A Car’s Weakest Point

A Car’s Weakest Point

The other Day I saw a Sign that read, a Car’s Weakest Part is the Nut holding the Steering wheel. At first I thought they were talking about the Nut that holds the Steering Wheel to the Shaft that’s connected to the Rack and Pinion, the integral component of the Steering Mechanism. Then I thought to myself, that isn’t the thought that’s being conferred. They are taking about, the Nut Driving the Car, holding the Steering Wheel. When I took Sensitivity Training, it specifically told you that you should not call a Crazy Person a Nut, it only Infuriates them. Also I believe that the Human Mind is so Fragile that any of us could fall Prey to Mental Illness. My Definition of a Nut is someone who Knows right from Wrong, yet they choose the latter. Someone who choose to play the Fool is a Nut.

Nowhere else in Life that people  play the Fool more than when they get behind the Wheel. Well my Friend I have tried every method of Communication and it doesn’t work. I have always Maintained that if you speak to People Intelligently and the act the Fool, you treat them Accordingly. So there you have it I am well within my Rights calling you a Nut for all the foolish things you do when you are behind the Wheel. Yesterday Twelve Noon on what I consider to be a Rural Road, Fifteen Feet from an Intersection. Someone Driving a Brand New Camaro, waited until I was within Twenty feet of the Intersection. I was Travelling at Fifty MPH, the Nut took the turn causing a near miss.

Both Cars with a combined value of Seventy Thousand Dollars almost went to the Junk Yard. That kind of Mentality is nothing short of being a Nut. That makes him or her the weakest part of the Car. Even though Today’s Cars no matter how Expensive, with the Finest Technology incorporated, they use the most Inexpensive material that they can find to make the Body. Bumpers made of Plastic and Styrofoam, Engine and Transmission made from Aluminum and the rest of it from ridiculously cheap Steel with no Density. That makes it a Death Trap at Fifty MPH. Yet every Nut out there drives them in a mindless fashion. The other Night going Home I came upon a Strip Mall with a Life Flight Helicopter and about Fifty Emergency and Patrol Cars. When it gets like that People are Gravely injured, clinging to Life or already Dead. What gets me about situations like that is that a Thousand other Nuts drive pass a Bad accident and draws no conclusions that it’s bad Driving that causes Catastrophic Accidents.

And so they just drive by Rubbernecking with  a mindless gaze and on their way, until it’s thei’r turn to take that Helicopter ride or be carried away in a Body Bag. Another Time while Traveling the Pennsylvania Turnpike, a Road where Nuts maintain a steady Eighty and even One Hundred. It was early Afternoon, Hours before Rush Hour. I came around a Bend and the Roadway was a Parking Lot. It took Three Hours before the Traffic started inching at a Snail’s pace forward. While waiting I noticed the Helicopter hovering then landed on the Highway. When I finally made it to the Accident Scene, all those who were involved in the Two Car Devastation were already transported by the Helicopter. By the look of both Vehicles, anyone who Lived were on borrowed Time. It appears that a SUV had made an Illegal U- Turn on a Roadway where no One Obeyed the Speed limit. The Vehicle that caused the Catastrophe suffered extensive Damages to the left rear quarter panel. The rear door was battered open, on the seat was a Bloodied white Teddy Bear, it’s owner was on the Helicopter. I asked myself what kind of a Nut would use a Police speed trap to make a U Turn on a Turnpike, with his whole Family in the Car. Well there you have it in a Catastrophic Wreck, the weakest part of the Car is the Nut holding the Wheel. I will forever be quoting Einstein ” The true Definition of a Fool, is someone who do things the same way, each time looking for different results”. That makes you a Nut.

This is Rush Hour on Ulmerton Road

Speed Kills

 

 

 

The Seventh Sign of Madnes

I don’t feel like researching the other six, so I will just deal with the Seventh. It appears that Motion is part of our Metabolism. One Month old we cry and our Mother rocks us and we stop crying. Three Months old and some of us are thrashing into mobility. Six Months old and no One can keep us in park. When we take our First step we are running. From there on speed is in our Blood. We ride our Tricycles at breakneck speeds, our Bicycles to the point of breaking Bones. Speed is now deep Rooted in our Persona. No One has ever told us speeding into Disaster was nothing short of sheer Madness. So we continue this form of Madness into Adulthood.

