the right to us, a silver Benz rapidly accelerated forward. I told Danger "Look at this moron" referring to the big black SUV behind the Benz as it rapidly accelerated as if to catch up to the Benz. Danger began to move his car forward and pay attention to driving while I paid close attention to the right lane for I knew what was going to happen.
I thought about you, reader, and wanted to make sure I analyzed it properly for you. I shifted my weight to the right as I saw the Benz stop short, only 15 feet from where it had accelerated. The SUV behind it very quickly accelerated for 11.5 feet before hitting the brakes to avoid ramming the Benz. The front tires locked and the SUV skid for those 3.5 feet until slamming violently into the back of the Benz which was pushed forward and bumped into the car in front. The crash happened right outside the passenger window. The noise was loud and the vibrations were strong. Danger swerved his car a bit to the left thinking the collision would send one of the cars towards the lane we were on, but no such luck. I mean, no such fate. ;) I quickly smiled with a sense of satisfaction that these people had made such rookie mistakes. Oh how they would benefit from reading my blog!
Lessons Learned:
1. Haste makes waste. Accelerating too quickly burns gas inefficiently and may set you up for a false-start rear-end. I believe that the Benz is just as responsible for this accident as the SUV. If the Benz had moved forward without stepping on the accelerator, the SUV would have not reacted with haste and would not have had the correct conditions for such quick and reckless acceleration. I hope the driver of the Benz realized his/her mistake while looking through the rear-view mirror at the SUV race towards and slam into the car. "OH SHIF" would have been an appropriate thought at the moment.
2. Keep your eyes on the road. If you are in a big-ass SUV you should have seen (especially since the road has a downgrade) that traffic was stopped and that the idiot in front of you was sprinting the short distance. Do not hit the gas unless you are able to process what the heck is happening in front of you. Distractions when driving must always be kept to a minimum.
I suspect the driver of the SUV was confident that traffic would continue moving and either
(a) reached for coffee
(b) was checking out an attractive person through the left window (potentially me)
(c) was handling a mobile communications device
(d) was having a passionate conversation with someone else in the car (potentially a pet)
(e) or was momentarily BLIND.
3. Never assume or you'll make an ass out of yourself and only yourself. Assuming that because the person in front of you has moved a few feet forward that traffic will continue to flow uninterrupted is naive and by naive I mean really stupid. Try not to be stupified while driving (DWS). As 'easy' as automatic transmission, power-steering, and GPS have made the act of driving, the car will not drive itself. It needs a capable, awake brain and body to safely coordinate its behavior. Remember: Strive to use 100% of your brain power on driving if a steering wheel is in front of you.
4. This one I'll save for my next post since it is CRUCIAL too when driving in rainy weather. Can you guess? The keyword starts with a D. (Sorry for spoiling that my next blog post will be #3 of Rain on My Commute).
By the way, I do hope that those involved in that accident are OK (although it won't be any time soon that they forget this and if worse comes to worse, they will be in legal/financial arguments for a long time to come).
Thank you Benz and SUV for today's lessons and I'll leave you with this good rule of thumb:
Don't accelerate unless you are ready to drive and when you do, accelerate gracefully.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
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