First accident...

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Mr Cholmondeley-Warner
Posts: 1118
Joined: Sun Sep 27, 2015 7:01 pm
Location: Swindon

Re: First accident...

Postby Mr Cholmondeley-Warner » Fri Jun 07, 2019 9:05 am

And how's the coffee addiction and lack of sleep part going?

Sounds like you performed well in court - let's hope it's a one-off :)
Nick

TheInsanity1234
Posts: 544
Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2015 8:03 pm

Re: First accident...

Postby TheInsanity1234 » Fri Jun 07, 2019 11:44 am

Horse wrote:That's called 'target fixation', and anyone can be caught out by it.

It can work in at least a couple of ways. One is probably your crash situation, you are concerned about one thing so overlook others. They other happens in 'panic!' emergency situation, when your vision narrows down, you tense up, etc.

The first can be overcome by keeping a scan going, research shows that more experienced drivers have shorter fixations on 'things' as they look around.

The second needs planning, mental preparation, and expectation. e.g. If you meet an obstruction half way around a corner, it's too late to think "ummmm ... what was it I saw in a YouTube vide about swerving?'. Instead, you need to enter the bend prepared to meet, and deal with, the obstruction.

Indeed, I've followed discussions on here talking about target fixation and that does appear to be what happened - I completely focused on the one hazard (the indicating car waiting to pull out of the row of parked cars), that I failed to observe the developing hazards (the taxi in front slowing down and coming to a stop, and the traffic lights being on red).

Overall I would say I'm just pleased the judge decided that my version of events was the true version. I'm annoyed that his whole case didn't get thrown out, but arguably he was entitled to have his rear bumper repaired and probably loss of earnings compenstated as I did cause the accident, and am liable for that! It was the personal injury in particular that I was most concerned about, as that would be the difference between a reasonable claim cost of less than £2k and a silly high 5-figure sum.

Mr Cholmondeley-Warner wrote:And how's the coffee addiction and lack of sleep part going?

Sounds like you performed well in court - let's hope it's a one-off :)

The caffiene addiction is still going strong! However I'm managing it now by only allowing myself to consume caffiene until at least 7 or 8 hours before I go to bed, so for instance if I'm hoping to be in bed at 10pm (rarely but does happen!) then I'll allow myself coffee/energy drinks until no later than 2pm or thereabouts, just to allow time for the caffiene to leave my system! This has in turn improved my quality of sleep by a considerable amount, which is a positive!

Indeed - I'm hoping I never need to go back to court ever again, but I wouldn't be surprised if I have to go to court to get my money back from the Jaguar driver who crashed into me in January... I've still not had any updates about that other than the fact his insurers were refusing to accept liability as they couldn't get in touch with their client :|

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ChristianAB
Posts: 270
Joined: Mon Sep 28, 2015 9:51 pm

Re: First accident...

Postby ChristianAB » Sun Jun 09, 2019 7:49 pm

Exercise can also help for better sleep. But it needs to be proper sweaty HIIT stuff. Then as the sleep improves and the overall fitness improves, the need for caffeine naturally decreases.


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