Glad to hear that the family in their Aveo made out okay.
I drive a mostly rural two-lane for about seventeen miles of my daily commute.
There are plenty of good passing spots, but there's also usually enough traffic during the morning and afternoon rush that passing accomplishes nothing.
I still see people making some incredibly stupid passes, into blind corners, up to blind hill crests and simply belting along in the wrong lane hoping to find a place to get back in among the cars they're passing.
I once saw a woman in a Civic who was making a series of really risky passes. I slowed down and let her around the BMW. She was determined to get around me and I wasn't interested in becoming involved in her accident. Once ahead of me she made an uphill pass attempt with an oncoming tractor trailer rig in the other lane. There was no way this was going to work, and there were only narrow shoulders constrained by guard rails as the road passed over a gravel quarry visible as a lake on both sides. I cringed at the thought of coming upon her probably dead and mangled with me unable to help her at that point. The driver of the truck tried to move as far to the right as he could. The vehicle she was passing did the same and she somehow squeezed through. I've often wondered what was causing her to drive in such a risky manner. She didn't appear stoned or mentally impaired and a clean 4 dr Civic isn't the choice of either type of person. I hope that she made it where she was going and whatever family emergency she was probably responding to worked out for her.
Drive careful, drive safe and drive defensively. When other drivers get passive or active aggressive don't take the bait.
First on scene @ major head on collision
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Drive careful, drive safe and drive defensively. When other drivers get passive or active aggressive don't take the bait.
The situation described by the OP is a really good example of why everyone should take a first aid class.
I was reading the OP's post and thinking: "Ugh, did nobody do anything to stabilize anybodies neck/spine before the ambulance(s) arrived?" Especially the guy who "flopped" out of his vehicle.
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What should a layman do to stabilize a spine?
NOTHING
Except encourage the injured to stay put.
I read somewhere, maybe here, about a guy who was in a wreck. A piece of firewood clocked him in the back of the neck. He survived the wreck then turned his head right to ask his wife if she was okay. Criiick... Dead, right there.
Originally Posted By: JR
body on full frame is fatel.........
JHZR2
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Originally Posted By: Surestick
The situation described by the OP is a really good example of why everyone should take a first aid class.
I was reading the OP's post and thinking: "Ugh, did nobody do anything to stabilize anybodies neck/spine before the ambulance(s) arrived?" Especially the guy who "flopped" out of his vehicle.
Wow, what a scene to come upon. Good move not moving anyone, but getting access to them is important in case they don't maintain their airway.
JHZR2
Staff member
Originally Posted By: spasm3
Wow, what a scene to come upon. Good move not moving anyone, but getting access to them is important in case they don't maintain their airway.
I'm not sure it was caused by the S10 being body on frame. They were vehicles that were built to different (or none at all) impact standards. The current Generation wrangler does pretty well in the offset head on wrecks surprisingly enough.
Interesting that the Aveo did well. I would have thought a poorly made 3rd world car sold in the USA would have folded. But , given how crazy things can be in other countries with the driving situation, maybe they need to be made safer?
I was first on scene to a rollover accident about 12 years ago. It was a Suburban and was on the 101 Southbound just North of Paso Robles where the road is fairly curvy. The driver over-corrected and went up the embankment and the vehicle rolled a few times. My car was the first one behind it, and we were driving my mom's Grand Marquis. I stopped with the hazards on and ran up to the car while my mom called 911.
The vehicle had landed on the roof and luckily the pillars held their integrity. When I got to the car everyone was actually alright. The couple in the front seats were obviously in shock and there was a toddler in a car-seat in the back. The doors actually opened so I had enough room to get in as the people in the front were crawling out. I got next to the toddler and helped her out of the car-seat and then started smelling gas. I looked around and grabbed a teddy bear off the headliner and crawled out of the back door with the toddler.
My mom already had the older couple, looked like grandparents, sitting on the side of the road and there was a carload of tourists from the UK who were with them taking care of them. I sat the kid down inbetween them with the bear and then made sure no-one was near the Suburban in case it went up. We had the people behind my mom's car and the UK tourists and parked their car at an angle to keep traffic back.
After 20 minutes or so the CHP showed up and took over. I had been doing traffic duty while they were on the way and the officer seemed pretty thankful. Gave him all of my information and then he let us go once the ambulance showed up.
Reminds me of a scene I was witness to about 25 years ago, very late one night, when I lived in Naperville, IL.
Sitting in line at a train crossing. The arms had just come down but no train was there.. yet. Mind you, this was a little after midnight, and freight trains were known to come through that crossing very fast after midnight.
The driver of one of the cars in line had apparently decided he didn't want to wait, and got out of line and gunned it, got past one arm and started crossing, when the train caught him literally half way through.
I didn't see much when it happened, but the sound was horrifying. I saw enough to see the rear end of the car get hit HARD and jerk to the side, out of sight.
When the train had passed, the front.. half.. of the car was sitting close to the track, literally torn just behind the b-pillar.
The back half of the car didn't fare so well. It was thrown about 50 feet. The back-seat passenger landed in at least 3 places.
Oh, and the whole scene reeked of beer. A number of crushed cans were apparently found in what was left of the car.
why...
JHZR2
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Originally Posted By: Miller88
I'm not sure it was caused by the S10 being body on frame. They were vehicles that were built to different (or none at all) impact standards. The current Generation wrangler does pretty well in the offset head on wrecks surprisingly enough.
Interesting that the Aveo did well. I would have thought a poorly made 3rd world car sold in the USA would have folded. But , given how crazy things can be in other countries with the driving situation, maybe they need to be made safer?
Originally Posted By: eljefino
What should a layman do to stabilize a spine?
NOTHING
Except encourage the injured to stay put.
I read somewhere, maybe here, about a guy who was in a wreck. A piece of firewood clocked him in the back of the neck. He survived the wreck then turned his head right to ask his wife if she was okay. Criiick... Dead, right there.
Originally Posted By: cptbarkey
In contrast I witnessed a 2000 era Civic get t-boned by a 2008~ ford escape. Both in the Civic died.
If anyone owns a Civic from 1993-2004, for your own safety get rid of it.
Kind of reminds me of when my brother was in law school and was hit by a lady driving a Cadillac. She saled through a stop sign and hit the side of my brother's Civic. The car spun around twice and ended up in a ditch. It was a 1993 Civic that was a year old at the time. The car was totaled and he was uninjured except for being sore afterwards.
The car had crumble zones which helped disperse the force of the crash. The lady recently had brain surgery and was wearing an eye patch. One of our neighbors who is an attorney for a large insurance company suggested waiting a year before settling any medical claims. My brother went to the hospital to be checked out as a precaution.
Even though the Aveo was a smaller car, and the truck is bigger - that S-10(and many trucks of that era) didn't have the same front end construction like a car does - Ford touted the car-like front end of the 2004+ F-150, by car-like I mean there are upper structural members running from the A-pillars that the fenders and core support bolt onto, while GM and Chrysler didn't have that - and trucks generally don't do a good job managing collision energy, energy will flow to the path of least resistance. And sometimes smaller cars can do OK in crashes - but eventually size rules.
I was involved in an offset head-on collision early in my driving career and I've witnessed a few crashes myself - 2 years ago I was driving down I-80 and I drove by a crash that involved a Tacoma hitting the center divide and there was a dead body on the ground just a few feet from my wheels. I've seen an Acura Integra get cut open on the way home a while back.
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