Posted on 08/12/2015 4:45:02 AM PDT by rickmichaels
The 402 is one of the most dangerous highways in North America. That’s a very unforgiving highway. The handful of times I have driven onit I can recall at least one serious or fatal accident.
CC
According to Bethany’s mother “There will be no early retirement. Bethany only has medical benefits through my work, and there’s no way I can let that go.”
I don’t understand. She lived in Oshawa Canada. The accident happened in Canada. Why is she not covered by the glorious Canadian universal free health care?
Tragic accident, very sad.
Another contributing factor: driver probably following too closely.
I see drivers tailgating constantly on the interstate. Distance between cars should be one car length per every 10 mph, or at least 10 car lengths at 60 mph.
Which means he wasn't allowing himself enough stopping distance. By definition.
But that's ok, people don't like it when the car ahead of them is going 73mpg and they want to go 75mph, so they get 5 inches behind that car ahead of them to psychologically "nudge them forward or out of the way". Because after all, every car you pass shaves 1.5 seconds off your arrival time and those 1.5 seconds can really add up.
It's worth risking your life, your feet, your face, your knees, your eyes to shave off a few seconds from your arrival time. Totally worth it. I get it. I absolutely do.
My wife tries to tell me that tail-gaters are demonstrating effective IQ levels lower than body lice but I explain to her that those 1.5 seconds are really monumental achievements in peoples lives and have to be respected.
I want to know too.
“Which means he wasn’t allowing himself enough stopping distance. By definition.”
I had a car directly in front of me get clipped by a car pulling out. Spun him 90 degrees and then into a barrier. Pretty decent crunch. Even though the car in front of me was going sideways for a bit, I had no problem stopping - my only concern was stopping slow enough to not get rear-ended (thankfully I didn’t).
Needless to say, I always have and always will make a point of not following too closely. No matter how fast one’s reflexes are or how good their brakes are, it simply is not possible to slow down a car quickly enough to handle a car going sideways in front of you - they will slow down 10 times faster.
Why is it so bad? It looks like a straight shot on the map!
While that is true, don’t put your feet on the dashboard, the real issue here was the boyfriend following to close to the truck he ran into. Had he followed a safe distance behind, none of this would have occurred.
When you consider how much farther a semi takes to stop compared to a car, the young man should have been able to stop. Along with following too close, he probably wasn’t paying attention.
I tell my daughter not to do this often.
It looks like a modern interstate, too, not some two-laner with a lot of trucks on it.
It’s a major artery into Michigan for the auto industry, so that means a lot of trucks. Plus, two of Ontario’s biggest towns (Hamilton and Toronto) are on the 402 and in both it transitions from rolling farmland to big city rather quickly. Thirdly, the 402 via the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) is a popular “shortcut” for trucks transiting from the northeast US to the midwest. All the above translates into fairly heavy traffic volumes as well.
CC
Yup. And judging by the crush damage -- going pretty darn fast.
I see this constantly. Just from personal observation, I would say 85-90% of all drivers follow too closely. It is a bad habit. Doesn't anyone know the 2 second rule? Watch the rear tires of the car in front of you cross a shadow or mark on the highway. Count "one thousand one, one thousand two". If you cross the shadow before the count is over...you are too close.
I have avoided many fender benders and more serious accidents simply by being able to brake in time.
It is very difficult if not impossible to maintain those appropriate car lengths. I live in Atlanta and have to drive interstate highways everyday where the "normal" flow is going 10 miles over the speed limit (75 to 80 MPH). If I leave those appropriate car lengths between me and the car ahead, then immediately other cars will fill in the gap, furthermore I will be considered a dangerous driver for not maintaining the flow.
I don't know what the answer is, if anyone can tell me, please do, I am listening. Thank goodness we will be leaving Atlanta as soon as our new home in the mountains is ready to move into.
Hamilton and Toronto are nowhere near the 402.
That’s always a possibility as well.
Now, whenever I have passengers in the back seat, and I’m on the highway, I insist they wear their seatbelts. Studies have shown that in accidents involving sudden deceleration crashes, front seat passengers, despite wearing seatbelts and having airbags around them, are often killed ( broken necks) by the bodies of unsecured rear seat passengers coming over the tops of the front seats.
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