I put drowsy driving above drunk driving as the most unforgivable offense.
When you are drunk, your judgment is impaired and you make a stupid decision to drive.
If you are sleepy, you've got no impairment to blame. You are just an idiot.

Think of all the things you won't do because you are "too tired". I bet driving isn't high on that list for most of you.

 

Usually on long car trips with my buddies dad he will take it up to tripple digit speeds occasionally just to make sure he doesn't fall asleep... I don't know if thats safer or not but it is more fun.

 

Wow man. That's just terrible... i had some friends/family come up during that mess. I think they should be really thankful nothing like that happened.

 

hank God Cali passed the phone bill ban while driving.

 

Yeah, I hate it when people pay their bills while they are driving.

 

like someone said, drunk driving and drowsy driving in my mind... is pretty unforgivable (RG - sorry that happend to your sis and law) but people make choices and you have to live with them.

Now what the lady that drifted in the wrong lane was doing I dont know: but to speculate it could be she was ******* with her phone, daydreaming, fell asleep? I dont know but unless you have a seizure or heart attack or total system failure of your car... if you caused something like that I think thats horrible on their part. (assuming for argument) that the accident is caused by her negligence... her fuckup and idiocy has caused the lives of the people she hit to be changed forever. **** happens, but I will say this: people in general are stupid. I feel sorry for the VICTIMS in this case - the people that were minding their own business and going along peacefully. Depending on what exacly the lady who caused the accident was doing at the time - may or may not (im leaning towards not) cause me to feel any sympathy for her/him at all.

 

In the case of my sister in law, a normal 2 1/2 hour drive to Austin from Houston was over 19 due to bumper to bumper traffic during the evacuation. I was in the traffic for a few hours and I can say that it wasn't possible to move anywhere. For most of the time you weren't moving at all and couldn't get your car out anywhere if you tried. It was a unique circumstance. The sad thing was that she was only about 15 minutes away from her destination. She even stopped to sleep for an hour when she could get off of the road. She was barely moving when she crossed the centerline. Only about 15 mph or so. The oncoming semi was doing about 55 though.

Driving tired definitely isn't the most responsible thing to do. I am even guilty of it and have gotten very lucky on one occasion that could have gone bad. If you can pull over and rest or have the option of stopping somewhere to rest or maybe not even leave home, you should. Last year was a fluke and hundreds of thousands of people on those roads were suffering from the same fatigue. More people died in car accidents leaving the storm than actually died in the storm itself.

There are many distractions that can cause you to veer off course. It doesn't take much and it doesn't take more than a second or 2 to turn a normal drive into a very bad situation. Reaching for a drink, eating, dialing a phone number, changing CD's, etc can all potentially lead to a bad situation. How many of use do at least one of these things every single time we get in a car? I do.

 

I don't. Phone is off, I don't eat in the car, I have a 4500 MP3 collection on random that I can control with the steering wheel buttons (though I tend to drive with no music - it is too distracting).
In fact, I plan every trip around being completely in control of the car.
Whenever I need to drive great distances or at weird times, I plan for plenty of sleep beforehand and stops for meals, breaks, rest, etc.

Then again, I take driving very seriously. I don't put it in the same catagory with TV and fast food like most people here.

 

Same here. I take driving very seriously. I consider my car a weapon and I handle it as such, with great responsibility. No phones, I prohibit people from talking to me if at all possible when I'm at the wheel, I have no dangling crap hanging from my rearview mirror, and so on.

 

Damn, thats some pretty sad stuff. Hopefully all the people involved will make a full recovery

 

brutal. i cant believe you were able to watch that happen. unbelieveable.

 

Its was crazy and being directly behind the person just made it that much more horrific.

 

I don't believe anyone who claims to have absolute complete control and attention while driving 100% of the time. It doesn't happen. That's like saying your mind never wanders and you never think of anything else while driving other than driving. Even if you can focus all of your attention to the job at hand 99% of the time, That 1% might be the time something happens. No one is perfect. 100% attention the entire time is perfect.

 

^^ That is absolutely true.
However, many (if not most) drivers on the road give the actual act of driving about 20% of their attention.
For most, the actual at of driving is something to be endured and they look for any possible distraction to relieve them of the tedium.

 

Unfortunately in the US, drivers license requirements are not as strict as other countries.

 

ppl who drive like that should (a) get their licenses revoked permanently (b) get their auto insurance cancelled.

 

They say flying is statistically the safest form of travel. If all drivers had as much training as pilots, perhaps driving wouldn't be at a statistical disadvantage.

 

Actually they say Train travel is...but we'll let that one slide

 

Yeah, we definitely need to do something about our Crackerjack-box licensing requirements. There are TONS of people out there who shouldn't be driving - just make them (try to) retake the test - problem solved.

Just yesterday, I was going through a traffic circle down the street and this lady just STOPPED for no reason between two lanes in the middle of the circle, forcing one person to swerve around her. She was totally oblivious to the world and clearly lost. She had NO idea that she was causing any sort of problem. That's the most dangerous kind of driver you can have. And we get to share the roads with them.

 

I remember when I got my driver's license. I was happy that they had just done away with the parallel parking test and only had to have the cop ride along. I'm an ace at parallel parking now! Of course I also had to pass the written (computer) test too. That was after I took defensive driving. Now here in Texas, kids can get their license after taking defensive driving and only passing the computer section. No more driving test. That's crap. I see too many kids around that can't drive for crap. I'm sure I wasn't the greatest back then either but at least I had to get practice with my parents before I took the test. I think they should bring back the driving test and change the minimum driving age to 18.

 

Unique circumstance is right. I had many friends & family members come up from Houston to stay in and around Austin while that absolute insanity was happening. 18-24 hours was common. The stories were crazy - little help, no gasoline, cars broken down. She was obviously just trying to get her son to some place safe, and get out of a very bad situation. I am truly sorry that happened.

 

OMGWTF was she thinking? Its a double line!!! Hope they site her *** for the wreck.

 

Ouch on that accident was sic.. oddly enough my accident in April the car that crashed into me was a CRV. The woman was on her cellphone had a friend in the drivers seat and a 2 year old (if not younger) in the back seat. She just put her blinker on and went into my lane (the right one) saddest thing was there was no one infront of her or really behind her to cause her to switch lanes. I was driving a Chevy W/T 1500 so needless to say I dont really fit into any blind spots. These shots were taken right afterward. Not as graphic as the orginal op's accident photo's but the point is made I think.
Additional info, I was going around 40-50mph, my truck has no airbags, bought new brakes and rotors 3 weeks before hand, and my truck was totaled while the CRV changed a tire and drove away. Oh and I ended up pushing the CRV around the front of my truck, was like it was outa the Matrix haha!




As much as my back still hurts I still wish to jokinly thank the woman for being stupid young and on her cellphone 'cause it allowed me to buy the 8!