Quote:
Originally Posted by freebeard
Accidents tend to be caused by a chain of unfortunate events. Most likely the mod would be a link in a chain.
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Accidents is a really bad term for them, and most of the chain of events are actually avoidable to some extent. I prefer to call them collisions, and in most cases they are not accidents.
An accident is when a kangaroo hops alongside the road, you brake and then it hops onto the bonnet and windscreen. Sheer bad luck and totally unavoidable except for leaving the car in the garage.
This is the way I look at it:
A collision is where a pedestrian does not look at the oncoming traffic (inattention, haste) and walks into the road in front of you on a wet day (bad conditions). You don't see him in time due to a removed passenger side wiper (inappropriate mod) but brake hard and lock up the tyres (running at too high pressure increases braking distance) and hit him, injuring him severely (outcome).
If you had not removed the wiper you might have seen him earlier and braked, lowering the impact speed (reduced injuries).
If the tyres were running at the pressure that gave optimal traction / braking performance you may have been able to slow down more and steer away (reduced injuries or collision avoided),
I hate wasting money and resources - hence why my garage has two hybrids in it. They are both fairly recent Lexus' and have numerous safety features that have avoided three collisions since we have owned them. A potential head-on collision was avoided by the active cruise control system applying braking as an oncoming car pulled out into our lane. This occurred faster than I could have applied the brakes, and I drive with my left foot hovering over the brake pedal to reduce my reaction time (a carryover from my motor sport days). These features cost money, add weight and ultimately reduce the fuel efficiency of my vehicles, but life is precious and I would hate to injure somebody just because I wanted to save a few cents.
I had better hop off the soapbox now.
Simon