Longtime reader Tam D, my Crack San Francisco Bay-Area Correspondent©®™ since time immemorial, earlier this week commented on last Sunday's post "A note on potholes," remarking:
DEAD SLOW has been my mantra in parking lots ever since I saw you coin the phrase* a while back. It's probably saved me a few fender benders, if not lives.
Me too.
But in recent years I've taken things to the next level, and I'm now ready to share this revelation with the world right here.
Before you back up or emerge going forward from a parking space, turn on your hazard lights.
Instantly you've got highly visible blinking red lights emanating from all 4 corners of your vehicle.
Trucks automatically make repeated loud sounds when they back up as a cautionary measure: now you too can join the SAFE club.
*Tam's understandably chuffed about her inside knowledge emanating from these precincts but I must note for the sake of accuracy that I didn't coin the phrase "DEAD SLOW" but, rather, like her, adopted it as a practice once I happened on it.
Coined or not, it will be forever attributed to you in my mind. I like this new idea of the hazard lights when reversing out of a parking space. I have to admit, I have taken to using them whenever I’m tailgated on the freeway. I get especially bent if they have the option to move over a lane, but insist on scaring me. I briefly hit the hazard lights and they either think I’m braking or that I’m breaking down. Whatever they think, they usually get the message. I’m in an area with very aggressive or less than adept drivers, so this new parking lot idea might also save me a lot of trouble. Thanks.
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