 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
| HomeDiscussion GroupsGeneral TopicsCat AnecdotesHealth and BehaviorRescue CatKB.com Contact UsLink To UsSearch & Site Map |
Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / August 2006What would *you* do?
All of the old driving instructions that I remember said that if you came across a mattress on the road to drive over it. Or am I remembering wrong? Today is the second time I've seen this - a vehicle on the side of the road with a mattress wedged between the tires and the wheel well. It was a normal drive to work, and the last part of my commute is open highway where the majority of the traffic is heading the other way (wish the whole way could be like this!) so when everyone hits the open part, they speed up. I noticed up ahead everyone hitting their brakes, then when I got there, I saw a mattress in the middle of one of the lanes, and a metro bus actually swerved around it (had to be scary for the passengers!) and I thought the bus was going to tip over. Up ahead about 50 feet was a pickup truck pulled over, the driver standing outside the vehicle looking at it as if trying to figure out how to get the mattress out from under the truck. It was all lodged in the wheel well. Yeesh. From where the other mattress was (maybe that part was the box spring) and where the truck was pulled over, I can't imagine what it felt like to have to pull over with that underneath? Wild.  SignatureCheryl > All of the old driving instructions that I remember said that if > you came across a mattress on the road to drive over it. Or am I > remembering wrong? Today is the second time I've seen this - a > vehicle on the side of the road with a mattress wedged between the > tires and the wheel well. Surely this isn't a common problem? I don't recall ever getting any instructions on what to do if I saw a mattress in the road. I got instructions about objects in general - avoid if it's possible to do so safely. SignatureCheryl >> All of the old driving instructions that I remember said that >> if you came across a mattress on the road to drive over it. Or [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > I got instructions about objects in general - avoid if it's > possible to do so safely. Honestly, I wouldn't think it's a common problem, but I've seen this exact scenario twice now in a relatively short period of time on the roads that I travel. However, the instruction I seem to remember was from years and years ago, but I never thought I'd actually need to remember it. A mattress on the road? But here you have it. Twice in a short period of time, not to mention all the mattresses I've seen on the side of the roads, also likely lost from the vehicle moving it. Which brings me back to my question: If you were to see something large and flat drop off of a truck in front of you, would you run over it or swerve to miss it, and maybe hit some other car? I still seem to remember being told you're supposed to drive over it. LOL Don't mind me. I ponder weird stuff like this sometimes. I'm just glad I missed something that happened earlier this week, since I was stuck in the resulting traffic jam. (salsa?) A tractor trailor overturned and spilled out 20,000 lbs of frozen veggies all over the highway. SignatureCheryl >>> All of the old driving instructions that I remember said that >>> if you came across a mattress on the road to drive over it. Or [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > trailor overturned and spilled out 20,000 lbs of frozen veggies all > over the highway. I do my best to avoid hitting or driving over anything that's lying in the road, and certainly something as thick as a mattress is a thing I'd want to avoid. Incidentally, items fall off trucks a lot. In the Los Angeles area, one of the traffic reporters on the radio station I listen to is often referred to as the president of Freeway Furniture Company. Joy > I do my best to avoid hitting or driving over anything that's > lying in the road, and certainly something as thick as a > mattress is a thing I'd want to avoid. LOL Same here. There was a period of time where I kept hitting things that fell off of trucks ... I ran over something that looked like the deck of a lawn mower and I heard it bang the underneath of my truck (my old pickup truck - Chevy S10) and other various things that are unidentifiable in the road and you don't see until it's too late. Not sure how I'd react if I saw a mattress fall off of a vehicle in front of me, or if I could react fast enough. > Incidentally, items fall off trucks a lot. In the Los Angeles > area, one of the traffic reporters on the radio station I listen > to is often referred to as the president of Freeway Furniture > Company. LOL SignatureCheryl >>> All of the old driving instructions that I remember said that >>> if you came across a mattress on the road to drive over it. Or [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > trailor overturned and spilled out 20,000 lbs of frozen veggies all > over the highway. One time in Thailand, we were stuck in traffic for a long time on the highway just outside of Bangkok. A big truck had lost his load of fish. The truck was still upright, but there was a mountain of fish in the middle of the road. Workers had arrived and were shovelling the fish back into the truck. Straight on to the market too, I bet! SignatureBritta Purring is an automatic safety valve device for dealing with happiness overflow. Check out pictures of Vino