This document is part of a series about Randall "Duke" Cunningham's attempted murder / suicide on November 25th, 2005

Home page for "Cunningham's Last Battle" web site / Contact the author / victim / witness Russell 'Ace' Hoffman

The following was left at the Broward Palm Beach (Florida) blog after reading various comments that simply recommended speeding up if you are going to be crashed into by a head-on driver. Besides the way I used it speeding up to avoid him, doing such a thing could also be useful as described below. Iif you are sure you are going to collide, at the moment of collision you probably want to be going as slowly as possible. I figure that if you crumple your crumple zones for the longest possible time and at the slowest possible combined impact speed, you're probably most likely to survive. Click on the link to go to the Palm Beach thread.

Ace Hoffman

Carlsbad, CA

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Russell 'Ace' Hoffman says:

http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2007/08/a_dangerous_driving_tip_from_t.php


The following worked for me to avoid a head-on collision with a would-be suicidal driver:

First, brake HARD right away -- but don't come to a complete standstill. Immediately try large and obvious evasive maneuvers, but if he is determined to collide with you, all hope is still not lost. Wait, going slowly straight at him, while he accelerates towards you. It's terrifying, but here's why you should do it:

You want him to gain speed, which causes him to lose maneuverability (it also gives him time to change his mind). At the last possible moment, you gun it straight at him in order to get just enough speed to out-maneuver him. If timed properly, you will still not be going as fast as the other car, so you will have MORE maneuverability than he does. TURN hard, and if all goes well, the oncoming car will be going TOO FAST to follow your turn.

I used this technique on November 25th, 2005. We almost passed parallel -- but he still turned into me, and hit the rear of my car. I was driving the larger, slower, less-maneuverable vehicle. (Mine was a Honda Passport, his was a Chevy Tracker.)

I had about six seconds from when I saw him to when we collided -- probably much more than usual, and he had time to gain a lot of speed relative to my speed. I had time for two attempted evasive maneuvers before we went straight at each other for several seconds, then I turned for the final (successful) evasive maneuver. I was probably going only about 1/4 to 1/3 his speed at the moment he hit the back end of my car.

If you will not be able to avoid a head-on collision, then the SLOWER you are going when you collide, the better. BUT it's true that the sooner you get to his vehicle, the SLOWER he will be going, assuming he's accelerating the whole time (which is very likely). This desire to get there before he's gained more speed CAN mean that accelerating into a head-on is a good idea, but if you can't avoid the head-on collision, you would still want to brake HARD at the end, so that at the moment of impact, you have zero forward MPH. Putting it in reverse and getting some negative MPH would be even nicer, if time and traffic permits.

I believe it may be helpful to turn your car at the very end so that he hits a front corner first, instead of the whole front end at once, but I can't confirm this. It may depend on if you have side-impact air bags and other factors. But I know what worked for me to avoid the head-on completely. I did accelerate towards him, but only after braking and going slow for a while first.

Your results may vary.


Posted at: November 5, 2007 1:11 AM