Another traffic fatality to discuss...

tater · 02-12-13, 04:35 PM

I went through a green light once, years ago. I was the 3d car through the light, it was "very green." Some jackass in a 1980s oldsmobile ran the red light by going around the 2-3 stopped cars in his lane by driving into the left turn only lane to avoid them. Luckily I saw him and slammed on my brakes in time to have everything in front of the wheels of my honda accord removed.

The guy stopped in a parking lot right there, then took off! I was incredulous taht someone would leave a crash, and went into the motel lobby to use a phone. While on the line cop cars showed up, and I went outside frantically to describe the car and that he had fled.

The cop said, "calm dow, he didn't make it far. He rear-ended a police cruiser at Carlisle."

When the guy that hits you also hits a police car... they all show up, they even took pictures of my wreck for me

Sailor Steve · 02-12-13, 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bilge_Rat

reminds me of an accident I had in 89-90. I was at a light, late for a meeting and stepped on the gas as soon as the light turned green. Another car trying to beat the yellow light hit me from the left going 70-80 kmh and tore off my bumper.

Same thing. It was 1975. My wife and I were driving home in the middle of the day. I was slowing down for a red light when it changed green. I went on through it. The guy who claimed he was trying to beat the yellow light missed it by several seconds, and hit the right rear of our car, just one foot behind my wife. As I got out of the car somebody grabbed me from behind. A complete stranger said "I'll be your witness! I saw the whole thing!"

Quote:

Originally Posted by tater

IThe cop said, "calm dow, he didn't make it far. He rear-ended a police cruiser at Carlisle."

That's got to be some kind of special.

Emergency vehicles in Salt Lake seem to be well trained. I see them slow way down for intersections all the time, even when lights are flashing and sirens blaring.

Stealhead · 02-13-13, 12:03 PM

One of my good friends is a paramedic here in Florida he says that the rules are very strict when it comes to emergency vehicles.They can only do certain things
at the highest rated code(call) and they always stop at any form of intersection make sure things are clear and go through.

In the county he works for all vehicles(police,fire,ambulance) have data recording system that records the rate of speed and also tells if in fact the lights and sirens are active.The recording system runs constantly as long as the vehicle is traveling down the road no matter what the situation.His employer often reviews the data and if you get caught blasting through an intersection you more or less get fired and at minimum a very serious reprimand if you cause an accident in any form involving public vechiles that is the fault of the person driving the emergency vehicle you get fired.

In my opinion any agency that allows its employees to blast through an intersection with out stopping to quickly check that things are clear that agency is flirting with disaster.

tater · 02-13-13, 12:10 PM

I asked a friend who is a firefighter when I saw him at the kid's school yesterday, and he said they always check, and thought this was really dumb/preventable.

Stealhead · 02-13-13, 12:26 PM

It just goes to show how important in certain jobs it is to constantly focus on safety.I worked on the flight line as a mechanic in the Air Force and had to consider the many obvious hazards on an active military flight line not to mention the heavy equipment we worked on that could easily kill you or remove a limb if you got lax.

Because of this every single shift every single day at the start and end of each shift a safety briefing was given the reason was to beat in everyone's head the idea of safety and of always being aware of the daily hazards and always following the regulations.

My guess is that a lot of emergency service agencies do not do this as much as they should be and unless the idea of safety is heavily promoted within an organization that takes part in any hazardous activity people that are part of that agency will become lax about things even if there are strict regulations if there is no reinforcement people will disobey the things that they feel hinder them to their and others detriment.

tater · 02-13-13, 12:40 PM

Yeah, likely very true. This seems particularly important in jobs (1st responders) where adrenaline probably plays a role. It needs to be so ingrained that it is automatic. This guy has been on the force since 2000, though. Yeesh.

02-12-13, 04:35 PM	#1
tater Navy Seal Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: New Mexico, USA Posts: 9,023 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 2	I went through a green light once, years ago. I was the 3d car through the light, it was "very green." Some jackass in a 1980s oldsmobile ran the red light by going around the 2-3 stopped cars in his lane by driving into the left turn only lane to avoid them. Luckily I saw him and slammed on my brakes in time to have everything in front of the wheels of my honda accord removed. The guy stopped in a parking lot right there, then took off! I was incredulous taht someone would leave a crash, and went into the motel lobby to use a phone. While on the line cop cars showed up, and I went outside frantically to describe the car and that he had fled. The cop said, "calm dow, he didn't make it far. He rear-ended a police cruiser at Carlisle." When the guy that hits you also hits a police car... they all show up, they even took pictures of my wreck for me __________________ "Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one." — Thomas Paine

02-13-13, 12:10 PM	#4
tater Navy Seal Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: New Mexico, USA Posts: 9,023 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 2	I asked a friend who is a firefighter when I saw him at the kid's school yesterday, and he said they always check, and thought this was really dumb/preventable. __________________ "Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one." — Thomas Paine

02-13-13, 12:40 PM	#6
tater Navy Seal Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: New Mexico, USA Posts: 9,023 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 2	Yeah, likely very true. This seems particularly important in jobs (1st responders) where adrenaline probably plays a role. It needs to be so ingrained that it is automatic. This guy has been on the force since 2000, though. Yeesh. __________________ "Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one." — Thomas Paine

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02-13-13, 12:03 PM	#3
Stealhead Navy Seal Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Kentucky Posts: 5,421 Downloads: 85 Uploads: 0	One of my good friends is a paramedic here in Florida he says that the rules are very strict when it comes to emergency vehicles.They can only do certain things at the highest rated code(call) and they always stop at any form of intersection make sure things are clear and go through. In the county he works for all vehicles(police,fire,ambulance) have data recording system that records the rate of speed and also tells if in fact the lights and sirens are active.The recording system runs constantly as long as the vehicle is traveling down the road no matter what the situation.His employer often reviews the data and if you get caught blasting through an intersection you more or less get fired and at minimum a very serious reprimand if you cause an accident in any form involving public vechiles that is the fault of the person driving the emergency vehicle you get fired. In my opinion any agency that allows its employees to blast through an intersection with out stopping to quickly check that things are clear that agency is flirting with disaster.

02-13-13, 12:26 PM	#5
Stealhead Navy Seal Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Kentucky Posts: 5,421 Downloads: 85 Uploads: 0	It just goes to show how important in certain jobs it is to constantly focus on safety.I worked on the flight line as a mechanic in the Air Force and had to consider the many obvious hazards on an active military flight line not to mention the heavy equipment we worked on that could easily kill you or remove a limb if you got lax. Because of this every single shift every single day at the start and end of each shift a safety briefing was given the reason was to beat in everyone's head the idea of safety and of always being aware of the daily hazards and always following the regulations. My guess is that a lot of emergency service agencies do not do this as much as they should be and unless the idea of safety is heavily promoted within an organization that takes part in any hazardous activity people that are part of that agency will become lax about things even if there are strict regulations if there is no reinforcement people will disobey the things that they feel hinder them to their and others detriment.