Accidents - What I've learned

I've witnessed some spectacular accidents. And I use that word purposefully because the injuries were seemingly minor. But the sites, sounds and lessons learned and reinforced were very memorable. When you're on the road 18,000 miles per year in the car alone and the vast majority of that in the suburbs, you tend to see a lot of things happen. I wrote about one before in my "Lower Those Lifted Trucks!" article but there are few more to share and the lessons that were reinforced.

Of course, I've been in a few myself in decades past. I'd rather not get into any details to save myself embarrassment, but let's just say be sure to look both ways or ahead before proceeding. Low speed, no injuries, thank the Lord.

The NASCAR crash. I was southbound out of Pleasanton on 680 on a Monday afternoon in a torrential downpour. I was talking to my non-car brother on the phone at the time. A strangely recurring coincidence. Driving my front-wheel drive car in the left lane, I felt some familiar tugging on the steering wheel and that spraying water sound that told me I was hydroplaning a bit. I slowed down a little and noticed traffic was passing me. I made my way over into the far right lane.

One of the cars passing me on the far left lane was a beautiful Lexus coupe from the early-mid nineties. Remember that car? Six or eight cylinder versions, I remember reading years ago new sheet metal forming technology was invented by Toyota for the front end. This is also the same platform used by Toyota for the 4th generation (MKIV) Supra but shortened 4 to 5 inches if memory serves. Somewhat of a legendary car from a tuning standpoint. http://www.mkivforums.com/vb/ and http://www.supraforums.com/forum/ for example.

Anyway, I'm chatting with my brother, keeping an eye on this rear-drive car in this pouring rain and sure enough! Look out! The Lexus was about a car length ahead of me when it fishtailed right and then swung around left, fast, rear end against the divider wall. I'm yelling "Holy cow!" into the phone while pieces of rear bumper and bodywork start flying all over the middle and left lanes. I can't brake too hard because I'll get rear ended, but I look left and see him clutching the steering wheel riding out the storm as I go by. Poor guy. People behind him are stopping so I get off the phone to call 911 to report the accident and continue to San Jose.

I called my brother back and he encouraged me to go ahead and order the new tires I was starting to need.

Lessons: Don't drive too fast for conditions, make sure your equipment is within safety standards, counter-steer into the turn. Honestly, in the limited space he had, counter maneuvers may or may not have worked for him.

The Shotgun crash: I was sitting at "my" intersection waiting for the arrow to make a u-turn when it happened. Don't you have your own roads or intersections too? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgKtihDtooQ The windows were open and I was just waiting for the arrow. All of a sudden, "CRASH!". A horrendous sound, I thought someone had opened up with both barrels outside my passenger window. My head jerked right to see who the heck was shooting! Really, the sound is almost indescribable but we've all heard it before on TV. What happened was an SUV apparently ran a red light and hit the right-front of a car going through the intersection, hard. The speed could have been as high as 45mph since many drive 10mph over the limit.

I got on the phone, called in the accident and parked in a nearby lot to check on the victim. The two passengers in the SUV seemed okay but I deferred to the victim first anyway. He was shook-up and I'm sure really, really sore the next day. Hopefully that was all. I didn't stay to make a statement, since others witnessed it directly, instead of just that awful sound. A friend of mine, Wayland Joe, a two-time SCCA Runoff Champion has had some high-speed accidents in his racing career in the IMSA Cup Car Series. http://www.imsachallenge.com/ The advice he was given was to immediately take Advil after the accident to help alleviate the pain that was sure to come.

Lessons: Pay attention to traffic signals! Look both ways when crossing an intersection. Take some Advil if you have some bad luck. And let's pray all you have is soreness!

The Felony Crash: Once again, talking to my non-car brother on the phone, I was eastbound on Stevens Creek Boulevard in the left lane. Suddenly I was passed by an older, mid-eighties Cutlass in the right lane at a very high rate of speed, in heavy traffic! I said "No way is he gonna..." and "Bang!" The Cutlass was traveling so fast it couldn't change lanes quickly enough and it rear ended an Audi convertible. The Audi was pushed off the road, over a curb, over a signal box, bouncing along the way and came to a rest in a parking lot. The Cutlass, severely damaged in the front end, immediately veered right, crashing into the curb and light pole. Two "youths", i.e. stupid criminals, leaped out and took off running. I briefly debated pulling up along side before they could get out so closely they couldn't open the door. But I don't happen to be bulletproof and at best it would mean a dented and scratched up side of my car.

The police were in hot pursuit, hence the "urgent" driving of the getaway car and went after them. Apparently they were observed stealing and ran. I went to the parking lot where the Audi was and learned I knew the occupant from business. Poor guy was really sore already and had whiplash.

Lesson reinforced: Always wear your seatbelt and have your seat properly adjusted to support your head and neck, check your mirrors. Simplistic basics: Don't be a stupid criminal, run from the cops and drive too fast, okay?

The Lousy Citizen Accident: This one really stick in my craw. During rush hour I noticed a motorcyclist in full riding gear on what appeared to be a small-engined sport bike. As a motorcyclist, I always pay attention to the bike, gear and rider to see what's what. Especially during rush hour. Oddly enough, I was on the phone again but this time with my Mom. For those of you who are local, I pulled into the long, sweeping, two lane left-hand turn lanes for Brokaw to turn onto 880 Southbound. I was probably a good ten cars back, maybe twelve? The motorcyclist did the safest thing - he cut lanes to the front of the parallel line of cars waiting to turn. He was now out of the way of traffic and and couldn't be rear-ended sitting there.

The light turned green and the rider immediately started turning. Unfortunately the rider looked into the turn and didn't check the intersection. It's not a simple left-hander, it's a greater-than-ninety-degrees turn with a dip. It requires you too look deep into the turn. But he didn't check the intersection and a small pick-up truck came sailing through from the street on the right, turning left. I started to utter something and even if I had laid on the horn, I don't know if it would have helped. But if I wasn't on the phone, I would have for sure. What the hell was everyone else ahead of me doing? Sitting on their hands?

The truck never stopped and broadsided the motorcyclist. It seemed like it was in slow motion, horrible and painful as the rider was ejected from the bike and tumbled with an awful sound of the helmet and bike hitting the pavement. I exclaimed, "Oh NO! I've gotta go Mom, I'm fine, I just witnessed an accident!". And you know what? There must have been at least 20 people ahead of me that never stopped! Surely one of them at least had medical training beyond my bandage and antibiotic routine from cuts and scrapes. Even so, they could have gotten to the fallen rider before me!

I got on the phone with 911 and waited for the police and ambulance. A few others stopped as well. The rider suffered lower leg injuries and he and I talked later, he's doing better. I told the officer at the scene what happened as the other witnesses did as well and saw that the rider was being attended to. I then left and went home. Yes the pick-up driver was there and it was obvious he felt very bad.

Driving is a privilege, not a right. And one of our obligations is to help our fellow man. You may not like it, but that isn't just a rule of the road, it's a fundamental human obligation. I'm stepping of my soap box soon, thank you for bearing with me.

Lessons learned and reinforced are multiple: Look before crossing an intersection, wear full safety gear on the motorcycle, stop and help those in need, don't run red lights and pay attention.

I didn't want to sensationalize these accidents, but if reading about them helps one person check for traffic or signals and avoid an accident, I did my duty as a citizen.