at: http://photos.yahoo.com/badwilson click on the Vino album > One time in Thailand, we were stuck in traffic for a long time > on the highway just outside of Bangkok. A big truck had lost > his load of fish. The truck was still upright, but there was a > mountain of fish in the middle of the road. Workers had arrived > and were shovelling the fish back into the truck. Straight on > to the market too, I bet! That's disgusting. "So that's what they gritty tecture was". Ick. The news reports here said that truck was one of many that turned over that day due to the heat wave here. Tires deflate in the high heat and should be checked every two hours, but some drivers don't comply. I'd love to hear from Dan to understand how much harder it is to control a big rig in the heat? SignatureCheryl >>>> All of the old driving instructions that I remember said that >>>> if you came across a mattress on the road to drive over it. Or [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > middle of the road. Workers had arrived and were shovelling the fish back > into the truck. Straight on to the market too, I bet! I remember driving back tot he airport in Melbourne once, and there were carrots all over the road, and he orange mess seemed to go on *forever*. it was quite surreal. Yowie > Which brings me back to my question: If you were to see something > large and flat drop off of a truck in front of you, would you run [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > overturned and spilled out 20,000 lbs of frozen veggies all over the > highway. I would swerve if traffic appeared clear, otherwise drive over it. Very little is worth the risk of hitting another moving vehicle. Now, if we're talking telephone poles flying off the back of a trailer or something, yes, I would swerve, because staying put would be suicide. I was in the situation once where something was in the road, but I couldn't safely swerve, so I had to drive over it. It tore up the undercarriage pretty badly. Signaturemonique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca > Honestly, I wouldn't think it's a common problem, but I've seen > this exact scenario twice now in a relatively short period of time [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > the mattresses I've seen on the side of the roads, also likely lost > from the vehicle moving it. LOL - it reminds me of something from the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy - except its a mattress instead of a couch! Susan M Otis and Chester > Which brings me back to my question: If you were to see something > large and flat drop off of a truck in front of you, would you run [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > trailor overturned and spilled out 20,000 lbs of frozen veggies all > over the highway. I was always told avoid it if possible by swerving (not into oncoming traffic!) or slowing or stopping. If I can't do any of that safely, I should drive over it. That would be a challenge with a mattress! One of my my uncles totalled a new car by swerving to miss a stray dog in the road instead of driving straight on. Fortunately, he (and the dog) were not injured. SignatureCheryl >>> All of the old driving instructions that I remember said that >>> if you came across a mattress on the road to drive over it. Or [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > trailor overturned and spilled out 20,000 lbs of frozen veggies all > over the highway. I would try to run over it if my only other choice was to swerve and run into another vehicle. Hopefully, I could come to a stop or at least slow down significantly or drive off the side of the road if that was safe. Running into another vehicle or running into (good chance it wouldn't really be "over") a mattresses are both poor options, but sometimes we don't have a "choice." MaryL > I would try to run over it if my only other choice was to swerve and > run into another vehicle. Hopefully, I could come to a stop or at > least slow down significantly or drive off the side of the road if > that was safe. Running into another vehicle or running into (good > chance it wouldn't really be "over") a mattresses are both poor > options, but sometimes we don't have a "choice." I end up driving up mountain canyons a lot for my recreational activities. You know, the ones that say, "Caution: Falling Rock" and it's possible, although highly unlikely, that a boulder the size of your car could come rolling down at just the wrong time and knock you and your car into the creek many feet below. So I've actually spent some time trying to figure out which would be better -- driving into a stationary boulder or swerving into oncoming traffic. Swerving into a head-on collision with another car is almost never the better choice when it comes to personal survival, given that it roughly doubles the speed of impact, but I think a boulder might be the rare exception. It really depends on the mass of the boulder, and I don't think I'll have time for the math involved =P I think in the final analysis, the best option would be to drive into the boulder, because I would probably die either way, but if I swerved I would probably kill people in the other car as well. Maybe I could swerve into the creek far below and hope my seatbelt is particularly effective. Then again, if there were a big boulder in the road, I'm not sure if I could tell if there were cars in the other lane or not. In that case I would probably take the risk of swerving into the other lane. Am