Better it is to be patient on the road than to be a patient in the hospital (home)
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I was driving home tonight, and it was rainy and foggy outside, so I took it a bit slow to compensate for the limited visibility. Anyone who tries to be a defensive driver knows that you don't want to over-drive your headlights—if the distance you can see ahead is less than your stopping distance (reaction distance plus braking distance), then whatever you see in the road is what you are going to hit! So I was only probably doing about 40 or average, slower when the fog got thicker in some places.
It amazes me how some people will take risks in these kind of conditions: passing on double lines, at hill-crests, and around blind curves!
We're Mainers, we are supposed to have common-sense when it comes to driving in inclement weather, since we have so much of it, but so many people seem to allow their familiarity with bad weather to lead to over-confidence in their own abilities to drive in it! I don't care how good of a driver you are; if you can only see 50 feet ahead of you, and you're going 55 miles per hour (about 80 feet per second), then you will hit whatever you see before your foot even touches the brake pedal! That applies whether it's foggy or not (like going over a hill or around a blind curve)!
Skillful driving in inclement weather includes knowing when to slow down. An emergency room visit will waste a lot more of your time than slowing down 10 miles an hour. Even over a 100 mile drive, the difference in 45 miles per hour over 55 is only about 24 minutes! But a wreck with a moose could land you in the hospital for days or weeks—or worse, you might end up in the back of a hearse instead of an ambulance!
Be safe out there, everyone! I'm sure you all know enough not to speed through the fog, but I wanted to vent; there are a lot of crazies on the road!
I was driving home tonight, and it was rainy and foggy outside, so I took it a bit slow to compensate for the limited visibility. Anyone who tries to be a defensive driver knows that you don't want to over-drive your headlights—if the distance you can see ahead is less than your stopping distance (reaction distance plus braking distance), then whatever you see in the road is what you are going to hit! So I was only probably doing about 40 or average, slower when the fog got thicker in some places.
It amazes me how some people will take risks in these kind of conditions: passing on double lines, at hill-crests, and around blind curves!
We're Mainers, we are supposed to have common-sense when it comes to driving in inclement weather, since we have so much of it, but so many people seem to allow their familiarity with bad weather to lead to over-confidence in their own abilities to drive in it! I don't care how good of a driver you are; if you can only see 50 feet ahead of you, and you're going 55 miles per hour (about 80 feet per second), then you will hit whatever you see before your foot even touches the brake pedal! That applies whether it's foggy or not (like going over a hill or around a blind curve)!
Skillful driving in inclement weather includes knowing when to slow down. An emergency room visit will waste a lot more of your time than slowing down 10 miles an hour. Even over a 100 mile drive, the difference in 45 miles per hour over 55 is only about 24 minutes! But a wreck with a moose could land you in the hospital for days or weeks—or worse, you might end up in the back of a hearse instead of an ambulance!
Be safe out there, everyone! I'm sure you all know enough not to speed through the fog, but I wanted to vent; there are a lot of crazies on the road!
I hope there are many more people out there with this attitude toward driving and safety!!
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