BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know

Subject: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 24 Aug 10 - 07:03 PM

I received this as an email today, and it's extremely interesting. I can't personally vouch for the accuracy of the advice, but the two tips seem to me to make sense.

Here's what I received:

First tip:

GOOD VISION IN A DOWNPOUR

How to achieve good vision while driving during a heavy downpour.

We are not sure why it is so effective; just try this method when it rains heavily. This method was told by a Police friend who had experienced and confirmed it. It is useful....even driving at night.

Most of the motorists would turn on HIGH or FASTEST SPEED of the wipers during heavy downpour, yet the visibility in front of the windshield is still bad......

In the event you face such a situation, just try your SUN GLASSES (any model will do), and miracle! All of a sudden, your visibility in front of your windshield is perfectly clear, as if there was no rain.

Make sure you always have a pair of SUN GLASSES in your car, as you are not only helping yourself to drive safely with good vision, but also might save your friend's life by giving him this idea.

Try it yourself and share it with your friends! Amazing, you still see the drops on the windshield, but not the sheet of rain falling.

You can see where the rain bounces off the road. It works to eliminate the "blindness" from passing semis spraying you, too.
Or the "kickup" if you are following a semi or car in the rain.

They ought to teach that little tip in driver's training. It really does work.

This warning is a good one!   I wonder how many people know about this.

Second tip:

A 36 year old female had an accident several weeks ago and totaled her car. A resident of Kilgore, Texas, she was traveling between Gladewater & Kilgore It was raining, though not excessively, when her car suddenly began to hydroplane and literally flew through the air. She was not seriously injured, but very stunned at the sudden occurrence!

When she explained to the highway patrolman what had happened, he told her something that every driver should know: NEVER DRIVE IN THE RAIN WITH YOUR CRUISE CONTROL ON. She thought she was being cautious by setting the cruise control and maintaining a safe consistent speed in the rain. But the highway patrolman told her that if the cruise control is on when your car begins to hydroplane and your tires lose contact with the pavement, your car will accelerate to a higher rate of speed, making you take off like an airplane. She told the patrolman that was exactly what had occurred.

The patrolman said this warning should be listed on the driver's seat
sun-visor: NEVER USE THE CRUISE CONTROL WHEN THE PAVEMENT IS WET OR ICY, along with the airbag warning. We tell our teenagers to set the cruise control and drive a safe speed, but we don't tell them to use the cruise control only when the pavement is dry.

The only person the accident victim found who knew this (besides the patrolman), was a man who had a similar accident, totaled his car and sustained severe injuries.

NOTE: Some vehicles (like the Toyota Sienna Limited XLE) will not allow you to set the cruise control when the windshield wipers are on. If you send this to 15 people and only one of them doesn't know about this, then it was all worth it. You might have saved a life.

-----
Does anybody have any knowledge or comments about this?

Does anybody have any other little-known auto safety tips?

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: artbrooks
Date: 24 Aug 10 - 07:09 PM

Both of those have been on Snopes for several years. They rate the sunglasses in the rain one as "undetermined" and the cruise control one as "true".

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 24 Aug 10 - 07:24 PM

Beat me to it Art. People can probably read Snopes if they want more facts.

Second one, it is a totally stupid idea to take control out of the hands of a driver in unpredictable conditions (especially when the gadget does not work they way you assume it does!), so it is true that it is dangerous.

The first one MIGHT be useful in certain occasions with POLARIZED glasses, but otherwise, all it CAN do is reduce the amount of light your eyes get, making it harder to see and increasing your reaction time. In general case - useless and dangerous.

I knew one looney who insisted that when driving along a country road with cattle wandering across it, you should not slow down! The looney idea being that if a calf and mum were on opposite sides of the road, that it was safer to drive between them as fast as possible (allegedly reducing the danger by reducing the period of time it took to get past them!). This ignored the fact that one of them was like to leap into your path to get to the other side without any warning, and that the slower you were traveling, the less damage (to the animal as well!) you would do to the car and passengers ... intelligence is also partly a learned skill ...

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: Rapparee
Date: 24 Aug 10 - 07:24 PM

I can vouch for the cruise control one. Prit near ran off the road passing a semi just to find that out....

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: mauvepink
Date: 24 Aug 10 - 07:24 PM

Using sunglasses in already reduced visibility is dangerous and could actually cause more problems than it solves. I am not sure how your insurance would stand up either and I think there are laws in the UK about using certain things in certain situations. The Highway Code states that tinted glasses should not be worn at night or in poor visibility.

