ima45dv8 Posted October 1, 2007 Share Posted October 1, 2007 From today's local paper: "One motorcyclist was killed and another seriously injured Sunday afternoon when their bikes were involved in a multi-vehicle wreck in Cherokee County [Georgia]. The bikers were among a group of about 40 to 50 motorcyclists taking part in a charity bike ride when the crash occurred about 1:30 p.m. on Ga. 140 north of Waleska, according to authorities. Larry Schnall, a spokesman for the Georgia State Patrol, said a woman driving a Subaru sport-utility vehicle westbound on Ga. 140 had stopped, waiting to turn left onto Little Refuge Road. Most of the eastbound group of motorcyclists had passed when a westbound Honda being driven by a male teen struck the rear of the Subaru, pushing the SUV into the path of the oncoming motorcycles, Schnall said. Two Harley Davidson motorcycles struck the Subaru, Schnall said." NEVER turn your wheels when waiting to cross on-coming traffic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EZ Bagger Posted October 1, 2007 Share Posted October 1, 2007 Sad reminder of the basics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JThompson Posted October 1, 2007 Share Posted October 1, 2007 Yup, she should be held responsible too. Very sad. I road for 15 years, but gave it up after the third person tried to kill me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeryBadshot Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 Yeah. I ride too. Sometimes I get the She-It scared out of me. Most to the time it's great. Stay alert-stay alive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toowide Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 I see Law enforcement on a traffic stop turn their cars so that if they were struck from behind they would go out into traffic. I can't for the life of me figure that out. I have seen it with local, county and state officers. Can anyone shed light on that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JThompson Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 There are a couple reason I can think of... The first being to put the car between them and possible danger. The other is to prevent the car from running over the cop and civi in the event of a rear end. You ever see the video of how many times they get nailed during a traffic stop? JT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Bell Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 I see Law enforcement on a traffic stop turn their cars so that if they were struck from behind they would go out into traffic. I can't for the life of me figure that out. I have seen it with local, county and state officers. Can anyone shed light on that? Around here they point the nose of the cruiser toward the shoulder that way if struck it goes off the road Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bierman Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 The theory is that if your car gets struck, it will push it out into the roadway and not into the violators car. The problem is, physics does not really support the theory. If a car, moving in a straight line, strikes a stationary car, the stationary car will continue to move in the same straight line, regardless of which direction the wheels are turned. At least, that is the way an accident investigator explained it to me. I am not a physics major, so correct me if I am wrong . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ima45dv8 Posted October 2, 2007 Author Share Posted October 2, 2007 The theory is that if your car gets struck, it will push it out into the roadway and not into the violators car. The problem is, physics does not really support the theory. If a car, moving in a straight line, strikes a stationary car, the stationary car will continue to move in the same straight line, regardless of which direction the wheels are turned. At least, that is the way an accident investigator explained it to me. I am not a physics major, so correct me if I am wrong . It sure sounds logical, but I've seen it go the other way on a few occasions. In fact, one of my brothers was waiting to turn left into his driveway, with his wheels turned, when he was rear-ended (and yes, I gave him hell for it ). He came to rest right where he usually parks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Moneypenny Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 If the brakes are working correctly that is true the vehicle should remain in a strait line. That is something very hard not to do especially for me driving a larger car .. if i do not turn my wheels at some point i'll never turn. and starting out going in the wrong direction then turning in means I would also be in the path of oncoming vehicles longer? correct? Holding a driver responsible for turning the wheels of the car before they turned... i don't see that ever happening. Also this is the first time I've seen this mentioned while actually driving.. a parked car slipping out of gear, etc yes. It's a shame that things like this happened. one of the many reasons I no longer ride a motorcycle on pavement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bountyhunter Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 NEVER turn your wheels when waiting to cross on-coming traffic. So true. I've ridden a motorcycle in kali so long that whenever I am stopped waiting to turn left, I just stare into the rear view mirror watching for cars coming up. On more than a few occasions I have seen cars coming on at speeds I knew they could not stop from, and I just burned rubber and drove off (straight) down the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bountyhunter Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 (edited) The theory is that if your car gets struck, it will push it out into the roadway and not into the violators car. The problem is, physics does not really support the theory. If a car, moving in a straight line, strikes a stationary car, the stationary car will continue to move in the same straight line, regardless of which direction the wheels are turned. At least, that is the way an accident investigator explained it to me. I am not a physics major, so correct me if I am wrong .You are right. There is so much momentum in the forward direction it will drive the car right over the tread of the tires (including if the brakes are on). Edited October 2, 2007 by bountyhunter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty45 Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 I thought that the LEOs turned their cars to provide cover if the sh-t hit the fan and had to retreat to their car, But what do I know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ankeny Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 Through the years I have seen dozens of highway fatalities. Each of them were easily preventable. Very sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtrooper Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 You are correct Lefty. Troopers especially are trained to set up with that position on a traffic stop to make it easier to get the engine block between them and gunfire. In cities it is not always possible to offset that much on city streets. Believe me a car door is not much protection from a bullet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zerwas Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 Another thing to ponder is this: Lets say the poor sap stopped -trying- to make a left turn has their wheel straight. When they get blasted, especially if they get hit hard, the seats have a tendancy to break thus throwing the driver rearword. If they are hanging on the steering wheel, this could easily cause them to crank the wheel left and into oncoming traffic.... There is no way that driver should be charged with anything. The driver that slammed into her should be the sole person who is cited for driver inattention at the very least. I'm sure they were gawking at the cycles going by an never bothered to look beyond their hood. This type of driving behavior happens a LOT more than people think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gm iprod Posted October 6, 2007 Share Posted October 6, 2007 There is two tyoes of people behind the wheel Drivers and Steerers, most are steerers and I would not let them take a dead animal to the morgue. It's the basics folks, and no amount of legislation will fix numbnuts. I have people pull out in front of me and I drive some very much out of the ordinary around here. But they still come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chriss Grube Posted October 6, 2007 Share Posted October 6, 2007 Turning the wheels has nothing to do with where the car is going in a crash if it is in park it will go in a straight line from the force applied, simple physics. It is two fold: to provide some cover if things go to hell in a hurry and the wheels end up turned out as we generally try to point the front end out offset to the violator to give us some room to walk up to the car without having the passing vehicles run us over. Most drivers don't have the common sense to come in out of the rain let alone actually move over on the road and give any room to emergency vehicles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ima45dv8 Posted October 6, 2007 Author Share Posted October 6, 2007 Most drivers don't have the common sense to come in out of the rain let alone actually move over on the road and give any room to emergency vehicles. Another Hate of mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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