Distracted Driving Close-Calls

[JExpedition07]

Today I came very close to being involved in a head on collision at 55 MPH. Long story short this occurred on a long road with a posted speed limit of 55 MPH with one lane each side and a narrow shoulder. The ditches are pretty steep as well. I noticed a oncoming minivan coming into my lane probably where the road has a bend probably 1,000 feet in front of me. The van had come into my lane probably about a foot and a half to 3 feet on and off, I figured they would correct and they appeared to a bit, how wrong was I. After the "look alike" correction we were much closer and the van came almost completely in my lane, now lets pause what do I see? A woman behind the wheel of a burgundy Chevrolet Venture Minivan looking down at her phone! This swerving has been occurring as far as I could see this van coming down the road at me maybe a solid 25 seconds! As the woman approaches me I move to the edge of the road (still probably 50 MPH) and I lay on my horn while I'm in shock. The woman keeps approaching directly at me at full speed (this all happened so quick I was still over 50 MPH) As I lay on my horn (brand new ford OEM installed by me in spring LOUD!!) she looks up and her jaw drops.... oh crap moment. She then begins a correction RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME barreling full speed she jammed her wheel and we missed by mere inches!! My heart hasn't raced that hard in a long time. There were vehicles behind me and we all veered to the edge of the road and she still came right at me while she had her face in her phone for a solid 30 seconds! she pulled away like nothing, not a care in the world she almost killed herself and others.

The point of my drawn out boring story of the day, DONT text and drive, it can ALWAYS wait. Why should others die for a text? I lost faith in humanity today with this driver, crazy stuff. We all carry the duty to pay attention to the road and our surroundings. Have people's attention spans diluted to nothing?

 

[Plati]

I'm glad you did not die.
Stuff like that makes you appreciate the small things in life.
Think of it as a second chance to live life to the fullest & make a difference.

 

[JExpedition07]

I'm glad you did not die.
Stuff like that makes you appreciate the small things in life.
Think of it as a second chance to live life to the fullest & make a difference.

True that man... Didn't mean to sound so harsh but it was CLOSE lol.

 

[Dorzak]

For several years I drove 30,000 miles per year. I was in four accidents and all of them the other driver was distracted by something. CHP officer who rear ended me at a traffic light was changing radio frequencies, tomato truck driver who turned left/jack knifed in front of me couldn’t find the field he was going to, the guy who t boned me in a parking lot hadn’t seen me stop for pedestrians walking in front of me because he was reading something on the passenger seat, and the uninsured motorist who rear ended me was trying to beat a stop light and change his radio.

In the parking lot and the last one I had to slow it stop for distracted pedestrians who stepped in front of me.

Going to and from work I used to see things like people falling asleep. Hint: Don’t honk at them if you are close they are likely to swerve towards you.

 

[jeff kushner]

First JE, glad that you didn't get hit.

Second, we've all learned to recognize the driver on their phone.....the "doesn't fit" gaps they leave between their car and the car in front of them is the first sure sign, the second is the constant tipping of the head, third is the swerving....I work outside of DC and I see it all the time.

It's a shame that the auto makers have acquiesced to them by making things to make the practice easier like lane changing alerts....you ONLY need those if you are on the phone or should not be driving!

Kerry & made a "no text" pact after I nearly clipped a telephone pole in my 03 EB...with two of my kids in the truck.....NEVER texted after that, ever!

jeff

 

[knewblewkorvett]

Glad you are okay.
I drive the interstate daily and see people on their phones while driving all the time. It's pretty easy to see when driving the Expedition.

 

[1955moose]

Had the same very discussion with a member of my gym this afternoon. I told him anyone being caught texting should lose their driver's license for a year, second offense should be 10 years. This is a serious, serious offense, and has got to be stopped! Here in California, up until a few years ago, believe it or not it was legal to text and drive. More accidents and deaths are caused by texting, and distracted driving than all other driving decisions combined. The dmv, and state and federal officials have got to crack down, or this will be epidemic soon, especially in teens, and non experienced drivers, like that lady, who can't pull over, or call using blue tooth, or speaker phone.

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

Glad you are okay. They should make it okay to shoot people like that to save the rest of the drivers on the road.

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

Followed a lady yesterday who was fully over in the oncoming lane for 10 - 15 seconds. I slowed way down. I couldn't tell if she was texting or having a stroke.

 

[Dorzak]

Of course when phones make it more difficult to do so, customers complain.

 

[1955moose]

Andy,I think the only way we could legally shoot them is if they started texting inside your doorway of your house. They should make fines so huge, like a $1,000 or more for getting caught texting, that would drive home the don't text rule, like a sledgehammer!

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk

 

[jeff kushner]

We all seem to be in agreement but what has been the result? It began with lane reminders and now it's lane keepers....so you don't need to look at all! Sure there are no-text laws but they are only to provide legal relief evidence after the fact, they do not prevent a "texter" from commiting the crime anymore than speed limit signs prevent me from exceeding them.

People have indicated that by and large, they no longer wish to drive, they choose to be driven when desired. Yes, they might want to drive like they do in their video games once in a while but that will likely die out in time as the PC police deem it "bad". So they will build around the user...the driver will be slowly shutout & removed. I think that you are beginning to see the earliest ideas of how to separate the driver from the user......their problem is that the driver is usually the one paying for the car. In a more matriarchy world, their model might work....but most of us still have our nuts...we'll see how this turns out.

It honestly appears that the "Race" is on for class 5 (I think)-fully autonomous Self-driving.....nothing less ....between all the manufacturers.

