Alice's Adventures Through the Windshield Glass

On my way to work this morning I was in a traffic collision. The roads here are terrible because there isn't enough average rainfall to wash away all of the oil buildup from cars' daily wear. So when there is a light rain, like this morning, the roads become super slick. The downhill sections of roads that you normally pay no mind become the most dangerous slip-n-slide ever. The problem is expectations and not thinking about your actions and how they affect others.

A minivan in front of me suddenly slammed on its breaks (I don't know why) and I had to slam on mine to avoid smashing into the back of it. My ABS came on and did a marvelous job stopping my car. That system is sweet. If I was in my old S-10 or Caprice Classic, I would have ripped through the minivan like tinfoil (well, maybe not in the S-10). So that was all fine and good, but then I looked in my rear view mirror to see someone who couldn't avoid hitting me.

It was like the moment atop the first drop on a roller coaster - you sit there for a few seconds in dreadful anticipation. Except this time it was only a fraction of a second, and it is amazing to me how my mind drew that out. Anyway, BAM, I was hit and that was that. The van in front of me must have decided not to turn or that the shiny thing in the road wasn't a baby carriage, after all. It drove away very nonchalantly, as if nothing had happened. It's probably not fair of me to blame the van, but I will anyway. There are many lessons here, but a big one is to be more considerate of other people when suddenly braking for no good reason.

But the other main lesson, suffered by the lady behind me, is to allow enough room to stop. She wasn't following too closely by normal standards. We were in a perfect storm, if you will. The speed limit is 45, but the hill is a steep grade similar to Mississippi Street from Jayhawk Blvd for those of you familiar with Lawrence streets. The water and oil made the road as slick as ice. Her wheels were turned to try to get into the other lane, but she continued forward just the same. This is a result of Newton's First Law of Motion.

Neither of us were injured in the collision, mostly because of modern safety design in cars. It used to be that a very common cause of death in an automobile collision was a result of the driver being impaled on the steering column. They finally made seat belts mandatory and designed collapsible columns. Seat belts prevent you from not only mangling yourself against the dashboard and flying through the windshield, but also from eviscerating yourself internally. When your car strikes something whilst going 45-55 mph, it usually slows down to almost zero in an instant. Thus your body does the same. When it strikes the dashboard, your organs move forward at the same speed as they were traveling, and can get crushed or squished or cut in half by ligaments. This is a possible reason why Princess Diana died - internal bleeding.

So think about that the next time you don't wear a seat belt. Oh, and they aren't just for protecting you, they are for protecting the other people in the car. If you fly from the back seat into the front seat, you risk disfiguring the pretty face of whatever handsome or beautiful person is riding shotgun. They are, of course, sitting up front because they are prettier than you. But not for long.

Also, people don't consciously think about the possibility of getting into an auto accident when they get into a car. You shouldn't, really. But being prepared for that dangerous eventuality is a good idea. Seat belt-wearing is an easily-acquired and unconscious habit for most people. However, almost 25% of the U.S. car-riding population doesn't do this. I know a woman who says that she doesn't because she never has and doesn't want to start. Besides, she says, the seat belt would wrinkle her shirt.

For your edification, here is a bitchin' educational film about a manly fighter pilot and his penchant for safety...seatbelt safety. If anything, watch it for the production value: the awesome narrator, the classy orchestral score, the heavy-handed morals, and the horrible wrecks of unsafe cars. Any disturbing images are too small to offend.