Every time a pilot approached his or her aircraft, whether it's a Piper Cub or a 747, they give it a walk-around.
Look at the tires, look at the hatches and doors, look at the windows.
Even before boarding and going through a checklist before takeoff.
I don't have a checklist of things to do before I start my car, but I do have a routine.
I usually do look at the back and the front, and I would see if a tire is seriously deflated.
I would see if there's a tricycle in the pathway, or a bird (they seem to like building nests in my driveway). Or a child.
It's very rare to spot a flat tire, or a very low pressure tire. But in 52 years of driving, I've spotted about 8.
It's rare to spot a critter or a child in the pathway. There have been exactly TWO instances of a small child being behind my car. Both were walking, and probably would have gotten themselves out of the way. Probably, but it was worthwhile for me to make sure, and make sure there was an adult caregiver paying attention who would keep them away from my driveway. And I've never had to shoo away a small domestic animal --- I consider myself lucky, they don't seem to spend time under my cars.
Can you see the ground behind your car when you're backing up? I had one car with a backup camera, I loved it. Now I have a wide angle lens in the back window (the bottom back window in the Prius) so I can see the ground 5 feet behind the bumper. Better than nothing, and the walk around before I get in the car is important.
I'd bet that very few drivers have ever backed over a kid who was playing in their pathway. Or an animal.
But I'm certain that ADULTS will walk into the pathway of a car that's backing up.
For a while I had a backup beeper, like trucks have. BEEP BEEP BEEP when the car was in reverse.
My neighbors never complained, even when I was leaving my house before 6:00 in the morning.
BUT when I was parallel parked, SEVERAL times someone stepped behind my car when I was trying to back up,apparently attracted by the beeper. I don't understand it, but it kept happening until I took out the beeper. (It was part of the back up light bulb, $15 in a parts store. It SEEMED like a good idea.)
So, let me ask you a question …
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The Principle of Least Interest: He who cares least about a relationship, controls it.
I've been trained to look around, not just on my vehicle but my house. It is now second nature. When I had to do the online training years ago I rolled my eyes, but the fact is, repeated training on sometime mundane situations does prepare you for the worst. Several of my co-workers were near the finish line during the Boston Marathon bombings, they knew instantly what to do, while others ran just anywhere, my co workers knew to run as far from the scene as they could then find out from EMS how they could help. I know that training saved 2 of my friends, they were on the second floor right over the sporting good's store that one of the bombs went off if front of. Had they not run straight back away, they may have run in parallel and thus taken the brunt of the second bomb.
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Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug.
We always take a look at the car, before we get in.
And up and down the street, to check for any small children, running around. Or, anyone on a bike. (That's when we're at home. I try to do the same, when we are out and about.)
We've taught our children, to do the same.
It probably saved Conor, from a bad accident. Some idiot, had loosened all the lug nuts on a couple of his tires, when he was parked on the street, in front of our house. If he hadn't noticed something was wrong, and got out his lug wrench to tighten them up. Oy, that could have been bad.
Now I tell who ever is getting in on the other side to check their side.
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A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
When I did have a car, I did not do a walk around before getting in all the time. It would depend on the situation, for ie., if someone was parked very close to me or parked quite crookedly in the stall next to mine, I would check for dents or paint transfer on my door. Fortunately, I did not have any problems when my car was parked at my apartment. No one bothered it. Even with a lot of homeless folks and crime in my neighborhood, I never had a problem with finding things done to my car.
As a driver, I was very aware of how my car looked and drove, and could tell at a glance if there was something amiss when I was approaching it or while getting in. But walk arounds were rare.
My station wagon beeps when in reverse. I thought I would hate it but I actually like it. And yes, people do tend to not pay attention to it. But I figure they are the ones who would get in the way no matter what.
The car came with this feature. It was bought at an auction of county used cars.
Great car. But I can't use it any more. So dad drives it, I drive the mini van, mom drives her new car.