When I was Eight years old I started figuring that there were something Deathly wrong with Speeding. My older Cousin started riding Motorcycles early in his Life. The Numerous times that I had seen him wearing Casts on his Arms, Leg and even full Body Cast, cured me of every wanting to ride a Motorcycle. Neck braces were a part of his Fashion. My Cousin grew up to be an Electrical Engineer, he could afford to buy all the Killer 🚲 Bikes his little Heart desired, and so did he. I was certain that a Crash would kill him. However it wasn’t a Motorcycle Crash that did it, but a Crash nonetheless. If speeding towards your Death or Someone else’s isn’t Madness, then I am Insane for thinking so. I live in the Greater Tampa Area of the U.S.A.

Since moving here Seven years ago the Death Toll from Motorcycle crashes steadily approach Two Hundred. Pedestrian Deaths by Vehicular Homicide surpasses Motorcycle Deaths. Automobile Deaths are in the Thousands. Ninety Percent of the Times, Speed is the only factor. I am living in an Asylum. Three Days ago another Fatality, a Motorcyclist doing wheelies at high speed. Two Days ago several Blocks from my House, a Mother crossing the Street, watched her Seven years old run over by a Speeding Ninja. He Died at the Hospital, the Hit and Run Rider later turned himself in. He lived One Block from my House. The Boys Death brought relief for me. One less Mad Man off my Street. The Street I live on bears the Name of a Boulevard.

It appears that every Idiot in my Neighborhood believes that a Thirty M.P.H. Boulevard is the place to pop your Lifters at Three A.M. there is no Doubt in my Mind that this Mad Man was one of those Idiots who woke me from a sound sleep doing Ninety in a 30 M.P.H. Zone. The Cars, they also shows no mercy. If operating your Vehicles at Break Neck speeds are the only way to get your Jollies, then you my Friend have Teetered the Axis of Sanity. The worst Trait that I find in People, is the inability of Self-Evaluation, Self-Analysis of one’s Daily Life. Doing things the same way every Time, each Time looking for different Results is the single most Important Marker of Madness. It’s a shame that Einstein’s Philosophies are Thought from Kindergarten to Postgraduates. We start out doing things wrong and we continue doing them wrong all through our Lives. Even when we hurt ourselves and others, sometimes our actions causes Fatalities, yet we saw nothing wrong in our behavior.

 

 

 

Related

Click Link for Official Story

Motorcyclist jailed for deadly Port Richey hit-and-run crash | wtsp.com

 

https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/crime/pasco-county-child-hit-and-run/67-ea6e5a9f-74c6-4d68-aa69-9081786cb903

Blogging My Life Away

 

Solitude

 

 

Blogging My Life Away

Seven years ago I made an impromptu move to Florida. One Month prior to the move I communicated with my superiors about my intentions to leave my Job. I asked them if they could arrange a transfer, It was not properly Orchestrated. My Supervisor at that time was a very Haphazard Person, I should have realized her Ineptness. Unbeknownst to her that I was talking about her, I once told her that I could spot a Slacker one Mile in the Fog. She repudiated the thought, thinking that I was just kidding. Just before I left Pennsylvania She got Promoted to Regional Manager. I said to myself, the Company made a big mistake promoting her to that Level, she is not qualified. Six months after I moved to Florida with no Job waiting for me, she was fired, for the Ineptness that no one else saw.

Being a Happening Person, I have always believed that it was better to make Fifty Cents per Hour, than Zero Cents per Hour. My reasoning for that is, while you are unemployed, you still need Cigarette and Gas Money. By bringing the same level of Energy everyday, I located one of the Company’s Subsidiarys in Tampa. They offered me a Job as a Valet. Remembering that Pride cometh before a fall, I took the Job. While parking many High End Cars, including Rools, Maseratis and top of the line Mercedes Benz. I noticed how Callous many of my Coworkers were handling quarter Million Dollars Cars. It was then that I realized that bad Drivers outnumbered good Drivers by an Astronomical disproportionate Number.

It was then that I realized that a Safe Driving Blog was calling my name. Even though I knew nothing about Blogging or operating a Website, I started Scribbling in a Notebook. I knew nothing about what constitutes a good Blog. Being an Avid Doo it yourself person who thought myself to fix just about everything by Reading. I said to myself, ” I can do this”. I said to myself, the first time I picked up a Wrench was when my Mechanic threw out a perfectly good Carburetor and replaced it with a bad one, when all that was needed was a Two Dollars Fuel Filter. So I went out and bought the Chilton Auto Repair Manual, subsequently I bought one for every Car that I ever bought.

