Blind Spot

A blind spot in a vehicle is an area around the vehicle that cannot be directly observed by the driver while at the controls. Under absolutely no circumstances should you attempt to cross. If there is any doubt about oncoming traffic or other vehicles obscure your vision of the road ahead, wait til the road ahead is clear before you start across. 
Never overtake if there is any doubt, or where you cannot see far enough ahead to be sure it is safe. 


Motorist ought to fully alert of a possible dangerous situation in and around school zones.

On my way home from work one evening, I happen to witness an accident involving motorcycle and a car. Just ahead of me, the driver of a large Hyundai Grand Starex Royale stopped at the entrance to the Mantin Fire Station.

He decided to slow down traffic to give way to a vehicle on the other lane.

An opportunity presents itself to allow a car driven by a parent of student to turn into the driveway entrance to Fire Station.

Hyundai Starex  has a large body bigger than Naza Ria., you get a big spacious MPV with a sliding car doors.

In some countries like the U.S. there is a specific regulation that says, "No person shall make a U-turn in front of the driveway entrance or approaches to a fire station. No person shall use the driveway entrance or approaches to a fire station for the purpose of turning a vehicle so as to proceed in the opposite direction."

No person shall stop, park or leave a vehicle unattended  ...   A summons has been issued for a woman who parking right in front of a driveway entrance to a fire station. How did she pass her Highway Code?

  On the contrary, this regulation does not apply here. It is common practise among parents who have fetch their kids from school to drive inside the compound to make a U-turn back to main road.

However, there are risks involved with unseen dangers abound.

 Here's what happens next. When the car proceed to change lane, she make a right turn towards the Fire Station compound. She was unaware at the same time, a motorcycle appears to be travelling fast at the same direction on the roadside lane. In hindsight, of course they were on collision course!

The driver cannot see other vehicles coming from a blind spot angle, she doesn't have the the luxury of looking ahead of her usual rear view or side mirror. Unlike a lorry or van who got the height advantage that allows better visibility so the driver can see in to traffic easier than smaller cars.

 The driver cannot see the ground  from the side of the truck on the driver’s side. Stay Out of a Truck's Blind Spots

 The truck driver narrowly misses the car when the car driver tried to overtake. Trucks have large blind spots situation, there might not be enough room for them to avoid a collision.

Before moving off you should use all mirrors to check the road is clear; look round to check the blind spots.  If you glance quickly over your left shoulder to double-check,  you can see at a motorcycle approaching in your lane but the other  vehicles going in from the opposite direction won't able to see till  make a left turn.

When both oncoming vehicles comes into view, it was a case of too little, too late. The inevitable happened.
Crash! Bang! Kaboom!

Same illustration except the one showing motorcycle is replace by car and the b- is replace by the motorcycle. 

Fortunately, somehow the motorcyclist managed to apply the emergency brake, as this will slow the motorcycle significantly but she still crash on the car fender. She was in pain, either wrist sprains or fractured her fingers.

So who's fault would this accident fall on?

A- The motorcyclist for not slowing down, violations of speed limit in a school zone.
B- The Hyundai Grand Starex Royale, if you want to be kind try not to give way to the car on the opposite of the lane as the MPV vehicle is huge, it block both the view of those involve in this accident.
'Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind'. If you must you have to swerve more on the right side to give the car a better view.
C- The car should not even think about making this turn, out of convenience. Make safety a reality and don't be a fatality.

We should view on coming traffic like the movie 'Premium Rush' , He’s a calculated risk taker as we see in some of the movie’s intriguing CGI explanations of his thoughts while riding through a busy New York City intersection crowded with pedestrians and cars.

Let me first  assess the scenario first!

What happens if I use shortcuts?

I can swerve into the other lane.  Whoops!

Let's Just Forget About This! Reminder of a blind sight zone.  A vehicle appears from nowhere and causes crash,  it was hidden by another vehicle until too late to stop.

When you are driving, your life and the lives of the passengers, are in your hands. So be a strong advocate of calculated risk-taking. By taking less risk of shortcut, you would take a little longer but allows you to reach your destination safely and in one piece.