My station wagon is a newer model than the van. But it is a lot easier to get in and out of for me.
The van also has all the bells and whistles. It tells me when the tires are low, it needs oil, or anything else.
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A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
I don't walk around my truck, per se, but I back into my parking spot and the walkway is on the passenger side so I do see all four sides of my truck before entering.
I don't have a back up beeper but I doubt it'd do much good. There are a lot of pinheads in my area who see vehicles backing up and think that the proper thing to do is to walk behind them.
I never check my vehicle but I do check the sidewalk on my way out. I am generally making sure Desmond is out of my way. He is too trusting that I won't hit him & doesn't always get out of the way.
I do pay attention to my surroundings no matter where I am. Have always looked for exits when in a new place.
I look to see if there is something on the ground that could burst my tires.
I mainly just check the tires and see if I need to move something.
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A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
I don't have a back up beeper but I doubt it'd do much good. There are a lot of pinheads in my area who see vehicles backing up and think that the proper thing to do is to walk behind them.
YES, so I'm not the only one this happens to.
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The Principle of Least Interest: He who cares least about a relationship, controls it.
When approaching my car, I ALWAYS check the back seat and the passenger floor before opening the driver's door. No surprises waiting for this lady!
I should but don't. I had a coworker who stopped for gas on her way home from work one day. This was back when an attendant pumped your gas. He told her her credit card was rejected & she needed to come inside to get it settled. Really he saw a man crouched down behind the driver seat & wanted to get her out of the car. They called the police but the guy ran off.
When approaching my car, I ALWAYS check the back seat and the passenger floor before opening the driver's door. No surprises waiting for this lady!
I should but don't. I had a coworker who stopped for gas on her way home from work one day. This was back when an attendant pumped your gas. He told her her credit card was rejected & she needed to come inside to get it settled. Really he saw a man crouched down behind the driver seat & wanted to get her out of the car. They called the police but the guy ran off.
Wow that lady was lucky. Something similar happened here. A woman stopped at K-Mart on her way home and as she was walking to her car a employee ran out and told her she had to come back inside because her check wasn't good. She thought that was strange but followed the employee back into the store. It turns out that they observed some strange man following her into the store and was following her from a distance all while she was in the store and was following her back to her car.
I look in the backseat of my car and always keep it locked even when I'm driving.
A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
another thing to check as you approach your vehicle is to take a look UNDER the car--one of the favourite abduction / kidnapping ploys is to wait under your vehicle until you're in range, reach out from under your car, grabbing your ankles and yanking you off your feet, then the follow-up guy takes you out once you're on your back--it's simple, quick and effective
look under your car as you approach
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" the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. "--edmund burke
another thing to check as you approach your vehicle is to take a look UNDER the car--one of the favourite abduction / kidnapping ploys is to wait under your vehicle until you're in range, reach out from under your car, grabbing your ankles and yanking you off your feet, then the follow-up guy takes you out once you're on your back--it's simple, quick and effective
look under your car as you approach
The Prius is so low to the ground that nothing bigger than a monkey would fit.
But when I was driving a Highlander this would have made sense.
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The Principle of Least Interest: He who cares least about a relationship, controls it.
When I worked at Wal-mart, there was a guy that would hang in the parking lot at night and would grab boobies.
Nothing else. Just grab a boob and run.
Me and couple of the other ladies would joke in the break room that we didn't make the cut.
Of course it wasn't funny that this guy was doing this, but we made jokes to help us deal with it.
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A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
had a couple of drills on the procedure described above--typically, would have a van with a sliding door parked next to the subject vehicle-- on the driver's side of the car--we did have gym mats on the ground but otherwise was a full-speed run through--could normally have the subject on the ground, neutralized ( via tazer or a couple of other methods ) and in the van in under 90 seconds--2 minutes was TOO long--UNDER 90 seconds was optimum
be very careful NOT to park next to a panel van or VERY CAREFUL to look around your car if you come out and a panel van is parked next to you
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" the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. "--edmund burke
