highway accidents Archives - Comedy Defensive Driving®

OPERATION CARE

Daun Thompson — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 13:00:11 +0000

The Department of Public Safety (DPS) has been stepping up enforcement of the Move Over/Slow Down Law through Operation CARE (Crash Awareness and Reduction Effort). This provides law enforcement with information, training and a forum for discussing roadway safety issues. These issues include the improvement of public safety on our roads and highways. In 1978, every U.S. state became part of this effort in order to deter speeding, impaired driving and failure to use occupant restraints. So, originally this effort focused more on the protection of the public, rather than the protection of law enforcement.

OPERATION CARE’S ROLE IN ACCIDENT REDUCTION

State police and highway patrol agencies have joined together with the goal of reducing human suffering on our highways. And it is the only national program designed to draw ALL state level law enforcement agencies together to achieve common goals of traffic accident reduction. Their efforts created the standardized field sobriety testing and the support of mandatory seat belt use legislation back in 1984. And I do remember when a driver could have an open container in the car as well as when you did not have to wear a seat belt. Your mom’s forearm was your seat belt.

MOVE OVER/SLOW DOWN LAW

And now, efforts are also focusing on enforcement of the Move Over/Slow Down Law. Passed in 2003, this law requires motorists to move over or slow down 20mph below the posted speed limit when passing emergency vehicles or service vehicles that are stopped on the side of the road with emergency lights flashing. This includes Police, Ambulance, Fire Trucks, Tow Trucks, the Department of Transportation, etc. These workers risk their lives every day for us. And their safety is particularly vulnerable while working on the side of the road.

Today all 50 states, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the provinces of Ontario and Quebec are involved in C.A.R.E.

Until next week…
Daun Thompson
Writer / Comedienne / Artist

OPERATION CARE – Comedy Defensive Driving

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CRAZY TRAFFIC

Daun Thompson — Tue, 17 May 2016 15:40:02 +0000

I was just telling someone that most of my Texas friends had moved to L.A. for their comedy careers back in the early 1990’s, but I moved to San Francisco because I don’t like crazy traffic (plus, even living in S.F., I still got to work with Mitch Hedberg (sniff), Marc Maron, Brian Posehn, Johnny Steele, Michael Mancini, and many other amazing, accomplished comedians). And, as we all know, L.A. is notorious for their traffic jams. With few access roads in L.A., if there is an accident on any freeway, traffic will be backed up for miles. While here in Texas, traffic moves off the freeway, onto the access road and gets back onto the freeway, ahead of the wreck…brilliant! Being stuck in traffic on the way to a gig kinda brings the funny down a notch. Even in S.F., I had been late for gigs because of nutty traffic. Totally uncool.

So, this conversation made me curious as to what cities in the U.S. are currently the worst for crazy traffic. According to data compiled by INRX Driving Intelligence, these are the top 10 cities for the worst traffic in the U.s.
1. Los Angeles, CA (yep! go figure!)
2. Washington, D.C.
3. San Francisco, CA (really?? like, just paying a cover charge to enter the city isn’t bad enough)
4. Houston, TX (a miniature version of NYC)
5. New York City, NY (all cabs…no one I know who lives there owns a car)
6. Seattle, WA (I show a road rage film in my defensive driving class, shot “no pun int” in Seattle)
7. Boston, MA
8. Chicago, IL (I grew up outside of Chi-Town and not surprised it’s on the list)
9. Atlanta, Georgia
10. Honolulu, Hawaii (small islands, few road options, not surprised)

I’m living in Dallas now and surprised that we’re not on the list. Perhaps we’re number 11. Anyhow, all of this driving yourself to work and gigs nonsense will be totally obsolete in a few years now that cars are designed to drive themselves. One day in the near future, kids in my defensive driving class will have their grandkids asking them “Grandpa (because they’re mostly boys in my classes…lol), what’s Defensive Driving School?” And they’ll answer “It was just a crazy waste of time. We used to have to actually operate a motor vehicle. We had to be responsible to pay for oil and gasoline and to be sure not to kill anyone. Oh, and the petroleum came from dinosaurs. Which is ironic, since cars are now made out of plastic, a petroleum product, made from dinosaurs.

Until next week…

Daun Thompson
Writer / Comedienne / Artist
(come catch Daun make funnies in June: Lake Buena Vista, FL and Sarasota, FL)

CRAZY TRAFFIC – Comedy Defensive Driving

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That’s A Big Ten-Four – Sharing The Road With Trucks

Daun Thompson — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 00:24:36 +0000

My Grandfather was a truck driver. Casey Graham was ornery, Irish-American and a big drinker. Which wouldn’t go over well the current commercial driver license requirements . Back in those days, in wasn’t uncommon to see a truck driver traveling two days with no sleep. Or, in my Grandfather Casey’s case, with a hangover to boot, but not anymore. There are many restrictions on truck drivers now. They can only drive a limited number of hours in a day. And, they have to keep a meticulous driving log. If they get a ticket of any kind, even in their own vehicle, they cannot take a defensive driving class. So, the violation goes on their driving record. And, after a few of those violations, no one will hire them. It’s also a Federal law that they cannot text and drive. If they get caught, the fine is around $3,000.00. But, fair enough, that’s a big piece of machinery that could take out a lot of families in one fell swoop. All this seems strict and rigid, but there are over 500,000 accidents involving a truck and other trucks or other vehicles each year, with approximately 5,000 fatalities as a result. That means that every 16 minutes, approximately, in this country, someone is either injured or killed in an accident with a truck. So, it’s good to be alert and cautious when sharing the road with trucks.