A wise man once said, in life if you want to reach your goals always expect the unexpected. 

True to his Word.

Keep calm and take control

We've all been through times when we've wanted to either panic or completely freak out  and become someone doesn't know how to react in a certain given situation.
Panic attack anxiety disorder may cause to a complete nervous breakdown due to exposure to a traumatic event.

One of the best ways to counter stress is to take some deep breaths, in through your nose and out through your mouth to stay calm.  I think this is sound advice, just to help you relax. In the midst of a fright situation you just can't think straight about what to do next. You find yourself momentarily unable to use logic to make wise decisions. It may also help to count to ten whilst you are doing so.


In emergency situations, time is either life or death sometimes you better be hurried. You make every second count.

Sandra Bullock Gravity, she goes into various states of shock but able to  pull herself together and  steer the shuttle in space back to Earth and lands in the India Ocean.

One of Britain's courageous unsung heroes, Captain Daniel Read a bomb disposal expert was killed in Afghanistan

Which wire should you cut?

If there are people who deserve to be called hero, they include the unsung  heroes of Bomb Disposal Squad. While most of us never have to deal to neutralise any threat posed with the life-or-death dilemmas of a bomb squad,  those bomb disposal technicians must be prepared to perform missions can be every bit as stressful when each mission could be your last.

Learning how to stay calm in times of stress and in control will not only have immediate smoothing effects but but it is certainly a matter of life or death.  If you don't like your job cause you think your job is stressful, why don't you try to exchange your daily routine work with those from members of the bomb disposal unit?

These guys and girls must have nerves of steel. In this line of work you are serving a good and noble cause by saving many lives from getting killed or maimed.

 The candidate for this work must be able to work well under pressure and have a real sense of team spirit. Also you must be incredible bravery, with steady hands, as well as a razor-sharp mind. This Job is not for Everyone! 

We're talking about working under intense pressure. No fooling around on the job, it can be very dangerous. You can't rush this job except when there is a ticking time about to explode.
There are no second chances in carry out bomb disposal duties. One false move and....KABOOM!  we would all be toast.

Captain  Smith was last seem in the bridge area having given the final order to abandon ship. He appears to have made no attempt to save himself. His body, if recovered, was never identified.

The clock is ticking. Everyone counting on you. Captain we are waiting for your instruction..

Imagine this scenario....... If you're in charge of the sinking ship what would you do?

Originally, a lifeboat drill was scheduled to take place on the fatal day when  the Titanic hit the iceberg on April 14, 1912. As if ill-fated Titanic must take its course, strangely for an unknown reason, Captain Smith cancelled the drill session. Many people believe that had the drill taken place, more lives could have been saved. During the commotion there was utter chaos and disorder, had the lifeboat been filled to capacity when launched that figure would have increased to 53.4% instead of 31.6%.

On every commercial aircraft, a pre-take off safety  briefing given to airline passenger  in the form of live demonstration performed by flight attendants standing up in the aisles. You could say the same about when you on board a cruise ship, you should pay attention to the safety drill also known as muster drill, the drill procedure abide by by all ship. No matter how boring or uninteresting a subject may seem,  this information may help save your life and the lives of others.

From the very first day of incident till now,we are still arguing about whether Captain Smith ultimately was a hero or a villain? Much has been fictionalise by Hollywood, the sinking of the Titanic. None of us know for sure the answer to that question. Few, are qualified to make such a judgement.

If what was reported in the testimony of both inquiries is any indication, he was a lot more active and involved then the popular hysteria make him out to be. He wasn't just standing around, stood there frozen, stunned and unable to move.

Some believe that he could have taken measures to avoid the collision with the iceberg by maintaining lower speeds throughout the north Atlantic. Warning signs en route went unheeded received 7-9 iceberg warnings and still didn't stop! The seemingly question is; was Smith responsible for the sinking or he was acting under orders. AN UNHEEDED WARNING.

