Carl F. Thelin

SPEED KILLS? NO

            When I was a boy, my Dad told me that jumping off the Empire State Building would not hurt. The sudden stop, not speed of the fall, is what hurts enough to kill me. As a Crash Scene Investigator (CxSI), I believe more traffic problems are caused by the timid folks who drive much too slowly. We say the group of vehicles (cars and trucks) that is moving along at about the same speed is setting the pace. Drivers who weave in and out cause tension among other drivers – you knew that.

            The slow driver is an impediment to the pace – sort of a moving blockage. In race car parlance, it is called a chicane – which is a temporary obstacle placed in a long straightway to force race cars to slow down to maneuver around it.  Drivers coming up behind the slow poke are frustrated when they fail to maneuver into another lane before another car blocks them at that side. Then road rage may take over and cause some bad behavior. Such as swinging over and cutting off the car that was just about to pass them.

            I have seen worse things. Two vehicles in line come from behind. The vehicle in front is so tall that the second driver cannot see beyond the lead vehicle. The leading driver gets close to the slow poke before swinging aside to pass. Then the second driver can finally see the slow car.  Due to the surprise element, the second driver can’t react quickly enough and hits the slower vehicle before he can brake or swerve away.

            I had a case like that. Two cattle-hauling trucks followed each other in the right lane of a two-lane thruway in heavy traffic. There was a steady stream of four-wheelers stretched along the left lane beside them as both trucks approached an old minivan in their lane.  The first truck driver timed his maneuver so that he could move to his left into a gap before hitting the van. The second trucker saw the suddenly-revealed van. By then he was blocked at the left and could not brake well enough to avoid hitting the van on its left corner. That caused the smaller vehicle to spin out, overturn and badly injure the retired preacher, who was driving. Like other old-timers he was driving very slowly out of a false sense of caution.

            If you are the guy that everyone else passes, you are not safe. You have no control of the cars that rush up behind you, and then impatiently swerve to pass you. However, drivers who go faster than the pace have control. They are steering through, or with,  the crowd that they see in front, at their own choice. Wait a minute. I did not advocate driving like a maniac. Just drive sensibly, a little faster, but not very slowly.

            In heavy traffic the slow-moving vehicle may cause collisions between other vehicles. The CxSI calls this an effect of the surge. That occurs when the first vehicles in a pace come upon a slower car. The lead driver lightly brakes to match the speed of the slow poke. The second driver reacts a bit later and brakes a bit harder. The third driver (two reaction times behind in timing) must brake even harder. Finally some one in the line uses his brakes so late that there is a collision. That causes a real mess in the line of cars behind him. The slow poke doesn’t know he caused it unless he hears the tinkle of broken headlight glass behind him.