An Accident Waiting to Happen

[so lucky]

Our neighbors across the street are getting up there in years (my age), and their driving has slowed down to the point of being a local hazard. The man's father was the same way, holding up traffic for the mile trip from his house to theirs, then slowing down to about 1 mile per hour to make the turn into the driveway.

Now we see them making the same dangerous decisions, turning into their drive right in front of a string of oncoming traffic, or pulling out into traffic at the last minute and poking along. Traffic moves about 65 mph in the area. Not 15 mph.
It's not like they don't realize they were at fault; horns blaring, middle finger salutes, squalling brakes behind them lets them know.

We still have black skid marks from a year ago where a big panel truck had to leave the road to keep from plowing into the lady sloooooly turning in. He drove through our field and back up on the highway like an off-road champion. I was sure that truck would go over on its side.

Between these people driving like Mr Magoo on tranquilizers, and the other neighbors adopting dogs for the sole purpose of letting them get run over, I feel like we need to put up signs to name this stretch of highway. Maybe "Danger Alley" or "Highway of Incompetents".

 

[seedcorn]

Tell me about it. I take some sympathy on 75+ people, especially 80+ but I question how they even get a license sometimes. Still the ones that kill me are the ones in the left lane, on their phone traveling the speed limit or much slower holding up traffic. Want to scream, get in the right lane-who am I kidding, I do.... Michigan drivers don’t even realize there is a right lane when in Ohio or Indiana.

 

[digitS']

I have more and more trouble maintaining traffic speed when I'm on the roads.

If I don't count the time my car was rear-ended while waiting at a red light by a guy willing to be out with bald tires on icy roads. Or, me backing into a car coming out of a driveway while trying to get out of a crosswalk at another intersection . If those aren't counted, my single-car rollover nearly 50 years ago is my only accident ... well, I did run into that guy's garage door ... never mind!!

Anyway, I've been a careful driver, for the most part ... Now, I'm almost overwhelmed! Imagine if the only thing that happens today is the same as what happened yesterday or on 335 days outta the year. (One month out of 12 is taken up with doctor and hospital visits.) Imagine if the most interesting moment of the day is when the letter carrier shows up and the dog goes insane. Imagine if the most interesting moment of the week is garbage pickup. Imagine always going to the same locations ... time after time after time. Imagine rigid opinions, pessimism, and mental, physical and emotional health collapse!

Put someone like that behind the wheel of a 3,000 pound vehicle??!

Steve

 

[flowerbug]

when i was pretty young an older lady came to an intersection stop and just pulled out. didn't even look. i was doing my usual 55+6 and had a split second decision to either broadside her or take the ditch. i took the ditch and went around her. at one point the rear end of the car was swung wide behind me so i was looking directly at her at a 90degee angle as i went around her, but i kept my wheels pointed in the right direction and nothing caught so i didn't flip the car. i went around her and then went on like nothing happened. i'm sure she wondered where this guy came out of the ditch from and got in front of her. or perhaps not. she may have been that oblivious...

that was probably the closest i came to really serious damage and chalk my quick reaction and hand-eye coordingation to playing pinball for many hours.

as a teen i drove a stakebed truck for the family business and at times had four pallets of bags of cement on there and people would pull out in front of me. it had a very heavy steel bumper, i wouldn't have even noticed much driving over some of the very small cars...

my accident with that truck was my first summer driving. someone was going very slow down a residential road in the city and then they stopped and started to back up to get in their driveway. i put the truck in reverse and backed up and didn't even know that someone in a very small car was behind me. the steel plated hydraulic lift gate on the back made a pyramid out of their hood and pushed the radiator into the engine. sorry lady, i didn't see you back there ever... she was in the right in that i did get the ticket, but she was pretty close. oh well. she also hit her horn, but if she had been quicker on the reverse she could have gotten out of the way instead of blowing the horn.

my other accident at work was embarrassing. i had the door of my uncle's pickup truck open and backed into the warehouse without shutting it. the big post by the door bent it pretty good. oops. sorry mon oncle...

i've gone around on the shoulder a few times, years ago, when someone was being too slow and not pulling over to let people by. there was a line of 30 cars behind me doing the exact same thing by the time i got around them and back into the lane...

 

[so lucky]

Oh, I can sympathize with people getting older and not being so quick to respond. So I guess maybe their driving 15 mph is their way of being careful, not overdriving their ability? Well, OK, but then they need to be doubly careful to not turn in front of a semi.

 

[Nyboy]

Very touche subject with dad. At 88 his licence needed to be renewed my sisters and I thought no way DMV would renew, his cataract where so bad he could barely see. Well that was about 6 years ago he still on road. He has given up 90% of driving. Problem is he has a " Friend" that lives in the Bronx, Bronx drivers are crazy and blind dad right in middle of them He did have cataracts removed. Lucky I love your quote Mr Magoo on tranquilers.

 

[valley ranch]

Come on don't be in such a hurry ~ allow turns and crossings to be made safely ~ we don't have the speed we used to ```

I have a joke ~ Jack Benny told on TV years ago ~ maybe I can't tell it here ~ I don't know ```

 

[Nyboy]

Tell it tell it

 

[Beekissed]

Oh, I can sympathize with people getting older and not being so quick to respond. So I guess maybe their driving 15 mph is their way of being careful, not overdriving their ability? Well, OK, but then they need to be doubly careful to not turn in front of a semi.

Though I too sympathize with the need for them to be places just like the rest of us and there being few who help their elderly family members meet their needs of groceries and doctor's visits, it's just against the law to drive that slow. It's considered aggressive driving to drive 10 mph below or above the posted speed limit, as both can increase the incidents of accidents.

I had to explain that to my mother when she got her first driver's license...at the age of 75. Had to explain that slow driving does not equal safe driving...she picked it up a pace after that, but I still wonder how she does when I'm not around. The other day she got T boned by a cement truck at low speeds as it was trying to maneuver into a driveway..his fault but she should have stopped and let him get done with all his backing and forwarding before she proceeded in front of him. She just doesn't seem to understand defensive driving techniques sometimes. Ya gotta watch the other person...they are all crazy as loons behind the wheel.

A lot of these elderly people are on so many prescription meds that they have no business behind the wheel and they always seem so surprised when they are in an accident due to the poor driving, driving under the influence and slow reaction times.

 

[valley ranch]

Well Nyboy ~ I'll tell it in Italian or Armenian ~ Non sono buono come una volta ma OK English ```

On the Tonight Show ~ Jack Benny said: I'm not as good as I once was ~ but ~ I'm as good once as I ever was ```

Nyboy ~ I can always delete if ~ the room goes silent ```