Date:         Wed, 31 Jan 2007 21:58:39 -0800
Reply-To:     Robert Fisher <refisher@MCHSI.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Robert Fisher <refisher@MCHSI.COM>
Subject:      Another safety point of a Vanagon re: road monsters,
              was Re: California law (smog)
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
              reply-type=original

Maybe it's self defense in part, like an arms escalation.
Case in point: I had to go to heart specialist at UCLA on Monday and while I
was down there I did some business errands [so's to be able to write off the
trip, y'know : ) ]. I decided to rent a car and wound up with a Malibu. The
modern version bears not the slightest resemblance to its ancestor but
that's a point for another day and place. It did, however, have a fairly
passable sound system.
So there I was on the 405 testing the speakers, as it were, and rolling
along in the second to left lane on cruise control when I decided the fairly
sparse traffic was thickening up and I needed to go back to manual.
Now as to what happened next, and I mean about 3 seconds later, technically
or legally whatever might've happened would've been the other bonehead's
fault, but I was pretty pissed at myself for allowing myself to get stuck in
this position- it was a really good example of a lack of pro-active
defensive driving on my part. It was the first time in I dunno how long that
I'd been out of town by myself so there I was sitting in the A/C hollerin'
along to the RHCP or whatever I had on and I wasn't as focused as I
should've been.
I was slowly passing a large utility truck- one of those that puts in phone
poles or what-have-you. This was a combination of mistakes- I should've gone
to manual and gotten the pass over with, which is what I usually do; if
nothing else it's not a good idea move slowly through somebody's blind spot,
never mind that of a large truck (this is aside from the question of whether
I still should've been on cruise control that far into L.A. in the first
place, the answer to which is 'no').
There was a car pretty close behind me, which I had registered, and ahead my
lane and the two on either side of me were clear for a bit but I could see
some bunching up ahead.
So some box of numbnuts in a lifted Ford Excursion decides to pull what is a
fairly common maneuver on L.A. freeways, which is to suddenly cross several
lanes of traffic without signaling in order to try to get around a clump of
vehicles. I'm about to tap my brake to kill the cruise (this car had a
buttload of steering wheel controls but instead of looking down and trying
to find the right button I just decided to do it the old-fashioned way) when
this Excursion more-or-less flashes across the rear view and appears on my
left.
Looking at him I think my head was just about at the level of his wheel
well. I guess he saw the traffic in front of him and he wanted to continue
his slalom and since he had a wall on his left he decided to attempt to
co-exist in my personal space. The thing is, there was no way he could see
me, as the top of my rental coffin was still well below the level of his
windows and I was next to and below his mirror (assuming he ever looked in
the first place). So there I am getting ready to drop back out of the
squeeze play, wondering if I'll make it and if the guy behind me will react
in time so as to not come to rest in my trunk, when the truck driver blasts
his horn and causes the thrice-damned fool to yank his tank back into his
lane. He almost over-corrected and went into the wall, which would've been
another interesting puzzle to solve.
Anyway I stomped on it and got out front where I should've been all along.
Turned the music down, had a hit of coffee and sat up and focused. When they
took my blood pressure and hour-and-a-half later it was still elevated.
I was thinking later that if I was in my Vanagon, or one of my other vans,
that at least the idiot would've seen me, and even if he didn't I would've
been on more equal ground in the collision. However if I had been in one of
those vehicles I might've had my kids with me (!), tho if I'd been in my
Vgon I wouldn't have been slowly passing some truck at 75.
Just one of life's little reminders, but it does make you think about those
smaller cars and how you should drive them these days...

Cya,
Robert

----- Original Message -----
From: <JordanVw@AOL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 8:57 PM
Subject: Re: California law (smog)


> In a message dated 1/31/07 7:50:57 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> jeff@VANAGONPARTS.COM writes:
>
>
>> What i find  bit crasy about that is an "offset" (not well tune) economic
>> 4cyl Honda may fail that test but a big Hummer in shape will pass!!! tell
>> me
>> what is the logic in that!!!!!!!!!!! when i travel in the US, you guys
>> are
>> scaring me with your big SUV/cars.... Navigator style monster.... where
>> not
>> to get close to the Kyoto Protocol with those big big big vehicles!!!!!
>> think big :-))))
>>
>>
>
> the big 3 pays off big brother , benny..  thats how those monsters rule
> the
> road..
>
> amerka, the land of pig corporate payoffs...whoops, did i say pig? i meant
> big
>
> chris