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So I don't know how I spaced this off, but I missed posting about Jon Low's most recent roundup of self-defense articles and commentary from June 30. Some of the articles he linked on the topics of: 6 things you should carry every day; a couple articles from Joseph Alton M.D. on off-grid treatment of eye and dental trauma, respectively; a link to video on how to insert a Nasal Pharyngeal Airway; an article on becoming a firearm instructor; exercising while carrying a firearm; a look at an interesting new product, CCW Breakaways pants that are specifically designed to permit easy draws for pocket carry, including from a seated position; a couple articles on getting rid of a flinch when shooting; and a lot more.
He also includes links to videos, including a two-part interview of a former prison gang leader by Tom Larkin discussing some defensive information you may have previously heard. I like Larkin's videos because he gives good, no-nonsense videos on self-defense topics. Most of the videos from Tom Larkin that I've watched have generally been under 10 minutes, but these are an hour each, so reserve some time to watch them--I'm still on the process of watching them.
Jon has some good information about defensive driving. For instance, he explains:
No accidents! Crashes have a cause and are preventable. [Just like negligent discharges.]
Not all safety features enhance safety. Especially for elderly persons. [That's why we don't have manual thumb safeties on our pistols. It takes a huge amount of training and practice to defeat the thumb safety under stress. It's easy to find after action reports from survivors saying they could not get their pistol to fire. It can also be assumed in the case of those who don't survive.]
Keep it simple.
Back into parking spaces.
Walk completely around your car before getting in.
Wear your seat-belts. Make sure it is flat against your body. Make sure it crosses your collar bone. Make sure the lap portion touches your hip bones. If you are not buckled in, during a collision, your body will fly around the passenger compartment and injure the other occupants.
"I don't want to get trapped in the car." This is a nonsense excuse. The seat-belt will prevent you from becoming unconscious, which will allow you to escape. A vehicle catching on fire or sinking in water is extremely rare, 0.05%. But, if it does happen, you have to be conscious to escape or to help others escape.
"It's better to be thrown free." Ejected persons are 4 times more likely to be killed than those who remain in the vehicle.
Everyone must be buckled up. If one person is not, in a collision, that person will be thrown around the passenger compartment banging into the other passengers. They showed us a video in class were the unbuckled person effectively killed 2 other persons in the vehicle as well as himself and caused permanent brain damage to a 4th person when his head hit her head.
Air bags work in conjunction with your seat-belts. Some air bags won't deploy if the seat-belt is not buckled. [Ed.: that is a really stupid design because the whole reason for airbags was to protect people from being killed when they weren't wearing a seat belt; they should rather change the design so the front air bags to not deploy when the seat belt is worn.]
Hold hands on steering wheel at 9 and 3, otherwise the air bag will drive your arms into your face. If you are holding anything in your hand, it will be implanted in your face.
You must have at least 11 inches between your torso and the steering wheel.
Put small persons or elderly person in the backseat.
Airbag recalls are because the airbags are dangerous. Take care of it!
Let an expert check the installation of your car-seat. 90% have them installed incorrectly. Yes, it does matter!
If you put small children in their booster seats with their backpacks on, there will be space between their heads and the head rest of the booster seat. In a rear end collision, the whiplash will kill the child. [Well documented. Happens all the time.]
Removing head rests is an act of criminal stupidity.
Do not flash your headlights at assholes who have their bright lights on. As this may trigger a road rage incident. (Of course, they said it much more politely in the class.)
Wear amber glasses to cut glare during the night.
Dash-cams pointed at the drivers indicate that the primary reason the driver crashed is that they never used their rear view mirrors. They were just constantly looking straight ahead. [No, not texting on cell phones. Lack of situational awareness. That's why we teach the Color Code of Mental Awareness, situational awareness, or whatever you want to call it.] Check mirrors ever 3 to 5 seconds.
Set mirrors correctly. [Not the way you're doing it, CORRECTLY!] If you can see your car or the car directly behind you in your side view mirrors, you are WRONG!
Preventative maintenance prevents crashes. Tires have to have tread, have to be inflated, have to be balanced. Change windshield wipers every 3 to 6 months. Check oil and all other fluids. Check your brakes. This will save your life.
How do you avoid collisions? Scan ahead, slow down (press your brakes), steer right (never left, because that will cause a head on collision). Practice until you do this automatically.
Check the intersection before entering. (Situational awareness!)
Wear polarized sun glasses to cut glare during the day. Turn on your headlights, so other drivers will see you (during the day).
Always leave yourself an out. Leave space between you and the car in front of you. To avoid a carjacking.
If the car in front of you hits you in a roll back, it's your fault. You didn't leave enough space in front of you.
Use your turn signals! [Do you know your arm signals for turning? I do. I don't think they teach it anymore.]
The left lane is for passing, by law. [Road rage coming!] Let the other car pass. They may have a medical emergency and need to get to the hospital emergency room.
"When one lane of traffic is shut down due to construction, you should merge early even if it means joining a long line in the open lane." False! You should fill both lanes of the road up until the merge point, then use the zipper merge which allows more traffic to get through the construction zone.
Hitting the squirrel is better than swerving to avoid the squirrel. Don't hit the deer. You may damage your car and end up dead.
Retired CSX engineer said that in his career, he had killed 23 persons attempting to cross the railroad tracks against the lights and gates. Only 2 of those were known suicides. The other 21 were people trying to beat the train across the crossing. The train may take a mile to stop.
Cell phones don't cause crashes. Distracted drivers cause crashes. In 1983, zero crashes involving cell phones. Today, 1.6 million per year. [Just like guns don't cause murders. Criminals cause murders. So, don't blame cell phones. Blame the incompetent driver. Blaming inanimate objects is always an act of stupidity.]
He also relates:
My paternal grandmother felt that there was often nothing one could do about one's circumstances. I had just finished a driver's education class in high school and mentioned to her that I would be able to avoid auto collisions by driving defensively; correctly adjusting and glancing in my rear view mirrors; looking far in front of me, not just at the car in front of me; and such. Her response was, "What if you are stopped at an intersection and someone hits you from behind? There is nothing you can do about that."
For several years, I thought she was correct. But, then Brad Ackman gave us a lecture at Front Sight, where he told the story of his mother who was stopped at a red light at an intersection. Because she was constantly looking in her mirrors, she saw a car barrelling down behind her. So, she pulled out of her lane and onto the sidewalk. The speeding car smashed into the car that was in front of her and pushed it into the intersection, causing a major pile up.
Mrs. Ackman was able to avoid the collision because she left sufficient space between her car and the car in front of her, she regularly glanced in her rear view mirrors, she knew what to do, and she actually did what needed to be done (as opposed to freezing in panic).
THERE IS ALWAYS A WAY TO AVOID THE NEGATIVE OUTCOME, if you know what to do (which takes training), and do the correct action (which takes practice and decisiveness).
I had a similar experience years ago. I was stopped behind some traffic at a red light, but had left a fair amount of room in front of me--more than normal (I try to always leave enough that I can pull around the car in front of me in case it break downs or stalls). There were a couple cars behind me. I saw a van approaching from behind at high speed and realized there was no way the driver was going to be able to stop, so I pull forward just a bit. I heard the sudden squeal of tires and two crashes: when he struck the rear most car, and when it was catapulted into the car right behind me. I'm pretty sure that if I hadn't moved forward at the last minute, the car behind me would have also struck my vehicle.
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