There are many accepted ideas that are actually very wrong and are dangerous. Today I will talk about just some of them.
When you drive your car do you remember to turn your headlights on an hour before sunset? Many people think that they can wait till it is dark enough to notice that the headlights are needed. Well if you are one of them, you are just plain wrong! In most states you are required to turn them on one hour before sunset and off one hour after sunrise. And Daylight running lights are not a substitute for your headlights. For one thing you do not have your marker lights on without the headlight being turned on, thus you can not be seen easily.
How about the dumb idea that if you are riding a bicycle you do not have to obey the motor vehicle laws, bet you did not know that you do! You have to signal when you make a turn, have to travel in the correct travel lane, have to stop a stop signs and so on. Now I must point out that some people have the very bad idea that you should travel at night (and some even during the day) against the flow of traffic, boy are they wrong! One it is illegal and secondly the laws of Physics state that if two objects come at each other on a collision course and collide, the speed of impact (in this example a car and a bicycle) is the speed of the car plus the speed of the bicycle. For example if the car is going 25 mph and the bicycle is going 10 mph then the impact speed on each of them is actually 35 mph! If the car and bicycle were going in the same direction, then if we take the same speeds for each of them from the previous example the impact speed is only 15 mph. For by the laws of Physics the speed of the bicycle is subtracted from the speed of the car. Thus when you travel as per the law you have a better chance of a much more survivable accident.
What about the notion that if you get burned, that you should put Vaseline on it? Well it is better to immediately pour cold water for a few minutes over the burned area, assuming that it is only a first degree burn.
And why do people think that it is a good idea to run or walk with a set of ear buds (or headphones) on when out in public? You can not hear well or at all what is happening in your immediate surroundings and besides if you can not hear, then how do you expect to know if someone is coming up behind you to rob you or worse?
There of course many more examples that you yourself must likely know. So try not to kill yourself by being stupid! Be safe and you might live longer.
That is my opinion- Jumpin Jersey Mike
