PSA Or, if you love them…

... teach them. A Public Service Announcement.

Cars, that is, automobiles (remember how Tony Curtis said this during The Great Race) fail.

Sure, you say, I know that. Batteries die, leaving me stranded. Engines knock, leak oil and stop running.

Those aren’t exactly what I’m thinking of, because many failures of the automotive system happen while the vehicle is at rest, possibly due to the failure.

However, cars also fail while being operated, and as recent news reports remind us, with sometimes devastating effect. Two examples which have happened to your faithful scribe: stuck at wide open throttle (WOT), and its opposite, the engine suddenly stopping because the ignition circuit opened.

Recently, these faults have been reported in various Toyota and GM vehicles, respectively. Not for me. My WOT experience came in a early 80’s Mazda GLC, and the key switch failure, in an even earlier (late 60’s) VW Type 3.

As you can see, these failures aren't new.

In my case, the WOT occurred because the carburetor (remember those?) gummed up (not from lack of exercise, I assure you!) and once depressed, failed to return. In the Toyotas reported (both Prius and Camry), the root cause seemed to be that the floor mats became entangled with the accelerator pedal, holding the throttle open.

After the Type 3 stopped running a couple of times while calmly driving along, the dealer replaced the ignition switch, advising us not to hang so many keys on the key ring. Since no wide-spread reports of similar issues arose, we concluded, as the dealer obviously had, that the weight of the several keys (and other objects) eventually allowed excess movement within the switch, and the engine shut off. In the recent GM case, the design of the switch has been implicated.

Obviously, no deaths resulted from my experiences. Unfortunately, in other cases, this was not the case. Why?

Because I knew what to do, had enough experience and the time to actually do it. How about you?
What do you do? Do you know? Does everyone you care about know what to do? Think about that for a second.

In both cases, shift into Neutral. In a standard shift vehicle, depress the clutch. DO NOT turn the key off. (That locks the steering wheel, preventing the next step.)

In the WOT case, the car will begin to slow. Look behind you, signal, and steer to the side of the road. Don’t worry about the engine over-revving until you are stopped at the side of the road. Unless the engine self-destructs, you’ll still have power brakes and steering, and lights. When you are stopped, turn the engine off, turn on your emergency flashers and take a breath. If the problem is a simple as the floor mat or carpeting getting stuck in the throttle, take the darn thing out and throw it in the trunk. (Can you tell I hate loose things under my feet when I drive? You should, too.)

If the ignition switch has failed, due to misuse or design defect, in fact, if the engine suddenly stops for any reason while driving in traffic, again, shift into Neutral or depress the clutch. In this case, the vehicle will begin rolling, and feel like it’s speeding up, since the load of the dead engine isn’t acting on the transmission. (It’s not speeding up; it’s just not slowing as quickly.)

With the engine stopped, the power steering and power brakes will lose their power assist; they will still operate, but more force will be required. Look around at traffic while you begin to steer for the road side, out of the traveled lanes. If the ignition switch has failed, you may not have lights or turn signals, so pick your path off the road carefully. The emergency flashers will still work, if you remember where the switch is. When you stop, turn on the flashers (if you haven't), Now, you can play with the switch to determine if you can get the engine running, and if you trust it to get you to your mechanic.

That’s all pretty straight-forward. I’d like those of us teaching others to drive to remember that experiencing a thing is much more effective as a teaching tool than just reading or hearing it. As Graham Nash wrote: “Teach your children well.”

Find a large, empty parking lot. While driving, have whoever’s controlling the car bump the shifter into Neutral while the car is moving, to give them the feeling of what will happen. Do it yourself first, so the fear of damaging the car by shifting while rolling will fade. Obviously, take care not to force the shifter into Reverse.

Once that exercise has been done to death, again, have the car operating slowly, and turn the ignition switch to the first stop from run. The engine will stop, but not lock the steering wheel. Bump the shifter to Neutral. The object is to allow the driver to feel how the vehicle reacts with no power assist. If a failure happens in traffic, it shouldn’t be a surprise how much effort is needed to stop or to steer.

In a standard transmission, your driver will already be aware of how the car feels rolling; you’ll just need to remind them that it’s a valid response to either of these scenarios.  Don’t forget the dead engine exercise, though.

I can’t give good advice if your car has a sequential transmission. Check the operator’s manual to determine if there’s an override to shift directly to Neutral. If so, make sure everyone who uses the car understands where it is, and how to use it.

Do these enough that the driver is comfortable with what happens in these, thankfully uncommon, occurrences. If you are sending or have sent a child or spouse to auto driving school, ask what unexpected and emergency events they cover, and do the students actually experience them. The part of this exercise that will take the most time is probably finding a suitable lot.

Automobiles, and trucks too, fail. Don’t lose someone you love for lack of experience dealing with what can happen. I hope you never need this information, but even more, I hope that if you do, you know how to react.

Comments welcome as usual.

Minor Edits

While my beta readers read Connections, I made some minor changes to Freedom Does Matter, the most important of which was inserting Tommi Salama’s second map of the Nest.

