Weekly Safety Tip
 

Today I saw, heard, and felt a bad wreck right in front of my office. Both drivers could have prevented it. I did what I could to calm the truck driver. The Paramedic I work with did what he could to save the driver of the car. Our bodies do not tolerate lateral G-force very well.

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• If you are driving and need to check your GPS/Map/Radio/Phone, do not do it just before an intersection.
• If you are at a traffic light and it turns green, pause and look for traffic before you drive into the intersection.

Today is the 23rd anniversary of a crash that changed my perspective on a lot of things. Being on the wrong side of a second or inch can change everything. As time slowed and my mind raced, the realization that there was no going back, no chance to change the outcome struck me hard. Everything had been fine a second ago and now I was locked in a crash sequence that was ruled by physics rather than my further actions. This was going to hurt.

I'm going to try to make a post once a week in this thread just to keep a little focus on safety for myself and any of my 986 friends that care to read it. Not to be preachy or gloomy, but to help fight complacency. Feel free to steal a week from me if you have a good tip to share. As sports car drivers, we all like to push the edge. Just keep an eye on that edge. The other side of it can suck.

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Thanks

Bravo
 

My daughter has been a Paramedic for 20 years....she said a week in her job and everyone would change their driving habits

Thank you.

Monday was the 29th anniversary of a collision with a drunk driver. I happened to be drinking Coke that night and had I not, my girl friend at the time and I would probably not be here. I was able to avoid a head-on collision but his pickup still wiped out the passenger side of my car. He hit me with so much force it pushed the entire front end of his pickup to the cab. He blew a .17 but the judge let him off with probation. My GF ended up in the hospital for 2 wks with a collapsed lung and broken rib. She suffered more than he did. It didn't seem fair.

I consider Oct 10 my '2nd birthday'. I was never one to enjoy the fall color changes, but this made me stop and look around a bit. I've enjoyed the fall colors ever since.

As a Corporate Safety Director for a large utility I often deal with the aftermath of poor decision making. If I could give one tidbit of advice it would be to question your habits. Just because nothing has happened doesn't mean you're doing it safely. And remember, dead right and dead wrong are the same thing...

Force = mass * acceleration. Things can get out of hand quickly. Thanks for the reminder.

Reading this makes my blood boil. :mad: **** that guy and the skewed justice system. I'm so sorry for your GF; as a doc, I know that things often aren't fully healed and the journey isn't over after 2 weeks in the hospital. I hope everything worked out for her!

90% of the wrecked boxsters I buy were wrecked by the driver. Don't get too confident in how well these cars can handle or brake

Hormones + alcohol = killer combo.

That is a sobering statistic.

Jacks and Jack Stands
 

Many of us do a lot of our own repairs. One of the most significant hazards to working on cars is improper use of jacks and jack stands.
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:eek:
When things are going badly in a repair job, I'm running into hours beyond what I had planned and just want to get it done, I have made a few mistakes and am lucky that I haven't been badly hurt or damaged my car.
-Thought that I had the car off the jack stands, but still had one under the right rear. Drove it off.
-Working outside on a slight slope, had a rolling jack roll with the car and fall over because I didn't chock a wheel.
-Lifting an engine from the rear of an MR2 using the winch and boom on the back of my old truck. The engine stuck and pulled the car off the jack stands. I was standing between the car and truck and got pinned. Luckily it was a light car and my concern was extracting myself before my wife found out rather than my injury.
:dance:

Here are a couple good videos:

From Neil_B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La6i3TwMB8k

From a Rennlist user
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFAqJ_3fwYg

Both mention a technique that works safely and is convenient. Using the rear jack point to raise the vehicle and place the front jack stand.

Here's the PelicanParts Tech Article:

Jacking Up and Lifting the Porsche Boxster on Jack Stands | 986 / 987 (1997-08) | Pelican Parts Technical Article

Much of the work on a Boxster is done from underneath. As an additional precaution, I like to place a large block of wood or wheel under a car to assure a safe space if all else fails. ...and then check to be certain that Everything is removed from underneath the car before I lower it.

Some good posts here: http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/60650-safe-place-jack-up-rear-boxster.html

Good reading if you are considering a lift:
a car lift in your shop | Grumpys Performance Garage

Anyone have a tip or story to share?

