Monday, October 11, 2010

Keep Those Tires on the Road

Woman charged in fatal Apex crash | abc11.com:
Authorities say they received a call just after 3 p.m. about a crash on Holly Springs Road near the YMCA. According to the Highway Patrol, Romero was driving a Cadillac Escalade when she lost control and slammed head-on into a vehicle carrying Donald Reynard and three passengers.

Reynard, 73, of Missouri was killed. He was in town for the christening of one of his grandchildren.

His wife, 72-year-old Ann Reynard, is in critical condition. His 35-year-old daughter-in-law Kenia Reynard, of Fuquay-Varina, along with a 16-year-old in the car also was injured.

Two teens, ages 19 and 16, were passengers in Romero's vehicle and suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

A man at the scene told ABC11 Eyewitness News his nieces, Karla and Paola Hernandez, were riding with Carla Romero. He said they had just left church and were headed to eat when they crashed.

According to the Highway Patrol, the SUV was traveling 80 mph in a 45 mph zone when Romero lost control. The SUV hit a dip in the road and went airborne. The impact left an engine from one of the vehicles a hundred feet from the scene of the crash.

I don't know the exact number, but one thing I remember from Driver Ed classes, lo those many years ago, is that only a handful of square inches of rubber have contact with the road while we're driving. Any control we have over the vehicle is dependent on that contact. It doesn't matter how young you are and how cat-like your reflexes may be, once your tires are airborne, no amount of braking or steering can help you. I'm guessing that, if you're doing 80 in a 45, you've got an inflated sense of self-importance. Nobody where you're going cares about the few seconds earlier you could arrive by doubling the speed limit.

Check yourself before you wreck yourself, SUV missiles are bad for your health.
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