OT - texting and crashing

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2015: OT - texting and crashing
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Robert Blanchard on Wednesday, February 11, 2015 - 03:50 pm:

Well, 3 days ago I was rear ended by an F-150... Hit me at around 25 MPH. The guy was either texting or mentally solving the theory of everything... How I know this? He never hit the brakes... Zero warning... One minute I am happy as a clam... The next I am being thrown around in my car. Worst part was that he hit my brand new car.... Best part is that he hit my brand new car, cause no one was hurt... It's people like this that scare me from driving a 96 year old car on the busy Miami streets... Lesson here is to be aware of your surroundings, always.

On a side note: he had no license, his Nicaraguan license was expired, no green card, and it wasn't even his truck!!!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Garrison North of Iowa on Wednesday, February 11, 2015 - 03:57 pm:

Geez Robert, it seems to me that would have been a legal road kill.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Chuck Hoffman - Gold Country of Calif. on Wednesday, February 11, 2015 - 06:53 pm:

Hope YOUR insurance will cover it..


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By David Dewey, N. California on Wednesday, February 11, 2015 - 07:05 pm:

I hope he was arrested, but probably not nowadays. Too much paperwork!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tim Wrenn on Wednesday, February 11, 2015 - 07:09 pm:

Robert, I'm glad you made it through that OK. Would've been worse in a T. Ever since getting into the wonderful world of T's, I've ramped up my defensive driving, even when in a modern car. Check my mirrors as often as I can while still watching ahead of me. Just a quick glimpse fairly frequently. Especially when I'm stopped...and always looking for a "way out".


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mack Cole ---- Earth on Wednesday, February 11, 2015 - 07:34 pm:

Take care of your self. Get checked out by your doctor. Some things take a week or more to show up.
Regardless of the situation as for fault and what not, your health is important.
The brain damage I experienced in my accident was not detected until a week or more later.
Texting, talking on the 2 way radio, putting on make up,or eating a hamburger.All are distracting and most people do 1 or the other.
The penalty for those infractions should be up with drunk driving violations. I know that sounds stiff but when you get hit by a tractor trailer that the dingbat was talking on his phone,it kinds rubs you wrong to hear about other cases.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jay - In Northern California on Wednesday, February 11, 2015 - 07:51 pm:

Glad you weren't hurt.
These days Illegals are immune from the laws you and I have to abide by. It's part of the "Fundamental Transformation Of America":-)

"He had no license, his Nicaraguan license was expired, no green card, and it wasn't even his truck!!!"
Another few lines and you'll have the makings of a country song.:-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Robert Blanchard on Wednesday, February 11, 2015 - 07:57 pm:

Ooh country song! gonna think about it tonight! Thanks for the notes... No arrest but he did get an arrest notice ticket which if he doesn't show up in court will earn him a ride behind bars... insurance is taken care of things...


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Thomas Mullin on Wednesday, February 11, 2015 - 08:42 pm:

I'm with Mack; get a good going over by a doctor. Whiplash can cause damage to your neck that may take years to manifest itself. The earlier you can treat it the better your outcome will be.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jay - In Northern California on Wednesday, February 11, 2015 - 08:56 pm:

Is There a Personal injury lawyer in the house!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ricks - Surf City on Wednesday, February 11, 2015 - 09:33 pm:

A little OT: the NHTSA just released a study showing that driving drunk is six to seven times more likely to cause an accident that sober. Stoned on pot is no different from sober, they found.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Wayne Sheldon, Grass Valley, CA on Wednesday, February 11, 2015 - 09:37 pm:

Ouch! Yeah.
Take good care of you. And, although there is an additional risk? Driving your T can be a part of that.
I do say it a LOT! But be careful.
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dave Hjortnaes, Men Falls, WI on Wednesday, February 11, 2015 - 11:39 pm:

Ralph

Is that why a good friend of mine and his father were killed when 2 guys stoned on dope decided to cross the center line and drive the wrong way on the interstate? Doesn't make sense to me.

I also remember a bunch of friends getting stoned in college numerous times and they were so out of it I don't think they could tell you what day it was.

Maybe we should start selling morphine on the street corners.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ricks - Surf City on Thursday, February 12, 2015 - 12:17 am:

Sorry for your loss, Dave. As you know, not all dope is pot (marijuana).

To clarify, the blurb on Bloomberg tv said "under the influence" and not "stoned."

I'm just reporting the news.


"Maybe we should start selling morphine on the street corners."

It's almost that bad in the South. 80% of all the prescriptions in the US for Oxycontin are written in Florida. Set your DVR to find "Oxycontin Express" if you don't believe me.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Glenn Kolano - London, On., Canada on Thursday, February 12, 2015 - 07:13 am:

"Maybe we should start selling morphine on the street corners."

