The world can be a dangerous place. All it takes is one big mistake, or perhaps a string of small mistakes, to alter your life permanently. There are lots of things you can do to keep yourself safe, but a reader has a valid lesson.
Brian wrote about the tragic story of a truck driver who was fatally injured while unloading the Andy Warhol BMW M1 art car. Details about this story are thin, and honestly, I’m not sure they need to be shared in-depth, anyway. But the TheDrunkenWrench offers what can be lifesaving advice:
This is a great time to remind people that one of the biggest causes of workplace accidents/death is complacency.
The safety measures may be annoying, but the tens of thousands that never made it home probably wished they’d taken the time.
Stay safe out there, fellow Autopians.
Eric Schliffka:
Retired fireman here: When the flatbed shows up at an accident, one of our duties is to keep everyone from getting behind the car being loaded onto the flatbed. We did have an incident where the flatbed had a malfunction and the car being loaded came flying off of the flatbed. Keep your head on a swivel and pay attention!
The potential errors of complacency is something that is getting drilled into my head by my flight instructor and my pilot role models. You might have done the same task a million times and all one million of those times all went well, so you sort of stop watching for dangers and maybe even stop double-checking your work. Maybe, you even skip the checklists that you’re supposed to do. Then, something different happens or maybe you forget a step, and now, you’ve passed through a hole in the Swiss Cheese Model.
Don’t let yourself get there! Indeed, stay safe, everyone.
Now, we will turn back to some lighter fare. Brian wrote about how cops crushed a Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat to score points with the public. In that, we accidentally spelled the name of Louisville Metro Police chief Paul Humphrey as “Paul Phumphery.” The error has been corrected, but not before Sid Bridge ran with it:
Police chief Paul Phumphery presses perfectly powerful piece of iron into pulpy pile of pips.
Pfilm at pheleven.
We’ve been covering the 10-year anniversary of Dieselgate, and one question I’ve always had is how engineers at other automakers felt at the apparent “wizardry” at Volkswagen. Bhautama gives me my answer:
Working for a competitor OEM, I have a distinct memory of sitting in a meeting where one of the topics was trying to understand why VW didn’t need to install a bunch of diesel emissions stuff that we were going to have to install on a planned product, driving up our costs and weight. Nobody had any good ideas and we kind of collectively shrugged our shoulders and moved on. It was depressing at the time to think, “I guess we’re just dumb Americans and they really are smarter than us.” When dieselgate came out it was vindication I guess…
Have a safe evening, everyone!
RE talk about getting complacent. Went to visit a buddy. Found him loading 12 ga in his basement bunker, had a trap meet coming up. Smoking a cigarette. I calmly freaked out: wtf? When he realized what he was doing, he rectified immediately, massive mea culpa. He had loaded a thousand shells, went complacent. This is how shit happens. You lose “your fear”
Be careful when you’re a pedestrian inside too…stay the heck away from the forklifts. Even if they don’t block off the adjoining aisles, stay away from those too.
The “Phumphery” misspelling is understandable. It was Pontiac Pthursday, after all.
Be very careful when you’re a pedestrian on a roadway. Make sure that every move you make shows your intentions clearly so the drivers can act accordingly and not hit you.
I always make sure to make eye contact and stare accusingly at the driver as I pass.
I like to loudly announce “Hey! I’m walkin’ here!”
You gotta slap the hood when you say that!
I prefer to carry a pocket full of rocks. Just in case, especially when I see a damn phone in their hands…YMMV
This one applies to construction sites as well. I’ll be walking in the area of a guy in a big machine, so I’ll make sure he sees me.
When I was riding a motorcycle, I would get eye contact with every car I could so they would not drive into me. Sigh, even when I did, occasionally they would still make a beeline for me.
On the bike I assume that all of the drivers around me are just pretending they don’t see me but in actuality they know exactly where I am and are just waiting for me to roll into their strike zone (AKA “blind spot”) in order to murder me!
To others you are either invisble or a target.
Actually this is sage advice for drivers, pedestrians, riders, really everyone. Best thing you can do to be safe on the highway is be PREDICTABLE.
Yup, that’s what I’m getting at. Sometimes a pedestrian will stand at a corner but not be facing the way they want to go, and then suddenly wheel around and cross a street unexpectedly.
“Don’t be nice, be predictable” is a mantra of /r/IdiotsInCars. Along with “a good driver sometimes misses their exit. A bad driver never does”.
Mine is, what turns unprotected lefts into crashes is hesitation. If oncoming traffic is faster than you judged, floor it and clear the intersection, and do better next time.
I’ve been writing a lot lately about ambulances and EMS, based on my younger days. Do NOT get me started on driving with lights and sirens! But I will highlight these comments about predictability. Just slow down, pull to the right, and stop. Let us worry about the rest.
In my later years, I’ve been volunteering for the US Coast Guard Auxiliary. Everything said also applies to boaters! You think not having stripes on the water like the stripes on the roads would make things easier—but it doesn’t! When meeting head-on, show the other boat your side early and with deliberateness. (Preferably your port [left] side.)
While you’re at it, take that boater safety class from us! They’re fun, and even experienced boaters learn something.
Be very careful when you’re a driver on a roadway. Make sure that every move you make is law-abiding and predictable so the pedestrians can act accordingly and not hit you.
Brought to you by, “WTF dude, you have right-of-way, why are you stopping there and waving in my general direction, I was waiting for you to go by. Now I have no f’in idea what you’re going to do with your multi-ton death machine.”
That would be the Wave of Death (and Lewin’s Wave of Death article)
Or, they just stop there.
Waiting.
Are they waiting?
For what?
Are they checking their phone?
Or lost?
They’re still waiting.
What are they doing?
Maybe if I should: “HEY! I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU’RE DOING!” something will happen
Oh, they’re waving. Is it at me? What the fuck are they doing still?
I like to wear a sandwich board sign with injury lawyer ads on the front and back.
Safety first, everyone.
Also, wear the damn gloves and stop using 6 cans of brake kleen in enclosed spaces. I have it on good authority that cancer sucks.
Also, don’t do what I did and assume that Berryman Chem-Dip isn’t that toxic and reach your bare hands into the stuff. Oh my gosh, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen my hands in a drier, more scaly state.
I’ve warned techs about repeated exposure to stuff like that. Eventually, your hands lose their ability to retain the oils that keep your skin moisturized. Then you live a life of constant moisturizing or your hands will constantly crack and bleed.
I’m borderline on it, the winter months are rough.
My cousin is a diesel mechanic, and his hands are GNARLY in the winter. I’ve been getting better about the gloves. Your story made me think about it more recently. I still forget sometimes, but I’m working on it!
I spent 17 years as a diesel tech. This first 7 I wasn’t very good about PPE. Ultimately, tendon issues and work/life balance saw me move into an instructor role.
Thankfully, the younger generation is actually listening and embracing taking care of themselves.
That is good. I teach wood and metal working to middle schoolers. Most of them are pretty good with safety glasses.
This.
Also frostbite. 61 years ago, as a “newly minted college dropout”, I severely frostbit my hands working as a “pump jockey” at the corner gas station. A couple of my fingers still crack and bleed if exposed to cold weather.
And a side note: That mountain I see out my window is in Mexico…
Russ