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Whitby Free Press, Wednesday, January 18, 1995., Page 17 DRI VIN% SAFELYFi wît.h RANDY ~~~ RANDY McLEAN 1S A PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER WHO SPECIAUZES IN TRAFFIC SAFETY. Mr. MoLean has reviewed thousandsof individuai motor vehicle accident reports and his close working relationshlps with police agencies, goverrnents. safety asocations, industry and the public, have given hlm a true overview of traffic safety issues, problems and solutions in Canada. VISIBHITY AND SAFETY "The snow was blowing 80 bard, you could hardly see the front of your lown car.. "The rai nw85 80 heavy.. "The glare was s0 bright*..." How often have you heard these expressions? Maybe you ve even said the same thing once or twice yourself. Too often those statements are followed by sometbing like: "The driver didn't have a chance, he probably neyer even saw what bit hlm." Andit seems at least once every winter these conditions lead to a five, 100 or 30 plus vehicle collision. The truth, however, i8 that drivers do have a chance. But we need to act much sooner. Trying to avoid a collision at the last second is alittle like trying to dodge a bullet. It's a lot easier just to stay away fromn people witb loaded guns in the first place. One of the most critical factors in avoiding a collision is being able to act in time.Unfortunately, one of the common mistakes esperienced drivers make is to overdrive their visibility distance. As visibility is reduced, most drivtrs do reduce their speed, but usually not enough to compensate for the corresponding increase in reaction time. This 18 the "visibility was so bad I bad te slow down to the s peed limit" syndrome. People feel safe in their cars. If' these same drivers were taken out of their cars, put.in a dark room and told to run as fast as they wanted, they would probably be alot more concerned about humping into eacb other or some other obje ct. The fear of a direct collision at 10 kilometres per hour somehow sesmns more real than an indirect collision (your car bits an object, then your head bits the windshield at30 or 40 kilometres per hour. It doesn't bave to be a blizzard, puring rain or a heavy fgfor visibility to be recduced. Almost alnigh t %riving le dons in reduced visibility conditions. Our total response time le made up of four components: 1. perception -- seeing an unusal condition. 2. recognition -- recognizing tbat a hazard eist 3. decision -- deciding what to do 4. reaction -- acting (steer, brake, etc.) to avoid a collision. These four steps -take time. Fatigue, alcohol, poor ligbt and weatber conditions al increase our total reaction time. Your decision. and reaction times 'are determined by experience and reflexes. There is very littîs you can do to quickly improve eitber. However your preception and recognition times can We reduced significantly by paying increassd attention to> traffic conditions around you and tbinking abead. Try to imagine tbe dumbest possible tbing the driver or pedestrian near you could do. They will probably do it more often than you would like to believe. Anticipating danger before it happens may not only prevent an accident but you'l feel gooýd about being so smart. What you can't see can hurt you. DRIVE SAFELY! Cruîsîng Classîcs: sln drîvîngi FROM PAGE 16 aren't) and the bike shopwe stopped in was completély stocked with Harley's full range ofeèlothes and accessories. Our last island was St. Thomas, a most unusual one in that while it ie an American territory everyone drives on the left. Our tour guide explained that the custom predaties the island's U.S. purchase in 1917, and an experimental move to the other aide of the road was a short-lived failure. More -unusual ie the overwhelming choice of vehicles: large, left-hand-drive American cars. Even vehicles available in right-hand, such as Mercedes, bad left-band wheels. (At this point I had te wonder about the tourists who flocked te car rental agencies near the docks. It's bard enough driving in a strange place, wbat with looking for street signs and traffic lights; what sans. person would make it worse by driving on a aide he'd neyer ventured onto before?) From there it was an overnight ride te San Juan and then back to Toronto. Here was a car I reall didn't want to ses: our own, hbich had been parked at the alrport for a wesk. When you're wearing just light pants and a sweatsbirt, that first juxnp into an icy car is a shocking one. Now you niight tbink that ws spent our entirs week looking at cars, which of course isn't true; ws took in more than we could' have imaginsd. Still, our favourite island was a tiny ons nanied Mayreau, wbich we stopped at because our cruise lins had a private beach on its shores. Just a dot on the ocean, Mayreau was mostly beach and trees, with a population of about 300 people. And flot a single car in sight. Hsy, even a writer's.got te have a real vacation now and then. N.X. UOBd e Complete Collision Set e Insurance WorkJ .Free Estimates " Custom -Refinishing " Towing Service I " Used Car Sales [U àyy OSAS 5 *à oi5i 405 Mary St. E., Whitby and 1940 Ellesmere Rd., Unit 17, Scarborough (Serving Scarborough for 18 years) OPEN MONDAY TO SATURDAY (905) 666-2555 o Fax: (416) 438-6379 More power in'95 Lincoin When the all-new Lincoln Continental is introduced for the 1995 model year, its new InTech V-8 engins will produce a staggering 62 per cent more power than the model it replaces. Namsd for the engine's intelligent use of technology Lincon Continentals 32-value Ii Tech V-8 engins bas already made history at Ford Motor Company by being the company's firet transverse mounted front-wheel-drive V-8 engins. The 4.6-litre DOHO InTech V-8 is Ford's second four-cam, four-valve V-8 engine. Ford's first application 18 used toripwer Lincoln's rear-drive Mark II lxuryperformance coupe. In the Iàncoîn Continental, the InTech V-8 engine 18 rated at 260 horsepower at 5,750 rpm, with a torque rating of 265 foot-pounds at 4,750 rpm. Thats 62 per cent more power than the 3.8-litre V-G it replaces in the current Lincoln Continental. 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