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Fatal Combination Stop Signs and Tailgating
How many of us have blown through a stop sign? How many of us have followed a bit too close to the vehicle in front? How many of us have seen a fatal car accident?
Yesterday I was on my way to pick my daughter up from work. We live in the country, I was on a secondary highway. This was in the afternoon, perfect weather, clear skies, sunny day. The highway is straight, visibility is excellent.
Along the highway I could see temporary traffic signs “Police Barricade Ahead”, “Slow to 50km”, “Detour Ahead”. I soon reached an intersection and told the officer where I was headed. He directed me which detour to take, it was clear that there had been an accident ahead, I said “I hope nobody was hurt”, he replied “Worse than that I am afraid”, implying at least one fatality.
I turned onto another road to make my way around the detour, I was going 90km (the speed limit was 100km, 60mph), obviously driving a bit slow in light of what happened, and the fact I was on a detour and would soon be turning again. 2 Vehicles sped past, crossing a solid yellow line (no passing), going at least 110km or more.
When I arrived to pick my daughter up I asked around if anyone knew what happened. The answer was not good.
It seems (this is not an official report) that one vehicle ran a stop sign, a semi on the highway swerved to avoid hitting it, jack-knifing itself, and at that point a car following the semi went underneath the rig – taking the top off the car, and probably the people inside… not a pretty picture. Again I am not sure if this is exactly what happened, and will update this if I find out the details are different.
When you see a Stop sign, it means Stop! It its not a video game of chance where you can try to race the massive semi truck. There is no reason to tailgate, the one second further ahead you are on the road will not make a difference unless the vehicle in front of you has to stop suddenly.
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August 22, 2011
Not sure why people put their lives at stake, as it’s better to be late than never!
August 22, 2011
Wow! From the description, this is a fatal accident. People drive like maniacs. They run stop signs, red lights, cut in front of youwithout their turning signals etc. Too many aggressive drivers who don’t have the patience to drive at the speed limit. I think the Department of Motor Vehicle should require a mandatory driving course in a classroom of course before allowing people to renew their license. Too many irresponsible drivers out there putting the rest of us in danger.