When driving a car as small as a Roadster, it helps if you have ever ridden
motorcycles in
traffic. Motorcycles/motorcyclists are even smaller and harder to see than a
small car
like the Roadster and if you are going to survive while riding one you must
adopt an
extremely defensive driving attitude. My operative mindset when I rode a
motorcycle was to
pretend that I was invisible to other drivers - because for all intents and
purposes, I
was. On a motorcycle I have been cutoff, run out of my lane, I have even had a
car pull a
left turn in front of me even though I had established eye contact with the
driver!
You must also maintain a high level of situational awareness - always know what
cars or
other vehicles are around you, how fast they are going, whether they are going
to turn or
stop (hard to know since only about 15% of drivers ever use their turn
signals!). What I
am getting at here is that adopting a similar defensive driving posture while
driving your
Roadster could save your life, and certainly your body panels. All that having
been said,
rear-enders are almost impossible to avoid by any action of your own - very
frustrating. I
have been rear-ended 3 times (never in my Roadster, thank goodness... ): once
in the
middle of a chain when traffic started to move at a light, then stopped
suddenly and
someone three cars back wasn't paying attention; and twice when a light had
just turned
green and a driver approaching the light had eyes only for the green light and
not for the
fact that the stopped traffic had just barely begun to move. Incidentally (and
I don't
intend to raise the ire of the distaff branch of the Roadster driving
fraternity by noting
this fact) all 3 of my rear-ender accidents were precipitated by female
drivers. Trend or
coincidence? You decide
One of the dangers of getting away from a light or a stop sign is the
possibility that the
driver coming up behind you is not paying sufficient attention, and if you
stop, pull up
and stop again, they only see the motion (you know, kinda like the T-Rex in
Jurassic
Park... ) and WHAM!
Gary McCormick
San José, CA
'70 2000, SRL311-13291
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Andrew Murphy wrote:
> List,
>
> After reading posts about rear enders and backing up accidents, it made me
> stop and think.
>
> Every time I go on a run with the guys from SoCalROC, I am amazed at how
> SMALL these cars really are. You can really tell when you are out on the
> road and are behind someone. When I drive mine to work, I sometimes look at
> it parked between two midsize cars and I remember the matchbox cars I used
> to play with when I was a kid.
>
> Up until the Julian/Borrego run, I had no seat belt installed on the
> passenger side of my car. My girlfriend insisted (rightfully so) that I get
> one installed before she would go with me on the run. I had the bizarre
> thought that if I flipped the car at high speed or we got broadsided by an
> SUV, seatbelts probably would not help much.
>
> So although I love to go fast in my car and take turns and everything else,
> I do try to keep in mind that my car weighs about 2000 lbs. and has a
> remarkably strong and fast engine for its size. When I get it restored, I am
> putting in a roll bar and also safety harnesses.
>
> It may not stop me from getting in an accident, but hopefully I will walk
> away.
>
> Andrew Murphy
> 67.5 2000 Solex
> SoCalROC
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