I morbid, or what? (When walking home at night on my college campus, I also used to keep an eye out for likely ambush spots -- places where the bushes grew very close to the walkways, that sort of thing.) Signaturemonique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca >So I've actually spent some time trying to figure out which would be >better -- driving into a stationary boulder or swerving into oncoming [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >the rare exception. It really depends on the mass of the boulder, and >I don't think I'll have time for the math involved =P Back in high school, they told us that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. I think the upshot of that would be that if you collided at 35 mph with an immovable object, the immovable object would effectively be hitting you back with the same force, so the end result would be the same as hitting another car going at 35 mph, or hitting a stationary car at 70 mph. But I may be wrong about all that, because I'm recalling intuitions instead of equations. :) >Am I morbid, or what? (When walking home at night on my college >campus, I also used to keep an eye out for likely ambush spots -- >places where the bushes grew very close to the walkways, that sort of >thing.) I used to watch out for the same thing, because there was a theater major who lived nearby, who would play ninja at night, popping out of bushes and throwing rubber balls at people. > So I've actually spent some time trying to figure out which would be > better -- driving into a stationary boulder or swerving into oncoming > traffic. Swerving into a head-on collision with another car is almost > never the better choice when it comes to personal survival, > given that > it roughly doubles the speed of impact, Hi Monique, that really is not true. it is all a question of energy transfer: Imagine two identical cars are approaching head-on with the same speed. And also imagine a wall between them, which is not fixed and can be moved by both cars. Imagine now both cars collide with the wall at exactly the same moment. Each car transfers his energy to the wall. Since both cars carry the same energy - in opposite directions - it will equal out - the resulting speed is zero, the wall would not move. So each car has to absorb only his own energy and nothing from the other car would be transferred. When the cars are not identical, f.e. one is much bigger or much faster, than the difference of energy would be transferred to the other car - the impact would send the car with lesser energy backwards. > but I think a boulder might be > the rare exception. It really depends on the mass of the boulder, and > I don't think I'll have time for the math involved =P If there is no other possibility and if you are driving a fairly modern car I would take my chance in a head-on collision, either with the boulder or with an approaching car. This is where modern cars are designed to give you a maximum protrection with crumple zones, seat belts and airbags. Squarely Yours Michael SignatureSquare Dance is friendship put to music Andrea and Michael with furballs Blacky and Merlin More detail at: http://www.curschmann-sachsen.de >> So I've actually spent some time trying to figure out which would be >> better -- driving into a stationary boulder or swerving into oncoming [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > Squarely Yours > Michael In my opinion, you should *never* choose an option to deliberately run head-on into another car (at least, not at high speed). That option means that you are now deliberately risking the lives of other people. I am assuming that this is a conscious decision, and not a reaction where you didn't realize that you would hit someone else. MaryL >> If there is no other possibility and if you are driving a fairly >> modern car I would take my chance in a head-on collision, either [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > not a reaction where you didn't realize that you would hit someone > else. I don't think Micha meant to suggest in any way that one should drive into another car if there's another option. He was talking about the physics of the matter. Signaturemonique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca >>> If there is no other possibility and if you are driving a fairly >>> modern car I would take my chance in a head-on collision, either [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > into another car if there's another option. He was talking about the > physics of the matter. This was the last paragraph in Michael's message (and the part of the message that "inspired" my response): "If there is no other possibility and if you are driving a fairly modern car I would take my chance in a head-on collision, either with the boulder or with an approaching car. This is where modern cars are designed to give you a maximum protrection with crumple zones, seat belts and airbags." I realize that this is all hypothetical. However, I remember my driver's ed teacher saying...all those years ago...that when we are behind the wheel of a car, we have total responsibility to put our own lives at risk in order to save others. We are driving what could become a lethal weapon, and we have no right to use it to save ourselves if we jeopardize someone else in so doing. Of course, all of this also presumes that ther is enough time to at least make *some* judgment. Many accidents happen so quickly that we are really responding with