Forget the Gadgets While You're Driving

Forget all those fancy electronic gadgets while you are driving, they are dangerous.

Most jurisdictions have either banned or are considering a ban on the use of hand-held devices like cell phones.

Need I Say More

 

Drive Safe, Keep Everyone Alive!

Hanging around in Florida

Well,

I have arrived in Florida. (a couple of weeks ago)

and YES, I saw Ruby Falls,

pretty cool.



I'm always amazed at the abundance of wildlife when I reach Florida.


From the Sandhill Cranes and Lizards that hang out at my mom's house


The Peacocks, Peahens and Lizards that hang out at my sisters house.

The Rabbits, Squirrels, Lizards and big bugs at my brothers house



to the fish, birds, Lizards and alligators along the River.


Oh and there are Lizards in Florida too, if you look closely you might see a few thousand,
pretty cool, they keep the bugs down.


anyway . . .

I like the local traffic.



NO TRAFFIC JAMS AROUND HERE!



See other photos at donssite.com, my photo blog or see Truck photos, optical illusions or web animations

More on road safety at http://www.ezee.ca
Forklift Safety at liftright.net
Listen to Pete Harris while you surf.

Travel Photos

I just love traveling the Interstates


You see such a variety of drivers and vehicles


There are always cool sites to see whichever route I take.


Lots of different terrains


Lots of construction


and as always


Lots of hazards


You can't go through many states without seeing an accident


On this trip to Florida I saw far less than I normally see.

I like the reminder that Kentucky displays in this memorial


Any accident, any injury, any fatality is too many.

Drive Safe, Drive Alert, Arrive Alive and Unhurt!

Every driver that uses the roads is responsible for keeping them safe.


More on road safety at http://www.ezee.ca
Forklift Safety at liftright.net
See Truck photos or my other photos at donssite.com
and my photo blog or see optical illusions or web animations

Now you can listen to Pete Harris too

Driver fatigue

This accident may have been a case of driver fatigue or perhaps health related.

The tracks leaving the road were gradual and straight with no skid marks at all.

The area where it occurred is near the end of a very long stretch of highway bordered only by fields and wooded areas for miles, a fertile area for tunnelvision to occur.

Drive Safe

More on Road Safety or on Forklift Safety or Optical Illusions, Web Animations, My Photography, or Truck Photos.

Oh yeah, you can check out my Smoke Tree too.

Victim of weather or fatigue? - Maybe both.

Another victim of the last winter blast . . . or was it?


The tracks from this truck were straight as the road started to take a gentle
bend. Maybe the driver was suffering from fatigue or tunnel vision and did not notice the bend till it was too late.

This region is notorious for white outs, so perhaps the driver could not see the bend in the road.

The driver may have been trying to look through a dirty or snow covered windshield.

Whatever the reason, the damage is done and it becomes another learning opportunity and an example of winter hazards drivers deal with in northern a climate.


More on road safety at http://www.ezee.ca
Forklift Safety at liftright.net
See Truck photos or my other photos at donssite.com
and my photo blog or see optical illusions or web animations

One last blast

That's it, No More!


I don't know where this cold white stuff came from, I was sure it was gone for the year.

I spent all day Sunday outside doing spring stuff in reasonably warm weather then suddenly back into snow and cold.

I heard something like 400 accidents reported on local news, how quickly people forget how treacherous snow and ice can be.

DRIVE SAFE!

More on road safety at http://www.ezee.ca
Forklift Safety at liftright.net
See Truck photos or my other photos at donssite.com
and my photo blog or see optical illusions or web animations

Good Bye Winter

I won't miss winter and I bet I'm not the only one.


I've seen enough of the white stuff this year, I don't mind seeing it go away.



Now the construction season is upon us.



SLOW DOWN in construction zones,


let the workers enjoy the spring too.




More on Road Safety or on Forklift Safety or Optical Illusions, Web Animations, My Photography, or Truck Photos.

Oh yeah, you can check out my Smoke Tree too.

Run over by a truck

I have posted this video of a truck driving over my camera before, I need to shoot it again but this time with some lighting on the ground pointing upwards to light up the chassis as the truck drives over.




I don't work for this company anymore (LMT Transportation But I still do their website), every truck they had was immaculate, Now either Ken or Karl's truck would be newest looking and somewhat clean.

I'll see how it comes out if I can muster up the lighting and wiring if procrastination doesn't set in.

I really meant to do it all last summer and even had my camera in hand looking for Karl one day that we both had nothing to do but something came up before I found him so I put it off again.




Read up on road safety at http://www.ezee.ca
Forklift Safety at liftright.net
See Truck photos or my other photos at donssite.com
or see optical illusions or web animations
Have you heard of Mesothelioma

Tailgate party on the Freeway

I haven't written much lately about my favorite pet peeve - "Tailgating"

If the guy in front of you stops real quick,

CAN YOU STOP TOO?

