TGIF! Congrats, you made it to the last Friday of 2023. Hope everyone is enjoying Bowl season.

Survival – Personal Edition

Today we’re going to learn how to control a car that’s careening down a mountainside. Let’s get to it!

• Apply firm, steady braking pressure. You want to achieve what is known as threshold braking. That’s when you’re applying the most brake pressure before the tires lock up. Once the tires lock up you lose control of the car which can increase the chances of skidding sideways and inducing a rollover.
• Keep your hands firmly on the steering wheel. Position your hands at 10 and 2, but keep your thumbs outside of the wheel. This will give you the most control and maneuverability of the steering wheel while also keeping your hands safe if you hit something that jerks the steering wheel out of your hands.
• Keep the car pointed downhill. Again, we don’t want to a rollover. While you can survive a rollover, the problem is you lose control of the car and can’t really decide where the car is going or when it’s going to stop.
• Downshift. We’re going to use the engine to further brake the car. With a manual, keep downshifting until you’re in first gear. In an automatic, shift to the lowest gear. Remember to keep applying brake pressure and do not lock up the tires.
• Control any sliding motion. As you’re going downhill, the majority of the weight will be on the front of the car. This means the rear of the car will be lighter than normal. As a result, the rear of the car will want to slide. When it does, turn into the slide. If the backend is sliding to the right, turn to the right. While doing this, you will want to add weight to the rear of the car by lightly applying gas. Once the slide is controlled, get back on the brakes.
• Once the car has stopped, apply the emergency brake and get out of the car.
• But wait, you’re saying: I haven’t/can’t stop! And there’s a cliff ahead! Time to get drastic and sacrifice the car for your safety.
• Look for a large object like a boulder or fallen tree that’s about a foot tall. You want something you can high-center the car on. Turn the car so the object is centered between your wheels and drive over it while braking. If this doesn’t work, then use the next step.
• Last resort, we’re going to ram something. For safety, you want to be going less than 20mph, seat belts on, and hopefully your airbags are functional. Make sure you ram the object with the front of your car, not the side.

With any luck you’re now stopped, uninjured, and can get out. The car may not be so lucky, but thats OK because cars can be replaced.

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Survival – Species Edition

Time to put the sexy in Friday!

Enjoy the weekend, folks! Alright, now let’s get to the comments!