As I write this, the Kindle version is live, as are the various Smashwords offerings. I’ll finish Barnes and Noble, and Kobo later today. The POD paperback version is completing the review process at CreateSpace and should be live by tomorrow.

If any of you bought a copy and would like the updated version, either leave a comment or send me an email and I’ll send you an updated version in your choice of formats.

Summer’s Here

Almost 90 degrees today, and a hurricane developing off Florida. Perhaps it will blow some sense into the Supreme Court on the way by. Maybe. Not likely though. Enough of politics; I’m pretty sure the wonderful people who visit me here aren’t interested in my political views.


I’ve almost done the “final” revisions to Connections—a couple more carat marks to visit and make the indicated changes, and it’ll be ready for my long-suffering beta readers again. I hope they can still read it with an open mind; I know I can’t, at this point.

I changed the cover slightly based on kind comments; the results are below. Just because I post it here doesn’t mean I’d refuse comments! If you have one, sing out.

Follow-up

My last post, I asked for opinions, and received a couple regarding the cover image for Connections. I promised to post the next iteration for comment, and it is below. I made changes that I think embodied the suggestions I received; of course, any problems are mine, not those kind enough to comment.
As always, opinions, comments and suggestions are welcome. What do you think? Is it too much like the  Freedom cover, just to the right? Or is the similarity a good thing, in your view?

On the Eve of Summer, A Request For Opinions

I’ve finally done some work on the cover for Connections, so once again,  here’s your chance to be a critic. I’m leaning toward this one.

But this one isn’t so busy.

Or do people like this photo as a background?

The images tie together (see if you can see this) the antagonist’s goal (obtaining a cassette with a compromising video) and his use of counterfeit dollars and cocaine (in the last photo, since it’s not really a driver) to gain it.

I like the Spanish Conexiones as a sub-title because a large portion of the story takes place in Peru, and visually due to the ‘X’ in the center, but as I mentioned, with the layout as it is, it may be too busy. Also, when I look at it in black and white, as a monochrome Kindle or Nook would do, the yellow washes into the background. More work would be needed to find a layout that doesn’t suffer the same fate.


Disclaimer: Neither counterfeit currency nor cocaine was used in the creation of these photos.

So, here’s your chance to say what you think, without any repercussions except that your idea might get used! Whatever you want to tell me about these potential images, or anything else, really, fill in the comments below.

A Paean of Thanks, or Shooting the Messenger

Once again, as I work through the critiques of my current WIP, Connections, it is necessary to shout out to my writing partners, courteous and well-spoken as they are, to thank them for taking the effort, the hours and the energy to assist me in making my story the best it can be.

I learned long ago that shooting the messenger does no more than stop the messages, and it doesn’t always do that. It never corrects the problem that the messenger attempts to warn of. In some sense, critique partners are messengers, warning of poor word choice, unclear plotting and in my case at least, making assumptions that readers have no reason to make for themselves.

I do respond to my partners’ comments and suggestions, and encourage them to do likewise when receiving a critique from me. Some of my response are questions when a meaning isn’t quite clear, and some are explanations, which mainly serve to clarify their point in my mind while allowing them to say, yeah, that’s better or perhaps, what are you thinking? I always remember that explaining to a partner only informs that one person; the change must carry through to the manuscript to do any good.

However, my point here is that my partners have done a remarkable, nay, brilliant job in reading and offering suggestions which are as wide-ranging as they are helpful. I will acknowledge their assistance in the book, but want to do the same here. Andrea, Carol and Phil, thank you isn’t enough to say for your help and assistance, but

Thank you!

Back and Working

We’re back from a fun-filled excursion to Florida visiting dear friends and then the Land of the Mouse. Taking over the world, is Disney. Some may view that with alarm, but hordes of others welcome the inevitable coming of our new overlords. At least, judging by the crowds in the theme parks. A veritable river of people, thick and fast-flowing. And of those over about 11 or 12, most were doggedly focused on getting to the next ride or attraction. Very few of those leaving Space Mountain or Buzz Lightyear’s ride or even Pirates of the Caribbean looked excited, or happy, or entertained; more, it seemed to be: Where to next? I might miss something I’ve planned to do. Not the reaction I’d hope for at “The Happiest Place on Earth!”

Back home, I finished the Ugly First Draft of Coda?. Well, except for closing it off; I still need to think about that, and I’m going to ask my long suffering partners to take a look and see if I’ve had any success in telling the story I hope to. Comments may drive the tenor of the ending.  So far, it’s just over 90K words, right where I hoped it would be. Strangling the characters when they want to run off may have a more beneficial effect than I’d thought.

The rewrite of Connections is about a third through. I’ve benefited from the blog posts I mentioned last time, at Ramblings of a Grumpy Old Man (not me, in this case!) and other input (thanks, reading partners!) and I hope the lessons learned lead to a better result. So far, four or five insignificant (read: extraneous, unrelated to the story) plot lines have been deleted, but I fear the word count goes up as often as it goes down; it’s still over 110K. Hopefully, they are better used than the earlier ones.

The next task will be the description and the covers. Suggestions will be welcome; if you’d like to offer one, say so, and I’ll try to give you information to point you.

Comments are always welcome.