Oh, the cars handle and brake extremely well and have capability well beyond the average driver.

The problem is that everyone considers themselves to be above average. Until they aren't. And even then, it will be all about the tires or the conditions or the...

Driving skills are usually the weak link. Take a training course, do a few track days, get out there and learn some performance driving skills. Learn how to drive at the tires' limit whether they are new or old; learn how to adjust for weather; learn how to skid and slide and recover like a pro; and still go fast as hell. Its not just about having big balls.

I don't really care for the ratchet style jack stands even though I own some. I also still have the pin type jack stands which I feel are much safer. But since purchasing a scissor lift I don't use either style .

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MaN does this ever sound/look familiar. I’ve done all this stuff too many times to count. As you say. In a hurry mostly.
The worst was when I installed a new shifter on my 56 Chevy. I was at my uncles house that had a home on a high bluff with a beautiful panoramic view. When I finished installing the shifter and let the car down off the jack stands I started into the house to wash up. But I stopped. I had better put the car into gear. But I didn’t. I had recently installed a new red leather tuck and roll interior and I didn’t wish to get grease on it. So I leaned my shoulder onto the door frame and tried to push it and being unable to push it I thought I was safe. I hurried into the house and before I returned my Chevy had rolled over the bluff.
I learned an expensive lesson that day but I still take chances. Stupid. Stupid. Really is Stupid.

I appreciate your concern. She healed up nicely but there were many tough nights of no sleep due to the broken rib.

Then she broke up with me 3 mo later b/c I didn't give her a ring for Christmas.

Just read a story about someone locally that died when his car he was working on fell on him. Don't take chances as it could be you!

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Once upon a time I purchased a brand new full time all wheel drive Bronco. I don’t think there were a whole lot of them around because I’ve seen supposedly knowledgable people online swearing none existed until they are proven wrong. The first time I got it out on the highway I realized the cruise control didn’t work. So I took it back to the dealer to have it repaired. I was in the waiting room but watching out a window into the shop. The mechanic put a floor jack under the differential and raised the rear of the truck real high in the air. I realized what he was about to do so I ran out into the shop screaming at the top of my lungs. I ask him are you getting ready to check the cruise control with the rear wheels off the ground and not the front. And he said yes. I said this is a full time all wheel vehicle, when you put it into gear it is going to drive off the jack. He said Ma’am I am a professionally trained Ford mechanic and I know what I’m doing, I do this all the time. So he crawled up into the truck and promptly ran it across the floor pinning another employee into his tool box. I don’t know if he shot the gas to it intentionally just to prove me wrong or if he panicked when he realized what was happening. It just pulled floor jack and all about 20 feet. Thankfully I had stepped to the side because it was clear to me what was about to happen. I only received a little scratch on my Bronco. They took the employee to the hospital, I never did hear how that came out. I think he may have had a broken leg. And possibly ribs. And the idiot professional mechanic ruined his Snap-On tool box, squashed it like a pancake.

Martha, you lucky and the other tech weren't at this shop:)

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Street Racing :eek:

For this weeks safety tip, I'll just link rexcramer's thread:
http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/64027-another-reminder-save-racing-track.html

It comes up a few times a year in the forum and almost always gets ugly.

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I’m sure my post will be unpopular but me I’m a racer, if you challenge me I’m going to race, thats the way its been for 57 years and its not going to change at this point of my life. Simply put its a risk I’m willing to take. The way I see things is if you try to hang with me down a twisty country lane and you lose control then your life is on your hands, I don’t think I should be held accountable for murder because of a decision you made. Now if I were to kill a child playing in the street or in their front yard then put me in prison for murder I deserve it.

Sorry Martha, I am going to take you to task here. You don't get to pick where or when an oily patch on the street pops up. In this case R/R tracks. Gravel, ice, cats, dogs, kids on scooters, wet leaves, etc. This accident happened less than a block south of a high school on the same side of the street. A busy street, smack in the middle of downtown Upland, at 4:30 PM. Fortunately the school lets out at 3:00.