reflex. MaryL > > All of the old driving instructions that I remember said that if > > you came across a mattress on the road to drive over it. Or am I [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > instructions about objects in general - avoid if it's possible to do so > safely. That's how I got into my last car accident - a truck far ahead dropped a ladder onto the road. A whole bunch of people stopped, including me, but the guy behind me didn't. He ran into me full-tilt, ramming me into the truck in front of me, and ramming *that* truck into the car in front of him! I believe it cost him about $10,000 - $6,000 to fix my car, and $4,000 to fix me. My car was only a year old! Jane - owned and operated by Princess Rita >All of the old driving instructions that I remember said that if >you came across a mattress on the road to drive over it. Drive around. You could get a mattress stuck under the car. There could be an open manhole underneath. Bud SignatureThe night is just the shadow of the Earth. > All of the old driving instructions that I remember said that if > you came across a mattress on the road to drive over it. Or am I [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > where the truck was pulled over, I can't imagine what it felt like > to have to pull over with that underneath? Wild. This is so funny and weird to me. Sorry. It would not be an option here in Britain to drive over a mattress in the road. Mainly because there wouldn't be one! The first driver who saw something on the road like that would stop and phone the police who would then hot foot over and remove it within a few minutes. It's much easier for the police to remove a potential hazard from the road quickly than deal with the carnage that might happen if they left it there. I haven't answered your question, have I? Okay, if I saw a mattress on the road I would stop my car in front of it. I would not drive over it. I would use my mobile phone to alert the police who would then come along and remove it. In the meantime my car would be blocking that lane so no-one else could drive over it and and in a few minutes we would all continue on our way. Tweed >> All of the old driving instructions that I remember said that if >> you came across a mattress on the road to drive over it. Or am I [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] > > Tweed I think the real issue here is what to do if the mattress dropped onto the road immediately in front of you -- that is, quick action is necessary, not a mattress that has just been left lying there for some time. I doubt that a mattress would just be "left" in the road for very long here, either, but (depending on the area) numerous cars could come upon it before it could be moved. Years ago, we were driving behind a pickup truck that was loaded with all sorts of furniture and household items (but not a mattress, as I recall). Just as we passed the truck, several items blew off onto the road behind the truck. We were safe, but the car behind collided with a table! MaryL > This is so funny and weird to me. Sorry. It would not be an option > here in Britain to drive over a mattress in the road. Mainly [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > for the police to remove a potential hazard from the road quickly > than deal with the carnage that might happen if they left it there. Let's say that it takes the police 10 minutes to get to the location and begin to remove the mattress. (Of course, depending on other events in the area, it might take much longer than that.) It really depends on how much traffic your area sees. Easily hundreds of cars could encounter that mattress if it's a commonly used thoroughfare. Signaturemonique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca >> This is so funny and weird to me. Sorry. It would not be an option >> here in Britain to drive over a mattress in the road. Mainly [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > depends on how much traffic your area sees. Easily hundreds of cars > could encounter that mattress if it's a commonly used thoroughfare. If the police were taking too long to arrive, two or three blokes in the cars waiting in the queue it was causing would most likely get out and move it off the road themselves. A lot of our roads have only two lanes, one going on way and one the other. Our cars tend to be smaller too. Any encounter with a mattress or anything that sort of size would have serious consequences for me in my small Citreon AX. Tweed > If the police were taking too long to arrive, two or three blokes in the > cars waiting in the queue it was causing would most likely get out and move > it off the road themselves. I guess this is a cultural thing -- I can't see traffic stopping for a mattress. Wait. I do have a vague memory of *something* involving a steep, curvy canyon road just outside of Boulder and a truck and a mattress. But I don't remember what happened. I think the mattress may have fallen to the side of the road and the truck screeched to a halt, but I could have that wrong. > A lot of our roads have only two lanes, one going on way and one the other. > Our cars tend to be smaller too. Any encounter with a mattress or anything > that sort of size would have serious consequences for me in my small Citreon > AX. I think it would be pretty bad news for any car to drive over a mattress ... I wonder if it would slide or stay put as you drove over it. Signaturemonique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.