The entire tragedy could have been averted if it had not been for the arrogance of the White Star Line shipping company, who declared the ship “virtually unsinkable” Titanic and of Captain Edward Smith, who ignored all warnings of danger ahead.

 In the popular tradition of the sea, a ship's captain is expected to stay until all the passengers and crew were safely evacuated.  The captain of the Titanic, Captain Edward J. Smith of the RMS Titanic went down with his ship when it sank.

Capt. Edward Smith's last words were “Men, you have done your full duty. You can do no more. Now it’s every man for himself.”

Making a decision to abandon ship is extremely difficult to take that should not be made too early or left too late.

Any decision-making processes must take into account if something could or should be done and exactly how to do that but when a Captain  takes too long to respond, there are many lives at stake cause every second counts.
In some instances, people have lost their lives in their escape life raft or lifeboat while their abandon vessel still managed to stay afloat. Other cases like the Sewol tragedy indicates that the Captain of the ferry waited too long to gave the abandon ship order and to be exact waited about half an hour to issue an evacuation order.

 So What Exactly is your Call to Action ..Captain?

This is Captain Smith speaking. Abandon ship! This is not a drill! All personnel, this is not a drill. I say again, abandon ship!

It's amazing that 100 years have passed between the Titanic and the Costa Concordia disasters. With all the technological advancement,  some things never change..a ship sink still comes down to Human error!

The Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia sank after it capsized at Isola del Giglio, Tuscany, on 13 January 2012, with the loss of 32 lives

The ship struck the rocks off Giglio Island after the captain, Francesco Schettino, ordered the liner to veer more than four miles off course to salute a former sea captain who had retired on Giglio. Oops, I made a Mistake. Reminiscing of what we remember from the Titanic's Collision With The Iceberg. Here there is the non-iceberg (it hit underwater rocks) capsizing of the Costa Concordia.

It was the rumoured that at the height of the Costa Concordia started going down, a passenger has disclose that at the very minute the ship's hull was ripped open, the theme song from film "Titanic",  "My Heart Will Go On," was playing in one of the ill-fated cruise ship's restaurants. Eerie atmosphere isn't it that such a very improbable coincidence can occur.

I thought that song is inauspicious to be played on board ship. So you don't believe in signs and omens? I believe that people see / hear / experience things that resonate with an unconscious thought or feeling. Most signs and omens seem to be recognised AFTER the fact it happened. See, I Told You So..Not To Play That Song. Nah, why so superstitious? Make Another Song Request.  'This Ship Is Sinking'.. What?

But now, for the second time in just over two years, a sea captain - first in Italy and now in South Korea - has been among the first to flee a sinking vessel, carelessness and abandoning passengers in need on the vessel, placing his own life ahead of those of his helpless passengers.

The captains of the capsized South Korean ferry and the Costa Concordia Schettino, like Lee, was arrested immediately after the accident for negligence and abandoning the ship. Both countries adhere to  strictly maritime conduct regulations that explicitly state that the captain should stay on a sinking vessel until the last passengers have been saved.

Whatever happened to the ethical codes of conduct when situation required for abandon ship?

In the past the rule of the sea was women and children got on the life boats first, they were to be saved first in a life-threatening situation. While the Captain of the ship expected to performed with uncommon bravery, but the captain has no legal obligation to go down with the ship.

Having say that the Captain's first obligation is for the safety of his crew and passengers before he left the ship. He does his utmost to protect his passengers, crew and cargo and until that point he is morally obligated to do so. A captain will be the last person to leave a ship alive prior to its sinking or utter destruction, be the last one off a sinking vessel after ensuring all the proper evacuation procedures were executed.

The Titanic was the first time the international distress signal “SOS” was ever used. The captain shall order his crew to relay the distress signal that ships can send out if they are in trouble or are sinking.

Mayday is an emergency current procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice procedure radio communications .
A typical distress call will start with to be said three times in a row — Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!

It may derive from the French expression "venez m'aider", meaning "come help me", the last two syllables of which sound similar to "Mayday". 

