A Rant: Distracted Drivers

[Basspig]

I just was released from the hospital. I’ve been in a medium-serious auto collision yesterday afternoon. Was stopped in traffic at a red light. A lady in a big SUV hit me from behind at high speed; she didn’t even brake to avoid hitting me—I must have been invisible to her in the fog, or she wasn’t looking at the road at all and didn’t see me, as a result. Impact was so great that the in-dash CD/radio was ripped out by the impact, landing in the back seat. The bolts holding my seat to the floor were sheared off from the impact. I have a lower spine injury as a result.

I have to see an insurance adjuster on Friday, whose coming out to look at the vehicle. I also have to consult with a personal injury attorney right away. My mobility both physically (due to injuries) and vehicle-wise is severely limited at the moment.

The thing that’s most disturbing about this is the fact that this is now the FIFTH time that I have been rear-ended while at a stoplight, since 2002. I’ve never been involved in any kind of auto collision prior to that. I've driven over 2 million accident-free miles over much of the 20th century. Now it’s multiple times in one year that I've been hit while stopped at a light.

I’ve driven over 2 million accident-free miles and then all of a sudden, it’s like someone put a sign on my vehicle saying “hit me”.

Dec 2002: Lady in a Subaru hits me on Newtown Road in Danbury, while I’m waiting in traffic for a red light. No damage to my vehicle that time.

July 2003: Lady talking on cell phone hits me while I’m sitting in Norwalk traffic. No damage to my vehicle that time either.

Feb 2007: Pickup truck hits me while I’m waiting at red light at Shop-Rite parking lot exit. His plow lift dents my rear door; claim filed & paid.

March 2007: Teen driver hits rear quarter panel of my other car while I’m sitting in traffic, at same Shop-Rite parking lot. Claim filed & paid.

Nov 2007: Lady hits me in rear at high speed, causing extensive damage. Claim filed. Injury treated at hospital. Currently on meds for pain and inflammation of the spine.



I’m really getting sick of this sudden rapid increase in the number of drivers on the road who seem to be paying attention to everything BUT the road ahead of them. This time I’m seeing a personal injury attorney. I don’t like to do this, but I don’t know if I’ll be stuck with back problems for the rest of my life because of this. It seems like I just get my truck back from repair, all shiny and new again, and then someone ELSE hits it again.

Something needs to be done to modify these drivers’ behavior. They can’t continue treating their driving responsibilities as secondary to their cell phone conversation, putting on makeup, or whatever they happen to be doing when they don’t see the big, red SUV with the three brake lights in front of them.

I think it’s time to put strobe lights inside taillight units. So when you brake, bright flashing strobes light up and grab a non-attentive driver’s attention, just like emergency vehicle lights. I had been using my 4-way flashers when stopped at traffic lights shortly after the last accident, but recently stopped doing so because it sometimes confused traffic behind me and they would try to go around me, thinking I was disabled. There’s got to be a better solution. Maybe, a Humvee, or better yet, a Sherman tank.

Rant over. Sorry. I just had to vent.

[SteveB]

Mark,
Sorry to hear about your injuries. Hopefully you won't have any long term effects from your back.
I wish there was something that could be done to correct the driving of most people. I could go on for hours about the stuff I see people doing here in Atlanta. Like you I've been driving a LONG time, about 37 years, and never been at fault in an accident. I wish states/cities would ban cell phone use when driving. Oh wait, then the cops would have to get off theirs to make the stop.
I am by no means a slow poke on the roads but I do pay attention and actually know what I'm doing. Here's one of my favorite pictures of me and my car. No, it's not on a public road. This is what I do for fun.



Steve

[drf]

In Austraia it is illegal to use a cell phone when driving, The cops do do something about it. Unfortunately though it still doesn't stop low grade drivers from being a danger on the road.

Hope you get better soon.

[Sonnie]

I hope your recovery goes well Mark...

Sounds like you are a magnet for other vehicles. I've had similar luck, but not as drastic. The worst was hitting a black cow one night on Friday the 13th at that. Really messed up my truck. Then a drunk, no license and no insurance rams me in the rear without breaking... my radio does a trick similar to yours and flies out of the dash into my front seat. Fortunately I only had a mild neck bruise from whiplash and recovered in a couple of weeks. No serious harm done, other than my poor truck. Shortly after having it repaired for the second time, a woman blind sides me out of nowhere, again, no insurance. That truck got it from all angles, front back and side. It was Ford tough though.

