7 children dead. Here in North Central Florida we had another tragedy involving vehicles on our roadways, and the public is saddened and outraged (just as they should be). But most have no idea what they are talking about. And most people have no clue as to the concept they could have been the ones involved. Why? Because most people do not know or realize just how driving really works, or how hazardous it really is. Most people are fair to poor drivers at best.
How can I say this and what do I base it on? I am sure your asking me. Not me you say? OK answer me this without having to look it up or figure it out using a computer. How far does you vehicle go in 1 second at 70 miles per hour (normal legal highway speed)? Don’t know? How about how far does your vehicle go from the time you see a hazard to the time you start to step on the brake at 70 miles per hour? Don’t know? How about how far will your vehicle skid or take to stop (on average) once you put the brake on at 70 miles per hour? Don’t now? Don’t you think its kind of important to know not only how to drive a vehicle, but what it takes to safely drive one and stop it?
At 70 mph you travel about 102 feet per second. Doesn’t sound to fast? The normal person has an average reaction time of one and one half seconds. In that time your vehicle at 70 mph would travel 153 feet, while you react to something (called Reaction Distance). Then your vehicle will skid or travel another 209 feet before it stops (called Stopping Distance). Add all that up and you get 362 feet (more than a football field!) to see a hazard and stop your vehicle at 70 mph (called total Distance to Stop). How many of you follow the car in front of you less than 7 or 8 car lengths on the Interstates? 90%? 95%? When the car in front of you blows a tire, slows or stops suddenly, or some other hazard appears less than 300 feet away in front of you at that speed, guess what? Your going to be involved in a crash.
I worked Traffic Homicide in South Florida (Broward County) for 7 years. I investigated literally thousands of accidents and over 300 fatal car crashes. I am a published author in the field of Accident Reconstruction and a Court Certified Expert in Accident Reconstruction. I teach Traffic Homicide Investigation to other police officers now. I pulled dead kids from cars, took photos of people after they had driven their car into a pole, another car, or some other object at varying speeds and can say that the vast majority (guessing 95%+) of those accidents were preventable. People just do not know how to safely operate their vehicles. It is not that easy to stop an object that weighs thousands of pounds in the blink of an eye.
The recent tragedy here in North Florida involved a semi-tractor trailer. I wonder how many truck drivers know that the most they can hope to get from their brake systems is 70 percent braking efficiency. Wonder how many know the lean angle they can safely expect based on the height of their trailer and the load placement inside?
My point is there is a lot more to driving a car or truck than just knowing the rules of the road and how to move it from point A to point B. Knowing the limitations and how your vehicle will act under adverse circumstances can make the difference between life and death in many instances. And of course, paying attention to what’s going on around you. Looking far enough down the road to see the hazard in time enough to stop or avoid the accident is one of the most overlooked points of driving. Most people are staring at the bumper of the car in front of them that is 10 or 15 feet away at 65 MPH. That will more than likely be the last thing they see. Want to live? Back off the car in front of you, look farther down the road, and know what your car will do if you have to take some kind of evasive action. Oh and stop talking on the cell phones, reading books and looking at your new GPS direction system. Pay attention, or you may be the next body we pull from the wreckage.
