Date:         Thu, 27 Apr 2000 09:10:33 -0700
Reply-To:     Steve Sullivan <Steve@NORTHWESTWATCH.ORG>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Steve Sullivan <Steve@NORTHWESTWATCH.ORG>
Subject:      Re: "Backing Up Is hard To Do"
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

It's good to have a guide to help back up, but never take anything for
granted.

I was a tour bus driver, and later a driver trainer, for nearly eight years.
In our training we have a motto, "If in doubt: don't." Get out and look. Be
sure. But when training students, I always emphasized that accidents usually
happen when you're absolutely certain that what you're doing is right. "I
have plenty of room, I won't hit that tree." "I still have at least two feet
left to back up before I hit that wall."

Crunch.

So I always made my students get out of the bus and look when they were
backing up, just to be sure. Believe me, that's a PITA, especially in a
sixty-foot coach with 52 impatient passengers wondering what the hell you're
doing.

With the high cost of fixing damage to our vans, it's just something to
think about next time you're absolutely sure that you have another foot to
go before you back into . . .

Steve