Don't laugh. Here in Ontario they dispense Methadone at clinics for free. And thousands are taking advantage of it.
They even give it to criminals in jail.

Methadone is a synthetic opioid, same effects as morphine.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Hal Davis-SE Georgia on Thursday, February 12, 2015 - 07:55 am:

I have a coworker who was rear ended last Summer going home from work. He is still suffering the consequences. I'm not a litigious person, but he hired a lawyer. Case is still not solved. He has the pain, the medical bills, the problems with the used car he had to purchase to replace his old one. The person who hit him has probably already forgotten about it.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Burger in Spokane on Thursday, February 12, 2015 - 08:23 am:

Enough with the hate ! These "people" have rights, don't you know ? !!!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ricks - Surf City on Thursday, February 12, 2015 - 02:11 pm:

Wifey's whiplash showed up two years after the crash. She was driving our 1954 Porsche, which didn't have headrests.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jerry VanOoteghem - SE Michigan on Thursday, February 12, 2015 - 02:26 pm:

Ralph,

"Stoned on pot is no different from sober, they found."

Who was stoned on pot, the NHTSA inspectors, or the drivers?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Harold Schwendeman - Sumner,WA on Thursday, February 12, 2015 - 03:15 pm:

Because this "texting" while driving is causing so many accidents, injuries and fatalities, it seems like when the "texting" can be proven, it should be treated the same as "DUI"!

Trying to "pick my words" carefully here so that it does not sound like prejudice from an "old guy", but I don't think it's any secret that a lot of the problems caused by texting involve young people, and I guess we all know that to a large degree, youth is invincible, right? To my way of thinking, that attitude of young people is part of the problem. Also worth considering is,.....what age group is doing a very large part of the "texting", and what age group does not have enough driving experience to make emergency evasive driving manouvers "INSTINCTIVELY"! Something needs to be done about this situation that has become an "epidemic"!

As Tim Wrenn mentioned, I have developed a habit, especially whenever making a harder than normal stop or "slown-down" from highway speed on the interstate, of glancing back and forth between the windshield and the rear view mirror! I think we all need to modify and increase our defensive driving skills nowadays,......for what it's worth,........harold


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tim Eyssen - Abilene TX on Thursday, February 12, 2015 - 05:39 pm:

I have added two 12 volt widely spaced LED yellow strobe lights to the rear of my 14 to hopefully alert folks behind me that I am up ahead and not moving at highway speed. I know, I know, they are not "stock" Model T components, nor are my LED stop and turn signals mounted under the rear fenders, but hey: Like the man says," it's his car."
As an aside: With all the modern computer "advances" in our new cars, I'll bet some tech could program them that when the car starts, the phone turns off except for emergency transmissions.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Gary Tillstrom on Thursday, February 12, 2015 - 05:45 pm:

"Stoned on pot no different than sober", was this an investigative report by Dan Rather or Brian Williams?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Pat Clark-Deer Lodge, Tn on Thursday, February 12, 2015 - 07:33 pm:

Send Obama a thank you letter. Without his non-help, your chance of getting tagged in the rear, would have been not as good.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mack Cole ---- Earth on Thursday, February 12, 2015 - 08:57 pm:

You know the sad thing is, if anyone in the know really cared about the dangers of texting and driving, New cars would have a system to block cell phone operation when the transmission is in gear.
The problem would slow down alot.
Ford instead puts in a system so you can talk to the car and argue and drive or whatever.
To much money made selling the gadgets and people trying to do more and more in less time.

I wish I was still in contact with the professor I had in college that taught me electronics. He used to make rader jammers. Got caught with 1 and it was a mess. But when the gun said 35 and he was doing over a 100,it drew attention. But I was thinking,why cant we come up with a cell phone jammer? When we are going down the road, and some idiot is talking and driving or texting,when they get close enough to us to be a danger,zap,no work.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Wayne Sheldon, Grass Valley, CA on Thursday, February 12, 2015 - 09:06 pm:

Now, now. You can't blame Obama for all this. BOTH major political parties have been leading us down this sewage treatment plant path for a couple decades before Obummer became prominent. It will require a MAJOR political change in this country to even begin to fix the mess we have now.

Robert B! I am just glad that you were not seriously hurt. But do be careful about that as others have warned.
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ricks - Surf City on Friday, February 13, 2015 - 02:53 pm:

Just for your sarcasm, Gary, I went to the source, NTHSA.gov and looked at their recent study on impaired driving.

Quote from the pdf:

About the findings

• Drivers at a breath alcohol level of 0.08 percent, the legal limit in every state, were about four times more likely to crash than sober drivers.

• Drivers with an alcohol level of 0.15 percent were 12 times more likely to crash than sober drivers.

