Friday, November 11, 2011
Changing someone’s flat tyre could save your life
The well-know sayings ‘one good deed deserves another’ and ‘what goes around comes around’, couldn’t be more fittingly used than as two morals of this true story.
A 61-year-old Canadian man in America was driving his pick-up truck down the Interstate 94 when he noticed that two women were stranded at the side of the road unable to change the flat tyre on their car, so he pulled over to help them.One of the women states, “We were so grateful. Nowadays, nobody ever really stops to offer their help. It's kind of scary sometimes, because you really don't know what you're getting into.”
Having changed the tyre he went on his way – and usually that’s where the story would have finished.
However, a matter of minutes after setting off again the man began to have a heart attack and his wife, who was in the truck with him, stopped the vehicle and tried to flag down another motorist for help.
And who happened to stop but the two women her husband had helped a few miles down the road.
One of the women, a certified nursing assistant gave the man CPR until a state trooper and two Dunn County deputies took over and a helicopter ambulance arrived.
Thanks to the man’s good deed, the nursing assistant was able to give him the CPR which helped him survive until the emergency services turned up.
As the Patrol Sergeant stated, “It's an interesting turn of fate.”
Photo © Tiger Girl via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: CPR, flat tyre, heart attack, miles, motorist, pick-up truck, road
Monday, October 17, 2011
Running on empty
It’s a good thing that cars are so fuel efficient these days – back in our grandparents’ day, it was almost impossible to travel 100 miles without needing to stop at a petrol station, even on a full tank of fuel.
However, environmental considerations aside, fuel efficiency is becoming a practical necessity.This is because petrol stations are beginning to disappear from our nation’s roads. Even in my short driving life, just six years, I’ve noticed that petrol stations are becoming increasingly scarce.
More than ever before, I need to plan my fuel stops when making a journey otherwise there’s a very real risk I could be left short and stranded.
Perhaps supermarkets, which offer cheap subsidised fuel are to blame – as other sellers struggle to compete with their prices they shut up shop and disappear.
There are now only 9,000 fuel forecourts in the UK, which is 12,000 fewer than in 1991, and this is despite a doubling in the number of vehicles on the road in the same period.
Cheap car insurance, easy access to fuel, low house prices – our parents and grandparents don’t know how lucky they were.
Image © Adrian Wallett via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: cheap car insurance, efficient, fuel, miles, petrol station, roads, tank, vehicles