Bill,
I didn't touch the brakes because there was absolutely no time. The fact
that the guy's hood went under my right front wheel should tell you how much
time there was to react since he and I were both going about 35 mph. He
didn't apply his brakes until AFTER he had passed the stop sign, as shown by
his skid marks. The road he was traveling on comes out of the woods from the
right, and from my perspective you couldn't see anything coming from that
direction until it is already at the stop sign (which was exactly when I saw
him). Of course, because of this, he couldn't see me either. I went and
checked his approach later, however, and he could see the stop sign for
about 50 yards, and at that point there is a "stop sign ahead" warning sign
which can be seen for about another 100 yards.
I guess you picked up on the reason this incident stunned me. At 35 mph, in
4th gear (out of 5, and 5 is direct, not overdrive) you would think I could
stop on a dime. In that configuration you can let up on the accelerator and
slow down to 20 mph in a truck length. I was going this speed in a 45 zone,
and was actually holding up a line of about 10 cars. If this guy had gotten
there 5 to 20 seconds later, he would have still been in an accident, just
with someone who was following me. I have always been a very defensive
driver, and had gotten the attitude that I could avoid ALL other peoples'
driving errors by anticipating them. This accident knocked that notion out
of my head for good.
I am not, of course, proposing that we change the bumper height on our
trucks. We just need to be aware of this safety factor.
I'm not sure what would have happened if I had locked up the wheels. I
think it likely would have made things worse, though, not better. I can't
explain why, but I have a hunch that the impact wouldn't have been absorbed
as easily. On the other hand, you may be right. It could have created a
glancing blow that threw his car out of the way.
The axle on my truck was displaced about a foot backwards on the right hand
side and the front end was in the ditch where I tried to get off the road
before I realized I had structural damage. The tow truck had to hoist the
front end back up onto the pavement before he could hook up.
Joe Garrett
cell 425-344-1402
-----Original Message-----
From: wwd@netheaven.com [mailto:wwd@netheaven.com]
Sent: Saturday, September 01, 2001 10:33 AM
To: Joe Garrett; Military Vehicles Mailing List
Subject: Re: [MV] Luck and Damned Luck, the morning after
In <list-1266039@skylee.com>
"Joe Garrett" <j.garrett@gte.net> said:
>Thanks to all for the off-list replies about my big 5 ton accident. I
>appreciate the thoughts and the stories. I have been driving since 1968,
At 35 mph shouldn't one be able to avoid, even by just braking, just about
_any_ situation? You say you 'never touched the pedal', but if you had
been observing the 'incoming mail' that never slowed down, wouldn't this
have been possible? One reason I do like today's 'spokey' wheels whereby
peripheral vision can readily clock an approaching veh @90 degrees.
Odd assumption: If you had _locked_ that front wheel by panic braking, the
car would've been pushed aside rather than run over. (!?)
Drop-down bumpers for the Deuce, along with full 'ground effects kit'- I
can't wait. Driving cars since '58. 8^)
>Anybody got any front spring hangers for an M54A2? I need them
>immediately ($40 a day storage until I get this truck repaired).
>Insurance will cover it, I guess, but I am the one who has to go fix it.
>Towing it to a large truck facility will cost $1000. Fixing it in place
>will cost maybe $100.
I'm curious why you didn't run a few loops of 3/16 inch steel cable thru
the spring ends and frame so you could limp home?
>Joe Garrett
Bill
-- ----------------------------------------------------------- wwd@netheaven.com -----------------------------------------------------------
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