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One thing that has always bugged me--wrecks on the Interstate. Now, I will admit, first and foremost, with the exception of the "rat running" practice which I oppose (and thus don't practice myself), I view all roads as a means to get where I'm going and dislike any delays, ANY. To me, the roads are for one thing--moving. Period. If it's not about that, I want it out of the way. Funeral processions, stopping traffic and telling people to pull over "out of respect"--phooey, to heck with it, someone died whom I don't know, what do I care? If I want to pay my respects I'll go to the funeral itself. People who drive slowly in the mountains--you see a line of cars behind you, move over. You can't drive the speed limit because you're too old or frail--sorry, but you can no longer drive at all.
All of that being said, I understand how wrecks happen in the city limits, but I've never understood how people wreck on the Interstate. Understand--I'm not talking about very crowded LA freeways etc, I'm talking of Interstates where there's a 70 mph speed limit and everyone is moving right along. It makes no sense to me how people wreck in those situations. There are no school zones, no stop lights, no points of interests (malls, shopping centers, schools, places of work, restaurants etc) which people are pulling into (they will exit off the freeway to do so), no people making turns--everyone is just moving. The roads are straight, typically not icy or such, and with all of those complicating factors not being a part of the situation, it would seem very easy driving that would not involve wrecks.
And yet, people wreck on them, ALL the time. It makes no sense to me.
I will admit that it bothers me, yes, mainly because of how it inconveniences me. When these wrecks happen, they create a HUGE amount of traffic backed up and I'm thinking "how can you people wreck on such easy roads? Now thanks to your incompetence I'm stuck here for an eternity." That also brings me to another problem--they don't do enough to detour people around the wreck many times in terms of sending someone 2-odd miles ahead of the wreck with detour signs to route traffic away from it. If you happen to have someone as a passenger who is "co-piloting" with Google Maps or the like running in "bird's eye" view with the traffic "layer" enabled, often-times they could warn you of an impending log-jam and then re-route you around it. Otherwise, you will go right into it not aware and find yourself in an awful mess.
Yesterday was a good example of that, I was riding with someone but thank goodness I knew ahead of time, due to looking at a local news site, that there was a wreck on the Interstate. Thus, I activated "Road Warrior" (an alternative maps app that, nonetheless, seems to "piggy-back" off the Google Maps engine) on my phone in "bird's eye" view with the traffic "layer" enabled, and was able to see the areas highlighted in red indicating huge traffic. I was then able to use the "routes" option on Google Maps to quickly find other ways to get where we were going (whereas, otherwise, Google Maps will always direct you to the Interstate). Had I not known, we'd gone right smack dab into it, most likely.
There are exit ramps. That's one of the big causes of accidents on interstates.
You have people not paying enough attention, and changing lanes (Sometimes 3 or 4 lanes) trying to get to their exit.. Which causes the person in the lane they're trying to get into to slow down abruptly to avoid being hit.. Which then starts stacking traffic up behind them, and suddenly you have an accident 2 miles behind where the 'incident' occurred.
Then you have the 'commuters' as they call them in DC. The people zipping in and out of lanes of traffic. Which causes other people to drive too closely to the person in front of them in defense.
Then you have the speed differences.. 70mph speed limit, you have speeds ranging from 55 to 70. So, when that person doing 55 is in the right lane, as they should be.. Everyone in the right lane is trying to get into the left lane to get past them. While the left lane is full of the people who are already doing 80mph.
People not paying attention/that take too long to react to unexpected situations are the primary issue.
We all have been in situations where you see the person's brake lights on up ahead but rather than just slowing down they are actually slamming on their brakes... when that happens you inevitably have to react very quickly once you figure out what's happening, to avoid collision. My theory is that most Interstate pile-ups start like that, but with the person in back not doing a successful evasive maneuver. It has mostly to do with lack of perception/attention followed by the sheer speed at which everyone is initially driving.
I drive defensively and cautiously and I don't zip into or out of lanes trying to shave a minute or two off my commutes/road trips. It does annoy me that on most of my lengthy road trips (I do at least 10 a year) there's inevitably an Interstate accident of some sort that slows me down/costs me significant time. I've just become used to it happening. Last time it was a wreck by the I80/I90 sharp turn going through the middle of Cleveland OH. Signs are everywhere about being cautious and slowing down, and there are even vibration-strips on the pavement to wake people up... but some idiot tried to switch lanes last minute in the turn right into someone else - the two vehicles started a minor pile-up. It locked up rush-hour traffic in Cleveland for at least 30 minutes. There's nothing to do except try to turn such situations into teachable-moments... I talked with my children about what happened and why in the hopes that when they are driving alone they don't make such mistakes.
Humans are fallible. Also sometimes equipment malfunctions (tire blowout for example). Debris can enter the roadway. Weather incidents can result in unsafe conditions (dust storm or sun glare for example).
