User wrote: : In article , : tay snipped-for-privacy@worldnet.att.net says... :> Letter to Volvo: :> :> How grateful I feel to be able to write this letter. Four days ago my :> wife and I walked away from a 50 MPH "sandwich" crash. Bumps and bruises :> and the knowledge that safety matters are all that remains (besides the :> empty garage) of this incident. :> :> Driving south on the busy 57 freeway at 10:30 AM on a clear day doesn't :> sound hazardous, but when smoke poured off the tires of a car two cars :> in front of my wife and I in our 1994 850T the icy realization of danger :> hit hard and fast. The car in front of us dived in panicked braking, I :> hit the brakes and heard the reassuring thumping of the ABS as we ground :> to a halt only a foot or so from the car in front. We were safe?then the :> world exploded. The front airbags detonated, billowing powder and gas as :> the windshield shattered and the both the front and rear of the car :> crumpled. We had been hit from behind at 50 MPH and driven into the car :> in front. :> :> I looked over to see my wife, her glasses askew on her face, a small cut :> on her nose and an enormous bag lying on her lap. She was fumbling for :> the window switch as I asked her if she was alright. She said "I think :> so" as, at a touch the window rolled down. I shut off the engine and :> opened my door to clear the dust out of the interior. We both got out :> and walked carefully to the rear as cars whizzed past both sides of this :> strange, smoking tableau. :> :> The car behind had driven our car in front of us 50 yards down the :> freeway. Dazed, bruised and confused, everyone was out of their cars and :> the Highway patrol was on the way. :> :> What happened is still unclear, but what is clear are several essential :> facts: 1) My beloved 850 stopped straight as a string (thank you ABS, :> for keeping me in my lane) 2) The rear crumple zone did its job and :> probably saved the life of the young man who drove into us as well 3) :> The 850 absorbed nearly all the force, but we were protected from :> serious harm. 4) The combination of the seat backs, headrests, seatbelts :> and airbags gave protection from the severe whipping that occurred from :> the double hit (back then front) 5) A Volvo saved the lives of my wife :> and myself :> :> It is also remarkable that the car could even move, but it did, the :> engine restarted and ran well (after the muffler exploded since the :> tailpipe had been crushed). The electric windows worked and all the :> doors opened so we could get out :> :> To say this car is a total loss is sad, since it will always be the most :> precious thing I have ever owned. :> :> We still have our 1989 744T, though a car my wife simply will not part :> with. : : Congratulations on your survival.
: However the most important benefit of ABS is that it gives you ability : to steer the car while undergoing severe near thresh-hold braking. : Unfortunately, few people have had either the training or otherwise : acquired the skill needed to execute the brake and turn maneuver that is : required to save the car in exactly your situation.
: I don't endorse any particular driving school, but all the major : competition schools offer an accident avoidance training session. It can : be a one or two day affair, with lots of track time and tons of training : in various highway driving techniques. These are exactly the same as you : would use in competetion but practiced at beginner speed: focus, car : position awareness (relative to other cars), brake and turn, off road : recovery, thresh-hold braking, car position (placement on the pavement, : using what you are given), corner entry and exit techniques, : interpretation of steering inputs, braking inputs and a lot more.
: Now that you've experienced what the car CAN do it's a perfect : opportunity to garner some more technique and discover what YOU can do. : The reality is that since you had the time to execute a perfectly : controlled panic stop to 0 mph without contacting anything, then you : really did have the time to execute a drive around slowing to maybe as : little as 25 mph and not hit anything nor be hit from behind.
: If this seems condescending it's not meant to be. It's just that in the : Americas there is simply no such thing as driver training for the : masses. Stop on the red go on the green and good luck in between is : about it. Oh, and always stop for a school bus. If anything arises : outside of clear, daylit, dry, straight road you're on your own to : develop successful techniques or strategies. All of which is a hame : because the techniques and strategies are well known, just not required : for a general public driving license.
: I'll get off my soapbox now. Once again congratulations on your : survival. It's a shame about the car.
: Bob
you ARE absolutely right! i've been driving volvos since the early 60s and while avoiding bad scenes, it is still #1, the tweaking to avoid potentially bad scenes remains my #2 concern... i've seen, oh so many rear/front collapsed volvos in junk yards... all ending-well for the driver, i still remain concerned on how to avoid even these collisions... so. *where*? can a good, consciencious driver go to learn maximum avoidance strategies? that should be on all our minds. I remain in awe, about what-to-do if i see black tire smoke from panic brakes in front of me... oh, yea, i'll just slow-down to 20mph and swerve out of the way... nice thought! but it's frightening!!!
: -- : The goal when driving is to miss the maximum number of objects.