A Question

I got a call today from a friend wondering if a person sitting back three car lengths from the car ahead of them at a stop light was a bit excessive.  Somebody’s pet peeve. 

Ok, three car lengths may be excessive, but… Is it really three car lengths, or does it just look like it?  Some traffic lights are long enough that maybe you could get out and measure.  I generally sit an extra car length back, with the distance I normally keep between me and the next car, plus the distance from that car to the car in front of him, which works out to two car lengths.  With a car length being about 15 feet, it’s a total of 30 feet.  Yes, we actually measured it a number of years ago. 

So, here are my reasons for sitting two car lengths back.

If there’s a car in front of me at the light, I’m not going anywhere anyway.  A couple of situations from here in Colorado:

A)   Texting and driving is illegal in Colorado, but people still do it.  I was in Denver not too long ago and when the light turned green, nobody moved; they were busy on their phones.  I love the air horns on my trucks!   So the “delay” that may occur from an increased gap is exaggerated by people sitting. 

B)   In Fort Collins I pulled up to a red light behind some cars.  There was a set of railroad tracks immediately in front of me so I sat back off of the tracks, behind the crossing arm, about three car lengths from the car in front of me.  The SUV behind me started honking and gesturing for me to move forward.  If I did that I would have ended up stopping on the tracks under the front crossing arm.  I wouldn’t do it.  We weren’t going anywhere anyway.  You should NEVER, EVER stop on railroad tracks.  Never.  Period.  I saw a Ft. Collins police car behind said honky, and went back to talk to the officer.  As I walked past the honky’s SUV, he started to get out, yelling and cursing at me to move my vehicle.  A few moments later he was chatting with the police officer and had to sit through a few light cycles.  Impatience never pays.

Assaults or hijackings.  Sitting back from the car in front of me, it gives me room in case I’m attacked.  Not all cars have automatic door locks, so if somebody tried to jerk the door open, I have room to pull forward and somewhat evade the attacker.  If he were to come after me, I then have room to back up and smack him with the door.  This is the first and fastest option to protect myself.  I carry a can of pepper spray with me, which is totally legal in all vehicles in Colorado, but with my luck I’d spray myself.  A gun would be a last resort in close quarters like that; too much chance of an innocent person getting seriously hurt.

Getting hit from behind.  Too many cars sit right on the tail of the car in front of them. If the last car in a line gets hit, the domino effect would cause all of the cars to hit each other.  I’ve seen that a number of times.  If a car came up from behind and hit the car(s) behind me, with my foot on the brake of my car, it would lessen the likelihood of my hitting the car in front of me.  Unlike a Newton’s Cradle, cars have crumple zones that would absorb much of the impact force.  I am counting on that and physics to keep me from hitting the car in front of me.

Maybe there’s other reasons for a car to be sitting back three car lengths: They’re talking to the car next to them?  They don’t want to block a driveway?  The driver is really olde and can’t see the car in front of them?  (Don’t laugh, you’ll be olde one day!)  Maybe they know it’s YOU and know it’s a pet peeve of yours? 

Considering the world we live in, is it really that big a deal? 

And just so you know, my pet peeve is people who don’t turn off their auxiliary driving lights on their vehicles.  But let’s leave that for another debate.

Take care and keep the rubber side down. 

It Finally Happened.

Well, it finally happened.

Back in 1982, after a car crash, I was diagnosed with a broken neck, or what they call "The Hangman's Break", which is between the C1-C2 vertebrae.   Consequently I had surgery which has held up very well, thank you for asking. 

However, the doctor told me that there was some damage done to the disc between the 5^th and 6^th vertebrae.  There wasn’t anything that he would recommend doing at that time, but, he said, it wasn’t a matter of “if”, it was a matter of “when”, that disc would cause problems. 

In October of 2016, as I was getting into the company truck, a Mack, I smacked my head on the upper door frame.  Normally I have enough clearance, but since the company mandated we wear hardhats on company property, I didn’t have enough clearance.  Ouch!  The impact gave me an instant sore throat, such as what strep would feel like.  Normally when I get hurt the pain subsides; on this day that was not the case.  After a couple of deliveries I contacted dispatch and asked them if we could rearrange my schedule so I could forego the last delivery and see a doctor.  They decided to contact the safety dude, who, long story short, took me up to the hospital emergency in Greeley.  End result, no strep, and they couldn’t determine what was wrong.  Because of that, workman’s comp wouldn’t cover any further doctor visits. 

However, I kept having problems, my arms were constantly hurting, and it became an issue.  If I pushed too long and too hard, my arms would feel like somebody doused me in gasoline and set me on fire.  Horrible pain.  So I took matters into my own hands, and went to see a doctor on my dime and insurance. 

I have deterioration in the discs between the 5^th, 6^th and 7^th cervical vertebrae, arthritis, and bone spurs.  The doctor put me on light duty and suggested Physical Therapy.  The company didn’t have any light duty work for me, so they put me on six weeks of unpaid medical leave until I could figure things out. 

The PT is helping me learn to use the other vertebrae in my neck to offset the abuse the 5th, 6th and 7th vertebrae have taken.  It has helped, but, it cannot fix that which is already messed up.  If I go back to driving, the abuse would continue and my neck would only get worse. 

I can opt for surgery, which entails putting rods in my neck to take the pressure off of the discs, but that would secure those three vertebrae together and limit the amount of movement I would have.  That would basically make it impossible for me to turn my head to look out the side windows of the truck at the mirrors. 

Either way, I have to get out of trucking.

My last day at Pilot Thomas Logistics was March 2.  There were a lot of good people there that I will miss.  Also, having to get out of trucking is like losing a close friend of 35 years.  Tough.

So my “if” finally became the “when”. 

I have a number of irons in the fire.  I am taking a Jewelry and Metalworking class at AIMS Community College in Greeley to pursue my passion for bling.  The class is outside my comfort zone, which is good, because it means I am learning stuff that I don’t know.  I hope to expand that to some level of a commercial enterprise.  I also have a storage facility full of thick cut lumber for tables and furniture which I have been working. 

Wish me luck, keep me in your prayers, stay in touch, and if you need a custom piece of furniture or jewelry, give me a shout. 

In the meantime, keep the rubber side down. 

Take care and God bless.