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Lucky Escapes

Cochise said:
I would strongly suggest not reading the comments on the above article unless you want to be exposed to a torrent of prejudice, misogyny, failure to actually watch the video, and just plain nastiness.
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So a normal day in internet-land?
 
JaneD said:
So a normal day in internet-land?
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Well, yes, probably. I don't do that much of Web social stuff, I'm only on Facebook and that rarely. But the vituperation in those comments about women drivers is quite shocking, as is all the people going on about the dangers of SUV's - an attitude I might have some sympathy with was it not clear from the video that the vehicle is not an SUV it's either a van or a people carrier derived from a van. And then there is the condemning of people filming the accident when the footage is quite clearly CCTV or a traffic cam. I can myself occasionally post something stupid, but some of the commenters on there are seriously in need of remedial measures.

I put the misogyny down to those with small penises who treat their ability to drive a car as a substitute. The only person I know who stamped on the accelerator instead of the brake was a bloke. I was the front seat passenger at the time.

There is no clue in the video what led up to the accident. It's this sort of mad speculation that has tainted recent misper investigations.
 
Cochise said:
There is no clue in the video what led up to the accident. It's this sort of mad speculation that has tainted recent misper investigations.
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It did look like the car was being driven a bit too fast and the driver misjudged where the kerb was.
With it being an MPV based on a van, it was already a bit top-heavy and that is why it flipped quite easily.
 
Mythopoeika said:
It did look like the car was being driven a bit too fast and the driver misjudged where the kerb was.
With it being an MPV based on a van, it was already a bit top-heavy and that is why it flipped quite easily.
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Almost any vehicle can be flipped when it hits a kerb, that's not part of statutory stability checks. Vans (empty) are actually more stable because all the heavy machinery is low down. I used to drive one and when off duty you could hurl it round corners faster than my MGB.

But the real point is that we have no idea what led up to the accident. And that is what makes the speculation so offensive (and probably prejudicial, if there is in fact culpability).
 
I spent several years of my working life investigating motor accidents for an insurance company, taking statements from drivers and witnesses, visiting scenes, taking photos and measurements, studying police reports, negotiating with solicitors, occasionally attending court.

Most road accidents are depressingly banal: a moment's inattention, or overconfidence, or panic, occasionally exacerbated by alcohol or drugs, and sometimes by poor maintenance of the vehicle. It is easy to overthink what happened. People make mistakes and accidents happen.

However, I agree with @Cochise that it is inappropriate to speculate about the cause of this particular accident on the basis of a few lines of news report and a few seconds of video which start from after the vehicle was already out of control. There are no clues as to why the vehicle was travelling at that particular speed, in that direction at that moment. “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.” (from A Scandal in Bohemia)

A friend of mine in apparently good health set off to the local village to buy a newspaper, had a heart attack at the wheel and was probably dead before his vehicle had veered off the road. Things happen.
 
Mikefule said:
I spent several years of my working life investigating motor accidents for an insurance company, taking statements from drivers and witnesses, visiting scenes, taking photos and measurements, studying police reports, negotiating with solicitors, occasionally attending court.

Most road accidents are depressingly banal: a moment's inattention, or overconfidence, or panic, occasionally exacerbated by alcohol or drugs, and sometimes by poor maintenance of the vehicle. It is easy to overthink what happened. People make mistakes and accidents happen.

However, I agree with @Cochise that it is inappropriate to speculate about the cause of this particular accident on the basis of a few lines of news report and a few seconds of video which start from after the vehicle was already out of control. There are no clues as to why the vehicle was travelling at that particular speed, in that direction at that moment. “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.” (from A Scandal in Bohemia)

A friend of mine in apparently good health set off to the local village to buy a newspaper, had a heart attack at the wheel and was probably dead before his vehicle had veered off the road. Things happen.
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Love the Holmes quote :)
 
Stormkhan said:
I think you'll find that regardless of the video clip - and following article - that the bile-filled comments are standard fare expected from the publications readership.
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But But I used to comment there :) No, honestly, the comments on the lucky escape were beyond the normal levels of bile for some reason.
 
I guess the sad fact now is that remarks one used to make one’s mate in the pub are now shared with huge numbers of total strangers online. So crass and offensive statements are spread far and wide and life made more unpleasant because of them
 
Pronouncements in real life may be challenged, questioned or supported. Online, this process is easy and anonymised. Thus, fiction or untruth can go unchallenged.
 
These two lucky escapes came with three unlucky ones.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/19/oregon-teen-saves-baby-portland-ice-storm

Oregon teen saves baby after seeing three die slipping on ice into power line​

Majiah Washington saw the baby’s parents, her neighbors, struggling to save the baby after a storm coated Portland with ice

She kept a low crouch to avoid sliding into the wire as she approached, she said at a news conference on Thursday, a day after the deaths. As she grabbed the baby she touched the father’s body, but she wasn’t shocked, she said.

A Portland Fire and Rescue spokesman, Rick Graves, praised Washington for her heroism but confessed he didn’t understand how she and the baby weren’t also electrocuted. The baby was examined at a hospital and is fine, authorities have said.
 
How The Luckiest Russian Alive Survived A Drone Hitting His Windshield


A Russian military driver had a lucky escape when a Ukrainian FPV drone targeting his vehicle crashed into the windshield – and stuck there without exploding.

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The FPV is carrying a warhead which is detonated when two contact wires touch. This is a crude, improvised arrangement, but makes sure that drone warheads are safe to handle until they are fitted.

In the case of the windshield strike, for some reason the wires did not make good enough contact during impact and the warhead failed to go off. This may be a reflection of the garage-built nature of the FPVs in use and the lack of effective quality control, but it may simply be down to numbers. All munitions have a certain percentage of duds, and if you run enough FPVs into trucks you will get some failures.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidh...live-survived-a-drone-hitting-his-windshield/

maximus otter
 

Woman Falls in Dumpster, Gets Compacted by Garbage Truck​


A New Hampshire woman fell into a dumpster at her Manchester housing complex on trash collection day and was picked up by a local garbage truck—where fire officials say she was compacted up to four times before the driver noticed she was inside.

The woman, who has not been identified but was described by neighbors as a 60-year-old resident, was rushed to a hospital in serious condition Monday but was expected to survive, according to local reports.

“In 32 years, I’ve never seen anything like this my whole career,” Manchester Fire Department Battalion Chief Bob Beaudet was quoted as telling local news outlet.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crim...r-gets-compacted-by-garbage-truck/ar-BB1hundL

maximus otter
 
Driver rescued from truck dangling over Ohio River

The truck was traveling northbound on the bridge when it went across the lane and burst through the bridge guardrail shortly after noon on Friday, local reports indicated.

Dramatic footage from the scene captured the moment that a first responder hooked to a crane was lowered to the cab of the truck and pulled the driver out.
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Video at link.

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Oregon man narrowly misses being sliced in half by runaway sawblade​



An Oregon man narrowly escaped death when a runaway saw blade whipped through a parking lot and lodged into a building, shocking video shows.

Shane Reimche was entering Quicktrips Neighborhood Market in Eugene on Thursday when the concrete saw broke loose from a nearby construction site.

Surveillance footage shows Reimche casually walking into the store. Just seconds later, the nearly 4-foot blade slips through parked cars in the lot, skids across the pavement and slams into the exterior wall of the shop — just inches from the door.


https://nypost.com/2024/03/31/us-ne...blade-terrifying-footage-shows-i-need-a-beer/

The Gravity Gun from Half-Life 2 is real!

maximus otter
 
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