I'm not sure of what the answer is, but I agree that it would be nice to be able to do something about the crazy drivers out there. Just the other day a girl was riding the bumper of a guy I was riding with. We were in stop and go type traffic and he made statement that she needed to get off his bumper... then a few seconds later... bump! She rear ended us! Didn't hurt anything since she hit his hitch that was sticking out 8-10" or so. I think she was high myself, but who knows.

There needs to be a nationwide law against cell phone use while driving. It is causing way too many wrecks.

[mike c]

we have a saying here: "better many small accidents, than one BIG one"

[tonyvdb]

I totally see your frustration. I have been driving for twenty years accedent free and just in the past two weeks someone has hit me twice. The first was in a parking lot where the pasenger opend her door HARD into the side of our van putting a nice dent in the drivers side door. Our van is a 2005 uplander so its in new condition so I filed a clame turns out it is $1000 worth of damage
The second one just this week, a driver was stopped at a red light and just as I was traveling through the intersection on my green he came out and hit the side of my van doing $5000 worth of damage If I hadn't swerved to miss him I would have hit him head on
Cell phones are a big cause of problems at the very least people should be using hands free devices. I've seen people putting on makeup, reading a newspaper and eating. There defiantly needs to be a stronger police presence on the roads as lately there is far less police around than even 5 years ago.
Our city just implemented Red light speed cameras these cameras were only catching people who ran red lights but now they will also nail speeders. We currently have 60 of them in operation throughout the city.

[thxgoon]

I am sorry to hear about your accident Basspig, hopefully you'll recover just fine and the only pain you'll feel is that from your subs!

It really seems as though just in the last 10 years or so driving has become so second nature to people that they just throw out their responsibility. They forget that they are driving 3,000lbs+ of steel at high speeds. This is no big deal but last night a lady in the safeway parking lot turned out of her row right in front of me as I was driving down the main drag. She looked right at me but continued without touching the brakes. Had I not stopped I would have hit her. Seems like everyone is in too much of a darned hurry just don't care about what might happen. Maybe new, quiet, 'safe' vehicles are to blame. I wish we could subject everybody to the forces of a collision before they get their license so they have respect for what they are doing.

[mikeb]

I hope your recovery goes well Mark, along with agreeing with everyone's comments, I really like your idea of a better brake light warning system .

[Basspig]

Here in CT, it IS against the law to use a cell phone while driving, but I see people fifty times a day doing it, so no one's paying attention. But it doesn't have to be a cell phone. A lot of teenagers are just plain 'spaced out' while driving, especially when there's a friend in the car with whom they are conversing and they don't notice the line of stopped traffic. I witnessed a fatal accident about ten years ago in which a pickup truck was waiting to make a left turn and was struck by an auto filled with teenagers. The car went under the truck, it's right rear wheel crushing the driver of the car. The thing I remember most was the truck flying up in the air and bouncing back down, and 3 very obviously scared teens rapidly exiting that car.

It does not go unnoticed by me, the coincidence between the purchase of the Ford Explorer and the sudden crop of rear end collisions. It is as if people can't see the color red. Or large vehicles directly in front of them. Back when I had the Caddy and the Olds, I never got hit--not so much as even a light tap. I used to drive a black pickup, and never got hit in that either. Then I got the SUV and all of a sudden I'm getting hit with regularity. Circumstantially, it does make one wonder...

I'm no expert on statistics or the dynamics of public behavior behind the wheel, but, all other things being assumed similar as always, the new things seem to be more electronic gadgets to be played with while driving. I can't say whether there is another factor, such as a fundamental shift in public attitudes toward driving. The woman that hit me wasn't born yesterday--she was born in '67, so old enough to have had some experience driving, I should hope. Perhaps in her case it was a momentary lapse of consciousness, or maybe overwork and lack of sleep. Lord knows I can understand that people are working two jobs just to pay the rent and taxes these days and I've watched television documentaries on sleepy drivers and the carnage that results when someone loses consciousness behind the wheel. However, I've been injured, I've already lost a day of work (I'm self-employed and losing a day of field engineering means $750 lost to a competing contractor), and I'll lose more days until the insurance companies settle on who's liable and can release funds to handle a car rental.

For my next replacement vehicle, I'll think I'll be looking for something like a retired city plow truck. I don't feel like going through this again with another SUV made of sheet metal.

