As we were leaving the coffee shop parking lot on our way to an appointment, a bicyclist, oblivious to our car leaving and dressed in hard to see clothing, sped by us without a hint of concern. Had I been doing any one of the things that drivers do that distracts them, like, talking or texting on a cell phone, smoking, eating, putting on makeup (I don't use makeup), reading, or a myriad of other things that would shift a driver's attention, I might well have interfered with the cyclist and caused an accident. Yes, I would be at fault, however, I would not have received any physical injury as he might well have. If I caused him to swerve into traffic, he might have been killed or very seriously injured.
I remarked to my wife, that I thought the cyclist was stupid. He took no precautions (defensive driving) to avoid being hit, e.g., look at the driver to see if the driver sees you. Further, he was wearing dark colors that blended with the surrounding and did not have any warning lights – front or rear. My wife concurred adding a few comments and off we went. My wife returned to working on the daily crossword puzzle. I began to think about how we all do dumb things and still manage to survive, although there are quite a few who don't. Visit “The Darwin Awards Site,” to see just how stupid some people can be.
While thinking, I flashed back to when I was doing my graduate work in business administration. One of my classes required that we write a paper and make a presentation on a topic of choice – I chose safety. After the presentation students were given a sheet to fill out that critiqued the presenter. The only negative comment I can remember receiving was, “Safety is such a boring topic.”
As I thought about the comment made many years ago. I had to agree, safety is boring. So, if I were to present that paper again I would change my approach. To begin, I would title it, “Safety is Boring, Until...,” just like I title this paper.
Like the title says, “Safety is Boring, Until:
You're the mother that left a child in a car to run into a store for a few moment only to return an hour later to find the child died of heat exhaustion. It happens more than occasionally.
You are the captain of a small sailboat that took a group of people out for a tour and the boat capsized and two people die. The boat was possibly overloaded and the two that died did not have life jackets. This story was reported on the San Diego, CA evening news March 28, 2011.
You're the foreman or manager of a project requiring trenching and you decide to skip the side plating that prevents a collapse. The sides fall in and kill a worker. You end up being prosecuted and sent to prison for criminal negligence. True story.
I could give more than hundred personal examples, I mean those that I investigated or happened where I worked. And I'm not exaggerating. On the news, March 29, 2011, they reported that traffic deaths were the lowest since 1949 when they began recording that data. The report further went on to say that it was largely due to air bags, seat belts and better engineering. I guess the accident rate remained the same or is still growing. They hope to make more improvement to bring down the current thirty thousand highway fatalities annually. That about 82 per day. I would guess that the injury rate per day for all accidents is in the thousands.
Most costs that are not directly related to production or performance are considered “sunk costs,” necessary but will yield no returns. Included in these costs are human resources, purchasing, payroll, administration, training, safety, etc. Of all these costs only two will end up paying for themselves – training and safety. Without discussion, at this time, proper training will increase performance/production and hence profits or service. In the book “Smart Training,” the writer points out that in studies of profits before and after, substantiated that the profit increase after training were greater than the cost of the training.
I continually hear on the news and read report of numerous pedestrian and bicycle accidents. I wonder how many could be avoided if the pedestrian or cyclist took precautions to prevent them. Don't misunderstand me, vehicle drivers are responsible for at least half of them. However, pedestrians and cyclist are the ones that get hurt.
I was on my morning run, Feb 2012, when I was about 10 feet from a driveway, when I noticed that the truck parked there was running and that it's backup lights were on. So I pause and jogged in-place and waited to see what would happen. Without any apparent hesitation the vehicle began to backup and had I continued would certainly been hit. It was obvious that the driver did not check to see if anyone or other traffic was coming. The truck windows were fogged over and even if the driver were to look he would not have been able to see me.
Feb 15, 2012, on the NBC news at 6:00 pm there was a video report of a woman walking in a mall parking lot during a substantial rain. The woman was cross an open parking space, when a car began to pull in and it pushed her aside. She wasn't hurt. What I noticed was that the woman was wearing dark clothing, hard to see in general, and carrying a dark umbrella. She did not appear to be alert or looking around. The driver stated that he did not see her, although he did see the parking space. Makes me wonder about his driving ability. It was fortunate that the vehicle was moving slowly and that the woman had all but finished passing the space.
I was getting ready to turn into our street as we returned home from dinner. It was after 6:00 pm, Feb 2012, and dark outside. The corner I was turning at is poorly lit. I began to slow from 35 mph. I saw a man walking toward my corner, in the same direction I was going. He was dressed in dark colors and very difficult to see. He was about ten feet from the corner. We were on a collision course. I know I would have hit him had I not seen him. He step into the street without looking or hesitation. It wasn't until he was in front of us that my wife asked, Where did he come from? Had I not been paying attention, been intoxicated, texting, or otherwise distracted, I surely would have hit him. I know it is my responsibility to yield in this case to a pedestrian. Common sense tells us that we should always look before crossing.
As I was leaving a small mall parking lot, I approached the sidewalk slowly and stopped just before crossing it. It was turning right to enter the flow of traffic. I was late at night, very dark, the street lighting was poor, and there was no moon light. When I saw a break in traffic I check my right to see if anyone was on the sidewalk. I check to be sure traffic was clear and lifted my foot off the break. The car began to move slowly forward. Just before I moved my foot to the accelerator, a cyclist speed by in front of me; he gave me a dirty look. I quickly reapplied the brake and froze with fear. I was very thankful I hadn't hit him. After several minutes I regained my composure and tried again. I was successful and proceeded on my way. Once I settled down, I reviewed what had happened. I realized that I was not at fault. If the cyclist had been one second later, literally one second, I would have hit him, or he would have crashed into the car. And it would have been his fault. The cyclist did several things wrong:
Most important, he didn't check to see if I saw him before crossing in front of me. This would not make it his fault.
He was wearing dark clothing, not one item was light colored. This would not make it his fault.
He did not have any lights. This would make it his fault.
He was riding on the sidewalk. This would make it his fault.
He was traveling in the wrong direction. This would make it his fault.
Even though he was completely wrong, I know it would have haunted me for a long time, probably the rest of my life, if I had hit him.
My point is, "How many people could have avoided getting killed or injured if they looked to make sure a vehicle is actually going to stop before they crossed in front of it?"
Things pedestrians should do:
Wear easily seen clothing. At night wear a reflective strip of material and carry a flash light.
Walk facing traffic if there is no sidewalk
Look, and look again to be sure it is safe to cross.
Make sure a vehicle is going to stop or give you the right-of-way. Not all drivers are attentive or courteous. There are a myriad of reasons a driver will not stop when they're supposed to. Being right is not as important as being alive and uninjured.
Make eye contact with drivers that might cross your path of travel, e.g. when your walk in front, behind or alongside.
Things cyclist should do:
Ride defensively.
Wear bright, easily seen colors with reflective strip.
Have all recommended lights and reflectors. Lights and reflectors should be visible from all sides. A rear flashing red light should be used day and night. In the front a bright white light -- steady at night and flashing during the day.
When crossing a street make sure it is clear and a driver making a turn, sees you. Always make eye contact with a driver that could impede your travel.