Oto Cars

Whoa . . . What was that?


A race car flying up US 1


I saw him coming up very quickly from behind me as I was entering the left turn lane, he passed so fast that these are the best shots I could get even though I was stopped and my camera was right beside me.


See other photos at donssite.com, my photo blog or see Truck photos, optical illusions or web animations

More on road safety at http://www.ezee.ca
Forklift Safety at liftright.net
Listen to Pete Harris while you surf.

I've seen a lot of stupid moves on the highway by a lot of people that should not be allowed on the highway but a couple of nights ago I saw what absolutely had to be tops in stupidity and the most dangerous stunt I've ever seen.

I was driving along in a construction zone at night in fairly heavy traffic where 3 traffic lanes were re-aligned several times over a couple of miles. The lanes shifted suddenly along the stretch with uneven pavement and poorly marked lanes.



Suddenly, a motorcycle passed me doing a wheelie at about 75 miles an hour in the inside lane. That IDIOT was followed by a Honda Civic passing me in the outside lane swerving in and out of traffic with about twenty seven kids hanging out the windows shooting videos with their cell phones. I guess it will be all over youtube by now, maybe I can find it and include it in a follow up post.

This stunt could have turned fatal so quickly in so many ways.

The motorcycle was totaly invisible to me as it approached because his headlight was pointing upward, he continued on passing a number of other cars after me. He passed me where the lanes shifted and the uneven pavement shifted across each lane at an angle and where the lanes were not clearly marked. I could have drifted in front of him without realizing and it would look like it was my fault.

I wonder if any of those kids would volunteer their videos if there was an accident.

More on road safety at http://www.ezee.ca
Forklift Safety at liftright.net
See Truck photos or my other photos at donssite.com
and my photo blog or see optical illusions or web animations

This accident may have been a case of driver fatigue or perhaps health related.

The tracks leaving the road were gradual and straight with no skid marks at all.

The area where it occurred is near the end of a very long stretch of highway bordered only by fields and wooded areas for miles, a fertile area for tunnelvision to occur.

Drive Safe

More on Road Safety or on Forklift Safety or Optical Illusions, Web Animations, My Photography, or Truck Photos.

Oh yeah, you can check out my Smoke Tree too.

Another victim of the last winter blast . . . or was it?


The tracks from this truck were straight as the road started to take a gentle
bend. Maybe the driver was suffering from fatigue or tunnel vision and did not notice the bend till it was too late.

This region is notorious for white outs, so perhaps the driver could not see the bend in the road.

The driver may have been trying to look through a dirty or snow covered windshield.

Whatever the reason, the damage is done and it becomes another learning opportunity and an example of winter hazards drivers deal with in northern a climate.


More on road safety at http://www.ezee.ca
Forklift Safety at liftright.net
See Truck photos or my other photos at donssite.com
and my photo blog or see optical illusions or web animations

That's it, No More!


I don't know where this cold white stuff came from, I was sure it was gone for the year.

I spent all day Sunday outside doing spring stuff in reasonably warm weather then suddenly back into snow and cold.

I heard something like 400 accidents reported on local news, how quickly people forget how treacherous snow and ice can be.

DRIVE SAFE!

More on road safety at http://www.ezee.ca
Forklift Safety at liftright.net
See Truck photos or my other photos at donssite.com
and my photo blog or see optical illusions or web animations

One of the hazards of winter driving are little (and not so little) chunks of ice from the tops of trucks and trailers. In this photo there are lots of little chunks of ice that just blew off the top of a truck maybe 1/4 mile ahead and the are all still moving and bouncing around amongst the traffic.



These little pieces of ice may not be too dangerous for vehicle control but they can do a number on a paint job, like stone chips, another thing auto insurance doesn't really cover well because of the deductible.

The big chunks can be extremely dangerous or even deadly, they can be large enough and heavy enough to go right through a windshield if struck at high speed.

A large layer of ice formed on a trailer can be a foot thick or more and can be as much as eight feet wide and twenty or more feet long.