Occasionally you see a PSA on television that dramatizes a point about what a drunk driver did to a family, or something of similar ilk, but I think the vast majority just ignore these ads, thinking "they're just actors and it's a drama", so I don't have much hope that an ad campaign would be effective at all. What other methods of getting the word out to drivers --especially of non-English-speaking nature (the last two that hit me were both Hispanic) would be effective? I think word would travel like wildfire if they simply made distracted driving a felony and automatic arrest with a minimum 30-day jail sentence, but it would be a challenge to prove that the person was distracted and not having a seizure or a bout of narcolepsy at the moment before impact. Circumstantially, it should be pretty easy to tell, especially in a case like mine--the woman would have to be blind or unconscious not to see a line of stopped vehicles at a red light.

I've got to make an appointment with an orthopedic specialist on Monday and start a physical therapy program. I've decided to consult with an attorney, which is very un-like me, but in this case, I see no excuse for this type of accident and I've got a constant pain to remind me of it. I can't even haul my own trash out to the recycling center, and I can't lift my own daughter without pain now. Considering that this is #5 since 2002, I'm getting pretty fed up in general.

I wish to thank everyone here for the outpouring of kind words. It's not like that on some other boards. I get a lot of insults and smug remarks hurled at me on another board where I mentioned my rant in their "rants" discussion area.

[Richard W. Haines]

Down the street from me is our local post office. Behind it is a nursing home. The elderly seniors
are the worst drivers I've seen. One of the main problems is that simply won't look behind them
when they back up. They just back up. Perhaps they have arthritis and it's difficult for them
to turn their heads but that doesn't improve their driving. A couple of years ago, an elderly
woman driver backed into my parked car. I was watching her. She just put her foot on the pedel
and backed up trying to use the rear mirror as her reference which is never enough. Another one
ran over someone and killed them a few years ago. So I'm very careful when I go to the post
office and if I see one of the nursing home residents getting in their car I move out of the
way to make sure they don't hit me or my car when they back up. I'm not
sure they're distracted so much as their reflexes are poor. A number of them appear to be in their eighties. I don't think they're 100 % alert. I recall the old woman who backed into me looked very disoriented and confused.

[lcaillo]

I can understand your frustration. My wife, Juli, was hit from behind last Thursday while stopped at a light. Lucklily there was no damage, other than she had a headache and a sore shoulder for a couple of days. The kid was reaching to catch something falling off of his seat and was not paying attention. She called me very upset, as the kid just wanted to blow it off since there was not any visible damage and I insisted that they file a Police report and wait for the officer to arrive. The kid was upset that he got a ticket when there was no damage. I pointed out that he could have just as easily killed someone with his carelessness and that perhaps the ticket and some increase in his insurance rates might make him a bit more attentive.

The only solution that I know of is to drive as defensively as possible and to write them more tickets that cost more.

[Basspig]

I'm rather torn about this senior citizen driver issue too, being a senior myself, and I understand how it can be difficult to turn one's head when backing up, changing lanes, etc., but there are certain safety requirements to doing so and I always make the effort, however painful, to check behind me, even if it means taking off the seatbelt for a few seconds so I can turn sideways and get a better rear look while backing out of a parking space.
So far though, all of the people who have hit me are young folks --50 and under. Some of them may have been distracted, some claimed they didn't see my large, red SUV in front of them at the traffic light. Many of them seemed to have other problems evident at the time of the collisions.

With new cars these days, it's often hard to tell if there's concealed damage inside the plastic bumpers. It's a good idea to file a police report, especially if the impact caused physical symptoms like headaches and shoulder pain. Headache could be a sign of brain injury or whiplash. If a crash victim is experiencing headaches after a crash, I would urge that person to visit the hospital and get it checked out. It could be nothing, but it could also signal a potentially serious injury. You need to get it on record who that driver is, just in case you find yourself with huge medical bills.

I am still in physical therapy. My back doesn't seem to be getting any better. I've got severe muscle spasms in the sacroliliac (sp?) area on the left side where I felt the pop sensation at the time of impact. The doc is talking about an MRI and maybe back surgery next, but they wish to avoid surgery at my age, if possible, although I'm still fit as a fiddle. The case is in the lawyer's hands and it could be a year before it's settled. It will go to court, because the other driver has Allstate, which is known for fighting tooth and nail on every liability case.