Wow.....in my lifetime no less....who da thunk? My friends wonder why I keep my very anti-social 2 stroke triples H1's, H2, GT's....belching clouds of blue smoke as their signature triple-chainsaw sound, that one rip through the gears leave no doubt is contrived by Satan himself. Did I hear something about cold dead hands? <LOL>

jeff

 

[JExpedition07]

I don't think an autonomous vehicle is for me to be honest, I enjoy driving. It would also be a very hard sell on any performance vehicle where enthusiasts still find automatic transmissions to be unacceptable, heck the whole car is based on your experience behind the wheel as the driver of the vehicle. I think autonomous vehicles will become more prevalent but computers fail, look at vehicles already, backup sensors fail, ABS fails, Yaw sensors and wheel speed sensors connected to traction control fail, Lane keep alert and blind spot detection systems false and fail, computers can be hacked etc etc.... unfortunately there is no perfect answer. We keep like some mentioned here making it easier for the texting driver to do so. People are becoming too absorbed in their devices, I think we have an epidemic on our hands and are choosing to coddle and ignore it. People need to take responsibility for their own actions and stop looking to Someone else to fix it for them... this being one.

 

[Cutty]

Glad you are okay. They should make it okay to shoot people like that to save the rest of the drivers on the road.

Self defense!!! They were assaulting me with a deadly weapon!

 

[Cutty]

Self defense!!! They were assaulting me with a deadly weapon!

On the other hand texting and driving saved my life! I was driving home on a rural back road and received a text, I slowed way down to look at my phone and suddenly two large trees fell across the road in front of me and i stopped about 30 feet from them, they took down a power line also. Caught it on my new dash cam too. If I didnt get that text I am pretty sure they would have got me!

 

[NASCAR Mike]

I have a dash cam in my 17 Expy. I once recorded a woman who had wandered into my lane from the other direction. She was looking down but I was not sure if she was texting. She over corrected and flipped in the ditch. I called the sheriff about the accident. I stopped to see if she was OK. She was but she had the nerve to tell the deputy that I ran her off the road. I spoke to the deputy privately and told him I had a dash cam. I showed him the video. Deputy had her fill out an accident report. I did the same. She was charged with reckless driving (a felony in VA), filing a false police report and destruction of property (she took out a speed limit sign). She plead out - one year suspended license, 3 months in jall (all suspended for one year) and over $1400 in fines and court costs. I would think her insurance rates went up too.

The dash cam saved my rear.

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

We all seem to be in agreement but what has been the result? It began with lane reminders and now it's lane keepers....so you don't need to look at all! Sure there are no-text laws but they are only to provide legal relief evidence after the fact, they do not prevent a "texter" from commiting the crime anymore than speed limit signs prevent me from exceeding them.

People have indicated that by and large, they no longer wish to drive, they choose to be driven when desired. Yes, they might want to drive like they do in their video games once in a while but that will likely die out in time as the PC police deem it "bad". So they will build around the user...the driver will be slowly shutout & removed. I think that you are beginning to see the earliest ideas of how to separate the driver from the user......their problem is that the driver is usually the one paying for the car. In a more matriarchy world, their model might work....but most of us still have our nuts...we'll see how this turns out.

It honestly appears that the "Race" is on for class 5 (I think)-fully autonomous Self-driving.....nothing less ....between all the manufacturers.

Wow.....in my lifetime no less....who da thunk? My friends wonder why I keep my very anti-social 2 stroke triples H1's, H2, GT's....belching clouds of blue smoke as their signature triple-chainsaw sound, that one rip through the gears leave no doubt is contrived by Satan himself. Did I hear something about cold dead hands? <LOL>

jeff

Yes it works as good as gun laws. Only law abiding citizens follow them. Criminals don't think they laws apply to them.

On another note... Where are the flying cars? I was promised flying cars in the future...

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

I don't think an autonomous vehicle is for me to be honest, I enjoy driving. It would also be a very hard sell on any performance vehicle where enthusiasts still find automatic transmissions to be unacceptable, heck the whole car is based on your experience behind the wheel as the driver of the vehicle. I think autonomous vehicles will become more prevalent but computers fail, look at vehicles already, backup sensors fail, ABS fails, Yaw sensors and wheel speed sensors connected to traction control fail, Lane keep alert and blind spot detection systems false and fail, computers can be hacked etc etc.... unfortunately there is no perfect answer. We keep like some mentioned here making it easier for the texting driver to do so. People are becoming too absorbed in their devices, I think we have an epidemic on our hands and are choosing to coddle and ignore it. People need to take responsibility for their own actions and stop looking to Someone else to fix it for them... this being one.

The computers will have triple redundancy and they will be self aware just like HAL in 2001. "Open the driver's door HAL." "I'm afraid I can't do that Dave." "Open the G*d D@mn driver's door HAL." ""I'm afraid I can't do that Dave. You're getting a little emotional Dave, you must calm down." "Open the driver's door HAL or I'll pry it open." "I'm afraid I can't allow you to do that Dave. Enabling anti-damage countermeasures..."

 

[Clemson82]

Glad you're OK JEx. What's really scary to me is the number of times I see big-rigs cross the line and then look over to see the driver staring at their phone. Like Andy said, some people don't think the law applies to them...

 

[knewblewkorvett]

"Every day, almost 29 people in the United States die in alcohol-impaired vehicle crashes—that's one person every 50 minutes in 2016. Drunk-driving fatalities have fallen by a third in the last three decades; however, drunk-driving crashes claim more than 10,000 lives per year."
This is a quote from the government website, another thing drivers do that ****** me off. Of those 10,000 lives, over 1000 are under the age of 14