A large chunk of ice can fly off a truck without any warning and break into a number of large damaging chunks that you can not avoid, unless of course you leave a good safe distance between vehicles.

Just another reason to keep your distance on the highway and keep your car insurance paid up.

More on road safety at http://www.ezee.ca
Forklift Safety at liftright.net
See Truck photos or my other photos at donssite.com
or see optical illusions or web animations

It was a pretty wet day today and the rain caused havoc in traffic all over.

I saw several weather related accidents today.




There was a car overturned in a ditch after sliding on wet pavement that slowed traffic down a bit.

Then a few miles down the road was a big mess for several hours where a bus and truck tangled leaving the bus in the ditch.


Slow down in poor weather conditions.

No tires can grip a wet road anywhere near as good as a dry road especially when the road is "greasy" with traces of various automotive fluids and road dirt mixed with the rain.




More on road safety at http://www.ezee.ca
Forklift Safety at liftright.net
See Truck photos or my other photos at donssite.com
or see optical illusions or web animations

There are road rage incidents happening all around these days but this time it's deadly.

Yesterday in the early morning an incident in Milton Ontario caused a fatal accident when a car cut in front of this SUV and slammed on his brakes.

The SUV driver hit the median wall and rolled while trying to avoid the car and was ejected and killed.

Unfortunately, However trajic and unnecessary this accident was, it won't effect many people's habits after a few days when the news stories calm down.

Drivers need to relax, leave a little more space between vehicles and be a little more considerate of other drivers needs. It's stressful enough for most people just driving on the highways not to mention the dangers of radical actions taken in the heat of a moment when someone gets pissed off at another driver.

More on road safety at http://www.ezee.ca
Forklift Safety at liftright.net
Or see my photos at donssite.com

I spend a lot of time on busy highways all day and I'm seeing more and more driver distractions develop.

I commute one hour into the city in my car in the morning, drive a truck intercity through the day then commute one hour home to the burbs in my car.

From my car, I see what everyone sees, lots of drivers talking on cell phones, some drivers eating or drinking, maybe putting on makeup or fixing hair.

From the truck though, I can see that drivers aren't just reading the newspaper and eating cereal, they are absorbed in their Blackberrys or trying to "text" on a cell phone or type into their laptop while they drive.

Between adjusting the music, talking on the phone, dealing with kids in the back seat or a thousand other distractions, it's amazing that there aren't many more accidents on the roads and highways.

More on road safety at http://www.ezee.ca
Forklift Safety at liftright.net
Or see my photos at donssite.com

A couple of weeks ago I heard someones life change forever.

Early on a rainy morning I walked outside to take out the trash and I heard two thuds that sounded like hitting a metal trash can with a baseball bat.

I walked out to the road but I couldn't see anything and traffic was moving by normally so I went back in the house.

Then a couple of minutes later I heard a siren, I rushed out and saw a Police car arriving to join a fire truck and ambulance a block down the street.

I started walking down the street then saw that the stop light in the southern median was on the ground in the middle of the intersection.

A bystander said the driver was in pretty rough shape which was understandable after looking at the accident scene.

The really unfortunate thing is that it keeps happening.



I've seen the stop light in front of my house taken out three times in the last two years and twice they rolled over after hitting median curb. (Above)

I can't help thinking, Maybe it's time for suspended stop lights.

More on road safety at http://www.ezee.ca
Forklift Safety at liftright.net
Or see my photos at donssite.com

There is a dangerous behavior I encounter occasionally while driving a truck past highway entry ramps. Vehicles entering the highway racing past the end of the on ramp to get in front of the truck.

A guy in a pick up truck did it today when I was already going 60 mph in solid traffic, he almost clipped me as he passed then instantly slammed on his brakes to avoid hitting the car in front of me when the shoulder narrowed and he had to merge.


Luckily I wasn't carrying an unstable load because I had to hit my brakes to avoid hitting him.

He has stolen MY SAFETY SPACE and could have potentially caused a serious accident.

Some people just don't get it when it comes to road safety.