[Sheep]

I know how you feel about distracted drivers. As most of you know, Vancouver is slated to host the Winter Olympics, which is good in some ways, but bad in others. Our infrastructure is not ready to support the massive amounts of tourists that are going to be here for this event. Our roads are already filling up, and we have not left enough room for expansion in many areas. Couple this with more drivers, and foreign drivers (not a slur, but the fact that the BC road system is extremely complicated and often stupid, it takes some getting used to. Out-of-towners don't realize how complicated it can be) and you have a recipe for collisions. I have only been involved in 1 car on car collision. I was in my works customer shuttle, and I was making a left turn on a green light without a dedicated signal. I waited for my opportunity to proceed. I was turning on to a 2 lane street, with people from the opposite direction turning right. Rules state you must turn into the closest lane. When I was making my turn a large Dodge Ram turned right and went straight into the far lane. No one was hurt but I was awe struck by the sheer obliviousness of the driver. I was in a 2007 Toyota Sienna, which is no small vehicle (it even has decals on it promoting my dealership). If this keeps up, insurance rates are going to sky rocket, and my public transportation system cannot handle the increasing commuters that are trying to avoid such rates.

Stiffer penalties must be enforced to reduce the amount of stupid drivers. I'm not talking about increasing the age to attain a drivers license (I'm 20 and I still don't have a full license). That would hurt those responsible, and capable of proper driving technique. I'm talking about more licenses lost, making driving lessons mandatory (I took lessons, best thing I ever did).

And one final note to the OP, a stiffer vehicle will not insure your safety. As a matter of fact, your severe injuries are directly related to your current vehicle. Large trucks and SUVs use non unibody frames that are extremely rigid. They don't damage as much in a collision, but they also don't absorb much of the blow. Thusly, a larger amount of force is transfered to the occupants. A car with more crumple zones is the best bet to reduce personal injury. Yes, your car will more likely be written off, but you will be alive.

SheepStar

[thxgoon]

Sheep wrote:

I'm talking about more licenses lost, making driving lessons mandatory (I took lessons, best thing I ever did).

I would also agree that lessons should be required and add that every 10 years you should have to re-read the rules of the road and pass a test. When I got my license I lived in a state that required drivers ed and offered it as a high school after school course and I agree that it has added substantially to my awareness and overall safety. It blows my mind how many people don't know what to do at a 4 way stop, or at a flashing red light.

[Sheep]

Yeah, it is quite scary how little most of the drivers really know. In BC, we have a very strict license system, that takes more then just a test to attain a license.

I'll go through with you how it works.

1.) Turn 16 :-P
2.) Go to ICBC (license and insurance center in BC) and take the "L" (learners) test. Test consists of 50 questions. There is a book you MUST read in order to pass this test, as the questions are worded in a awkward way. I failed this test twice, then I read the book and passed. You pass when you get 40 questions right(80%).
3.) Once you pass the test, you will receive a paper license and eventually get your "L" card. You can either take lessons, or practice with your parts/guardian. If you take lessons, you can take the "N" test after 9 months. If you don't take lessons, you can go for your "N" test after 1 year. The L license is VERY restrictive.

Rules for "L" License:
-Must display red "L" magnet clearly on the back of car.
-0 tollerance for alcohol.
-Must be accompanied by someone 25 years of age or higher with a full license (class 5).
-No driving after midnight.

During this period you must attain 30 hours of driving experience as well (needs to be documented).
4.) Once the above is completed, you are able to take your "N" test. This is a driving test, in which you are asked to do certain things. Multiple failures of any 1 maneuver or failing to follow protocol will result in a fail.

Once passed, you will receive your "N" card, and will be able to drive by yourself. You are limited to 1 passenger (unless immediate family) and must display a green "N" magnet. 0 tolerance for alcohol. Any infractions on your license over 3 points and you will lose your license (depending on severity, length of loss also dependent of severity), and will have to repeat the 2 year "N" term. If you make it to 1.5 years without any infractions, you can go to take the Class 5 road test 6 months early.

This is where I stand right now. I've been able to get rid of my "N" since 1.5 years after I got it (no infractions) but I just didn't feel like it. I drive a stick, but my car is lowered to only 4 inches off the ground. It doesn't ride very well, regardless of driving skill. If I use my parents car, I will have a bad habit to drive 1 handed (like stick).

It's a difficult system to attain a drivers license, but it's not a right, it's a privilege.

SheepStar

[drf]

interesting, in Australia it is basically the same except that you must have 120 hours logged experience in all conditions (late night, rain, peak hour, etc) befoe you can sit your license test. proffesional lessons have no impact on the amount of hours you must do before you can sit your license.