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One - Two punch
These are two more examples of why we are working to bring Automated Vehicles to US roads as soon as possible. Here is an AIM Team member's firsthand account of her Monday traffic accident.
MONDAY:
"I left the house just before 9:00 to go to work. I was running late. I did not get to work until about 1:00 and I arrived in a different car then I had left the house in!
About a mile from my house, on Rural Road which is always the worst part of my drive, my car started fish tailing and when I tried to slow down, nothing helped. The fish tails got bigger and bigger- I was all over both lanes of the road for what seemed like a half mile. I went sideways alongside a row of 100-year-old trees. I prayed to God that I not hit the trees because at that point I KNEW I would hit something. I missed the last tree in the row by 5 feet! My pass side front tire hit the snow bank at about 50 mph... It flipped the Durango up on its nose! I was sitting in the driver seat bracing the steering wheel so I would not fall into it and seeing the road through my windshield. I teetered there for a couple seconds and I could feel the car swaying. Finally, it started falling towards the roof, but ended up landing on the Passenger Side up in a 3 feet snow bank.
OMG! I cannot describe how horribly scary it was. My 17-month-old daughter was with me! I was so scared she was hurt! She was screaming and there was nothing I could do! I got myself out of my seat so I could get my phone. I was standing up with my feet on my passenger side door window. I was very panicked and very disoriented. Gravity is much different when you are on your side! I called 9-1-1 and they wanted us to get out of the car as soon as we could so that we would not be in it if someone else accidentally hit us, or if it rolled again. I could not get out... I was afraid to crawl to the back and try the back door because I did not know how I was resting. I had to wait for someone to help me.
The next car that came was a girl I know from down the road. She came about 5 minutes after it happened. Since I was in the middle of a field, no one had seen or heard me! She had to hold the door open for me because it was too heavy for me to hold and get out. I handed her my daughter and she put her in her car. She came back and held the door so that I could climb out. I waited with her until the ambulance came. When the ambulance came, they checked us out and did not need to take us anywhere - we just had bruises from all the stuff I had in the car that went flying all over. (I had all my craft and stamp supplies in the car and 5 eBay items to ship and all kinds of other things like the ice scrapper, tennis shoes, magazines... too much stuff!). The ambulance waited with me until the police came. It was a State Police man. My daughter and I sat in his passenger seat while we waited for the wrecker. I didn't have my information- it was in the glove box. The police man really liked my daughter and was trying to get her to sing "Head shoulders Knees and Toes" with him. We sat with him for a long time and talked. He was very nice. He ended up not giving us a ticket because he said from my tracks and from the snow pattern on my tire- that it looked like my breaks had not worked. He knew there was a recall on my Durango for breaks and rear suspension. My husband got there from work and waited with us too. Good thing he was there because he had to help the wrecker guy load the wrecked car.
The Durango is at the dealership awaiting its sentence... to be repaired or to be totaled a loss. We might find out today. I feel so horrible! It was NEW! It only had 36,000 miles! We were so lucky to have gotten the deal we got on it and now it is ruined! We have a $500 deductible. Insurance is paying $30 a day for a rental car while we wait.
I have not slept well... I keep having nightmares about it. If one scenario had been different, it would have been much worse. I might be in the hospital or dead! I believe 100% that God helped me to miss that tree! My daughter and I were SO lucky! Her car seat worked! We had turned her front facing the day before! I am glad we did because if she had been rear-facing things might have hit her in the face when they were flying... instead they went right over her. Also- it would have been a lot harder to get her out! Her car seat was flush with the seats- I would have had to have crawled under somehow.
I am so grateful to have walked away from that. I waited till all the strangers went away and then I just cried and cried! I am very scared to drive again- but I am making myself do it.
Please everyone- DRIVE SAFELY! Do not go too fast for the road conditions. Take an assessment of the conditions every time you start your car up. Remind yourself that winter driving is not over yet. If you have lots of things in the back get a cargo net and hold them down! If you have a large vehicle remember that if you lose traction and slide- all of the weight just adds to the momentum. High center of gravity means that fish tailing is a SERIOUS thing!"
...and then here is my account of the next one...
TUESDAY:
Matt Stallman, one of the newest team members was slowing down in front of the AIM shop to make his turn into the driveway when the car behind him was not able to stop on the icy road and crashed into him. I was working in the shop and heard the crunch. Looking out I saw a red car and a white car parked against each other at the top of the driveway. The two cars after hitting and spinning ended up against each other both facing down the driveway as if they had parked there on purpose. The driveway is sprinkled with silver, black, amber, and red plastic pieces from them having met so violently. Serious sheet metal work had been done, one car was drivable, and one needed towed. In the white car was a young mother, late for work and taking her daughter to school. The Red car was Matt. Everyone was shaken up and bruised but did not ask for medical attention. I invited everyone in out of the 11o F cold and wind to wait for the police, wrecker truck, make the necessary calls, arrange for rides etc. This took most of the morning so we did not get the Tuesday work done here at the shop.
GO ROBOTS !
Paul F. Grayson - Chief Engineer
AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL MAGIC, LLC
Racing to build technology that saves soldier's lives.
390 4-Mile Rd. S.
Traverse City, MI 49686-8411
(231) 946-0187, (231) 883-4463 Cell
pgrayson@aimagic.org
http://aimagic.org
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/robotcluboftraversecitymi/
http://www.controleng.com/blog/1180000318.html
One - Two punch
March 5, 2008
These are two more examples of why we are working to bring Automated Vehicles to US roads as soon as possible. Here is an AIM Team member's firsthand account of her Monday traffic accident. MONDAY:
"I left the house just before 9:00 to go to work. I was running late. I did not get to work until about 1:00 and I arrived in a different car then I had left the house in!