Maybe not so easy in the winter.

I was on the highway yesterday and couldn't believe there was not a serious accident.

A pack of cars (maybe six) came flying onto a highway ramp behind a slow truck. Several cars were severely tailgating as they entered the highway and panic ensued as they caught up to the truck. A couple of them managed to merge across into a middle lane but one guy who may not have seen the truck till the others moved, slammed on his brakes and spun off the road in a cloud of smoke and dust. I think he hit a road sign but I'm not sure as it was happening behind me now.



If this had happened today in the snow, the one car that spun out wouldn't be the only one to lose it.

On the highway in the snow, dangers of a collision are increased exponentially so you have to add that "exponential" factor to your defensive driving techniques.

This winter has been pretty brutal in some areas so far but there's still more to come so take care out there.

More on road safety at http://www.ezee.ca

Forklift Safety at liftright.net
See Truck photos or my other photos at donssite.com
or see optical illusions or web animations


.

Winter has arrived!

Well, it's here. The snow has arrived and ten minutes into my first flurry a car spun out in front of me as I was turning through an intersection.



The driver looked like he saw a ghost, he did a 180 and was facing me (driving a truck right at him) when he stopped.

Winter driving is much different than warm weather driving with some obvious hazards but sometimes there are hidden hazards as well such as "black ice". Black ice is a thin layer of ice that forms on the road that is invisible and causes a tremendous number of accidents each year (mostly vehicles in the ditch).

Whenever the temps drop below or even near freezing drivers must adjust their driving habits to suit the conditions. SLOW DOWN, LEAVE MORE DISTANCE BETWEEN VEHICLES and PREPARE TO STOP SOONER.

Drive safe!

More on road safety at http://www.ezee.ca/
Forklift Safety at liftright.net
See my photos at donssite.com or see optical illusions or web animations

Rainy Day

It was a pretty wet day today and the rain caused havoc in traffic all over.

I saw several weather related accidents today.




There was a car overturned in a ditch after sliding on wet pavement that slowed traffic down a bit.

Then a few miles down the road was a big mess for several hours where a bus and truck tangled leaving the bus in the ditch.


Slow down in poor weather conditions.

No tires can grip a wet road anywhere near as good as a dry road especially when the road is "greasy" with traces of various automotive fluids and road dirt mixed with the rain.




More on road safety at http://www.ezee.ca
Forklift Safety at liftright.net
See Truck photos or my other photos at donssite.com
or see optical illusions or web animations

What caused this collision?

How did this happen?



Was he following too close?

Was he fiddling with some GPS gadget?

Was he making a call on a cell phone?

Was he trying to send a text message?

Was he too tired to be driving?

Was he suffering from a medical condition?

Was he looking for his next delivery information?



Was he distracted by something he saw?

Maybe he was checking out the architecture and marble work of this building when the brakes went on.

Could you imagine if there was a car between these trucks.





More on road safety at http://www.ezee.ca
Forklift Safety at liftright.net
See Truck photos or my other photos at donssite.com
or see optical illusions or web animations

Road Rage

There are road rage incidents happening all around these days but this time it's deadly.

Yesterday in the early morning an incident in Milton Ontario caused a fatal accident when a car cut in front of this SUV and slammed on his brakes.

The SUV driver hit the median wall and rolled while trying to avoid the car and was ejected and killed.

Unfortunately, However trajic and unnecessary this accident was, it won't effect many people's habits after a few days when the news stories calm down.

Drivers need to relax, leave a little more space between vehicles and be a little more considerate of other drivers needs. It's stressful enough for most people just driving on the highways not to mention the dangers of radical actions taken in the heat of a moment when someone gets pissed off at another driver.

More on road safety at http://www.ezee.ca
Forklift Safety at liftright.net
Or see my photos at donssite.com

Cell phones and gadgets in the car

I spend a lot of time on busy highways all day and I'm seeing more and more driver distractions develop.

I commute one hour into the city in my car in the morning, drive a truck intercity through the day then commute one hour home to the burbs in my car.

From my car, I see what everyone sees, lots of drivers talking on cell phones, some drivers eating or drinking, maybe putting on makeup or fixing hair.

From the truck though, I can see that drivers aren't just reading the newspaper and eating cereal, they are absorbed in their Blackberrys or trying to "text" on a cell phone or type into their laptop while they drive.

Between adjusting the music, talking on the phone, dealing with kids in the back seat or a thousand other distractions, it's amazing that there aren't many more accidents on the roads and highways.