I drove by the crash site again yesterday. The tree probably saved the lives of people in front of the restaurant. Not to mention the front of the restaurant. The store front is +/- 70' from the tree. The dining patio is 20' less. Lets add up the cost of all the emergency personnel that the tax payers have to pay for because somebody 'challenge me' to a race.

In California, we also have laws on the books that convict accomplices, of murder, when someone is killed during the commission of a felony, i.e. bank robbery, home invasion, etc. When caught racing, your car is forfeited. If you happen to cause the injury of someone, it is assault with a deadly weapon. Death comes with the appropriate sentence. It is illegal to be a spectator of a street race in California. Ergo, participating in activities that cause someones death is appropriately charged.

Martha, I mean you no ill will. Risk your life as you see fit. You and I are the same age. I have 11 grand kids. I don't want you, me, or anybody else, to suffer through a loss of a loved one. Thankfully, an old tree kept this carnage from being worse.

'I’m a racer, if you challenge me I’m going to race,' Sadly, this train of thought has cost the life of one 23 year old kid and will seriously handicap the life of his co-racer/felon when they are apprehended.

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Yes, you are correct, California is a nanny state. Thank God for Oklahoma!

I totally agree with rexcramer in every single point he made and no truer words have been written (as I have a guiding "morality compass") HOWEVER...

I also have a dumb gene.

Now this is what I find interesting, and quite probably true with most humans.... There is a constant battle between my morality compass and my dumb gene, but there is an additional factor that modifies the equation...age. Thirty years ago (and I am almost embarrassed to admit) my dumb gene almost eclipsed my morality compass, but now T+30 my morality compass has a much stronger pull. I would like to think that now, with age and clarity, I will always choose the best path of behavior, but in all honestly it's probably closer to 50/50 between enlightened guru and flaming jackass. Perhaps in thirty years my dumb gene will be totally suppressed and with my fully charged morality compass I may go forth unto the world and spread wisdom...from the chair on my front porch. Until that time, I try and ask myself three simple questions when I think I might be about to do something inappropriate:

1: does this need to be done?
2: does this need to be done by me?
3: does this need to be done by me now?

Anyway...street racing bad. Don't do it. Ever. Or so says my morality compass...

In the accident on October 14th that I opened this thread with, the driver of the truck was unhurt and I expect that the driver of the car died. The last I saw him was when they were loading him in the ambulance to bring him to the hospital 100 yards away. I did not follow up. The truck driver was in hysterical grief. She knew that she had just killed a stranger. She was not racing, or speeding. She had just looked away from the road for a few seconds. When she saw that the light had changed, she just couldn't stop in time and it likely ended one life and changed hers Forever.

I have been working in Oklahoma as an EMS helicopter pilot for over 10 years. I have waited for patients to be extracted from mangled vehicles, hearing their shrieks become moans and then silence. Returning to our base, no longer needed. Two brothers speeding on the back roads, lost control. Little brother thrown from the car, elder trapped inside and unable to get to him while he died. A pick-up goes a little too fast over a blind hill and crosses lanes just enough to kill a young couple heading the other way, their infant (now orphan) in back critically injured, but alive. On and on. Cops, EMS, and firemen know the stories.

I still do stupid things while I'm driving. I still can convince myself that with my superior skills and awesome cars, I can get away with things that 'ordinary people' can't. ...and I know that I am wrong and no better than that truck driver.
Racing on public roads? If anything, I think it shows weakness and misplaced pride. Stronger and humble is a better way to be.

Evolution of Safety Design
 

Saw this in a recent MSN article. I found it stunning the effects of the differences between the two designs with a twenty year gap. The last part of the video where you see the crash consequences from the inside of both cars was, to me, the most sobering.

https://youtu.be/85OysZ_4lp0

In my 30’s I thought I could beat the train. The 18-Wheeler in front of me thought the same. When he realized, he wasn’t going to make as the cab was close to the track and made a hard left 180 The train het him between the trailer and back of cab.

Rule # 1, I agree anyone should be able to take any risk’s their heart desires as long as it’s put no one, living thing or others property at risk. Once there is somebody else who joins in you has lost control over the situation. Now your situation no risk to others goes out the window and negates rule # 1.

Not perfect or even correct just how I see it.

Men's health...
 

