Why is everyone in such a hurry?

I may be imagining things but as years go by, it seems like eveybody on the road is in more and more of a hurry to get somewhere all the time.

Some may have a reason to be in a hurry, maybe they are late for work, there could be a medical emergency or maybe they just really really have to pee.

 Whatever the reason, don't let your situation effect the safety of others on the road

Make sure your following distance is sufficient (Two seconds between vehicles as a minimum)

 Don't let your thoughts or anything else in your vehicle distract you from the dangers of the road

 

Everyone wants to get home safe after all.

Construction,Construction, Construction

Each night I drive my son to work at the Ford plant near Toronto so I spend some time every night on the QEW Highway.

For anyone that uses the QEW, they know construction is the norm through the Oakville stretch.
Recently the timing of my trips put me in the thick of the congestion to get through the area. Miles and miles just idling along with the thousands of other drivers wasting fuel and polluting the air.


Alas, a change of shift, my son goes in a bit earlier now so I leave a little earlier. Now I see the construction crews just arriving with their coffee in hand planning out their strategy for causing absolute traffic chaos  paralyzing the west end of the city.

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.

Wheelies on the Highway

I've seen a lot of stupid moves on the highway by a lot of people that should not be allowed on the highway but a couple of nights ago I saw what absolutely had to be tops in stupidity and the most dangerous stunt I've ever seen.

I was driving along in a construction zone at night in fairly heavy traffic where 3 traffic lanes were re-aligned several times over a couple of miles. The lanes shifted suddenly along the stretch with uneven pavement and poorly marked lanes.



Suddenly, a motorcycle passed me doing a wheelie at about 75 miles an hour in the inside lane. That IDIOT was followed by a Honda Civic passing me in the outside lane swerving in and out of traffic with about twenty seven kids hanging out the windows shooting videos with their cell phones. I guess it will be all over youtube by now, maybe I can find it and include it in a follow up post.

This stunt could have turned fatal so quickly in so many ways.

The motorcycle was totaly invisible to me as it approached because his headlight was pointing upward, he continued on passing a number of other cars after me. He passed me where the lanes shifted and the uneven pavement shifted across each lane at an angle and where the lanes were not clearly marked. I could have drifted in front of him without realizing and it would look like it was my fault.

I wonder if any of those kids would volunteer their videos if there was an accident.

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

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.

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

Tired of this!

Oh man, what a bummer to come out to.

Oh well, at least I am at home and not driving like when I had my last flat tire. That was a very bad experience on the highway in heavy traffic. (http://road-safety.blogspot.com/2008/04/flat-tire-on-highway.html)



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
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

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

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

Better driving weather

Well the winter blast of snow and ice we got before Xmas has melted away with the recent warm weather we've had. Now you can see all the ugly stuff that was hiding in the snow piles. There is a good size chunk of concrete that the snowplow left at the bottom of my driveway, looking down the road from my house I don't see anything missing so I have no idea where he got it. I just hope the city picks it up.

When the snow first arrives each year, it seems like all the fools want to go play in the snow. There are so many accidents and cars in the ditches, you wonder how it can happen when traffic is just creeping along. Does everyone forget how to drive in the snow?

SLOW DOWN, KEEP YOUR DISTANCE! and maybe you'll stay out of the ditch. It's too bad the authorities can't come up with a way to test drivers in winter conditions before issuing their license, it would be a lot safer out there.

Now that the snow and ice are gone, speeds have gone back to normal on the roads and highways. Unfortunately with the increased speeds come increased damage and injuries if there is an accident. With higher speeds, you need to increase your following distance to allow room for safety.

Remember that anything can happen anywhere and anytime so be aware of what is behind you and what is beside you as well as traffic ahead of you. Keep a mental picture of where vehicles are in your blind spots, they may be there for a while and if you forget that they are there and change lanes, you may just end up as another statistic.

More on ROAD SAFETY at http://www.ezee.ca