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| | From:  frmear2ear10 (Original Message) | Sent: 8/15/2006 2:21 AM |
I'm a pretty good driver. I watch my mirrors, and signal when I'm turning a corner. Most of all, I dont take my vehicle into an area, that I know it wont fit correctly. This afternoon, such a beautiful day, I'm going to a large park, to take a walk. About a quarter of the distance, there is a traffic light, that I have to stop at. Just sitting there awaiting the green, and all of a sudden, I hear a rather large bang. I look to my left, where a gas station is located, and see a 10 ton truck, going over the curb, within a fairly small area, where ppl are filling their tanks. His truck hits a supporting beam, that holds up a roof. The driver continues on, turning right, and appears, that he is going to leave the scene, without stopping to check for any damage his truck may have caused. An employee of the gas station, runs out, hits the side of the truck and expresses a few four letter words. The driver of the truck pulls over, stops, gets out, and runs to the area he damaged, takes a quick look, and runs into the station. From my observation point, sitting in traffic, it appeared that this fellow, was trying to turn the truck around, but was not going to stop at all, but just continue. What went through my mind? Well, alot of four letter words. I returned to the station, upon completing my walk, to refill my tank, and to ask, if everything had been straightened out with the driver. The gas station attendant, told me, that the driver, had very quickly, given the attendant his bosses telephone number. On top of all of this, apparently, the same fellow, with the same truck, had been there once before, and damaged a sign on the wall of the gas station, not so long ago. If one thinks, this being a gas station, where ppl refill their tanks with a fuel, that is very volitile. If the driver's truck, had not hit the supporting beam, but something else, there could very well have been a rather large explosion, that would not only heavily damage the gas station, those refilling their tanks, but possibly myself and others waiting in line at the traffic light. Where is this man's mind? "Oh, I was in a hurry." Right. Dum stupid, and alot of four letter words to describe the intelligence of this man right?  |
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Smiles in all likelihood the reason why he kept driving was, he didn t know he had hit anything. Those trucks, even small 7.5 tonne trucks are quite often insulated from their containers/trailers, so any collision is not felt at the cab. I know this from personal experience, driving a small box van (Luton bodied Ford Transit van). I don t think I have hit anything, however I was in it when a colleague did. He knocked down the lighting system in a drive thru KFC lol. We felt nothing, and barely heard it, If the window had been closed, we would not have heard it at all. The thing that annoyed me about people's driving when I was driving the van, was how close they would drive to my tail. The mirrors were awful, and I could not see them if they were a car length away. What annoys me about people driving are people who drive too slow for the conditions, and for the speed limit. Stop looking around you, admiring the houses on teh roadside, and drive at or around the speed limit if the conditions allow for it. this, if you watch when people have a chance to overtake, is one of the major causes for aggressive driving. Similiarily, people who drive on the outside, overtaking lane, when the inside slower lane is clear. Just because you are driving at the speed limit does not permit you to drive in that lane for the entire length of the motorway ('and you wonder why people drive close to your tail?'  ). If the lane is clear, pull over into it! If it is not, either gently slow down and pull in behind or accelerate and pull ahead, complete the manouvre you began. My father does another thing that annoys me too, and I always have a go at him about it when I am in the car with him. Half a mile ahead a car is stopped perhaps turning, don t slam you brakes on, enough to jerk the car. If you cannot get by, and it is likely you will have to stop, stroke the pedal, or simply release your foot from the accelerator, have faith in your car, and gently drop down the gears as the revs drop. Any mid sized car I have owned, I have been able to stop it, using solely the gears from 40mph, within half a mile. You do not need to use your brakes so firmly! |
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Yes, I was always taught to "feather" the brakes, not having driven a standard transmission vehicle, rather than slamming your foot down, which jerks the car to an instant stop, and can cause an accident.. If your father slammed on the brakes I would imagine, that the car stopped much short of the auto in front, right. |
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I cannot say I noticed Smiles, i was too busy pulling my head from the dashboard!  |
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EEEEEERRRRRCH!!! Totally understood Carrot. No airbags eh. |
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