SALLY'S NEGLECT

Twenty-three-year old nursing student Sally was glad to have finished her stint of seven night shifts straight. She had just finished work in one of Adelaide's major hospitals. 

 

The vivacious brunette looked forward to the five-day break with her parents in South Australia's Riverland. 

 

As she was driving east through the Adelaide Hills, Sally looked forward to plenty of  sleeping and resting. She had done this trip dozens of times.

 

While filling her small, two-door Nissan with petrol, she saw that the windscreen still had smears on it, something she was meant to wash off some days ago." I will clean it, after paying for her fuel," Sally thought to herself. But she forgot.

Hundred fifty kilometers away 73 year-old Harry had risen well before daylight. He was preparing his pride and joy, his Mack Titan 660 hp rig for his regular run into Adelaide. The veteran truckie had been driving heavy rigs all his life and never had an accident. He felt young and healthy, more like 53 than 73.

 As Sally was driving east on the Sturt Highway, daylight broke over the horizon, gradually getting brighter. Most oncoming traffic still had headlights on. Each car reminded Sally that she had meant to clean the windscreen back at the service station.

 

It was no big deal, really. She could see OK.  Her desire was for some sleep. Her little brother might wash the small Nissan later. He loved earning a little extra cash.

 

Harry in the meantime had finished checking over his Mack, ensuring his load was secure.  He kissed his wife good-bye, wished her a good day and Have a good day and added: " See you tonight."

 

But it wasn't to be a good day. Loaded with a heavy piece of road working equipment, he drove his powerful truck three kilometers to the junction with the Sturt Highway.

 

Traffic was not heavy at that time of the morning, at sunrise. At the stop sign he carefully checked his left, then his right, then left again, before proceeding to turn west, onto the main road.                        

Visibility at the junction was very good on his left. To his right there was a slight crest of a hill about 200 meters away. Only once in all the years he negotiated this turn was there a near miss.

At the time a black Porsche, flying over the crest at breakneck speed, had to break sharply and swerve around Harry's Mack. He escaped via the grass verge, not even bothering to stop. It had been a close shave, and a lucky escape for the speeding young man.

As trucks do, Harry's Mack was very slow in moving off, turning and reaching the far side of the highway. As push-pulled his large steering wheel, he noticed a small Nissan, bathed in sunlight, approaching from his right. Why was it not slowing down?

Sally was not speeding.  She had learned from a few previous speeding tickets that it pays to keep religiously to the speed limit. But more than that, travelling at 10 km/h below, she'd save quite some money through better fuel consumption.

Sally knew that the rising sun would hit her. But that it would make that much difference to her visibility came as a brutal surprise! Her first reaction was pulling down the sun visor and easing off the accelerator. This reduce speed, but only marginally. Sally still could only see a bright haze covering her whole front windscreen. Seconds went by as she drove virtually blind!

Without warning, a black mass of steel replaced the haze on the windscreen, a piece of machinery, jumping right at her! Now in great panic, Sally instinctively slammed on the brakes and tried to swerve around the huge obstacle. It was too late.

At 100 km/h Sally's Nissan covered 27 meters, the length of a big bus, in one second. From the moment she first was blinded by the sun, it took 7.2 sec. to impact! Her tired body had not assessed the situation correctly and failed to react quickly.

Nurse Sally spent three months in hospital, unfortunately not tending to sick patience, but being one herself.

 

Verdict: A spotlessly clean windscreen is a must when driving at night or into the sun!

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About the author:

Dieter Fischer, a German born Australian, taught thousands of people to drive during his almost 30-year career. He was a pioneer in online road safety, establishing his first website in 1998. He and his wife were married in 1971. They have four grown-up children and live in Adelaide, South Australia.

      Road Rules on this site may vary in your part of the world. We urge new drivers to undertake on-road lessons with a professional driving instructor.

Site by Dieter Fischer, Revised  2020.