Being determined about writing Blogs about safe Driving, led me to the Library. I borrowed Two Books on writing Blogs. The first Book that I decided to plunge into was written by a World Class Blogger who wrote many Books. She began by saying that all that Blogging was about, is expressing your Thoughts on any given Subject. She continued, only write about the things that you are familiar with. She went on by saying that the Number one Sin in Blogging was Writing about yourself. That didn’t stop me from writing about myself. As I got Deeper in the Chapters I realized why she was Successful. She Emphasizes the Importance of Writing Column Post Blogs, (Blogs that People come back to  and read). Column Posts are Support Pylons that keeps a Structure from Collapsing. Most Importantly she said that you are not a Writer until you have written a Million words.

I am not sure if I am a Writer yet, but I know that I am a Blogger. The same way I learned to fix Things I Immersed myself into Writing and the Shoe is beginning to feel Comfortable. As far as only writing about things that you are Familiar with, I have stayed the Course. Driving is one of my Passions, I am a Natural, Fifty years of Driving, One Speeding Ticket during my first year of Driving. Two wicked Accidents which were caused by the People that I write about ( Bad Drivers) and Bad Mechanics who forced me to let no One but myself fix my Brakes. While I am on the subject of Brakes I will just run with the Ball. Five Minutes after buying my first decent Car, a Dodge Challenger, a Car whose Body Weight that didn’t compliment  its big Engine. Five Minutes from Driving it off the Lot, I found myself on a busy Sidewalk trying not to kill Fifty People.

The Inept Mechanic didn’t do his Job, he allowed the Car to be placed on the Lot without Diagnosing the faulty Brakes. That’s one of the reasons why I made it my Business to learn Automotive Repairs. My second bad Experience with bad Brakes came later while Driving a Company Truck, delivering Construction Materials to thei’r jobsites. The Truck had just passed Inspiration. Descending an Eighty Degrees Hill with an overweight Truck, I found out that the Brakes weren’t working. The Truck was equipped with Air Brakes, the Compressor wasn’t filling the crossover Tank. Knowing that at the end of this wicked Hill was a busy Intersection. I had to reach deep into my Ditty Bag of Witts and Skills.

Pumping the Brakes had no effects, I Kew that I had to slow the Vehicle and somehow stop it before I got to the Intersection. I knew that if I panicked that many People would be killed. I started slowing down the Truck by taking it off the Road, banking it into huge Dirt Embankments taking out Trees. By the time I made it to the bottom of the Hill I was coasting at Two M.P.H. still enough to kill People. I saw a private Yard to my right, my Ditty Bag ( Bag of tricks) didn’t fail me, it told me that the only way to avoid Catastrophe was to flip the Truck. After flipping the Truck, falling out of my seat and Bodyslamming my Panic strickened Passenger, the Truck slid within five feet from taking out the House, then stopped.  Thirty years later, I still see the Face of the Ten years old Kid looking out the window at the approaching Death Vehicle. Does anyone still wonder why I chose to write Safe Driving Blogs. So let me leave you with these few Thoughts. When you are out there Driving like your name is Dale Earnhardt Jr. Consider this,  Brakes, Tire-rod, Calipers, Idle-Arm, Rack and pinion and Bushings all go bad over a period of Time. Have your Front-end and Suspension checked yearly.  When you need them, they better be working. If your Brakes makes noise, replace them Immediately. Most Importantly you are not a Racecar Driver, just someone who needs to get over Themselves.

How To Be The Best Driver

How Be The Best Driver

To be the very best Driver on the Road takes one and only thing. Focus on the Other Guy, not yourself and your Skills. That amounts to not Showing off how good you are. Once you have Mastered the Skills of operating the Vehicle, it is not necessary to show your fellow Drivers the Skills you possess. That will come when the other Drivers you are sharing the Road with, screws up, the ones who haven’t reached your level of Consciousness. Knowing that Three Thousand pounds of Steel travelling at a Seventy Miles per Hour, Impacting, parallels with a Stick of Dynamite. Traveling at high speeds in a Congested Area doesn’t prove to anyone how skilled you are. It only tells them that you are a Ticking Time Bomb, Speeding towards Calamities.

