Just want to take a moment of time.. Earlier I read a thread about an accident.I am not looking to hurt any feelings, and I'm not looking for anybody to back me up on this, I know its the truth from experience..I've been driving professionally about 7 years, I have over 800,000 miles under my belt in the last 6 years, have drove in all kinds of weather and all kinds of conditions that most of you can not even begin to imagine..Looking back at ALL the accidents I have seen over the years and some that I have been involved in, I can say none of them were ACCIDENTS..In order to be an accident, no one can be at fault..Every wrech I have ever seen, someone was at fault..Either DUI, driving to fast for road conditions or just not paying attention to what they are doing, period..If each and everyone of you think back to each accident you have seen or been involved with, I think you'll see, someone was at fault.. Now this is where we all come in..In order to not be involved in accidents, you must watch for the one that is about to happen.All this takes is paying attention when your behind the wheel. Watch, watch closely, you will see the people I am speeking of..The point of this thread..Keeping people alive to live another day and run another trail..You can play and have fun and still be safe. To the younger readers, who think this old man is full of s**t, thats ok. now that you have read it, you'll give it some thought and that could possibly save your life.

mdrut

Even though you're not looking for a reply, I'll will anyway.

Thank you, you said it so much better than I did in http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=24243&pagenumber=2

I'm with you 100%.

Thanks, I currently give safety classes to 80+ truck drivers, It wouldn't hurt my feelings one bit to never have reason to give one again..

I'm not a professional driver, I just have to drive a lot for my profession. You are absolutely right. Observing the traffic around you, many times you feel what is going to happen before it actually happens, which normally gives you enough time to react correctly.
There is a lot you can do for avoiding accidents and correct misstakes from others, but sometimes, it's just plain luck of being at the right place at the right time or the luck of the other one paying attention when you did not. Thanks to luck, the Saints, other motorist and some special training I had, I managed to stay accident-free in the last half-a-million miles I drove.

BTW: An advice to everybody, but specially younger drivers: If you have the chance to get some special training, safety training, advance driving classes or how ever they are called, do it. It's not just that you lern you a lot, these classes are fun.

I am 18 and I agree with you 100%!!

good comments... I get to drive 30 miles each way every day for my job (from the far south side of Denver metro area to the far north side) and observe a lot of traffic... Often I've seen accidents occur around me and I've been able to avoid em. After my first accident (a few weeks after turning 16 - I was rear-ended by a Dodge Ram 2500...) my dad told em "you can avoid almost any accident, and you should've been able to avoid this one" (not yelling, just telling)... at the time I thought "how the heck could I have avoided it, I got rear-ended!" and I thought about that for months, finally it hit me... if I hadn't been following so close to the vehicle in front of me and paying more attention, I wouldn't have had to slam on my brakes as hard when the vehicle in front of me did... if I hadn't had to slam on my brakes, the driver behind me would've had more time to react, and the accident wouldn't have occured. Another accident I was in at the time I felt I could've never avoided (still do in a way) was on one of the interstates here... on an embanked portion of it (so it tilted a certain degree to the right). I was at a dead stop, road was icy, and my truck actually slid down the embanked portion into another car. how would I have avoided it? Not driving to work that day, which was an available option to me, so yes, darn near every accident is avoidable. A lot of that you get from experience I've found, like watching your mirrors all the time, not just when changing lanes but to watch for vehicles approaching you from behind at a rapid rate, giving you enough time to react)

Mirrors are for more than fixing your hair..To safely keep up with what is happening around you, you should glance at your mirrors every 5 to 8 secs. If you have them adjusted properly, you don't even have to move your head. I know you think, man thats alot, butreally it's not, try it..I'm in the habit of going from drivers to dash to rear to pass.side. Constint eye movement and being aware of what's going on around you are the key to a long and happy life..And your right about not going to work that day, nothing is worth taking a chance on bodily harm..Once again, thanks to one and all for your help and support

Whoa, he's on top of it all! I give you props....sure it's a bitch to be on top of it all, and prepared for everything, but I love the line "Keeping people alive to live another day and run another trail..You can play and have fun and still be safe" So true... Thanks!
Pete