W6KME, 1 month ago

@ai6yr I know you agree with this, so I'm not nit-picking...the rain didn't cause this. It fell on my car all night in the driveway and my car didn't flip over, not even a little bit. It was drivers, not rain that caused the crash.

Maybe I'm just old and grumpy, but it does feel like the percentage of drivers who do not modify their driving to suit conditions has risen over the years. Modern cars are so good that they tend to get away with it until they don't, in more dramatic fashion.

mybarkingdogs, 1 month ago

@W6KME @ai6yr Also, I think people have underestimated the impact of COVID (even not overtly symptomatic infections) on driving skill in general?

Like, even as a non-driver I've noticed that since 2020 people seem to drive more recklessly, more distracted, less defensively

And while I think some of that is an unforeseen consequence of people perhaps becoming TOO comfortable with stuff like cameras and lane assist etc

Some of it is also that nearly everyone has some degree of brain damage

mybarkingdogs, 1 month ago

@W6KME @ai6yr And another part of the problem is California specific - a lot of people here who learned to drive learned to see stable, dry weather conditions as "normal" so they never learned how to drive in heavy rain or snow or the like

Or to not drive during bad conditions at all and stay home/wait somewhere safe for the worst of the storm to pass before getting on the road

mybarkingdogs, 1 month ago

@W6KME @ai6yr (My sister was in a car accident at the end of 2022 that totaled her car because someone tried to cut in front of her.

Some things I want to share with everyone from that - although secondhand as I wasn't in the car at the time:

be VERY aware of situations where someone can try to squeeze into the lane/cut in even when they "shouldn't," because someone often will

secondly, don't make the mistake she did and be pressured to accept the bare minimum from your own insurance)

mybarkingdogs, 1 month ago

@W6KME @ai6yr (car insurance companies try to pay the very least they can and encourage you to accept fault even when it's blatantly an issue with the road or the other driver's dangerous driving - and because she felt like she had no choice, she ended up having to spend her savings on a new car as well as ongoing payments on it - an expense that 100 percent should not have been on her.

If you're ever in an accident, DO NOT take first offer from any insurance, even your own /small rant)