Being Vigilant all the Time while you are behind the Wheel, is what it is all about. If you are always putting the Pedal to the Metal you loose Focusing to a great Degree. You are spending way too much time focusing on your Hood and don’t see the Big Picture. US19 is one of the most Dangerous by Design Roadways in Pasco and Pinellas County. Within Seven years of me using this Road there have been a Minimum of One Hundred Fatalities, Pedestrians, Motorcyclists and Cars. Dangerous by Design, twenty five Miles of Road Jam packed with Stores on each side, Stop Lights every half a Mile, six U-Turn Lanes between each Lights, yet it is posted 55-MPH, average speed 65-MPH.

Five years old not a scratch, like it left the Showroom. I have been Driving the same way for fifty years.

The Numerous times I have come up on Accident Scenes and have seen someone on the Pavement covered up, tells me that Being vigilant and focused is the Key to saving lives. Always Hotdoging it behind the wheel is testing Fate, eventually you will find Disaster, worse, you will be the on who created it. Most People do not possess the Coordination of a Wide receiver, nor the Skills of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Yet they run a Three Thousand pounds Vehicle in congested areas at high speeds every time they get behind the wheel, even just to go one mile. The only time I run my Engine is when I am Traveling Hundreds of miles, on open Roads. Doing eighty MPH for four Hours straight, separates foolish Vehicle Operators from Seasoned Motorists.

Traveling eleven Hundred Miles I have less fear of having an Accident, than Traveling Twenty five Miles on US19. Because those same foolish Operators Fly when it comes time to travel eleven Hundred miles. Doing long Hauls I spend little time looking out for the other Guy, I focus on staying alert. Commuters are the most Amazing Drivers, you would think that taking the same Route every Day for Twenty years, would make them the safest and skilled Drivers. Not so, instead of having a pleasant relaxed experience everyday, they have a Nail-biting Hairraising run of the Gauntlet. Twenty years of Driving like that takes years from your Life. Not to mention the Havoc you have created. Looking out for these People every Day for fifty years with no Accidents, gives you Bragging Rights. That is how you stand out not Driving like them and being part of the Problem.

The Driver of this Maserati killed himself and his two young Sons, his Wife severely injured.

The Stats speak for Themselves

Tampa may not have as high a number of traffic accidents as some other Florida counties, but it still has its fair share of them.

Here is a closer look at some of the accident statistics from Tampa and the surrounding Hillsborough County in 2018:

Total Number Of Crashes – 29,037

Injuries From All Crashes – 20,114

Fatalities from Crashes – 179

Total Bicycle Crashes – 519

Total Bicycle Fatalities – 10

Total Motorcycle Crashes – 628

Total Motorcycle Fatalities – 29

Total Pedestrian Crashes – 625

Total Pedestrian Fatalities – 54

In Pinellas County there were 28,000 crashes 100 Death’s 4400 injuries. The estimated Economic Cost of crashes, Injuries and Fatalities in Pinellas County for 2015, $1,500,835,100.  I decided to omit my County, Pasco, however I pay an extra $40 Monthly for people who don’t have Insurance. Here is the Overall Stats for the State of Florida.

Florida motor vehicle accidents decreased in 2018 over 2017, but only by a little more than one percent. Statewide, agencies reported there were 397,812 total accidents reported in 2018. This includes 251,970 injuries and 3,004 fatalities. This is an improvement over the previous year. I don’t know how it is in your Neck of the Woods, but you can see that I have no other choice. I focus on who I am sharing the Road with, I cannot afford to Drive like them. Life is too short and Precious for me to throw Caution in the Wind. Finally please do not become one of the Statestics. Drive like your Life depends on your Vigilance, it Does.

Be The Driver

Be the Driver

Every time I think that there is nothing left to be said about careless and recklessness behind the Wheel, you prove me wrong. Stay at Home Rule is in effect, the Roads are less congested by more than fifty percent. Yet this morning I woke up to the News that there was an early morning Fatal Crash in my Area. This brings to mind a Joke I told my Wife when I was teaching her to Drive. I told her that it doesn’t matter what time of Day it is, no matter where you are, Highway,  Rural or City. Always know where you are on the Road, who is in front, beside and behind you. The Joke went like this, I could be in the Desert at three A.M. no one in front of me for five miles and no one behind me for five miles yet I would still have an Accident.

