Driving Tips – Icy Roads

Even the best of driver’s survive icy roads strictly on luck. Most people I know do not consider themselves to be very lucky and even the lucky ones are not lucky all the time. So the best advice anyone can give on how to drive on icy roads is to not drive at all.

If you must drive – allow extra time to get to where you are going. If you want to make it to your destination safely you will need to drive slower than on dry roads.

Do not follow behind the car in front of you too closely and allow yourself extra stopping time. Give yourself at least three times the space as usual between you and the car ahead of you. It’s also a good idea to stay away from traffic to your side. Typically when a car is slowing down, changing speed, or braking is when loss of traction happens on ice.

Brake slowly and if you do start skidding – ease off the brakes.

Stay away from the group. If you see a group of vehicles driving in a cluster stay away from them. You would just be an extra ingredient in a mixture of disaster waiting to happen. This is good advice even in dry weather. You never know when someone else may lose control from a tire blow-out or anything else.

Keep your lights clean and on to increase your visibility to other drivers.

Keep your windshield clean and keep your washer fluid full. Someone could drive by you and splash muddy water onto your windshield at any given second – especially on the highways.

Be careful on bridges, over passes, and less frequently traveled roads. These area’s stay frozen longer.

Don’t use cruise control or overdrive on icy roads and use lower gears to keep traction, especially on hills.

My Ice Story
I wasn’t going anymore than 5mph on a side street that was covered from curb to curb when suddenly my car started sliding off into a yard, almost hitting a tree, and stopping when it hit a car parked in the drive-way. I had gone half way down the block safely – what changed? I don’t know – all I know is the car started sliding.

If you would like to share your ice story please send your story here. It will be posted on this blog.

Better to stay on the safe side than to be sorry!

“Involuntary” Manslaughter

The following quotes are from an article at Kake.com
http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/1893177.html

“Last week, Strickland pled guilty to three counts of involuntary manslaughter. After drinking several beers in June 2004 at a restaurant, his car collided with Dorothy Milliron’s vehicle. Milliron’s husband was killed, so were Strickland’s two passengers, 20-year-old Tyler Merz and another 19-year-old.”

Yet the 19 year old female that pulls out into busy traffic without looking first taking the lives of two 22 year olds walks away with a failed to yield right-of-way ticket.

This man made the decision to drink and drive – knowing it was against the law and knowing the negative risk of doing so.

How is this any different from making the decision to pull out into traffic without looking first?

Yes drinking and driving gets more media attention with commercials presenting car doors opening and a flood of what looks like beer pouring out of the car. But is it any more intentional than making a sober decision to pull out into traffic without looking first? Even the charge reads “involuntary.” Did the woman that killed my son and his girlfriend “involuntarily” pull out into traffic without looking first? No more than the man who chose to drink and drive! One was just as voluntary as the other!

This man was drunk and his mind wasn’t thinking correctly – the woman that pulled out into traffic without looking first had all her brain cells working properly. So why is the woman less guilty than the man? Don’t get me wrong – the man made a sober decision to drink when he knew he would have to drive back home.

Why does drinking and driving along with safety-belt laws get the high standing of public announcements but we never see commercials about watching where you are going? If everyone would mind the rules of the road we wouldn’t need seatbelts!

The article further reads, “Knowing that my son was lying in that casket was more than any mother should have to bear,” says Mary Merz, Tyler’s mother.”

I couldn’t agree more, but at least she gets some closure knowing the man responsible will actually have to spend some time without the normal freedoms that being alive provides – unlike me.

Helmet Laws

There is currently a bill in the Kansas house to pass a law requiring the use of helmets by all person’s on a motorcycle.

Helmet’s, like seat belts, should be a personal choice. After all if all driver’s would drive responsible we wouldn’t have a need for either.

The force in which my son hit the SUV with his head would have caused his neck to snap if he had been wearing a helmet. If it would not have killed him it would have left him paralyzed. The pain and suffering from being paralyzed and knowing that his girlfriend was dead would have been more than he could bare.

Then you can look at it from an insurance point of view. From what I understand the insurance companies are only liable for what the client has coverage for. For instance in the case of a death the insurance company would only be liable for the 25,000 minimum (assuming the client only carried minimums). Whereas if the accident resulted in an injury which required constant medical care the insurance company could end up paying a whole lot more.

My mother thinks we need to raise the limits of coverage for automobiles but I don’t agree. The only people suffering from that would be everybody including those who drive safe. The insurance companies surely won’t take the loss. They will pass it on to us.

The liability needs to be on the drivers. If a person takes a life because of their irresponsible driving habits then that person needs to pay out-of-pocket and/or behind bars. The only problem I see with this is if the person responsible is driven to the brink of insanity and takes his/her own life. Which in this case it would be fair in the sense of a life for a life. However, the survivors wouldn’t feel gratified through revenge for their loss.

New House Bill

There is currently a bill to increase penalties for right-of-way violations. The following is proposed for those violations involving a death:

HOUSE BILL No. 2195
By Committee on Transportation

Line 26
(c) Any person who is convicted of violating K.S.A. 8-1526, 8-1527,
8-1528, 8-1529 or 8-1531, and amendments thereto, and as a result of
such violation, such person was involved in a vehicle accident or collision
resulting in the death of any person, upon conviction such person shall
be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be sentenced to not less than six
months imprisonment and fined $1,000. Such person’s driving privileges
shall be suspended for three years.

