Six Kinds of Car Crashes

[lpetrich]

The six main causes of car crashes.

• The Rolling Right Turn on Red
• Falling Asleep
• Loss of Control
• Into the Blind
• The Rear-Ender
• Distracted Lane or Road Departure

[Worldtraveller]

Note that the list is provided in order from least likely to most likely.

So put away those cell phones, people!

[Roo St. Gallus]

[quote=""Worldtraveller""]Note that the list is provided in order from least likely to most likely.

So put away those cell phones, people![/quote]

Or, at least lower the sports page and stop applying your eye liner for the intersections.

[Loren Pechtel]

No category for the red-light runner? Too few accidents to get a category? (A few of them would fall into the "into the blind" category but when a big vehicle in front of you keeps you from seeing the light the result is unlikely to be an accident--the cross traffic will see the intersection isn't clear. Dangerous red-light running is when you're not following another car so the cross traffic thinks it is clear.)

[Worldtraveller]

[quote=""Loren Pechtel""]No category for the red-light runner? Too few accidents to get a category? (A few of them would fall into the "into the blind" category but when a big vehicle in front of you keeps you from seeing the light the result is unlikely to be an accident--the cross traffic will see the intersection isn't clear. Dangerous red-light running is when you're not following another car so the cross traffic thinks it is clear.)[/quote]
It's a pretty common problem, but surprisingly causes little accidents (compared to the list). Surprisingly, the most accidents that are caused by red light running is when traffic is light (which means the cross traffic is often not stopped or even slowing down much when the light changes). I'll see if I can find that article/study that I read about it.

[frazier]

Going on memory, can't remember where I saw it - most crashes involving Self-Driving Cars were rear-enders where the SDC was the "victim". Evidently we humans have certain expectations about the car in front of us - when it will move, when it will proceed to roll through the red while turning - and we bump it from behind. The SDCs, OTOH, are programmed to obey every traffic law to the letter. Something humans hardly ever do.

[Loren Pechtel]

[quote=""frazier""]Going on memory, can't remember where I saw it - most crashes involving Self-Driving Cars were rear-enders where the SDC was the "victim". Evidently we humans have certain expectations about the car in front of us - when it will move, when it will proceed to roll through the red while turning - and we bump it from behind. The SDCs, OTOH, are programmed to obey every traffic law to the letter. Something humans hardly ever do.[/quote]

The closest I've come to that was not going quite fast enough at the green light (I was trying to make a right on red, I was a second or two slow in starting when it went green) and the woman behind me went based on the green.

Other than that I've been hit by a woman trying to tailgate a right-from-stop-sign and not realizing I was just rolling forward, not going, and those who didn't use the brakes in time. (Admittedly, in one case her mistake was somewhat understandable. A bozo was taking too long to make a left across my lane so I put the brakes on lightly to let them clear. Said bozo then came to a complete stop across my lane and I slammed on the brakes. Since my brake lights were already on from the gentle braking the lights didn't tell her when I slammed my brakes on and she came up a few inches short.)

[Jobar]

That article ought to be required reading for all driver's ed courses.

I particularly liked-

We seem to have this natural belief that if we can’t see something, then it must not exist. When we’re kids and the bedroom light is out, we are convinced that there is a monster under the bed. When we grow up, we become certain that there is no monster under the bed. The reality is that there may or may not be a monster under the bed. The crash data remind us that this misunderstanding is widespread among grown-ups.

Solution: Always check for monsters.

[dancer_rnb]

The laws of physics don't care if you want to follow them.