Date:         Thu, 18 Oct 2001 01:50:38 -0700
Reply-To:     Mark Sheflo <skjeflo@HOME.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Mark Sheflo <skjeflo@HOME.COM>
Subject:      Re: Near Death Experience in the Vanagon
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I have to agree with Andrew on this one....

Never have heard a more misplaced excuse for a almost accident.  Blaming the
Van?  Our Vans are not inherently dangerous, but most of us drivers can be,
at least some of the time.

When driving, one should be aware of what traffic is around them and what is
ahead on the road.  Mirrors and a attention to the details of what you see
provide this.  Takes the guess work out of emergency situations.

One should be aware of the vehicles abilities (or lack thereof) as it
pertains to current conditions.  Do I drive my Van at 70+mph?  Yes I do.  Do
I drive that fast in the rain in rush hour traffic?  No.  Do I drive it
differently than I drive our Camry?  You bet.  Realize when you enter a
vehicle that it has many different limitations than another vehicle you may
drive.

One should ALWAYS wear a seatbelt when provided.  To not do so is attempted
suicide in today's traffic.

You can control only the actions of you and those of your vehicle (up to its
limits).  The vehicle you are in limits what you can do in any situation.
To be prepared for others actions is to understand your surroundings, your
vehicles abilities and the current conditions of the road and weather.

When I drive the Westy I realize that I will be the first person at the
scene of any accident, so I drive very defensively to avoid the kind of
situation that would put me there.  The closest I have ever come to an
accident in our Van was coming down from Mt. Rainier the stereotypical dark
and stormy night.  Oncoming traffic consisted of one huge 4x4 with
misaligned driving lights, set to full blinding position.  In the rain and
fog (Wonder if he even knew that it was not just killing my night vision,
but his too!).  The only clue I had that something was amiss in the road
ahead was a brief shadow breaking the blinding beam of light for a split
second.  If I had not been paying attention at that moment, had I not been
aware of my surroundings, our Van would be no more and my wife and I would
have ended up in an aid car.  Scared the sh*t out of me at the time.

Why?  At fifty miles an hour (the speed limit for that road) a bull elk with
a full rack, along with a few other elk, would have messed up the Van and us
in a big hurry.

Aware that a river is on one side of the road and grazing/forest areas are
on the other.  That elk tend to drink from that river near sundown.  That
the rain would effect my stopping/steering ability and that visual
conditions were made worse by a poor use of light by another, I feel that I
was not lucky to have avoided the elk. I feel I was prepared to avoid the
elk.  I am quite certain that to those behind me on that night, right up to
the point of meeting the elk, thought "Oh shoot, stuck behind the hippie van
doing 40".  To them I say sorry, pass me if you so choose.  at the same time
I realize that it is my Van, my abilities and my choices that have the
largest effect on my survival on the road.

Just my thoughts.
Mark
82 Westy