At 09:59 AM 11/13/2009, mcneely4@cox.net wrote: >that some of them will be drunk or dead tired. That said, I >personally feel a responsibility to others not to be drunk or dead >tired, because the father I may kill has responsibilities, too >(substitute whatever family member you wish). Have I driven while >dead tired? Yes. Did I have a choice? Yes. Have I grown up >enough to know better and not do it now? Yes. > >David Dear David, Yes. It's a very complicated issue and I try to have a nuanced view of it. That sort of antinomy comes home to roost every time I drive the van, because I know very well that in a frontal collision I'm really remarkably safe -- but it's very much at the expense of the other vehicle. Unlike the bus, which is by my standards way too soft in front, the Vanagon has about a three-inch-deep heavy steel crush bar (the "real" bumper) and then does its level best to impersonate a block of stone, reflecting maximum crash energy back into the opposing vehicle. http://www.vanagon.com/info/safety/volvo-crash/index.html This: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ukq-UUQAcZs&feature=related should be ignored -- this was not a test of the van but rather of the barrier itself (notice no index markings on the vehicle) and the van was both heavily loaded and driven at a speed to release about twenty times the energy of a more typical crash. But look at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pityxv0DW7M&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwa9vdq8dvw&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGKlWqSadlQ&feature=related Together they make up a film about 20 minutes long. Point being that I have along with everyone else on this list made a choice (just as many SUV drivers have, or at least *think* they have) to drive a vehicle with a configuration that I like extremely well, but inherently requires that my safety in a crash may be bought at the expense of someone elses safety. I find that extremely sobering and try to remember it often. And it *is* a choice -- the lack of this protection in a bus is one of the major reasons why I'm not very interested in having one. Yours, David Yours, David |
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