The best advice for the best safety if it is raining and you cannot see where you are going is to pull over and stop in a safe, legal place, and resume driving when it is safe to do so.

As for aquaplaning. It will happen mostly at speeds over 50 mph but can happen at lower speeds. Much is also dependant on the condition of your tyres too. Once again the safest advice is to drive to the conditions and reduce speed where there is a build of surface water, at least doubling stopping distances between you and any vehicles in front.

This is how I was taught with the IAM and it has always served me well thus far

mp

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 24 Aug 10 - 08:02 PM

Gee..where I live I would have to stop driving in November and start up again in April...mg

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: Jeri
Date: 24 Aug 10 - 08:15 PM

I can see how POSSIBLY polarized sunglasses might help, but agree that if they make it too dark to see, they're not gonna help much.

It makes better sens that, if visibility is poor in the rain, you should slow down until you can see properly.

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: katlaughing
Date: 24 Aug 10 - 11:16 PM

If the polarised glasses are yellow it may help, at least it is supposed to enhance night vision.

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: artbrooks
Date: 25 Aug 10 - 01:15 AM

I have a pair of non-tinted polarized glasses that I wear when there is glare but not bright sunshine - such as in a heavy day-time fog. They are very helpful...perhaps I'll try them on the next rainy night. Of course, this IS New Mexico, so it may be several months before I can report back!

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: Tangledwood
Date: 25 Aug 10 - 02:21 AM

What a brilliant idea! Wear sunglasses so that you can't see the small amount of reflected light from raindrops and therefore they aren't there anymore. Likewise, any other dimly lit object in the roadway isn't there anymore. A blindfold would probably work even better. So why not tint the entire windscreen?

There is a formula used in aviation for working out the speed at which aquaplaning is likely. V = n x 쳌ãP
where V is the speed in knots, and P is the tyre pressure in psi. Different sources give different values for n but 9 seems to be common. The significant message for us is that the higher the tyre pressure the higher the speed before problems occur. So keep your tyres properly inflated and slow down if water is starting to form a layer on the road surface.

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: Tangledwood
Date: 25 Aug 10 - 02:22 AM

Ah, that code didn't work. The formula should read
V = n x (square root of tyre pressure)

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: ragdall
Date: 25 Aug 10 - 02:36 AM

The instructions in our owner's manual about using the cruise control was never to use it on wet or icy roads, curving roads, or long hills. We've always followed that advice and have never had any problems with it.

I agree with Tangledwood, a blindfold makes as much sense as sunglasses.

rags

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 25 Aug 10 - 02:53 AM

I don't agree. I have a pair of sunglasses which when worn turn things a little orange except the grass and leaves which turn a vivid green. I have been using these... not only in rain where they work as described in the initial post but also in poor visibility conditions because they simply give everything more definition. Not only that .. I have found that if I wear them on long distance driving under normal conditions my eyes are less tired at the end of my journey.

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 25 Aug 10 - 07:26 AM

The pale yellow/orange glasses have been around for many years - I seem to remember something about various Air Forces having them. Incidentally, various tinted glasses are supposed to help the dyslexic.

Also, cutting out certain ranges of wavelengths has been known for a long time to assist visual acuity - don't have the references here though.

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: GUEST,Charmion at work, no cookie
Date: 25 Aug 10 - 08:07 AM

The yellow-tinted glasses described by Georgiansilver are used for shooting over iron sights, specifically because of their ability to enhance image definition. The excessively expensive type called Serengeti Drivers have some of that capability, but with a more intense tint so I would not advise wearing them in heavy rain.

The range of tints approved for aviation is carefully selected to prevent skewing of colour vision so the pilot does not misinterpret indications from the instrument panel. The colours are in the grey-to-green continuum.

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: leeneia2
Date: 25 Aug 10 - 09:39 AM

Here's another tip entirely.

One January 1st, when my niece was 17 years old, she was almost at an intersection when she realized that the driver on the crossroad (drunk) was running his stop sign and was going to hit her.

She quickly turned to the right so that the two cars hit side by side, rather than having the oncoming car crash into her at a right angle. She had learned this idea in driver training at school.

Her car was totalled. She walked away, unharmed. I never did hear what became of the drunk.

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: Charmion
Date: 25 Aug 10 - 01:31 PM

I learned to drive as part of my military training, 'way back in the Stone Age when most Canadian Forces rolling stock dated from immediately after the Korean War.

