Situational Awareness

[kyratshooter]

I just had a real strange experience while driving on the highway.

On the interstate, 4 lanes wide, light traffic and everyone running along at 70+mph. I am in the third lane from the right passing a truck very slowly. another car is in the extreme left lane next to the divide barrier. It was a Yaras or some other micro car type thing.

Down the highway I spot an obstacle in the extreme left lane and as we get closer and closer I realize it is a hay bale, the old fashioned small rectangular type, and it is dead center in the middle of the left lane.

There is room on the barrier side to go left wide and avoid a crash, but I slow slightly to give the driver room to move right if he decides to.

He/she does neither. As if unaware that there is an object half the size of the car they are driving the driver dead centers the hay-bale as if he had not seen it coming for the past half mile.

The hay-bale explodes, the vehicle does a slight mule buck, all 4 wheels come off the ground, plastic explodes all over the highway and the vehicle comes to a slow rolling stop but is still in the left lane. No other cars are involved and I watched the driver get out and check for damage. I see this in my rear view mirror as I continue down the highway thankful that I had not been tied up in a multi-vehicle interstate massacre.

The point of all this is simple. It does not matter if you have the perfect BOV, all the best gear in the world and have been to the best training classes money can buy if you are not going to go around the hay-bale instead of through the hay-bale!

[madmax]

Preachin' to the choir. I harp on this constantly. Pay attention.

[WalkingTree]

I hope they at least finished sending their text message. Idjiot.

[hunter63]

No Ship Dick Tracy....bet that woke them up.........
Dumas Driver, " I don't understand how that got there...???...Wasn't on the GPS....and On-Star didn't say anything?"
"Now just look at me....My Punkin Spic Latte all over my phone".

Good reminder, and glad you missed it.....

[kyratshooter]

Looking back on it I would have been safer speeding up and being ahead of the situation rather than getting the good view from off to the side!

You should have seen that hay bale explode!

[natertot]

Nice. I don't know what people are doing that such things occur. Probably phone, as mentioned. Better a hay bale than a pedestrian.

About three years ago, I had a similar thing happen. City road with two lanes each direction with a speed limit of 35. I moved from the right lane to the left as a sign indicated that the right lane was about to become designate parking for the current hour and I see parked cars ahead. I was doing 45 in a 35, the lady behind didn't think I was going fast enough and went to pass me on the right. She went right into the back of a parked car which then caused a chain reaction amongst the parked cars and her airbag deployed. I stopped to make sure she was okay and she was, until the cops showed up and asked if there were any witnesses.......

[Rick]

You guys have this all wrong. In order to make use of a good hay bale for fire starting one must first disassemble said bale. Now, you could do that by hand if you wish but a good vehicle smack and 70 does the trick. Scoop up all you need, toss it in the truck and you are good to go.

On my way to Erie, PA one week-day I was scooting up I71 approaching Akron. A Jamoke in a Ferrari was in the left lane. Problem was, the left lane was merging right and there were barricades forcing you to move. He didn't. I think he hit the brakes when he hit the first one but ate about three before he got stopped. I'm with you, KY. I don't understand how you can't see something that big unless you are half asleep, strung out or playing Candy Crush. Now, Angry Birds I could understand but that's just me.

[WalkingTree]

You should have seen that hay bale explode!

Hahahahaha!!

Once I drove a pickup delivering stuff. Would occasionally be running along side someone who was playing with their device. I'd honk my horn and startle them. Was great fun. They'd jump and look around and then at me, and have that look as to "why you honking?" Then go back to their device. After just the right amount of moments when I knew they were engrossed again, I'd honk again. And they'd jump startled again. Hahaha...

[hunter63]

You should be able to shoot paint balls on cars with people texting......
At least everyone else would know who was doing it.

[Old GI]

Ahhh, the age old question: Are you paranoid if they really are out to get you?

[kyratshooter]

Did I miss something?

Who's out to get who?

[LowKey]

I was in stop-and-go traffic in the slow lane. Woman next to me in the fast lane kept letting long gaps open in front of her as she texted on her phone. Trouble for her, there was a police car two cars behind her. Lights flipped on and he pulled her sorry self over. Texting while driving is against the law here. It's a $100 ticket. I was cheering in my truck that one of those idiots finally got caught and I got to see it.

These days you have to be aware of the other driver far more than you used to. The ones that wander out of their lane, the merging truck that is going too slow, the tailgater when you can see stopped traffic ahead. Had one of those hit the car behind me once and push it into my rear bumper. Luckily saw it coming and had the truck aimed for the median and rolling before impact so the girl behind me didn't get smashed up too bad when he hit her and she hit me (I was actually trying to get out of the way of the whole thing...) Pays to leave a half car length between you and the guy in front when in slow traffic so you can at least maneuver.

