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| Could have been worse, but don't let this happen to you. |
With the sickening sound of a "thud" or a "crash" still echoing in my ears, I sat behind the steering wheel of my car -- stunned and in disbelief at what had happened. Did I just rear-end the vehicle (a van) stopped in front of me on a hill at a red light in Owen Sound? I was reluctant to get out of my car and to survey the evidence...The other driver was less hesitant.
"What the f--- happened?" were the first words out of his mouth as he emerged from his vehicle and stood ashen-faced, surveying the bitter truth of the matter.
"I honestly do not know!" was the best response I could muster as I rolled down my window..."Sorry!"
Without going into painful detail, suffice to say that I had collided with his rear bumper and trailer hitch which protruded substantially, leaving no evidence of damage to his 2005 Acura. But it was a different story for my more delicate 2012 Hyundai with its resultant shattered front grill and crumpled licence plate.
"Accidents happen!" the other driver (a middle-aged man) allowed as we exchanged ownership information and proof of insurance. Embarrassed and confused, I perhaps ill-advisedly offered the guy $100 for his inconvenience and he readily accepted. We continued on our way...He to deliver a child to a nearby school and I to a 9:00 a.m. appointment with a cancer surgeon at the hospital in Owen Sound.
A joint report of the incident was subsequently filed later with Accident Report Services in conjunction with Owen Sound Police.
But what the f--- happened that morning to cause me to collide with the vehicle in front of me? In retrospect, I have consumed countless hours thinking about that and replaying the scene hundreds of times in my mind. I distinctly remember my car drifting ahead slightly as I was stopped in traffic. I reacted by applying my brakes to stop the forward movement but for some reason my foot hit the accelerator instead. Helplessly, I increased the pressure on what I thought was the brake pedal, but the acceleration continued and "bang". Game over! As simple as that...The oddest feeling in the world! How was such a mishap possible? I always prided myself in safe/defensive driving.
Eventually I recalled reading somewhere a survey determining that older drivers are more likely to experience "pedal confusion" and the unintended acceleration of their vehicles than younger motorists. And that obviously is what happened to me...There is no other explanation.
Apparently there have been thousands of cases of accidents occurring when drivers hit the gas but are convinced they are applying the brakes and researchers believe it is the result of a glitch in our sensory motor response.
In search of substantiating information, I had to pursue the subject further when I got home later in the day.
“There’s always a degree of error in the actions we undertake,” explained Luc Tremblay, associate professor and associate dean of research at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Kinesiology. His area of expertise is multi-sensory integration.
“So in this particular case, if the receptors in your leg are interpreting your foot on the brake, you cannot think you’re actually on the gas pedal. You think the car is not responding to you pressing the brake and you end up pressing even harder on the gas because it feels like the foot is on the brake pedal.”
“Then the panic takes over and this is a whole other psychological aspect,” he added.
Tremblay said when we age our senses, like vision and hearing, diminish as do the receptors in our limbs, muscles and tendons.
"They don’t provide the same signals as the elastic properties of the limbs are changing, such that the feedback you’re getting from your leg moving is not the same anymore, so you are not as accurate and the inputs your brain is getting are not the same." (You will no doubt have to read that paragraph at least one more time in order to fully understand it.)
He said when we reach for cup of coffee and thrust our arm forward, we have the visual assistance to grasp it correctly, but in the case of using our leg on the gas and brake pedals we’re operating our limbs without visual assistance so there’s more chance for error.
“In the case of driving, you’re going to move your limbs towards one pedal versus the other, but there’s going to be variability in the initial trajectory and we see the variability in the initial trajectory on older adults is greater than younger individuals.”
Tremblay also pointed out that because the left hemisphere of our brain controls the movement of the right side of our bodies, and vice-versa, the 10 per cent of the population that is left handed, and therefore has left foot dominance, would be better at driving with the use of their left legs. How interesting!...Especially since I'm a lefty.
In all honesty, I feel that I'm a little too old to start driving with my left leg...It would just add to the potential for further pedal confusion for me.
Knowing what I now know about this unusual driving phenomenon, I just have to be more alert when I'm behind the wheel of my car, having my wits about me and being more purposeful and deliberate in all my driving habits. Think, think, think!!!
And remember what the f--- happened to me before...Never letting it happen again!
There is also another option which is inevitable for all 80-plus senior drivers. But for now we won't go down that road.
God just help me get through the coming six weeks of three-hour trips to the London Cancer Centre for radiation and chemotherapy treatments.
Meantime friends, think of what happened to me every time you put your foot on the brake pedal of your car. It may just help save you from an unfortunate accident.
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