The crash-avoidance technique Leeneia's niece learned in driving school was taught on a defensive-driving course I took in 1975.

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: Paul Burke
Date: 25 Aug 10 - 01:56 PM

Here are a few tips, that may be more applicable to the UK than elsewhere:

- when performing a U-turn on a motorway, keep your eyes tight shut.
- It's illegal to use a mobile phone whilst driving. Wear wide floppy sleeves to hide it, and pretend to be picking wax from your ear.
- Your satnav is much more up-to-date than those old fashioned roadsigns that say "Unsuitable for Motor Vehicles".
- Any driver slower than you is a geriatric old fart. Anyone faster is a reckless lunatic.
- Keep at least two inches (2cm in Europe) from the bumper of the car in front.
- It's OK to cross a junction against red lights, provided you have seen that they were green before.
- Double yellow lines denote that when parking you must activate your emergency indicators.

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: gnu
Date: 25 Aug 10 - 02:25 PM

Paul... hahahahahehehehehehee.... that first one is priceless!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: Leadfingers
Date: 25 Aug 10 - 02:55 PM

In Ireland (Eire) a single yellow line means No Parking at all

TWO yellow lines means No Parking At All At All

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 25 Aug 10 - 03:59 PM

When Sweden switched from right hand to left hand drive was it not phased in over a period of time to avoid confusion? :-}

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 25 Aug 10 - 06:31 PM

OK so the shots I have seen of pilots with orangey lenses must be because they are reflecting in that range, which makes sense.

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: Tangledwood
Date: 25 Aug 10 - 11:56 PM

The pale yellow/orange glasses have been around for many years - I seem to remember something about various Air Forces having them.

The benefit there, I think, is that blue wavelengths are filtered which would be helpful at higher altitudes. In that situation we're talking about visual distances of many tens of kilometres, not the hundred metres or so in heavy rain at ground level. I would be rather concerned if I saw a pilot donning sunglasses to land when it's raining.

Here's another thought - our pupils dilate according to how bright the scene is. If the light is bright the aperture is small which gives a better depth of field than when the aperture is large. So the darker the glasses we wear, the lesser the range of distances that appear properly focused is.

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: banjoman
Date: 26 Aug 10 - 05:34 AM

Sounding the horn continually enables the car to pass through small gaps

Alcohol taken before driving enables the car to pass through even smaller gaps

Vehicles with engines of less tha 3 litres are a danger on the road and should not be driven

Avoid any use of the brake pedal except at the end of the journey, otherwise they just slow you down

The correct position for the right foot is hard down on the floor -known as leadfooting

Never look in the rear view mirror - you are only interested in where you are going, not where you have just been

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Aug 10 - 08:12 AM

I have polaroid prescription specs that I use exclusively for driving. Even in dull conditions they are far more relaxing to wear for driving than my non-tinted specs, and they definitely help in spray conditions and even a little bit in thick daytime fog. My reaction specs (non-polaroid) are useless for driving in bright conditions as they don't work well behind glass and don't reduce glare in any case. I can't think that any tinted specs could be safe at night. Someone above mentioned non-tinted polaroid specs. I didn't know they existed. Google here I come.

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: Bobert
Date: 26 Aug 10 - 08:49 AM

Here's another one that race car drivers know but seems that most folks are not taught: If you are coming to a curve try to scuff off enough speed with the brakes BEFORE the turn and hold some level of engine power on the drive wheels thru the turn... This takes some practice but alot of car crashes occure when people break in the middle of the curve which throws the geometry of the suspension off and can cause the car to either oversteer and/or flip... Neither are good in the middle of a curve...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 26 Aug 10 - 09:07 AM

The car is more stable when braking in a straight line! :-)

While it is also true for rear wheel drive cars - but for different physics :-), a front wheel drive car is happy to pull out of the turn by accelerating (slightly - depends on conditions!).

My (FWD) Fiat 128 was able to be driven thru a corner 'on the throttle' - when accelerating, it would understeeer (try to run wider), and oversteer (pull into the corner) when you lifted the throttle. When I had the Pirellis on, they would 'sing' and you could wind the window down and drive (and steer!) by the sound of the tyres! Ah, those were the days! Oh, those tyres gripped brilliantly, but they didn't last all that long, wonder why .... :-)

... and now I have brought in a music reference... :-P

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: Charmion
Date: 26 Aug 10 - 12:18 PM

Bobert wrote: "If you are coming to a curve try to scuff off enough speed with the brakes BEFORE the turn and hold some level of engine power on the drive wheels thru the turn ... This takes some practice ..."

