“Bad Wreck Down The Road...”

Somebody has to take charge of the scene, especially in cases where there's no breathing or heavy bleeding. My instructor told me to think of the person as a corpse. If you can't help them, you can't make'em any deader, if you save their life, it's a huge bonus, so you might as well try.

Note for those who come across a motorcycle accident. DO NOT allow the victim to REMOVE the HELMET or remove it yourself. Removing a helmet can aggravate neck and spinal injuries, so that should be done by licensed medical professionals. The only exception should be if the person is not breathing (chest not moving or mirror not fogging up) or choking on their blood.

Similar car vs. truck collision happened near Peterborough last summer. Young woman made a sudden U-turn in front of a transport truck, everyone in the car died. I don't know if basic survival instincts have been dulled over time, but I can't help but wonder why so many people just impulsively do things without looking and verifying that the action wouldn't result in being killed. It's not that hard to realize that driving is the most dangerous thing that most of us do, but every single day I see all kinds of people do things that, if it weren't for pure luck, would end up killing them.

FiReSTaRT makes an excellent point. I advise people to not remove people from cars/trucks (i.e: unconcious) unless such action puts their life in danger, such as fire, drowning, etc...

An example is an MVC which I attended in November. Head-on collision between Cavalier and Sunfire/Grand Am. Vehicle speeds were approx. 97 km/h and 88 km/h at point of impact, no braking. Father in Cavalier had 2 broken ankles and driver of Pontiac suffered fractured leg, both arms, moderate-severe head injury due to a toolbox in back seat which opened. The patient that illustrates my point is the daughter, passenger in the Cavalier. She was unconcious and bystanders did not remove her from the vehicle as there was no obvious life-threatening danger. Another crew put her in a c-collar and the entire kit. She had full movement and sensation in all four limbs (she regained consciousness en-route to the ER). We later learned she had fracture her C2 (2nd cervical vertebrae), and the general rule for c-spine fracture is "above C4, you breath no more". So, because the bystanders did not attempt to move her, she can still walk, run, take care of herself, and have normal teen and adult years.

Stay safe!!

Good point Radar i have seen this many times.

Women on cell phones changing lanes not even paying attention.

Those people really bug me, they check their email's make phone calls and do not even care at all. They are driving half in one lane.

These people deserve Careless driving charges.

I mean come on atleast if your gonna talk on your cell for a while or check your mail on your blackberry could you have the common sense to pull over to the right lane?

Radar it amazes me that people do things that stupid without even thinking like doing a uturn in front of a transport.

I love those big concrete barriers on the 401. I cant imagine how many loonies would try to do a uturn on there with people coming head on at 120+

I hate the concrete barriers.

If only the gov't did it correctly like hwy 11 up towards Huntsville, where the lanes are seperated by a good 75metres. It allows ample room to remove snow, debris off the highway. Allows emergency vehicles to get to scenes and calls for service more efficiently. Prevents rubbernecking as the distance allows nothing to be seen.

tdrive2 wrote:Radar it amazes me that people do things that stupid without even thinking like doing a uturn in front of a transport.

People just don't think when they're driving "hey, if I make a big mistake, or someone else makes a big mistake and I don't take evasive action, I could die." Another example was the woman here in Toronto who was chatting on her cellphone, walked into the side of a truck and was crushed under its wheels. Just about every week at Victoria Park and Lawrence I see someone in the right turning lane zip across to the left turning lane without looking for traffic coming up behind them (that's crossing three lanes).

hwybear wrote:I hate the concrete barriers.

Might work for rural areas, but the tall-wall is a necessity in the major cities.

I also love the tall concrete wall cause the officer can't pull a U and run around to flash his lights on after he gets you with the spectre.

It is absolutely necessary in Major Cities.

A transport can go through the grass like nothing. The QEW is scary they still have those wood posts with the aluminum, or w.e it is.

A big transport can fly through that like nothing, many have died like this in head on collisions.

Theres one for you guys who love the speed kills argument. If a transport truck goes through the median and hits your car head on what happens at the following speeds????

a) 90 km/hr

b) 110 km/hr

c) 130 km/hr

d) 150 km/hr

e) Your just as dead.

Well ya chances are even if it hits you at 70 head on your dead the speed wont make a difference. The answer was e.

Now d was a trick question. Why may you ask cause fantino would have towed his truck before his day in court

Sometimes out west of london there is enough room to have a large grass median int he middle.

but in most urban areas there is simply no room for this.

I would rather have the concrete in the middle to stop trucks from flying through, with wider lanes, and perhaps a chance to expand the highway to fit another lane as opposed to something cops can use front facing radar to pull a U turn to catch speeders.

I remember that guy who went 250 on the 400. With grass in the middle or wood he could have flew threw that and hit me head on.

With a big concrete median he can smash his own car into a big slab of concrete and kill himself.

Transport going thru the median at whatever km/hr...add the vehicle speed the opposite way and then you have the speed of impact...BAM!!

I have seen several trucks go right thru the super duper concrete barriers.

Of course you need them in major cities, gov't still didn't plan the routes wide enough to start with, so there is not choice but to concrete it up....the motor vehicle "luge" was born

I have mixed feelings about the concrete barriers. A divided roadway with a small forest in between is ideal, but I don't think I've seen any of those in Ontario.

The tall-walls like to bounce cars back into traffic, but they work with a larger range of car sizes and bumper heights. The metal guardrails are a little better at catching vehicles or at least gently steering them back to the road, but they're a one-time-use deal. At least we don't have those Autobahn barriers where a low car can slot right under it.

I've had good experiences with the concrete barriers on the QEW..

1) In a K-car, got slammed into it by a van shooting across 3 lanes of traffic without looking. Some cosmetic damage. I dread the thought of what could have happened had there not been one.

2) In an 85 Jetta, got hit so hard by a Mercedes that had a tire blowout while passing from the right that he took 2 tires off my rims.. Again, I went into the barrier, no other major damage or injuries.

I think the concrete barriers are great on the 400-Series in the GTA. Probably has saved quite a few lives.

Several years ago the 427 had those metal W-barriers that we've still got on much of the QEW. A truck had a catastrophic steering failure, crashed through the barrier and into oncoming traffic. It slammed head-on into a car, killing the driver, and seriously injured another motorist. After that MTO replaced the metal barriers with concrete on the 427.

Squishy wrote:A divided roadway with a small forest in between is ideal, but I don't think I've seen any of those in Ontario.

Highway 416 between the 401 and Ottawa has this for most of its distance. Also the 417 between Ottawa and Montreal for some of the way. The only downside is that the forest also has a lot of animals, like deer, moose, and, of course, a puma with a light deck.