sorry to hear what youv been through. safe driving is a must more today than every with an ever growing world we live in and all the millions driving today, and accidents and law suites hit everyone not just the victims , wether it be a friend or a small child when we hear of a loss of life we feel for them, but you also have the ones who don't care , .. assuming everyone in this mailing list do care, weather it be about a kid in the back seat of a speeding car or someone brokedown on the side of the road. the love for cars tend to make us a minority compared to the world today, we try to be safe drivers but somtimes we find that we are outnumbered on the highway. it's unfair but we chug along and do the best we can, the things I have seen while driving for USA truck gave me nightmares. a few years ago I quit driving and never any accidents or violations of any kind .and now am trying to work out of my garage to make money, and I still think about the wrecks iv'e
seen on the roads and im greatfull that im not the one who have's to live with beeing the one who hurt someone by my driving.
Jerry hesch <jerryhesch@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Paul, et al,
Thank you for your advice re safe driving.
Opinion: An upgrade to improve braking in any car (in which it can be
done) makes very good sense from the perspective of safety. Keeping old
parts can allow a retro if one wants to have the potential for return to
originality. The safe driving you describe is right on target. Our typical
American driving style is a sad reflection on our "McDonalds" culture. Of
course ALL Imperial drivers are safe and very considerate - or at least the
5 that I have seen are:). How great it would be if our culture endorsed
courtesy and genersosity, and concern for safety of others in our
non-Imperial driving culture. I regret the folly of my youth and by the
grace of God; never brought harm to anyone via unsafe driving. And...when I
bought my Imperial I always allowed lotsa braking distance (had
to!).
A person who near and dear to me (myself) had 3 low back surgeries and
2 neck operations and time will tell if a 3rd will be mandated; over a
period of 11 years. Why? Because of the cell-phone driving you describe
except it was a woman who was speeding at a much higher rate than posted
while leaning over, replacing her CD. Did she apologize-no. Was litigation
possible? yes but only after the 1st surgery and it sounded like something
between 15 and 25K. We walked. The income I have lost over the past 10
years, the medical bills the loss of relationships and of professional
potential cannot be expressed, much less measured. Yes, the medical workup
the 1st 9 years was grossly inadequate. Yes, for me; hope springs eternal.
I earn my living teaching Physical Therapist to rehabilitate a specific type
of low back and hip pain, albeit part-time, and am grateful to contribute.
People in chronic pain do not want to bitch. They are
however bewildered at
what has become of them and sometimes they simply want to explain what they
experience or why they fail to be fully present, or why they cannot do this,
that or the other thing. Unintentional failure is part of the
no-return-policy package that was not ordered. "Sympathy" has never reduced
chronic pain. Simple empathic or reflective listening however, is an
extreme kindness that is rare.
Paradoxically, one of the gifts of chronic pain is a very deep sense of
gratitude.
Simple things like reading today's Imperial Club posts (and photos!), can
bring much pleasure and kindle the passion for this hobby.
So thats it for the long paragraph. Were I to belabor the above
experience, it would be a thick book.
If the above example is inappropriate for this club, I apologize.
If the above encourages/manifests safe/safer Imperial/non-Imperial driving,
my 2cents and 3 minutes of posting were worthwhile.
Mea Culpa
Grandisimo,
Jerry Hesch
---- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Saturday, January 22, 2005 4:22 PM
Subject: Re: IML: Imperials, Safety, and Defensive Driving
>I will stress for the last time that great new style brakes do not replace
>a safe following distances and slower speeds. It may be extreme, but when I
>drive my Imperials (or any of my cars) I pretend that they don't have any
>brakes at all. I always WANT them to work, and do my best to keep them
>working perfectly. My Driver's Education teacher in Southern California
>said that if we are depending on our brakes to save our lives, then we are
>not driving defensively.
>
> If a driver is always having to make "Panic Stops" then it isn't the
> traffic as much as the driver, that is causing the problem.
>
> Buses and trucks don't stop very well either, yet
considering how many of
> them are on the road, they seldom rear end other vehicles. I believe that
> is because they are "professional drivers". We could all use lessons on
> brushing up our driving skills, but most of it is patience and common
> sense. Everday I see people driving down the road at 70 mph talking on the
> phone. They couldn't possibly be prepared for an emergency. I find it
> offensive that these folks think that driving is so unimportant that they
> think it is a waste of time to concentrate on what they are doing. There!
> Now that I have said it I will shut my trap!
>
> Paul
>
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