This to be followed by all the relevant information  rely on VHF radio is your lifeline to contact the Coast Guard or other boaters. Data needed, including type and identity of craft involved, nature of the emergency, location or last known vessel location, current weather, fuel remaining, what type of treatment is needed and number of people in danger

Example of a message could be:

MAY DAY! MAYDAY! MAYDAY.! This is the 'Sea Lion'. We're sinking.  The vessel ["vessel name"] is located [current position, speed and bearing]. (For example, Position 54 25 North 016 33 West, drifting at one knot with a bearing of 228 degrees). We are a [sailboat, motorboat, etc.] experiencing [distress situation] and are in need of immediate assistance.

Men in the Water. Water in the wheelhouse. This is our last transmission. We're going down

The sinking of the MV Sewol (Korean: 세월호 침몰 사고; Hanja: 世越號沈沒事故) occurred on 16 April 2014 en route to Jeju from Incheon.

The sinking of Titanic Ship was 102 years ago, April 15, 1912. The sinking of Korean Ferry actually happened on April 16, 2014. Is History Repeating Itself? Twilight zone music in background.

Well, Asia and Canada ( coast of Newfoundland) have different timezones, so it must have if we calculate the Timezone offset, South Korea is 11 1/2 hours ahead of Newfoundland, they both could happen on the same date on  April 15th.

It was heartbreaking to watch the Captain 'abandoned ship while passengers told to stay below'

You give a bad name to Captain out there, all you need to do is made an announcement over the ship's public address system

Usually when the captain gave order abandon ship, he was caring the safety of crew and passengers but the South Korean ferry captain abandoned ship, leaving students to die ... trapped inside the Sewol. We were led to believe from Hollywood movies, when you're Captain Richard Philips, you are dedicated, calm and exceptional  brave and courageous actions to protect his ship and crew during an emergency. So, life is not always a bed of roses, as the saying goes, "There are always going to be a few bad apples."

In the Midst of The Sewol Tragedy,  Park managed to salvage some pride for the crew when she came to the rescue of the high school student of the shipwreck. Park Ji-young, 22, female cafeteria worker became a heroine, with tales of her bravery of her valiant rescue efforts. Her selfless courage and devotion in commitment to duty in the face of death, that's adored by many is much more than we can say about her captain.

She unselfishly helps the young students( between 16 and 17 years old) with exceptional zeal, without a moment's hesitation when she could have saved herself. Without regard for her own safety, she helped teenagers to get life jackets and escape by urging them to jump into the frigid waters of the Yellow Sea where rescue boats were waiting.

She choose to stay behind without a life jacket for herself despite the youngsters’ entreaties to jump with them. “After saving you, I will get out,” she said. “The crew goes out last.” Her brave effort is highly commendable and applauded.

You ought to be ashamed of yourself captain as every word she spoke should be coming from you. She got a 'heart of a lion', while her captain got a 'heart of a mouse'.

 Sadly, she was later found dead, her body floating in the sea.

Just like Titanic,  Rose retold the story of how Jack's self-sacrificial saving of her life. I'm sure the school students will tell their children some day on how a brave girl do the same thing.

We'll remember her name- Miss Park  Ji-young, we salute you and may you rest in peace.

The sinking of the South Korean ferry was the nation's worst maritime disaster in four decades.  It could carry 921 passenger capacity, including the crew,  able to carry  for 180 or 220 cars and have space for stacked containers-152 twenty-foot shipping containers.

At the time of capsized while carrying 476 people, many of the passengers were high school students who were on a field trip.  So far 213 deaths have been confirmed, 174 people have been rescued, and 89 people are still missing.

In the wake of the tragedy, much are needed to learn to avoid another repeat caused by inadequate safety awareness on the part of the captain and the crew, some with poor and unskilled response to the emergency vessel sinking procedure.

Cruise holidaymakers must now required to take part in pre-departure safety drills, in a review of safety procedures following the Costa Concordia and Sewol unfortunate events at sea.

Let's hope that for once, history does not repeat itself and this tragedy never again!