It’s a shame that one person’s irresponsible behavior resulting in another person’s death is not taken any more seriously than a thousand dollar fine and six months imprisonment.

This is only a bill. I am going to find out what the law is now and I’ll be posting it as soon as I find out. If this is a proposal for increased penalties and this is all they are asking for then I’m sure it’s not more than a slap on the wrist now.

Defining an Accident

I must admit I am having a hard time with the D.A.’s decision to not prosecute. They have declared the incident just an accident.

The following is the dictionary definition of accident: (with my notations in red)

1.
an undesirable or unfortunate happening that occurs unintentionally and usually results in harm, injury, damage, or loss; casualty; mishap: automobile accidents.

It is good judgement to say someone isn’t going to pull out in front of a moving vehicle intentionally but how intentional is it to pull out into traffic without taking the proper amount of time to insure that it is safe to do so?

2.
Law. such a happening resulting in injury that is in no way the fault of the injured person for which compensation or indemnity is legally sought.

Although no amount of compensation can bring my son back or ease the suffering of those who miss him” was worthy of more than a mere $100 fine.

3.
any event that happens unexpectedly, without a deliberate plan or cause.

This incident had a cause – it was lack of common sense and good judgement and it was caused by a deliberate act of pulling out into traffic without taking time to look left, right, then left again.
4.
chance; fortune; luck: I was there by accident.

It wasn’t luck that caused my son’s death!

5.
a fortuitous circumstance, quality, or characteristic: an accident of birth.

Looking both ways could have prevented my son’s death whereas it can’t help children born with defects.

6.
Philosophy. any entity or event contingent upon the existence of something else.

That something else was someone in too big of a hurry to take the time needed to look both ways.
7.
Geology. a surface irregularity, usually on a small scale, the reason for which is not apparent.

The reason for my son’s death is as apparent as most problems in our society. People are in too big of a hurry and don’t take responsibilities seriously enough.

Definition from dictionary.com

Causing a Death – Misdemeanor Crime?

I was just notified that the young gal that pulled out into a street without looking causing the death of my son was only ticketed with a “failed to yeild from private drive” ticket. Taking a life cost $100.

It’s no wonder people have little respect for the laws of the road!

In Kansas 2005 – 428 People Died in Traffic Accidents

According to Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) 428 people died in traffic accidents in 2005. 22,723 people were injured and 139,390 were unharmed or unknown. These numbers have gone up since 2000 from 421 deaths and 29,047 injured.

Deaths have not increased as much as injuries but this could be related to better medical treatment or possibly even tougher seat belt laws but I would bet on the medical treatment. According to KDOT, “Kansas has only a 61 percent seat belt usage rate. That gives Kansas the ninth lowest seat belt compliance rate in the nation for adults.”

Seat belt laws don’t help motorcyclist. In 2005 there were 110,701 vehicles involved in accidents, 1,040 of them were motorcycles. The statistics are unclear on how many of the deaths were people on the motorcycles but as soon as I find out I will post the findings. From what I can tell all 2-wheeled vehicle accidents resulted in 33 deaths and 802 injured for the year 2005. What I don’t know is were all those deaths people on the 2-wheeled vehicles?

That’s what I hate about statistics. They are too unclear and leave more questions than answers.

Not Paying Attention No.1 Leading Cause of Accidents in 2005

According to the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT), failed to give full time and attention, was the leading contributing circumstance (35.2%) of all traffic accidents involving. property damage over $1,000, an injury, or a fatality in 2005. It is followed by failed to yield right of way, 13.3%; to fast for conditions, 11.3%; and followed too closely, 8.4%. All percentages have increased since 2000.

Check back later I plan to find out which one of these conditions qualifies as criminal negligence.

I hoping to find statistics relating death to cause but as with most statistics what I am finding so far is too general to get an adequate picture.

Since I live in Kansas and plan to start here with my campaign to change the laws most of what you read here will be Kansas related but feel free to start your own campaign in your state. Once I’ve accomplished my goals here I plan to take it Nation wide.

How Tim Died

Tim died while doing what he enjoyed with the woman he loved. Tim and his girlfriend Ashley, both 22, were riding his new Kawasaki motorcycle on a unusually lovely day in November when a 19 year old female pulled out of a drive right in front of them. The SUV she was driving turned out to be no match for the small Kawasaki. Tim and Ashley were thrown into the massive vehicle with very little chance of survival.

Tim was pronounced 30 minutes after the accident. He had suffered multiple head wounds. Ashley died during surgery. She had a lacerated liver among other injuries. Obviously a helmet would not have saved Ashley and whether it would have saved Tim or not is doubtful. Tim would not have wanted to live without Ashley anyway.

There were no criminal charges brought against the SUV driver. According to the district attorney the accident didn’t meet the guidelines for criminal negligence. If she had been driving “recklessly” criminal charges would have been filed. “Recklessly” would include speeding or racing in and out of traffic. I wonder how much less reckless it is to pull out into a street without looking first?

As Tim’s mother I wasn’t going to file a lawsuit but since the law is just going to let her off with a slap on the wrist (city fines) I’ve decided to proceed with a lawsuit. The money will go into a trust or non-profit organization to fight legislation to pass laws requiring less lenient criteria for what is considered to be “reckless” and to require defensive driving courses to get and keep a driver’s license. It has always been my belief that it is too easy to get and keep a driver’s license. We don’t need higher age limits – just better training.