on 1/25/02 4:17 PM, Rocky Frisco at rock@rocky-frisco.com wrote:
> I remain convinced the "wreck" on DM was faked; I doubt that lovely
> B even got scratched.
I think you're probably right (I didn't see it)
>
> Frankly, anybody in a similar situation who reacted like Dick's
> character did should have his license put in a microwave on "high."
No kidding, but it's funny that it actually happens fairly frequently. Tests
have shown that what usually occurs is that a person puts their foot on the
gas instead of the brake, then, in the face of "runaway acceleration", they
panic, and just keep putting their foot down harder on the "brake".
Psychologically, it seems to be easier to believe that the car is
malfunctioning than to realize that you made a mistake about the pedals (you
"know" where your foot is, but you are only hypothesizing on the behavior of
the car based on sensory input). Obviously, switching off would take care of
the whole problem, regardless, but no one ever seems to think of that at the
time. Again, the idea of switching off while the car is in motion seems to
be psychologically inconceivable (could this "taboo" be a result of the
presence of steering column locks, I wonder? In earlier days it was not
uncommon for people to shut off the engine on long downhill grades to save
gas).
I suppose it's not surprising that humans are not mentally well-adapted for
these situations... most of our instinctive reactions are still based on
being "up in the trees"...
>
> -Rock http://www.rocky-frisco.com
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