Driving alongside an eighteen-wheeler is very dangerous. If one of those eighteen wheels blows, the tread from a truck tire, along with its steel belts could easily take your windshield out and possibly remove your head as well. That is not a good look for anyone. Here, we call that a “Jane Mansfield.” They call the blown out tire tread an “alligator.” And we all know that alligators bite!

Driving too closely behind an eighteen-wheeler is also a big “please don’t.” Just like the sticker on the back of the truck states “If you can’t see my side mirrors…I can’t see you.”

These two issues stated above are due to the large size of trucks causing blind spots, also known as “no-zones.”

And, when you are wanting to move over a lane, it’s not cool to whip over in front of an eighteen-wheeler…and we all have done this. There’s always a big space in front of that tractor-trailer for a good reason. It takes one nine times longer to stop than it does for a car to stop. One can weigh up to thirty times as much as a passenger vehicle. So, if you’re in the habit of whipping in front of an eighteen-wheeler, you’re Honda Accord could become a Honda Accordion.

So play it safe around eighteen-wheelers. Know what you’re dealing with. Try to be better about sharing the road with trucks. And be courteous to those poor truckers. That’s a big machine that they’re responsible for.

Until next week…

Daun Thompson
Comedienne / Writer / Airhead Savant

Sharing The Road With Trucks – Comedy Defensive Driving

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Tips for Highway Driving

Daun Thompson — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:19:37 +0000

Isn’t it nice to have someone out there who cares about you? Who, you ask? Well, there are emergency medical techs, firemen, police and me…just to name a few. And, because I care so much about you, I am going to give you a few tips on how to avoid getting a citation or a hand gesture while driving on the highway.
First, lets touch on the H.O.V. lane. H.O.V. stands for High Occupancy Vehicle. Most states require two or more occupants in the car. You the driver, and the second passenger can be a child in a car seat or booster seat. The H.O.V. lane’s purpose is to carpool, primarily. It’s all about fuel conservation, emissions, pollution. So, getting on the H.O.V. by yourself is certainly not putting anyone’s life in danger. But crossing over the double solid line to enter or exit the H.O.V., rather than entering or exiting where indicated is quite dangerous. And, at least in Texas, if you do the combination of the two, the fine is running around $600.00. Which you pay the full amount. That’s a lot of money to flush down the toilet, so don’t even think about doing it. Got it?
Another is driving too slow in the left passing lane. That’s why they call it the Passing Lane or Fast Lane. It’s not for those doing 45mph. My sister says anyone driving too slow in the left lane should be humanely euthanized. I sadly agree. But, even if you’re doing 75 in a 60, passing other cars, someone will inevitably come flying up on your tail, honking their horn and flashing their headlights at you. That’s code for you to “get the *#*# out of the way.” In that case, just get over. Let them pass you. If they want to do 130mph, let them. They’re probably running from the law anyway. Or they will be soon. Then you can get back over and pass all of those other cars. Don’t let someone push you to make you go faster so you’re the one who gets the ticket.
On the other hand, if it’s rush hour traffic and the flow is barely at a crawl, you’re lucky to be “stuck” in that lane because it’s the only lane moving. And, if you’re stuck in the right lane (the slow lane) and traffic is barely at a crawl, it would be nice to let one car, per car enter the freeway. Let that traffic feed onto the freeway from the ramp as to keep the flow of traffic flowing. They call it the “zipper.” Most people will let one car, per car merge in. Then, there are those selfish people who won’t let anyone in because they think it’s going to put them out. And, of course, then there are those good Samaritans who think they’re doing their good deed for the day by letting in half a dozen cars at one time. While the guy behind them is counting how many bullets he needs to put in the chamber of his gun because he’s not so happy. So, they just made 6 people happy, feeding in off the ramp, but there are hundreds of people behind them that aren’t so happy with them. One car, per car is plenty…trust me on this one.
And, last pointer for the day, don’t forget to signal before changing lanes. Police are writing citations for not signaling. Even on the freeway before changing lanes. And, it’s usually an add-on, like a pack of gum at the checkout counter. Usually, you get a ticket for speeding or impeding traffic for driving too slow, or whatnot, and they add the not-signaling or illegal lane change to your citation to give it some “substance.”

Until next week…I’ll keep the pointers coming.

Daun Thompson

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