The dear old master-corporal who taught me used to bawl, "Brakes in, accelerate out!" Of course, this is natural when you drive a vehicle with a manual transmission, as you have to brake anyway to gear down for the turn. You accelerate steadily as you round the curve, and gear up when you begin to straighten.

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: Willie-O
Date: 26 Aug 10 - 03:48 PM

Dont trust anyone else's turn signal to mean that they are turning where you think they are. Wait until they actually start the turn before you pull out in front of them.

They may be planning to turn AFTER the intersection you're waiting at, or may not realize the signal is on.

And...blind spots are real!

W-O

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: Tangledwood
Date: 26 Aug 10 - 05:07 PM

Not a problem in the state of South Australia - common practice there is to turn the indicator on to show other drivers what you've just done.

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: gnu
Date: 26 Aug 10 - 05:19 PM

Not here in Moncton, New Bruswick, Canada... common practice here is to drive well oer the speed limit and slam your brakes on and turn your signal light on at the instant you begin to turn.

But here is a tip... in the winter, here, note the tailpipe exhaust and guess what idiotic move is about to be made. Only really works for the idiot directly in front of you, but it helps.

Here's another... I look for eye contact with a driver entering traffic if I can... but I always look at the front wheels as for their direction and movement. A moving hubcat is easy to notice even if yo are not looking at it directly.

Sorry if these seem like "well duhhh, yeah" but if they help one person, it's worth mentioning.

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: Ed T
Date: 26 Aug 10 - 06:23 PM

"The yellow-tinted glasses described by Georgiansilver are used for shooting over iron sights, specifically because of their ability to enhance image definition."

I have used shooting glasses in dull, snowy or foggy days and I have found them to be effective in sharpening image definition. They also tend to make the sourrounding look somewhat like sunlight...improving driving mood (IMO).

However, they should not be used at night.....from my expeience, that is.

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: gnu
Date: 26 Aug 10 - 06:26 PM

The yellow works a treat in winter during the day... here.. in snowy conditions.

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 26 Aug 10 - 06:37 PM

The only problem gnu, is that you can't see who has been signing their name, so you can't eat the snow....

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 26 Aug 10 - 07:30 PM

Over here they all seem to have been taught the MSM drill:

Manoeuvre, signal, mirror!

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Aug 10 - 09:38 AM

Willie-O wrote: "Dont trust anyone else's turn signal to mean that they are turning where you think they are. Wait until they actually start the turn before you pull out in front of them."

Yet another quote from the dear old master-corporal: "Turn signals don't turn cars." And stop signs don't stop them.

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 27 Aug 10 - 12:09 PM

A UPS delivery truck driver once told me that it's safer to back into a parking space, so that you can pull out forward, than vice versa.

I think I can see the logic of this. You're more likely to encounter a pedestrian or another vehicle unexpectedly crossing your path while you're leaving a parking space than while you're entering it, so that's when you most need to see clearly where you're going.

Having said that, I have to admit that I haven't taken his advice, simply because it's harder that way.

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Aug 10 - 02:49 PM

Again, standard military driving practice. Go to any Canadian Forces base across the country, but especially an army garrison, and you'll see every single vehicle -- civilian and military alike -- parked nose out. It's a kinda Stepford Motor Pool effect.

One day in the early 80s, I was backing my Dad's car into an incredibly tight spot in the By Ward Market when a passing taxi driver leaned out his window and yelled, "Hey lady, how long you been driving getaway?"

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: gnu
Date: 27 Aug 10 - 02:54 PM

You only have to back up once, no matter which way you park.

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: Penny S.
Date: 27 Aug 10 - 05:06 PM

I didn't quite believe the glasses one, but tested in heavy rain in the car park at Reading services while stationary with prescription polaroids. Since the results were that it was effective, I went on to drive down the M4 with them on. The rain eased, so it wasn't a full test.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: Paul Burke
Date: 27 Aug 10 - 06:52 PM

Polarising glasses will almost certainly help, provided they aren't too dark. The way UK motorways are lit at night, you probably need them anyway.

Another Useful Tip. Don't turn right at a signed no-right-turn-junction when a copper is waiting behind you. I saw that one today.

Subject: RE: BS: Some auto safety tips I didn't know
From: kendall
Date: 28 Aug 10 - 02:23 AM

If it's raining hard enough to need wipers on full speed I simply pull over under an over pass and put the 4 way flashers on until it eases. Driving when you can't see is stupid.