Monday, June 28, 2010

Left turn patience

You probably already know this, but…when you are sitting in your car, waiting to make a left-hand turn, do NOT turn your wheels until you are actually making the turn. Keep them straight! I learned that in driver’s ed when I was 16, but a surprising number of my friends have never heard it. This came up because of a terrible accident. One of my wife’s former co-workers and her husband were driving their daughter to nursery school. While waiting to make a left into the daughter’s school, the husband turned the wheels in anticipation of making the turn. A teenager, with the morning sun in her eyes, didn’t see them. See rammed them from behind, pushing their car into on-coming traffic. A pickup truck broadsided them—the wife and daughter did not survive.

Now, every time I go out I see drivers turning their wheels while waiting to make lefts. So many people do it and it almost never leads to an accident. It’s probably a one-in-10 thousand combination of circumstances. But why take the chance?

Sorry for the downer post, but I don’t want any of you to become a statistic that can so easily be avoided.

PS - I'm seriously thinking about making my singing debut here on Blogspot--it will be funny and horrible! It'll be like one of those really awful American Idol contestants, except I'll laughing along with you instead of getting indignant.

If I do it, will you do it too??? =)

23 comments:

  1. Oh no... How sad. Thanks for the heads up about this one Rick. I had my mom read this post and she says thanks for the heads up also

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  2. That's awful.

    I can't wait to see and hear your singing debut. Make it happen very soon. xoxo

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  3. How sad! Thanks for letting us know how not to become a part of the death toll in traffic :-)

    I have no driver's license or a car, so I can only imagine how it must be like to actually drive one.

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  4. thank you for the reminder, ric. i'm fond of you too :) and therefore i am going to give you some medical advice. do crunches every now & then. six packs don't just look sexy, they also reduce risk of developing diabetes. :)

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  5. Oh wow. You know it's funny I took a driving course and the instructor told me to turn my wheel in the direction of the turn while i wait. Now I know! Thanks for the tip and sorry for your friend. How horrible =(.

    But make your singing debut! I would love to see it!! ^^

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  6. oh noooo!!! i totally turn my wheels. gah! i will stop from now on. PROMISE!

    on a much lighter note, can't wait to hear you sing. that should be entertaining ;)

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  7. great tip! im actually part of the 04250285285 people who turn the wheels before turning left!

    and dont worry about "downer" posts... i do it all the time lol.

    <3

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  8. omg that's terrible!! yes id love to see you singing lol got lots of catchin up to do on your blog, here goes!

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  9. oh jeez! that's horrible. i never thought of that--mainly because i still don't drive, hehehe. But it's a good note. i shall remember it when im in drivers ed.

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  10. oh jeez! that's horrible. i never thought of that--mainly because i still don't drive, hehehe. But it's a good note. i shall remember it when im in drivers ed.

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  11. thanks for sharing that Rick. it may be a sad incident but there is an important lesson that we all learned. i will share this post with my husband.

    on a lighter note, i'm looking forward to hearing you sing. before, i planned to share my singining online but i'm just so busy i haven't done it yet.

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  12. How sad, sorry to hear about what happened to your wife's friend :(

    And hear and see you sing? You bet I would love that! I'm considering doing a VLOG too, just so you guys know how I can't say the letter R LOL!

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  13. oh no that's horrible rick :(

    thank you for the friendly reminder, you're very caring. :)

    dont worry about the downer post, you'll definitely balance it out with your happy, singing debut post im sure. :)

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  14. :( i have heard of that tip but it was one of those things that i just knew to do it but never knew why i was doing it. now i know why... thanks for potentially saving some lives Rick! In return, you should sing for us. hahaha that doesn't make sense but we'd love to hear you sing!!!!!!

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  15. Anticipating your virgin singing attempt at Blogspot, Ric.

    And nope, I won't follow suit.

    I sound like a frog.
    Croak croak.

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  16. oh my gosh how sad! :'( I'm like typing this comment with tears in my eyes ...

    My parents have always told me this since before I even started driving for that exact same reason. And I'm always telling people that I'm in the car with.

    I actually kind of sound like my friends' parents or something because I'm always like "hey! put your seatbealt on!!" or "omg, you should slow down, what if a police drives by" lol I may pester, but for good reason.

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  17. LOL! I would consider singing on blogspot too! I've even considered and tried to make a video about my hauls and such...however, my hubby wants it to be more professional quality if I was to actually do it...

    As for the left turn warning...I never knew...but I barely drive...however, it's still useful knowledge! 8)

    <33 Rena

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  18. awful. :(

    I hate hearing sad stories, but this one gave us a lesson.

    Anyway, Im excited to see you singing here.:)

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  19. that's a sad story. It's a good lesson. I think there are so many bad drivers on the road especially taxi drivers, they annoy me so much!

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  20. That's such a sad story for a Monday Rick! I hope you had a good weekend. :)

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  21. thanks rick! my parents actually took me out for some gelato today and it was great! now if only i could drop effective hints about a spa day to my bf. hahaha!

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  22. It's so sad whenever we read of these 'freak accidents'. Like you said, many did it with no detrimental incidences.

    Btw, I'm looking forward to hear you sing. I've practically no idea at all about your voice or if you could even sing. So it's either I'll be wide-eyed wide-mouthed or I'll give you a rising applause.

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  23. i'll think of what you said when i'm taking my driving lessons ><

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