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[Roger2561]

Earlier this evening my younger brother and I were heading out for dinner.  We always take the highway.  Heck, when you're hungry you want to get there using the shortest route possible.  One of the main routes to get to the highway, the traffic was at a standstill.  It crawled along no more than 5Mph.  We were about a mile from the highway and were detoured around the shortest route to the highway.  Finally we reach the highway where we could make good time (driving speed limit of course) only to get marred in traffic on the highway.  Again, it was moving at a crawls pace.  No one was being detoured from the highway.  After about a 2 mile line of traffic, we went by the most horrific traffic accident I have ever seen.  I had spent nearly 20 years in the EMS and saw many traffic wrecks but this one was perhaps by far the worse I had ever seen.  Local news reported it was an SUV that left the south bound lanes, crossed the median and struck a vehicle in the north bound lane.  The SUV was reduced to the size of a compact car.  It's been reported that there was a double fatality in that wreck.  The main route to get the highway was closed to due to a terrible wreck there too.  I don't know whether there were any deaths at that wreck.  I do not know the circumstances/causes of the wrecks.  They could have been medical in nature that lead to the wrecks.  Having said that and after being on the road all day today and seeing how people were operating their vehicles, it's a wonder we don't see more of that type of wreck.  For crying out loud people, it's Christmas season and it's a time to celebrate with family.  Please, be courteous of one another and please be careful.     Roger

[slimjim]

I spent 27 years driving truck in the northeast corridor, people this time of year are nuts, almost makes you want to drag a guy out of his car and stick an object such as a cell phone into a dark place, does it not?

[Roger2561]

Hello Slim - I do not know any of the specifics which lead to the crash on the highway (was it a medical, mechanical failure with the vehicle) but you are so right.  Too many people are worried they'll miss that all important incoming text or phone call forgetting they're behind the wheel of a dangerous object.  Most people don't realize the distance one travels when driving on the highway.  When I was in the EMS we had to attend annual defensive driving courses and every 2 years we had to attend and participate in an emergency vehicles operations course (EVOC).  Essentially teaching you how to handle the vehicle when the unexpected happens (I use these skills still today, more so on my motorcycle). 

Let's assume you're driving 70MPH (5 miles over the posted speed limit).  To determine the amount of ground you're covering in ONE second, simply take the 70, divide it by 2 and add that answer to the speed you were driving.  In this case 70 +35 = 105.  That's the amount of feet per second you're traveling.  Now, take your eyes off the road for 2 or 3 seconds to look at the cell phone, text message, whatever it was that distracted you.  If it took you 3 seconds, you've traveled the length of a football field without watching where you were going and a whole lot of crap can happen in that brief period.   Roger