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Old 03-13-2010, 09:07 PM   #27 (permalink)
cfg83
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Bicycle Bob -

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bicycle Bob View Post
It isn't just Toyotas. Just over a year ago, the first Airbus 380-600, the world's biggest and most advanced airliner got her first run-up under the control of the delivery crew. They accidentally released the brakes, didn't throttle back, and went right into the wall. There were so many confusing factors that the obvious solution seemed to be overridden.
I've heard that the Titanic could have been saved by steaming in reverse, using the pressure difference familiar to most everyone here. Captain Smith had gotten there by the luck of never having dealt with an emergency, and the naval architects on board were mezmerized by the buoyancy calculations.
This is very similar to my list of ifs I did in a junior(?) high book report for "A Night To Remember" :

Quote:
- What if they had paid attention to the ice berg warning? This was from the SS Californian.
- What if the ship wasn’t moving at such a high speed?
- What if they would have sighted the ice berg sooner?
- What if the nearby ship would have paid attention to their distress S.O.S? This was also the SS Californian, 19 miles away.
- What if there had been enough life boats aboard?
- What if it had been daylight and the ice berg would have been seen sooner?
- What if the gash in the ship had been smaller and they could have closed off all necessary doors?
- What if the rudder design had been modern instead of being patterned after an 18th century sailing ship?
- What if it took longer for the Titanic to sink allowing time for rescue?
I still have the report *somewhere*. Now I want to find it.

Also, I heard (on the radio) that the majority of "sudden acceleration" crashes ultimately come down to human error. Heck, last week I chirped the tires and stalled the car in the driveway when I accidentally let up on the clutch pedal. My fault. Thank goodness I didn't rear end my wife's car.

CarloSW2
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