Not long opened to unlimited speed in that section

This is very sad. I feel for the families of these people.

sad.......when they were out enjoying their lives having no doubt worked hard for most of their life.

Although we don't know (and possibly will never know) what caused the vehicle to veer off the road and then jack-knife, AK is so right about sleep and stopping for regular 5 or 10 minutes walk and leg stretching (or a cuppa). I have spoken with so many nomads in their 60s and 70s who rush along - miss our beautiful country - for up to 8 or 10 hours non-stop driving. They would probably get more R&R if they simply stayed at home.

We met a couple at Salmon Gums on their way home to Perth. They have driven in a period of 4 weeks from home to Melbourne, then up to Sydney to see family, then on to northern QLD to see more family. Both were retired and he said he was the only one to drive, he had to speed the entire trip and they were on the road between 8-12 hours a day, only stopping for a brief lunch in their van. They had a new Sahara and new 24ft van - so presumably not short of money. Why didn't they just fly to see their family?

I can relate to the fact that inattention can be a killer,  When we did our trip around the Block, I gave the Missis a turn behind the wheel, we were travelling through the Northern Territory at the time, now if you think it's flat and straight on the Nullarbor, you haven't been up North of W.A.

Any way, I had nodded off and everything seemed to be O.K.  I don't know what woke me but I happened to glance at the Speedo, the Missis seemed quiet comfortable sitting there staring out into space, she never realised that through inattention the speed had been creeping up and the old Patrol with our very old Classic Caravan in tow, were rocketing along at more than 140 kph 

After giving the Missis a bollocking and getting her to lift her  heavy foot, She reduced speed down to something like 95-100 kph , Next thing a new 4x4 towing a 25' van shot past us like there was no tomorrow, by the time we got to a small rise in the highway, this Clown was out of sight over  the Horizon, he must have been getting small change out of 200 kph.

There's no wonder  accidents happen, it took the Missis some time to calm down, after saying to her, just think what would happen if a tyre blew a that speed,  her only reply was, But the Nissan was going great, "Yer" that's the trouble with the old Girl, the Diesel motor gets to a certain rev and doesn't seem to change it's tone as the speed increases.

End of story.... We got home safe in the end, !!!

K.J.

If you do a lot of distance driving nowadays, and not used to it
Ex truckie etc.

People should buy an On Screeen Display.

It puts your speed IN YOUR FACE. and probably has limits Warnings, ability too.

Car drivers are used to Petrol engines.

They drive all their lives with foot down as the petrol input relates to speed output,
Much more than diesels do.

With a diesel. Take off with a little throttle, then when speed eases,
if you want more. give a little more.

Also back off a little when you reach the speed you want.

My D.Max never goes much more than 1\4 throttle for anything.
Normally around 1\2 -3\4 in or so on take off.

Obviously a bit more foot with bigger rigs.
But try driving with less throttle and more patience with car by itself.
Just get to realise the difference.


Diesels are a completely different animal to Petrols.

PS. Even backing off a little with petrols when on cruise saves juice without dropping speed.

With the advantage that. conciously holding back on foot. automatically reduces the chance of "wind up"
iE.

foot relax. throttle go down. speed go up.

DEAD.

-- Edited by macka17 on Saturday 23rd of July 2016 08:31:22 PM

Very sad accident.
Why do people have to jump in and make up reasons for it to have happened?

Hewy54 wrote:

---

Very sad accident.
Why do people have to jump in and make up reasons for it to have happened?

---

 Because I like to learn from my own and other peoples mistakes, PREFERABLY the latter.

Aussie Paul. 

I know that this is factual...the most dangerous factor for me when driving more that a couple of hours is TIREDNESS.

I readily admit to having huge trouble with drowsiness if I drive for any prolonged period on open roads, personally I never like to travel for more that 3 hours to a new location, if I do I have to pull over and take a short walk and try to refresh in between.

Perhaps I am more inclined to driving tiredness than most as I am a very intermittent night time sleeper and have trouble sleeping more than 2 hour in a stretch. 