• Marijuana users were about 25 percent more likely to be involved in a crash than drivers with no evidence of marijuana use.

• Other factors – such as age and gender – appear to account for the increased crash risk among marijuana users.

• Ongoing research will refine our understanding of when marijuana use by drivers increases the risk of crashing.
11388c
------------------------

There are some puzzling words above: drunk drivers "crash", while MJ users "are involved in crashes."

Good news is rates of driving while drunk continue to fall.

Stay sober, my friend.

rdr


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Fred Schrope - Upland, IN on Friday, February 13, 2015 - 04:13 pm:

Ya got a link to those facts Ralph? Like you say, there are some interesting phrases. MJ users is a very broad term. That's kind of like saying alcohol users which could include having a couple of gulps of my wife's beer at the pizza joint last night.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ricks - Surf City on Friday, February 13, 2015 - 05:14 pm:

What can't you understand about, "I went to the source, NTHSA.gov and looked at their recent study on impaired driving."

It's on the front page.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ricks - Surf City on Friday, February 13, 2015 - 05:21 pm:

Here it is:

application/pdf
crashRisk.pdf (81.0 k)


Title you see above is mine.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mack Cole ---- Earth on Friday, February 13, 2015 - 05:25 pm:

Talk about thread drift!
Anyhow, no need to try to sue the Nicaraguan because he is probably back there or mingled in somewhere no one can find him.Doubtful he has a pot to wiz in or window to throw it out of anyhow.So you are on your own as far as taking care of yourself.
It could be the truck owners insurance might be available but I doubt it.
As far as the pot thing.If a person goes somewhere,gets it,takes it home and stays home until it's effects are gone to help cope with pain, so be it.
But don't expose others to it or it's smoke or it's impairing effects. No way can I be convinced it has no effect on a person that would make them unsafe to be around operating machinery.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Fred Schrope - Upland, IN on Friday, February 13, 2015 - 05:38 pm:

I wanted to see the whole article. I didn't contest any of what you said - at least I didn't mean for it to sound that way.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Fred Schrope - Upland, IN on Friday, February 13, 2015 - 06:20 pm:

Well, I read it and don't understand much of it. Where is the rest of the full survey/test.

Like you said, "There are some puzzling words above: drunk drivers "crash", while MJ users "are involved in crashes."

I think anyone that assumes that you can drive "stoned" almost as well as dead sober is, well, probably "stoned" or maybe drunk.

I've never been "stoned" or even smoked the stuff, and it's been years, even decades since I was even close to drunk. Maybe I'm just uninformed in these modern times.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Fred Schrope - Upland, IN on Friday, February 13, 2015 - 08:23 pm:

Here's some pretty interesting thoughts on the subject:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobsullum/2015/02/12/if-marijuana-causes-lots-of-c rashes-why-are-they-so-hard-to-count/


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ricks - Surf City on Friday, February 13, 2015 - 09:07 pm:

Good find, Fred.

Sorry, been a bit edgy lately.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Fred Schrope - Upland, IN on Friday, February 13, 2015 - 09:38 pm:

No problem, Ralph. You have a right to be.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Henry Petrino in Modesto, CA on Friday, February 13, 2015 - 10:00 pm:

Back to the original topic:

It isn't just texting drivers who pose danger. I just went out on a short errand. I was stopped for a red light. A young woman (20ish) with 2 small dogs on leashes was100% engaged in texting while crossing the street against the red light. A motorist had to hit his brakes hard to avoid hitting her. She suddenly looked up and motioned him by with attitude.

Too stupid to be allowed to reproduce, assuming she lives long enough.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Gary Tillstrom on Friday, February 13, 2015 - 10:12 pm:

The fact sheet makes sense. The post from the 11th at 9:33 doesn't. If you re-read what you wrote you will see why I questioned it. Someone under the effect of marijuanna can't have the same capacity as someone under the effects of nothing (sober).

I guess the Dan Rather / Brian Williams comment could be construed as over the top (even sarcastic). But when you have news reporters hiding behind constitutional protection making outlandish claims we should all call them on it (and often).

I know you are a vet as am I and the majority of folks on here. We all protected the presses right afforded them of certain immunity. I will forever demand they live up to and honor that which you and I provided them.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ricks - Surf City on Friday, February 13, 2015 - 11:38 pm:

I figure Brian Williams fits the tag: Stolen Honor.

Bob Simon (RIP) was a real reporter.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Gary Tillstrom on Saturday, February 14, 2015 - 06:29 am:

Bob Simon and Tim Russert as well. Wouldn't you like to watch a network of honorable guys such as they? It wasn't until after Tim Russert passed that I found out his political leanings. He didn't let that affect his ability to cover news fairly.


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