She asked how so, I replied, they would fall from the Sky. No word of lie that’s how it is out there. These Days I go to work at the Courthouse, there is no Traffic on the Road, no Court in Session, yet there are Cars in the Parking Lot. The only Employees allowed to come to work are Clerks collecting Money for Fines. The only People coming there are People whose Fines are past Due. With no Traffic on the Roads People are still killing themselves and others,  by yielding to the temptation of Speeding. These People who are always heavy footed are clueless when it comes to Evasive Maneuvering. For instance your Car ends up on two Wheels, your Passenger side is in the Air, they don’t know that turning your Steering Wheel slightly to the right will set the Car back down on all four. Over compensating will flip it on the Passenger side.

The Driver of this Maserati killed himself and his two young Sons, his Wife severely injured.

Yet these same People are always Driving at Breakneck speed. In an earlier Blog I wrote about Harry, he Drove at Breakneck Speed all his Life crashing BMWS and the likes. All his bad crashes were caused by excessive speed, yet he learned nothing. His last and final crash, they had to cut the Car apart to remove his badly mangled Body from the Car. He broke his Neck in two places, his License revoked for all the other crashes that were charged to his recklessness. I am forever amazed by People like Harry blowing off my Doors, in a hurry to Calamity. My Car will be five years old in two months, I change my Oil religiously and frequently add Fuel injector cleaner to my Gasoline. The Car runs better than the Day I drove it of the New Car Lot, in Idle the Tachometer never leave 750 RPM.

One Night around two A.M. all by my Lonesome on the Bayside Bridge, I decided to exercise the Lifters and blow out the Combustion Chamber. I punched it slightly at sixty five, in the bat of an Eye the Speedometer read over 100. With all that Power I am still one of the most Civilized Driver on the Roadways. Traveling from Florida to South Carolina the Speedometer never passed eighty. Yet there were People leaving me in the Dust. The same ones who don’t know how to set the Car back down, avoiding a rollover. I think that it all Boils down to Respect, they don’t respect the Vehicle, it’s Engineering or its Capabilities. Most importantly they don’t respect their Privilege to Drive and their fellow Drivers. Why do you think that there are so many incidents of Road Rage.

It doesn’t matter if it is two A.M. or two P.m. you will always find these same Flighty People on the Roadways creating Havoc. Your Job is to know that they are out there in the Nevada Desert waiting for you at two A.M.  It’s for you to be (The Driver) the one who save Lives, the one who always make it back Home to the ones who love you. What I love most about writing Blogs about bad Drivers is, bad Drivers are like Alcoholics, they don’t like other people telling them about themselves. They resents it to no end. If you think I’m lying, next time you are the Passenger, ask why is he Driving like that. When I was a Teenager, whenever I was driving too fast, my Mother  would always ask me where is the Fire. Those words  always Irked me, Back Seat Drivers I mumbled to myself.

Nonetheless they taught me not to create Anxiety in my Passengers. My Friends call me Repetitious when I remind them of our young and Reckless Days. I do the same to my Readers in hope that one of them comes away with something that will save a Life. So here we go again. It was late Night on a Saturday. Five young Men partying the Night away. The oldest being twenty two, the youngest being me at seventeen. The two older Guys had just acquired Brand New Cars. We were Party hopping, each stop the Drivers had one to three mixed Drinks. After three stops on our way to the last, which almost became our final stop on this Earth. The Drivers decided to Race each other.

This was nothing short of The Young and Reckless, no respect for the Odometer reading one Thousand Miles. Sitting in the Passenger Seat I couldn’t help noticing the Needle teetering 115 MPH. When we got to the Exit Ramp we were going way too fast to negotiate the Ramp. Halfway through the Ramp I was sitting in the Drivers Lap. The Car was on two Wheels, I accidentally touched the steering Wheel to the right, which sat the Car back down. Eyes still glued to the Speedometer reading 90 MPH when it entered the Ramp, Halfway through, it only dropped down to 50. Well it must be true that the Lord looks out for Babies and Fools, otherwise I would not be here writing this Blog. I feel compelled to Reminisce these Tragic events hoping to save a Life. This one is for you Precious, my Friend Precious lost her Life at nineteen years old. The Driver taking her Home from a party was Intoxicated, he hit a Light pole sending her through the Windshield. Speaking out about Reckless People is something that’s been Bottled up in me for fifty years.  Parting words, ” Be the Driver, Be the Responsibile one” there are enough Reckless Drivers out there.