[madmax]

I hope everyone doing anything on their phone while driving gets a big fat ticket. If you're doing that and kill me I will hang around and haunt you for the rest of your miserable life.

[hunter63]

Going around the merge ramp to I-94 from belt line I-894 coming up to it,.... saw something kinda exploding on a flat bed truck a couple of vehicles ahead of me.

Was tarps and tie down straps, tying down 4 large coils of steel....12" high and about 8ft dia.....back coil rolled off and blocked our lane on the ramp....second coil rolled off an started rolling uncoiling as it went....hit and broke thru the guard rail and went over.....

We all started laying on the brakes....and were stopping with out impact.... watching my rear view mirror....Truck behind me was a contractor...stacked high with concrete forms......and 2 wheel barrows just riding on the front roof rack.....he stopped by inches....

No one hit anyone....large coil was blocking our path...coil that went over had dropped into a median dividing the 6 lanes under us....no one hit.

The 2 cars in front of me were small cars....and the guy was trying to lift and push coil out of the way......NO WAY...

Now as there was a raised part of the ramp....like a sidewalk with a curb....so I just got back into my truck.... I was able to drive up on the curb and get around the mess.. .....

Truck was pulled over to the side at the end of the ramp....and another coil had just slid off as he had stopped.

This could have been a disaster, had not everyone paying attention and was able to avoid a serious situation.

Yes, a lot can be said about paying attention to traffic..... leaving room between you and other vehicles ......

I was well down I-94 when I heard the news on the radio....as they were still trying to move those coils and cars caught behind them.

[fjrmurph]

I ride a motorcycle , been riding since the mid 80"s and I still enjoy it. Recently I've been thinking about selling the bike for this very reason . I see so many people with their head in a cell phone, I see so many distracted drivers wondering around on the road. In my truck I have a fighting chance , on the bike not so much. I like the paint gun idea !! In the UK there is a device that renders a cell phone useless , it blocks signal for a certain distance around the device, I think they are illegal in Canada

[LowKey]

The comedian Gallagher had the sucker dart gun in one of his routines.
Some observations on bad drivers:

[kyratshooter]

Brock Yates was editor of Car and Driver magazine for decades and before that he wrote a column for the magazine.

I still remember one of his more comical renderings when some fool had done some fool thing in front of him on the highway.

This was way back in the last century before seat belts were retractable and air bags as mandatory equipment were not even on the horizon, although they were being debated as to their usefulness and reliability and mandatory seat belt laws were a thing scoffed at in the "land of the free".

Brock suggested that if a 12 gauge shotgun shell was mounted in the steering column of every car on the road the accident rate would go down drastically. You do something stupid you get your head blown off! No questions asked, it just went bang and you were included in the waste of the crash you caused.

Back then the hazards of distraction were different. Most women had wrecks due to trying to ride heard on a bunch of kids bouncing around lose in the car, or putting on make up using the rear view mirror.

For men it was eating while driving and hunting for songs on the new-fangled 8-track players.

And "Day dreaming" was and still is a big contributor.

[hunter63]

I ride a motorcycle , been riding since the mid 80"s and I still enjoy it. Recently I've been thinking about selling the bike for this very reason . I see so many people with their head in a cell phone, I see so many distracted drivers wondering around on the road. In my truck I have a fighting chance , on the bike not so much. I like the paint gun idea !! In the UK there is a device that renders a cell phone useless , it blocks signal for a certain distance around the device, I think they are illegal in Canada

Did sell mine quite a few years ago, now....seems I had used up 6 or 7 of my 9 lives.....figured I better save a few.

.....and I was a weird one....put bucket seats in my 1954 Convertible and added seat belts.....kinda like them....helps to stay behind the wheel when driving hard.

...And kind of scary that Gallagher seems to share my line of thinking.....
See a car with paint splotches, tell you to keep away, "Texting Dumas in operation"

[LowKey]

I'm trying to imagine the havoc you would cause by drawing a gun, even a paint ball gun, to shoot at someone's car...
Vehicles would need to come equipped with a 360° paintball turret on the roof.
just so you can get that dumass that cut you off from the left lane to take an exit to the right, and no one behind you for miles.

[hunter63]

I'm trying to imagine the havoc you would cause by drawing a gun, even a paint ball gun, to shoot at someone's car...
Vehicles would need to come equipped with a 360° paintball turret on the roof.
just so you can get that dumass that cut you off from the left lane to take an exit to the right, and no one behind you for miles.

Yeah, the paint ball gun does have it down side.......most people these day would return fire with something a bit more powerful......
Would still be cool, though.