Road Safety tips at http://www.ezee.ca
Forklift Safety at liftright.net
or see my photos at donssite.com

Well, I was heading into work today in heavy traffic bound for Toronto when I started to feel this sickening feeling "in the seat of my pants" then the dreaded sound like a small propeller driven airplane. A rapid flat tire, and I'm in the middle lane going 50 mph.

As I begin slowing and manage to get into the right lane, I see there's nowhere to go. No shoulder whatsoever but an entry ramp is coming up in about a quarter of a mile so I kept going to the ramp and got off as far as I could. Then got out and looked at my chewed up tire.

I don't get flat tires very often, so I wasn't really prepared to deal with it. The spare tire is mounted under the van, WHAT A STUPID PLACE to put the spare, rusted into place, there's no way I'm getting it off so I had to get towed in to get a new tire.

Luckily, (the only good thing about my day) Canadian Tire covered it and another tire under their road hazard warranty.

So, I get to work about three hours late, but at least I got there.

Things could have been much worse, It could have been snowing or raining, it could have been my front tire, I could have been going much faster and It could have caused an accident.

It goes to show that you have to be ready for anything while you are driving, you can never "let your guard down" in highway traffic.

Drive Safe,

Safe driving tips at http://ezee.ca
Forklift Safety at http://liftright.net
or see my photos at http://donssite.com

Legislation was tabled Wednesday at Queens Park, to make speed limiters mandatory for all Transport Trucks traveling through Ontario.

Trucks would be limited to 105 Kph or about 65 Mph as an absolute maximum speed.

What most people won't immediately realize is that this is going to limit the speed of all traffic and cause enormous bottlenecks on long stretches of two lane highways like 401 from Windsor to London because trucks won't be able to pass each other anymore so they will run down the road side by side at their top speed of 105.

Meanwhile, the car traffic that likes to drive 110 to 120 Kph or more will be sitting behind trucks that can't pass each other.

What do you think?

Am I wrong?

Any Opinions?

I was out on the highway tonight for an hour or so, it was pretty yucky out with a little light snow but everyone was behaving nicely for the conditions and the volume of traffic, everyone was traveling around the speed limit and it was nice smooth sailing.

Everyone that is, except for one fool driving a cube van about 40 MPH in the slow lane of a three lane highway. With the slight reduction in visibility from the snow, the highway turns instantly to a sea of brake lights and turn signals with a half dozen 18 wheelers trying to get around this guy.

I don't know if he had mechanical problems or if he had a heavy or unstable load but there are several alternate parallel roads he could take if either were the case, the weather conditions surely didn't warrant his slow speed.

What a screw up this guy was, I know the driving conditions weren't perfect but his reduced speed in the volume of traffic that was driving 60MPH puts so many people at risk due to the number of evasive actions upcoming traffic is forced into making.

Once again another reason some people should not be allowed to drive anything on the highway.

More on safety at http://www.ezee.ca

Well the winter blast of snow and ice we got before Xmas has melted away with the recent warm weather we've had. Now you can see all the ugly stuff that was hiding in the snow piles. There is a good size chunk of concrete that the snowplow left at the bottom of my driveway, looking down the road from my house I don't see anything missing so I have no idea where he got it. I just hope the city picks it up.

When the snow first arrives each year, it seems like all the fools want to go play in the snow. There are so many accidents and cars in the ditches, you wonder how it can happen when traffic is just creeping along. Does everyone forget how to drive in the snow?

SLOW DOWN, KEEP YOUR DISTANCE! and maybe you'll stay out of the ditch. It's too bad the authorities can't come up with a way to test drivers in winter conditions before issuing their license, it would be a lot safer out there.

Now that the snow and ice are gone, speeds have gone back to normal on the roads and highways. Unfortunately with the increased speeds come increased damage and injuries if there is an accident. With higher speeds, you need to increase your following distance to allow room for safety.

Remember that anything can happen anywhere and anytime so be aware of what is behind you and what is beside you as well as traffic ahead of you. Keep a mental picture of where vehicles are in your blind spots, they may be there for a while and if you forget that they are there and change lanes, you may just end up as another statistic.

More on ROAD SAFETY at http://www.ezee.ca