I just wanted to take a minute and try to do the right thing. Most of you are good drivers, not reckless or anything. But for those of you who have/do speed, talk on cell phones, or do any kind of activities that will distract your driving for even a couple seconds, please, listen up. It's hard for me to talk about this, being 18 and still an inexperienced driver, but here it goes. Most of you know that my truck was totalled in a car crash on friday. I was hit by a kid who was going over the speed limit and who ran a red light. I was making a green arrow turn, when he was coming the other way and never saw the light. He just got his license, was in the car with one of his friends, and was playing with his stereo. He took his eyes off the road, and when he looked back, he found a big red truck a few feet infront of him. He started to skid 5 feet before the stop light's white line, and skidded for 75 feet before slamming into my truck at 40mph. The speed limit was 40 mph on that road. We are all cuprits of speeding and distracting ourselves from driving at one time or another. I just wanted to try to save a life, and try to inspire someone to correct their driving habits. This is now my second accident due to excessive speed that my truck has dealt with. However, she didnt make it this time through. He hit the passanger side of my truck, and since he had a car, when under it, and lifted my truck off the ground. My truck was going about 15 mph when he hit me. I stopped moving about 20-25 feet away after doing a 180. My truck left NO skid marks because it was off the ground most of the time. There are pictures in my gallery that show the damage. I have recently done some investigating and come up with a couple things to think about. Many of us don't think that a few miles an hour over the speed limit makes a difference. Well i'm here to say that, it does. Speed limits are in place for a reason, its not to cause inconvience or **** you off. It's to allow you proper stopping distances for any kind of obstacle that might be in your way. Also, when a green light changes to yellow, they take into account that you're sopose to be going what the speed limit is, and adjust how long that yellow light is on for. I've run into situations where i thought that the yellow light would be on for longer than it was, and i'd try to go through it and it was red before i made it, many of us have done this. I also found that, for example. At 70 mph the average car can stop in about 170-180 feet or so i think. At 60, the average car can stop in 135-140 feet. Those are approximations, but that extra 10 mph can mean the difference between life or death and most people don't realise that 10 mph can make that kind of difference. I have never been in a situation where someone i knew was hurt. I was with my girlfriend Tanya who i care about very much. The car hit on her side right next to her. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital on a strecher with neck braces on. To see a loved one like this, is the worst feeling in the world. It was the hardest thing i've ever had to look at, even though i knew that she was not seriously hurt. I went with her in the ambulance and stayed with her at the hospital. I had to call her parents, who i've hardly ever talked to, and tell them that their daughter was in the hospital after a car accident. I was lucky enough to be able to tell them at first, that she was ok, that the is in the hospital as a precaution for neck pain. However, next time you do anything you shouldn't while driving, think about what it would be like to suffer with the consequences. It took all of my strength to stay strong and make her feel alright. Believe me, you NEVER want to see a loved one in a strencher with a neck brace on. And you would never want to live with yourself, if you put someone you didn't know in a stretcher and neck brace. Be smart, be safe, and be healthy. God Bless you all.


P.S. Need more inspiration? Check out the two totalled vehicles in my gallery.






Primary rig is NOW TOTALLED :-X23 :
95' F-150 EB 300/6 5 spd with 4" Superlift, MSD, Ram Air, Gibson Exhaust, 32" BFG Muds
Some pictures in my gallery.


Then theres:
88' F-250 Superduty 351 + c6
95' Mercury Cougar 4.6L V-8
80' E-350 300/6 and a
3 spd column shifter. Top speed, 65mph, Go Baby Go!

The newest addition to the Ford family is a 99' Mustang GT 4.6L

 

i checked oput your accident pics. wow! :-X23 that car took a lot out of your truck. sorry about your truck bud. at least you and your girlfirend where alright. i usually do about 4 or 5 k over the limit especally on the highway. but i never talk on a cell on the highway. if i have to in the city it's a few seconds at a stoplight. only in a few instances have a talked on a cell while driving down a busy street.

 

Reminds me of my less horrendous crash involving my 87 F-250.

http://foxtrot.cs-extreme.com/truck for info.

The idiot that hit me was on a cell phone and didn't check behind him while doing a U-turn...his 2002 Chevy Avalanche found the front of my F-250 and that was the end of that SUV or whatever the hell they call those things.

Being in the law enforcement field, I agree whole heartedly with your earlier post, and if people would realize the speed limit is put there for a reason, and the 2-5 minutes you would have saved on your journey by going 50 insted of 40 may cost you an entire year of physical therapy..or your life.

But on a lighter note, just like the hundreds of others, I'm glad no one was hurt..and i'm also glad that your truck, and mine, took another chevy off the road =]

-
Brandon Keever

 

MustangGT221,
I'm sorry for your loss. I'm also glad there were no serious injuries. You bring up a good point about safe driving. Stay alert, obey traffic laws and retain situational awareness.

