>>> Laura Gharazeddine <Laura.G@141.com> 07/14 3:18 PM >>>
>The lesson? When there are drunks on the road, there's no safe driving
>technique that'll save you from them.
There are quite a number of techniques that can help save you from drunks.
1, observe your surroundings and notice the drivers that appear drunk.
2, avoid them. Pull off the road and let them pass, take a different exit,
etc. If they aren't near you, they can't hit you.
3, use your nimbleness to avoid the accident. Duck dart and weave, just like
in boxing.
There are several others, but I think you get the drift. No, I'm not saying
getting hit is your fault, but most times, the hit could have been prevented in
some way by you.
>A little British steel and a full frame goes a pretty good way against plastic
>door panels and the cheap and fast >construction of many of todays bigger
>cars.
No, they don't. First, British auto steel wasn't good steel. Second, a frame
does a lousy job in a wreck compared to monicoe construction. That's why it's
used in many applications, in part. It's light, it's strong. Frames work
great when they're a cage around you, like a NASCAR roll cage or a Volvo, not
when it's lying below you like a pickup truck or a Spitfire. In that case, the
energy isn't absorbed well. That's why people died in those old tanks of the
50's with the car looking good after the wreck, and they live today with a car
that looks thoroughly squashed.
>not many cars have a fighting chance, do they? (There have been a couple of
>horrific accidents in So. Cal in the >past couple of days-involving SUVs)
Mostly because the SUV has a bumper height above most vehicles, and because it
has a frame. The SUV frame fails to absorb energy, so the impacted vehicle
must. That energy is imparted high on the impacted vehicle, above it's energy
absorbing members. A Spitfire is extremely low, in an impact another vehicle
will tend to climb it, just like I said.
>People who are nervous drivers (For whatever reason) tend to make more
>mistakes and _cause_ accidents.
A major complaint and problem with SUV drivers is their confidence in their
invulnerability. This has also been noted with Volvo drivers. Those that have
no fear drive most dangerously. Those that well understand their danger drive
the best. That's why old fart bikers don't ride like kids on crotch rockets.
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