Cherokee Lions Club Safety Newsletters

Vol. 2-2002 - 24 September 2002

Road Incident- Near Miss - While driving behind a tractor truck and trailer I started to pass. There was no center-line, indicating that passing was safe and there were no cars coming. When I got around the truck there was a car in front of it that I could not see from behind. It took a long time to pass the truck and I had run out of passing zone. So, … now I never pass a big high truck on a two-lane highway. You can't see if it is tailgating another vehicle nor can you see safety road signals. If you must pass - give yourself at least ten times as much clear highway as normal. JM

Road Incident - Near Miss - I was driving on a narrow two-lane road approaching a large SUV. The other driver, when about 300 feet away, turned to look at a passenger in the SUV and continued talking animatedly and never noticed we were meeting. ARRRRGGG! JT

Home Incident - Near Miss - Started up stairs with hands in pockets. Tripped and almost fell face first into step. Could not protect myself. I now walk with hands free.

Kitchen Incident - Minor Injury - Grabbed pan I thought was cold with my bare hand. It was hot. Burned hand and spilled the pan. SM

In the last full safety presentation to the Lions Club a small section emphasized the importance of using safety belts. Later that same week several members of a local family were killed in an automobile accident not far from the Lions Den and early information indicates that the use of seatbelts would have saved lives in this case. As responsible citizens we need to take every opportunity to encourage the use of seat belts with our family, friends and neighbors. Perhaps the information below can help you should you be in a position to help "Convince" someone.

The company I worked for before moving to Alabama used a device named "The Convincer" to encourage people to wear seatbelts. This device was built on a small portable trailer and could be pulled to schools, businesses, and work sites to demonstrate the importance of seat belts. It consisted of a single bucket seat mounted on rollers that rested on an inclined track about 12 feet long. The steepness of the incline could be raised so that the impact at the end of the run would be 5 MPH, 10 MPH, or 15 MPH.

Everyone was encouraged to ride "The Convincer" the first time at the lowest incline setting (5 MPH) and wearing a seat and shoulder belt. For subsequent rides one could ride with out a belt if he chose to. I saw several hundred people ride "The Convincer" and not a single one ever chose to ride without a seat belt. Some of these people were pretty tough "Rough Necks" from the oil field but none would take the chance after seeing the shock of stopping at just 5 miles an hour.

Unfortunately I cannot offer you a ride in the Convincer. Still, try the following exercise. Take a short aggressive walk across your yard. That's traveling about 3 miles an hour. Now walk as fast as you can. That's about 5 miles an hour. For most people 5 MPH is actually a running speed. Now, take another 5 MPH walk and walk (run) toward a soft cloth hanging from some support. You can start stopping when you are 24 inches away (about the distance you are from the dashboard in a car). See the point! What if that soft cloth were a steering wheel, dashboard or windshield.

This exercise illustrates the risks of a front-on collision. While front-on collisions are reason enough to wear seatbelts, the more frequent injury or death in accidents comes being thrown out of a car. I believe that was the case in the Barton incident that happened recently and also in the case of a Cherokee girl killed last spring in Leighton.

Again, a small exercise might help communicate this, especially to younger people. Take a bucket and put some water in it. Grab the pail and sling it in a circle (Does this take you back? We all did this as kids.), and notice that the water does not fall out. This shows that if you put a gallon (about 8 pounds) of water in the bucket and spin it, there is at least an 8 pound force (1g) keeping the water up. That force also acts on the water at each side and it makes the water weigh 16 pounds at the bottom of the spin.

When a car goes into a spin, whether tumbling or upright spinning, the passengers are thrown to the sides, just like the water is pushed into the bottom of the bucket in the exercise above. In a car accident, even a gentle spin can create a 2g acceleration. That makes things (people) that weigh 150 pounds exert a force of 300 pounds on the sides of the car. Much greater forces occur in serious accidents. That is why so many windows are broken out or doors "fly open" during accidents. Air bags alone do not help in this case.

Putting Safety in Perspective: A little more than one year ago foreign terrorist killed almost 3,000 people in New York. Since that time more than 3,000 Americans died unnecessarily on our roadways because they were not wearing seat belts. Some of those deaths occurred in our community. Where should we put our efforts and emphasis for safety??

Remember - If you did not turn in an incident report, you deprived other members of an opportunity to learn from your observations and mistakes. If you were not watching, you missed the opportunity to learn from a near miss or unsafe practice. Just watching for "accidents waiting to happen" will make you a safer person.

Give your incident report to David or Jona at the next meeting or e.mail to djksrm@hiwaay.net or call 370-7910 and leave the message you would like to see appear in the next newsletter.

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