I would like to add one other thing, defensive driving. It is the next step beyond what you mentioned. You had a huge lesson in it with your accident. It is more than obeying the laws it is anticipating what the other driver is going to do and possibly not trusting them. You were in the right, you obeyed the laws and you suffered the pain and loss of the accident. Defensive driving is not pulling out untill you see the other car slowing for the intersection. Not pulling out just because the other car has its turn signal on. Waiting until the car in front of you at a turn lane in an intersection is gone BEFORE watching for your space to merge into traffic.

They try to teach defensive driving in driver's ed but you really learn the lesson with more experience behind the wheel.

I hope the insurance companies can make it right with you. It is why we pay them.

Good luck.

 

I had to reply to the last post..Defensive driving is huge. 4 days a week I drive out to the "country" to see my horse..on a interstate where speeds are in excess of 75..(55 is the posted limit)..ok..I can handle the speed..from the right lane..but..there are 2 stop and
go intersections..I can't tell you how many times the light on the interstate is red..and the cross traffic is ready to obey their green light when a car or worse, a SEMI, go rolling through the red at a minimum of 60 mph..not even touching the brake. I've turned my head a few times because it's been too close to watch. Look both ways before obeying your signal. You have the most to lose..as the vehicle that is going through the light is moving much faster and is more deadly. Glad to read that you and your passenger are ok..sorry about the truck..sounds like the truck took care of you though..This is why we drive FORDS.
Lisa

 

Thanks everyone for your support, and your right about defensive driving. For the most part i try to be a defensive driver. I hope that someone out there reads this, and realises what can happen, and correct his/her habits.


Primary rig is NOW TOTALLED :-X23 :
95' F-150 EB 300/6 5 spd with 4" Superlift, MSD, Ram Air, Gibson Exhaust, 32" BFG Muds
Some pictures in my gallery.


Then theres:
88' F-250 Superduty 351 + c6
95' Mercury Cougar 4.6L V-8
80' E-350 300/6 and a
3 spd column shifter. Top speed, 65mph, Go Baby Go!

The newest addition to the Ford family is a 99' Mustang GT 4.6L

 

I agree every bit about the neccessity of being careful at intersections. These are by far the most dangerous areas on the road. I have been in a couple accidents in intersections where someone was simply not paying attention and went and smashed right into me, and I've narrowly avoided countless others.
Courtesy of a wreck that totalled both a late model suburban and my F-250 (I bought it back from the insurance co and fixed it), I am now downright paranoid about intersections, and I'm always thinking someone going the opposite direction is going to try to turn left in front of me, as has happened too many times to count. Two wrecks and dozens of near heart attacks are enough for me.
In Montana, there are some back roads that will take you from Billings to Laurel. These have a speed limit of I think 60. Everytime I approached a cross street, even though I didn't have to stop and the cross street did, I would slow down to nearly 20, just so I would have time to stop if someone wasn't paying attention and ran the stop sign. My grandpa that lives over there says he sees people run those stops all the time.

The Law

 

Justin, glad you and your lady are okay. But I think you are incorrect about this being a speed related accident. You mentioned that the other fellow ran a red light. Seems to me that is the cause of his hitting you, not the speed. If he was paying attention to what he was doing and where he was going, he would have seen the light and stopped. As for reasons for the speed limits, yeah, there is one, but it isn't why you might think. They are set for revenue. In Michigan, the state measures what speed 90 % of drivers travel on a given road, and then set the limit 10-15 mph below that. Then the state is almost garranteed the oppourtunity to write citations and collect money in traffic fines. As for your saftey, the state could not possibly care less. If they were worried about your saftey, guys like that young man who wasn't paying attention would never get a license in the first place. But he paid for a license, so the state gives him one.....It is all about money, and how can the state separate yours from you and keep it for themselves. Sad but true. DF

 

I disagree about the speed limits being set for revenue.

I think they are set in regards to SAFE YEAR ROUND driving,rather than changing the signs everytime the weather changes.

Too many people want the roads to be run THEIR way, when they should have complained before they SIGNED their driver's license agreeing to driving with the rules & laws of the road.

The fact that if people want to add to state/province revenue, is their problem.

I don't have any problem with posted speed limits.

I remember in Ohio years ago they used to give tickets who were caught speeding" Unecessary waste of natural resources"
Driving over 60 MPH or 100 KPH is a less economical.


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[font color=red]Calgary,Alberta,Canada[/font]

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Obviously, the major factor that caused the accident was that he wasn't paying attention and ran the red light. However, he was doing 60+ miles an hour in a 40 mph zone. If he was going the speed limit, he would have had more time to react, wouldn't have traveled as far as he would have w/o noticing the light, and would have caused a hell of a lot less damage. If he was doing 40 to start with, he probably could have only hit me at 10-15 mph instead of hitting me at 40.



Primary rig is NOW TOTALLED :-X23 :
95' F-150 EB 300/6 5 spd with 4" Superlift, MSD, Ram Air, Gibson Exhaust, 32" BFG Muds
Some pictures in my gallery.


Then theres:
88' F-250 Superduty 351 + c6
95' Mercury Cougar 4.6L V-8
80' E-350 300/6 and a
3 spd column shifter. Top speed, 65mph, Go Baby Go!

The newest addition to the Ford family is a 99' Mustang GT 4.6L