Situational Awareness

[crokett]

People in industrialized nations and educated societies world wide (with a very few exceptions) have lost their reasoning skills that deal with instant emergencies, and consequently "immediate or situational awareness".

The rule is simple... If there is an emergency vehicle behind you - get outta the way! There is no 'reasoning'. If you hear sirens, start looking. If the flashing lights are in your rearview, move over. It's not that hard.

[Handy Al]

What I hate is when the emergency vehicle has passed, the fool behind me tries to jumped so they can get ahead the other cars the pulled over.

[Richard in Smithville]

The rule is simple... If there is an emergency vehicle behind you - get outta the way! There is no 'reasoning'. If you hear sirens, start looking.

The key point is getting out of the way safely. Even drivers of emergency vehicles have to react safely. To blast away on the air horn and cause a break down of drivers is not safe. Why cause another emergency?

[crokett]

The key point is getting out of the way safely. Even drivers of emergency vehicles have to react safely. To blast away on the air horn and cause a break down of drivers is not safe. Why cause another emergency?

I know you need to get out of the way safely. However, how is stopping in the travel lane of an interstate safe when you know the emergency vehicle is behind you? If anything, it makes the situation even more dangerous.

[leehljp]

The rule is simple... If there is an emergency vehicle behind you - get outta the way! There is no 'reasoning'. If you hear sirens, start looking. If the flashing lights are in your rearview, move over. It's not that hard.

David,

I agree 100% - and that is only reasonable. You are seeing it from that viewpoint. More and more people are being "conditioned" to NOT respond to emergencies like this due to the fact of not having reasoning and deductive skills, that aid in making instant decisions, along with other things. I am not saying this tongue in cheek or from make-up, but I have witnessed small accidents on numerous occasions strictly due to panic. Even after events start, there was time (IMO) - one to two seconds to respond, but they didn't. Panic prevented. Panic for some people is paralyzing. It bugs me and drives me up the wall when I see this. My basic "nature" is to criticize and ridicule such, but that is not the cure, and I have to work to overcome the criticism part. "Paralyzing panic" is only overcome at best by very slow and deliberate step by step analysis. More commonly, panic attacks, are longer lasting. Common sense to you and me is "JUST DO IT".

You will come to understand this one day if you see, in person, one of your family members or close friends have a "paralyzing panic" attack due to an instant event that could be prevented by quick reactions. I don't understand the happenings per se, but I do know and have witnessed it. Most people don't know and are not aware that they will become "paralyzed" in a panic attack until it happens. I know people who will not drive anymore due to just such events that bring about the panic attack. (Three are missionaries here in Japan.) These folks often blame themselves and the weight of the panic attack takes months and years in some cases to overcome - even when they were not at fault for the situation developing. They were told that they could have prevented it if they were doing defensive driving. BUT, Defensive driving requires deductive reasoning skills that many people lack. And that produces panic attacks.

It happens and it is going to happen more until cars are controlled by roadside computer/signals.

Me - the instant I hear a siren or see a red/blue blinking light in the corner of my eye, I start analyzing the situation looking for the direction of the sound or light (Did I see a flash somewhere ahead or in the RV mirror, or out the peripheral vision?). Sound, was it the radio or outside. Where are lights? What lane? What space is available? Are others responding and which way are they going? I was in the middle of a multiple car pile up once, but I did not get a bit of damage due to the procedure just mentioned. It doesn't prevent damage always but situational awareness at all times does help make good decisions. I am usually already reacting before LOML or a friend is aware of an emergency. I have poor mid range and high frequency range hearing but well above average low frequency hearing, which helps in detecting sound for emergency vehicles far away.


One of my favorite quotes from long ago: Perfect Paranoia is Perfect Awareness.

[cabinetman]

David,

I agree 100% - and that is only reasonable. You are seeing it from that viewpoint. More and more people are being "conditioned" to NOT respond to emergencies like this due to the fact of not having reasoning and deductive skills, that aid in making instant decisions, along with other things. I am not saying this tongue in cheek or from make-up, but I have witnessed small accidents on numerous occasions strictly due to panic.

I agree. People react in different ways. Allowing onself to get upset at someone else who just didn't react, or react fast enough, can be a step towards a distraction that could cause further problems. It's like road rage. If a person can't keep their head on task, they put others in danger. I may find drivers who don't do what I expect them to do to be problematic, but try to keep myself centered on the moment, so I can react to the initial urgency, and the one created by other drivers.
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