About a mile from my house, on Rural Road which is always the worst part of my drive, my car started fish tailing and when I tried to slow down, nothing helped. The fish tails got bigger and bigger- I was all over both lanes of the road for what seemed like a half mile. I went sideways alongside a row of 100-year-old trees. I prayed to God that I not hit the trees because at that point I KNEW I would hit something. I missed the last tree in the row by 5 feet! My pass side front tire hit the snow bank at about 50 mph... It flipped the Durango up on its nose! I was sitting in the driver seat bracing the steering wheel so I would not fall into it and seeing the road through my windshield. I teetered there for a couple seconds and I could feel the car swaying. Finally, it started falling towards the roof, but ended up landing on the Passenger Side up in a 3 feet snow bank.
OMG! I cannot describe how horribly scary it was. My 17-month-old daughter was with me! I was so scared she was hurt! She was screaming and there was nothing I could do! I got myself out of my seat so I could get my phone. I was standing up with my feet on my passenger side door window. I was very panicked and very disoriented. Gravity is much different when you are on your side! I called 9-1-1 and they wanted us to get out of the car as soon as we could so that we would not be in it if someone else accidentally hit us, or if it rolled again. I could not get out... I was afraid to crawl to the back and try the back door because I did not know how I was resting. I had to wait for someone to help me.
The next car that came was a girl I know from down the road. She came about 5 minutes after it happened. Since I was in the middle of a field, no one had seen or heard me! She had to hold the door open for me because it was too heavy for me to hold and get out. I handed her my daughter and she put her in her car. She came back and held the door so that I could climb out. I waited with her until the ambulance came. When the ambulance came, they checked us out and did not need to take us anywhere - we just had bruises from all the stuff I had in the car that went flying all over. (I had all my craft and stamp supplies in the car and 5 eBay items to ship and all kinds of other things like the ice scrapper, tennis shoes, magazines... too much stuff!). The ambulance waited with me until the police came. It was a State Police man. My daughter and I sat in his passenger seat while we waited for the wrecker. I didn't have my information- it was in the glove box. The police man really liked my daughter and was trying to get her to sing "Head shoulders Knees and Toes" with him. We sat with him for a long time and talked. He was very nice. He ended up not giving us a ticket because he said from my tracks and from the snow pattern on my tire- that it looked like my breaks had not worked. He knew there was a recall on my Durango for breaks and rear suspension. My husband got there from work and waited with us too. Good thing he was there because he had to help the wrecker guy load the wrecked car.
The Durango is at the dealership awaiting its sentence... to be repaired or to be totaled a loss. We might find out today. I feel so horrible! It was NEW! It only had 36,000 miles! We were so lucky to have gotten the deal we got on it and now it is ruined! We have a $500 deductible. Insurance is paying $30 a day for a rental car while we wait.
I have not slept well... I keep having nightmares about it. If one scenario had been different, it would have been much worse. I might be in the hospital or dead! I believe 100% that God helped me to miss that tree! My daughter and I were SO lucky! Her car seat worked! We had turned her front facing the day before! I am glad we did because if she had been rear-facing things might have hit her in the face when they were flying... instead they went right over her. Also- it would have been a lot harder to get her out! Her car seat was flush with the seats- I would have had to have crawled under somehow.
I am so grateful to have walked away from that. I waited till all the strangers went away and then I just cried and cried! I am very scared to drive again- but I am making myself do it.
Please everyone- DRIVE SAFELY! Do not go too fast for the road conditions. Take an assessment of the conditions every time you start your car up. Remind yourself that winter driving is not over yet. If you have lots of things in the back get a cargo net and hold them down! If you have a large vehicle remember that if you lose traction and slide- all of the weight just adds to the momentum. High center of gravity means that fish tailing is a SERIOUS thing!"
...and then here is my account of the next one...
TUESDAY:
Matt Stallman, one of the newest team members was slowing down in front of the AIM shop to make his turn into the driveway when the car behind him was not able to stop on the icy road and crashed into him. I was working in the shop and heard the crunch. Looking out I saw a red car and a white car parked against each other at the top of the driveway. The two cars after hitting and spinning ended up against each other both facing down the driveway as if they had parked there on purpose. The driveway is sprinkled with silver, black, amber, and red plastic pieces from them having met so violently. Serious sheet metal work had been done, one car was drivable, and one needed towed. In the white car was a young mother, late for work and taking her daughter to school. The Red car was Matt. Everyone was shaken up and bruised but did not ask for medical attention. I invited everyone in out of the 11o F cold and wind to wait for the police, wrecker truck, make the necessary calls, arrange for rides etc. This took most of the morning so we did not get the Tuesday work done here at the shop.
GO ROBOTS !
Paul F. Grayson - Chief Engineer
AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL MAGIC, LLC
Racing to build technology that saves soldier's lives.
390 4-Mile Rd. S.
Traverse City, MI 49686-8411
(231) 946-0187, (231) 883-4463 Cell
pgrayson@aimagic.org
http://aimagic.org
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/robotcluboftraversecitymi/
http://www.controleng.com/blog/1180000318.html
Posted by Paul Grayson on March 5, 2008 | Comments (0)
Industries: Machine Control
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