Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 17:54:17 -0600
Reply-To: John Rodgers <jhrodgers@CHARTER.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Rodgers <jhrodgers@CHARTER.NET>
Subject: Re: Stud vs bolt / Merits of Macho Bumpers
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Your comments here reminded me of a lesson I got in a defensive driving
class......one I had to take. I tried to make the caution light...but it
changed to red with me right under it. Cop stopped me, got a ticket for
violating the light....worth 50 bucks and a mark on my driving record.
Option...8 hours class in defensive driving and no mark on my record.
Cost?...$50 bucks!!! But at least I didn't get a mark on my record, so
insurance didn't go up. I confess I learned a lot. Irony was, that on my
way home in my 68 VW bus, I went through a deep water puddle, and at the
next red light went to put on the brakes and there weren't any. No
vehicles had moved in any of the other lanes and I sat on the horn and
let her roll through. There was a cop at the corner that saw it all and
I got stopped for going through the light on red. I explained about the
brakes, and he said he heard the horn......and I showed him my Defensive
Driving Graduation Certificate which was on the seat. He laughed....but
let me off. Told me to get the brakes checked, and have little rubber
plugs in the back plates to keep out the water. (they are dust plugs -
that's all). I was relieved.
Anyway, back to the the Defensive Driving Class....I learned about the 3
second rule....and I have driven by it ever since. 1)Pick a mark along
the road, 2)Start counting as the car in front of you passes the mark,
3) Count to three.. if you are at the mark on the count of three or
shortly there after, you will have safe stopping distance from the car
in front if you are on dry pavement. This seems to hold true no matter
the speed. The faster you go, the greater distance there is in the
count, thereby adjusting the stoppinging distance for the speed.
Try it, works!!
John Rodgers
88 GL Driver
Scott D Foss wrote:
>
> Yo steve,
>
> here's my mantra for other people
> ( do it myself, of course )
>
> Try to drive AWAY from the other cars ! !
>
> you don't drive alongside a big trucks, right ?
> ever see tread pieces in the road from big trucks
> - they must fly off there violently .
>
> you don't get in front of big trucks for long, right.
> Much safer to have one in front of you where you can outbrake him.
>
> Good thinking with your driving.
> If only everyone thought like that,
> there'd be 80 % less accidents.
>
> I figure most people are thinking about their driving and the state of
> their car about as much as I think about my refrigerator while I'm
> driving.
>
> I would say that ALL accidents are perventable,
> whether that's in following too close,
> speeding, not seeing someone, driving carelessly,
> or not maintaining the vehicle properly.
>
> I told that to a cop and he said,
> well, rocks falling onto the road - that's an example of an accident that
> was not preventable.
> - not true, the potential rockslide could have been noticed and dealt
> with - but then I think of an earthquake, and besides staying in bed, I
> guess an earthquake-induced accident might not be preventable.
>
> What do you think of this :
> the ESSENCE, the ESSENTIAL reason accidents happen is that SOMETHINGS
> HAPPENS FASTER than you can deal with it.
> Like you only have 2/10's of a second to avoid that other vehicle or
> tree, but you and your vehicle need 2 full seconds to react and respond.
>
> I have the most concern about a head-on, like some idiot is coming across
> the center-line of a two lane road
> and I have 1/100 of a second to react, which is totally inadequate, or
> course, plus a closing speed of a 100 mph.
>
> I'm replying to you and also putting the list in the address. Hope it's
> allright.
>
> Scott
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