Oto Cars

A Reminder to take care on the roads out there,

accidents aren't fun,

people get hurt,

emergency service personnel are usually needed,

property gets damaged or destroyed,

what a waste time, resources, property and LIVES.

Slow down and pay attention, especially in the snow!

I was sitting in my back yard enjoying a nice sunny afternoon when a loud crash broke the dull whoosh of passing traffic.



I live on the corner at the intersection of a busy highway and a side street and unfortunately I see a lot of accidents right here.


Luckily, nobody was seriously injured in this crash although one lady was taken to Hospital for observation.



I don't know the exact details but I believe the Volvo driver was blinded by the sun while making a left turn and did not see the Mercedes.



In the eight years I have lived here, I have seen numerous serious crashes here including two that took out traffic light poles and one where a car flipped and did several barrel rolls.


Besides the human suffering resulting from a car crash, the financial cost can be tremendous, especially when large vehicles are involved.

The cost of commercial vehicle collisions can easily reach a half million dollars or more even when there are no injuries and can affect thousands of drivers with gridlock and detours.



In the end, the tow truck operators are the only ones that really benefit from a collision, let's put them out of business, . . . OK?

Drive to Arrive Alive!


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

Now you can listen to Pete Harris too

I don't know what caused this accident but it brings to mind the possibility of "Tanker Slosh"



Tankers may have baffles and different compartments to help stabilize their liquid load but just like loads shifting in an earlier post cargo that is in motion will tend to remain in motion.

If the driver makes an emergency move, the liquid may slosh about in the tank causing the driver to momentarily or totally lose control of the vehicle.

In the case of a tanker exiting a highway, if a car slowed quickly in front of this truck and he hit his breaks too quickly, half a second later the truck will lunge forward from the inertia of the liquid as it surges forward in tanks. If the truck is turning at a speed as on an exit ramp, that inertia could try to keep the truck going straight, and in this case it was straight into the ditch.

Whatever the cause, I suspect this driver may have been exiting a little too fast for the curve he was in.

Need I mention to leave lots of room for trucks especially if they are carrying gasoline and never brake hard in front of a truck, he may not be able to stop.


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, web animations or my Smoke Tree
You can listen to Pete Harris 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

Truck trailer plummets sixty feet off overpass and crushes 4 cars below killing one man.





I had to make my way around the massive congestion caused by this crash three times today with one trip passing right by the scene. My camera battery was dead when I drove past the scene though unfortunately, I had my camera on too long earlier taking the long distance shots shown here.





I have seen many many crashes over the years but never anything as dramatic as this one. The wreckage was more like a pile of scrap metal pushed across the road.






All together the westbound lanes were closed about twelve hours for the investigation and clean-up.

Beyond the human cost of the tragedy, can you imagine the other costs of this accident paralyzing the south west corner of the city the entire business day and into the evening.


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

Another case of a driver somehow being distracted when the brakes came on.



The pick up truck careened into the silver car thrusting the poor guy into the black SUV in front of him and shoving the SUV into a tractor trailer.




Highway driving requires constant concentration on the task of driving.

Momentary distractions can have a devastating outcome as traffic conditions can change in a split second.

Leave enough space for your reaction time plus a little extra to account for traffic behind you.


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

How did this happen?



Was he following too close?

Was he fiddling with some GPS gadget?

Was he making a call on a cell phone?

Was he trying to send a text message?

Was he too tired to be driving?

Was he suffering from a medical condition?

Was he looking for his next delivery information?



Was he distracted by something he saw?

Maybe he was checking out the architecture and marble work of this building when the brakes went on.

Could you imagine if there was a car between these trucks.





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

I've been driving a lot lately and seeing lots of things to post about but just no time left each day to do it.

Well today, after passing two highway accidents and one accident at an intersection, I was sitting at a stop light and a car behind me edged ahead and bumped into the liftgate of the truck I was driving.

Of course there's not a scratch on the truck, but the car didn't do as well. He took out the plastic headlight lens, put a small scratch on the hood and a big gouge on the front quarter panel.

The bad thing for him was that it was a Hertz rental and he didn't take out any insurance, ouch!

Ten minutes after that incident, I passed the truck rollover on a highway exit ramp I've been hearing about on the radio all day.

Please keep a safe distance and drive safe.

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