What I wish people would recognize more is that courteous driving including leaving plenty of space between cars results in faster moving traffic. Zigzagging between lanes to try to get ahead actually slows everyone down. If everyone left plenty of space for cars to move between lanes when needed (merging onto or off of the highway for example) would be seamless if they could have enough room to do so without making other people slow down. But most people have the mentality that they are not going to allow space because someone will fill it and get ahead of them.
Even on a straight stretch of interstate with little to no traffic, tires can still blow out, front end parts that were working fine can break and large animals can still bolt right out in front of you, among many other things that can happen which are beyond a drivers control.
Like others have written it comes down to drivers not paying enough attention. Cruising along at 65 is almost effortless now in our climate controlled nearly sound proof cabins and it sort of lulls us until something happens. The something can take the form of weather related, an animal jumps out, junk on the road, a driver that is going too fast, too slow, drunk, high, or playing with an electronic device. One person swerving on a heavily travelled road cna cause a chain reaction of brake lights that slow everyone. How about Police on the side of hte road? They don't even have to have someone pulled over but people see those flashing lights and they panic.
Entrance and exit ramps are big problems. Around here people think they have the right to just come out and it is the car on the highway that is expected to move over.
I hate it when there is no reason for the traffic, it is backed up for miles then all of a sudden you get to a spot and the traffic simply starts moving again. What is going on there?
I do feel bad when traffic makes me late and I get up to an accident and I thank baby Jesus that it wasn't me. Me being late is nothing compared to the poor accident victims.
One thing that has always bugged me--wrecks on the Interstate. Now, I will admit, first and foremost, with the exception of the "rat running" practice which I oppose (and thus don't practice myself), I view all roads as a means to get where I'm going and dislike any delays, ANY. To me, the roads are for one thing--moving. Period. If it's not about that, I want it out of the way. Funeral processions, stopping traffic and telling people to pull over "out of respect"--phooey, to heck with it, someone died whom I don't know, what do I care? If I want to pay my respects I'll go to the funeral itself. People who drive slowly in the mountains--you see a line of cars behind you, move over. You can't drive the speed limit because you're too old or frail--sorry, but you can no longer drive at all.
All of that being said, I understand how wrecks happen in the city limits, but I've never understood how people wreck on the Interstate. Understand--I'm not talking about very crowded LA freeways etc, I'm talking of Interstates where there's a 70 mph speed limit and everyone is moving right along. It makes no sense to me how people wreck in those situations. There are no school zones, no stop lights, no points of interests (malls, shopping centers, schools, places of work, restaurants etc) which people are pulling into (they will exit off the freeway to do so), no people making turns--everyone is just moving. The roads are straight, typically not icy or such, and with all of those complicating factors not being a part of the situation, it would seem very easy driving that would not involve wrecks.
And yet, people wreck on them, ALL the time. It makes no sense to me.
I will admit that it bothers me, yes, mainly because of how it inconveniences me. When these wrecks happen, they create a HUGE amount of traffic backed up and I'm thinking "how can you people wreck on such easy roads? Now thanks to your incompetence I'm stuck here for an eternity." That also brings me to another problem--they don't do enough to detour people around the wreck many times in terms of sending someone 2-odd miles ahead of the wreck with detour signs to route traffic away from it. If you happen to have someone as a passenger who is "co-piloting" with Google Maps or the like running in "bird's eye" view with the traffic "layer" enabled, often-times they could warn you of an impending log-jam and then re-route you around it. Otherwise, you will go right into it not aware and find yourself in an awful mess.
Yesterday was a good example of that, I was riding with someone but thank goodness I knew ahead of time, due to looking at a local news site, that there was a wreck on the Interstate. Thus, I activated "Road Warrior" (an alternative maps app that, nonetheless, seems to "piggy-back" off the Google Maps engine) on my phone in "bird's eye" view with the traffic "layer" enabled, and was able to see the areas highlighted in red indicating huge traffic. I was then able to use the "routes" option on Google Maps to quickly find other ways to get where we were going (whereas, otherwise, Google Maps will always direct you to the Interstate). Had I not known, we'd gone right smack dab into it, most likely.
Thoughts?
There are lots of causes but I suspect people using cell phones or texting while driving is a big one. Lots of people still think it is OK, and only learn better when it's too late.
It frankly come down to people inmost cases failing to maintain a safe distance and those who have to get pass others by speeding. The cellphone intoxicated like response time if at all; is fairly new thing.
In addition to those mentioned, another common cause is drowsy driving. Long endless stretches of road can become hypnotic or sleep inducing.
Somewhat related, people on long drives try to get comfy, perhaps too comfy. They will take off their shoes, recline the seat more than usual, put headphones on, surround themselves with snacks and drinks, and get lost in thought aka daydream. Driving becomes a secondary function.
All of these can dull the senses to where people are seeing a hazard (construction, slow trucks, etc.) and it simply isn't registering quickly if at all.
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