More on road safety at http://www.ezee.ca
Forklift Safety at liftright.net
Or see my photos at donssite.com

Stop Light Massacre

A couple of weeks ago I heard someones life change forever.

Early on a rainy morning I walked outside to take out the trash and I heard two thuds that sounded like hitting a metal trash can with a baseball bat.

I walked out to the road but I couldn't see anything and traffic was moving by normally so I went back in the house.

Then a couple of minutes later I heard a siren, I rushed out and saw a Police car arriving to join a fire truck and ambulance a block down the street.

I started walking down the street then saw that the stop light in the southern median was on the ground in the middle of the intersection.

A bystander said the driver was in pretty rough shape which was understandable after looking at the accident scene.

The really unfortunate thing is that it keeps happening.



I've seen the stop light in front of my house taken out three times in the last two years and twice they rolled over after hitting median curb. (Above)

I can't help thinking, Maybe it's time for suspended stop lights.

More on road safety at http://www.ezee.ca
Forklift Safety at liftright.net
Or see my photos at donssite.com

Aggressive Highway Driver

There is a dangerous behavior I encounter occasionally while driving a truck past highway entry ramps. Vehicles entering the highway racing past the end of the on ramp to get in front of the truck.

A guy in a pick up truck did it today when I was already going 60 mph in solid traffic, he almost clipped me as he passed then instantly slammed on his brakes to avoid hitting the car in front of me when the shoulder narrowed and he had to merge.


Luckily I wasn't carrying an unstable load because I had to hit my brakes to avoid hitting him.

He has stolen MY SAFETY SPACE and could have potentially caused a serious accident.

Some people just don't get it when it comes to road safety.

Road Safety tips at http://www.ezee.ca
Forklift Safety at liftright.net
or see my photos at donssite.com

Flat tire on the highway

Well, I was heading into work today in heavy traffic bound for Toronto when I started to feel this sickening feeling "in the seat of my pants" then the dreaded sound like a small propeller driven airplane. A rapid flat tire, and I'm in the middle lane going 50 mph.

As I begin slowing and manage to get into the right lane, I see there's nowhere to go. No shoulder whatsoever but an entry ramp is coming up in about a quarter of a mile so I kept going to the ramp and got off as far as I could. Then got out and looked at my chewed up tire.

I don't get flat tires very often, so I wasn't really prepared to deal with it. The spare tire is mounted under the van, WHAT A STUPID PLACE to put the spare, rusted into place, there's no way I'm getting it off so I had to get towed in to get a new tire.

Luckily, (the only good thing about my day) Canadian Tire covered it and another tire under their road hazard warranty.

So, I get to work about three hours late, but at least I got there.

Things could have been much worse, It could have been snowing or raining, it could have been my front tire, I could have been going much faster and It could have caused an accident.

It goes to show that you have to be ready for anything while you are driving, you can never "let your guard down" in highway traffic.

Drive Safe,

Safe driving tips at http://ezee.ca
Forklift Safety at http://liftright.net
or see my photos at http://donssite.com

Get Off the Road

There was a cube van stopped at the beginning of a lane split where 2 lanes leave five at 65 Mph.

Traffic was swerving in both lanes the van was partially blocking which affected all lanes. Lots of brake lights and sudden lane breaches.

I don't know if the guy was broken down or trying to figure out which way to go but there were no turn signals, 4 way flashers or any other warning devices.

If he broke down, could he not have coasted 70 feet farther into the "bullnose" so he would be clear of the traffic lanes.

If he was trying to figure out which way to go, he should just LOSE HIS LICENSE FOR BEING STUPID! You Don't Stop on multi lane highways unless it's an emergency.

Over the years, I've passed and been affected by more than a dozen fatal rear end crashes where one vehicle was stopped and hit at highway speed.

If you are on a highway and you aren't traveling highway speeds, GET OFF.

More on road safety at http://www.ezee.ca
Forklift Safety at liftright.net
Or see my photos at donssite.com

Mandatory speed limiters in trucks in Ontario . . .

Legislation was tabled Wednesday at Queens Park, to make speed limiters mandatory for all Transport Trucks traveling through Ontario.

Trucks would be limited to 105 Kph or about 65 Mph as an absolute maximum speed.

What most people won't immediately realize is that this is going to limit the speed of all traffic and cause enormous bottlenecks on long stretches of two lane highways like 401 from Windsor to London because trucks won't be able to pass each other anymore so they will run down the road side by side at their top speed of 105.

Meanwhile, the car traffic that likes to drive 110 to 120 Kph or more will be sitting behind trucks that can't pass each other.

What do you think?

Am I wrong?

Any Opinions?

Safe driving tips at http://ezee.ca
Forklift Safety at http://liftright.net
or see my photos at http://donssite.com