It does concern me about my condition when outback driving, even though I really control both my speed and distance utravelled, nevertheless, it is a worry and I know that I am not alone in this respect.

-- Edited by Wizardofoz on Sunday 24th of July 2016 08:02:58 AM

Bruce and Bev wrote:

---

sad.......when they were out enjoying their lives having no doubt worked hard for most of their life.

Although we don't know (and possibly will never know) what caused the vehicle to veer off the road and then jack-knife, AK is so right about sleep and stopping for regular 5 or 10 minutes walk and leg stretching (or a cuppa). I have spoken with so many nomads in their 60s and 70s who rush along - miss our beautiful country - for up to 8 or 10 hours non-stop driving. They would probably get more R&R if they simply stayed at home.

We met a couple at Salmon Gums on their way home to Perth. They have driven in a period of 4 weeks from home to Melbourne, then up to Sydney to see family, then on to northern QLD to see more family. Both were retired and he said he was the only one to drive, he had to speed the entire trip and they were on the road between 8-12 hours a day, only stopping for a brief lunch in their van. They had a new Sahara and new 24ft van - so presumably not short of money. Why didn't they just fly to see their family?

---

They are retired - what is the hurry?  It is not as if we retirees only have four weeks holiday a year - our lives should be one long holiday - if we travel 50k and find a good spot, we stop for the day.  The longest, I think, we have driven in one stint was about 390k, and it was exhausting, not used to it.  If you have appointments to meet, change the dates, or go afterwards.

Sad for the families of the deceased, and the injured.  But hey, take time to smell the roses!

 

Short length of time. Higher speeds, with experienced drivers.
is a much safer world to live in.

Get there quicker and not having to concentrate for so long.

We found that out in Europe in late '50's on AUtobahns.

Nanny STate country's like ours have no idea.. Control. control. control.

That's all they know. Restrict everything.

IF....
Old fart. new at game (retirement/towing)
98% sure it'll be falling asleep or lack of concentration for a second.
Mechanical next.

People need training/advising... No matter what the few Nay sayers say.

The no of accidents happening, even more so nowadays.
Proves it.

And the please explain anecdote earlier.

If you need explanation of lazy/tired foot. relaxation and faster speeds.
You got a problem.

Some relax ankle and slowdown.
some have heavy sneaker on foot and weight of, with relaxing of ankle.
pushes throttle down.

Some like me. sit well back from wheel and have to "stretch foot to hold throttle on
slightly, obviously.

SOme. mainly shorter/older people tend to sit on top of wheel.
and when leg relaxes. the foot drops and throttle increases.

Go out to your car and try it.

We went all through these things in driver experience training and advanced driver courses
Heavy haulage training etc. (we spent 2 months in classroom AFTER getting licences.

You'd be surprised what differences,just your position and comfort in cab
can make to vehicle .

-- Edited by macka17 on Sunday 24th of July 2016 01:09:34 PM

Just another point on this, and that is for those who have driven in the city for the most part, in the country, the roads are a bitumised strip, going from A to B, outside that strip is loose gravel. Sometimes there is quite a drop from the bitumen to the gravel or unsealed portion of the road, the shoulder. If the vehicle outside wheels drop off the bitumen, it can give the driver a bit of a fright, and the natural tendency is to swing the rig back onto the bitumen.
Don't do this, but keep the outside wheels off the bitumen, get the rig under control, and then s-l-o-w-l-y bring the wheels back onto the bitumised road. Any sharp and sudden turning of the front wheels may have you jack knifed.

Speed can definitely kill, you have less time to react, when things get out of shape at high speed were in big trouble ,look at what happened to Peter Brock, driving at high speed to me is deadly and absolute stupidity while towing...

At the end of the day, two people have lost their lives, a family is in mourning over the loss of their Parents & possibly Grandparents who were enjoying life. Sad news no matter how it happened.

Hewy.

Everybody guesses.
That's humans for you.