Good health is safety related. In November some men grow mustaches and/or beards to promote awareness of men's health issues.
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Many men avoid doctor visits and medical tests until their condition is well advanced, often making treatment less effective, or too late. Many of us would rather just ignore a problem and wait (hope) for it to get better rather than talk to a doctor about it. That is sad, because many health issues such as cancers, coronary disease, and mental health can be treated and cured or mitigated.

Get checked for prostate cancer: A blood test for PSA and if the number comes back high or shows a significant increase from previous tests, get an exam with a urologist.

Get an annual physical exam. Get to know your healthcare and develop a relationship with your healthcare professional. Establish a baseline of your health and know when things change. Ages 18-39: https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/007464.htm, 40-64:https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/007465.htm, 65 and up? I expect you know the routine better than I. Anything you'd like to share?

50 and older? Don't fear the colonoscopy. The worst part is the diet and laxatives the day before.

About the time I turned 50 I had a GI bleed from taking heavy doses of NSAIDs long term. Instead of seeing a doctor I waited for it to get better. A few days later I was pale and weak. My wife convinced me to visit ER. They gave me seven units of blood and told me that if I had waited a little longer I would have been dead. I try to take preventative health more seriously now. I'm just learning to drive a car on the track now and hoping for many years of track time ahead. Good health is key.

I resemble that comment. I was stupid. I was accelerating on a freeway entrance ramp that i take almost daily but this day it was drizzling and my rear tires were worn. As i get up to about 70 mph i hydroplane and in the blink of an eye, 360 spin into the median barrier.

What really calms me is going to the track. When i see how good these cars are and how quickly they can get away from you on the track i realise pushing the limits is not for the street.

I can't really add to anything that hasn't already been said other than to hopefully reinforce rexcramer's comments. Street racing is just plan stupid (sorry MARTHA) but sometimes you just have to be blunt. It's not always easy to be the bigger man when challenged but that's what we have to strive to do especially when dealing with something that can kill you. If you want to race AX or track it, period.

Remember to park with flow of traffic
 

Lock your doors
 

My newer cars automatically lock the doors when I start driving, my 986s do not. I never cared much for self locking doors, but some recent events changed my mind and I intend to keep my doors locked now.

It has become a popular technique to steal items from an unlocked car while the driver is refueling. It happens fast and often goes undetected.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sjkghjJ55BU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Even worse, in the last week there were a few car-jackings and a hostage situation. I took the perpetrator of one of the car-jackings to the hospital. He had been in a police chase and wrecked his car. He jumped into another car (car-jacked) and drove off for a second chase. The second chase ended when he entered a ditch at high speed and rolled the car. ...at least he was wearing a seat belt.

Don't be an easy target. Keep your doors locked. Keep alert.

Not sure I want to resurrect the thread, but figured it's a good place for a holiday season reminder. I expect that most of you are skilled and sober drivers, but plenty of the people on the road tonight are not.
Here's my view from a couple hours ago. These are not Christmas lights.
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1511674610.jpg

A teenage driver, unrestrained and high speed. Three patients, two were flown from the scene. Traffic was completely stopped for at least 30 minutes. Be safe and expect the unexpected.
This is the front of the truck, it hit a pole and some other things. Kind of hard to sort out what's what in the picture, bumper is an inverted V at the bottom, brake booster and reservoir at the right center...
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02/car1511675227.jpg

Are we sure Martha isn't a troll, just trying to bait us. If so, he's the master.

I remember Martha's first posts as she bought an '07 from what is my local dealership and we exchanged PMs about car care. There may be a few embellishments in her posts, but I expect that she is for the most part a true character... and quite a character.
:cheers:

I am saddened that she felt like she needed to withdraw from the forum. My guess is anybody on this forum can recount a tale (or more) of street racing gone bad. Stay alert through the holidays and remember shiny side up.

Walk around an insurance auction and you'll see quite a few vehicles that you know someone had to die in. The worse porsche I've seen was a 996 cab that was so wrecked that only the brake calipers were salvageable. Somebody let 4 teenage boys take their 996 for a spin. The 18 year old driver was the oldest. They got T-boned by a dump truck doing 140mph. At least that's what the speedometer was stuck at. Last I heard only the 14 year old front passenger survived.