‘That girl is going to get herself killed’ (2022) • Hacker News Board

Re: ‘That girl is going to get herself killed’ (2022)

#91

Post by whymauri » Mon, Jan 09, 2023, 4:16 PM UTC

shagie wrote: post #79

jollyllama wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. A couple of girls got killed in Pittsburgh a few years back. They were kayaking down the river and didn't realize a dam was ahead. People die all the time in nature for lack of preparedness because they don't know the environment they are getting into and they don't know their limitations. This also endangers rescuers.

Practical Engineering has a video on the dangers of a lowhead dam - https://youtu.be/GVDpqphHhAE

I crossed a small dam solo hiking the Wichita Mountains. Not the one at Kite Trail on the Bison Trail Loop (Lost Lakes) which is wide and dry, but completely off trail since I had to get off trail to avoid bison. It was mossy with very little traction and I almost slipped. Brushed it off as an annoyance since I didn't get wet.

Watched this video a year later and it made me think... how deep was that water, and was it really as calm as it seemed? Yikes.

Re: ‘That girl is going to get herself killed’ (2022)

#92

Post by whimsicalism » Mon, Jan 09, 2023, 4:17 PM UTC

AYBABTME wrote: post #14

foobarian wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Acquaintance did some suburban kayaking and didn't see a 3ft drop (some kind of dam or culvert under a bridge) until too late. The fluid mechanics of that drop are such that there is a vortex at the base that makes it difficult to get out. He was able to stand but just barely - scary to think how close a call that was in a pretty innocuous looking setting.

I almost drowned on a beach without surveillance, jumping into the surf waist high, for fun, until suddenly the receding water pulled me just a few meters further away and now I couldn't touch the floor anymore, and was slowly being pulled further and further away from the beach. My girlfriend of the time was on the beach far enough away that she couldn't hear or grasp that I was struggling. By luck and after perhaps…

Interesting. I think they teach to not swim against rip currents in primary school now. I did not live near the coast

Re: ‘That girl is going to get herself killed’ (2022)

#93

Post by saalweachter » Mon, Jan 09, 2023, 4:18 PM UTC

rootusrootus wrote: post #65

emtel wrote: post #48

One time, I was driving at night in the Sierra after a storm - roads were covered in snow. It's a drive I've made close to 100 times without incident. Going around a bend, I saw a car in the ditch on the outside of the curve. I stopped the car, put on the hazards, and went to see if there was anyone in the car. As I was about to cross the highway a car come sliding around the bend more or less sideways. I stopped and…

Probably not the full voltage, just a leak. 230V is quite an experience. 120V is a mere annoyance by comparison, even if you touch live terminals directly. Even 120V is more than vibrating, though.

My received wisdom from prior generations was "120V will just tickle you, it's 240V you have to watch out for."

Re: ‘That girl is going to get herself killed’ (2022)

#94

Post by jjtheblunt » Mon, Jan 09, 2023, 4:18 PM UTC

emtel wrote: post #48

One time, I was driving at night in the Sierra after a storm - roads were covered in snow. It's a drive I've made close to 100 times without incident. Going around a bend, I saw a car in the ditch on the outside of the curve. I stopped the car, put on the hazards, and went to see if there was anyone in the car. As I was about to cross the highway a car come sliding around the bend more or less sideways. I stopped and…

low amperage perhaps

Re: ‘That girl is going to get herself killed’ (2022)

#95

Post by foxyv » Mon, Jan 09, 2023, 4:19 PM UTC

emtel wrote: post #48

One time, I was driving at night in the Sierra after a storm - roads were covered in snow. It's a drive I've made close to 100 times without incident. Going around a bend, I saw a car in the ditch on the outside of the curve. I stopped the car, put on the hazards, and went to see if there was anyone in the car. As I was about to cross the highway a car come sliding around the bend more or less sideways. I stopped and…

Typically when a fixture like that is connected to a live line it is pretty well grounded. In this case it sounds like the grounding wasn't perfect and pretty much turned you and the mirror into a voltage divider. Your saving grace was the fact that you were the bigger resistor. If the mirror wasn't mostly grounding out the circuit, the wet skin would have provided nil resistance and you would have probably at least been burned if not killed.

Re: ‘That girl is going to get herself killed’ (2022)

#96

Post by MrBuddyCasino » Mon, Jan 09, 2023, 4:20 PM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #61

MrBuddyCasino wrote: post #47

> I did other reckless shit with my own car. [...] Drove it 120 miles per hour just to see what it felt like. Admittedly this gave me a chuckle. Most people don't go that fast, but with the right kind of car this no big deal on the Autobahn.

Old ladies in economy cars will pass you...

Haha yeah the struggle is real. Still, the majority of cars in the leftmost lane is usually expensive with a good suspension.

I recently floored it for hours in a Dacia Jogger, going its absolute Vmax of 175 km/h, and that was uncomfortable. The same in an Audi or BMW is hardly noticeable.

Re: ‘That girl is going to get herself killed’ (2022)

#97

Post by whymauri » Mon, Jan 09, 2023, 4:21 PM UTC

bombcar wrote: post #42

itsmemattchung wrote: post #26

Some tips on where to begin to learn more about nature and survive in the wild? Maybe an REI class? I'm a little embarrassed to admit that should I ever venture out into the wilderness, I would definitely not survive. I lack basic survival skills and nature would eat me alive. That being said, I always admired folks who could go camping for days (or weeks), who could cook up a warm (and edible) meal over a campfire.

Honestly the three things you can do easily: 1. Only go deep into nature (out of cell range) with someone experienced. 2. Obtain a rescue device (Apple satellite cell, Garmin GPS emergency beacon, etc). 3. If stranded in a vehicle stay with the vehicle!

Garmin GPS coordinates + downloaded topos got me out of a dicey situation slightly lost solohiking in the Grand Canyon. Similar situations when the trail flooded in Ouachita National Forest. It's a must have for solo hikers.

Re: ‘That girl is going to get herself killed’ (2022)

#98

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jan 09, 2023, 4:23 PM UTC

Loughla wrote: post #38

itsmemattchung wrote: post #26

Some tips on where to begin to learn more about nature and survive in the wild? Maybe an REI class? I'm a little embarrassed to admit that should I ever venture out into the wilderness, I would definitely not survive. I lack basic survival skills and nature would eat me alive. That being said, I always admired folks who could go camping for days (or weeks), who could cook up a warm (and edible) meal over a campfire.

Look to your local Community College or State University extension office. Many of them offer outdoors classes. The problem with private wilderness survival classes you may find in the community, even the light versions, is that they tend to come with a very particular political slant. And that slant tends toward the paranoid.

[deleted]

Re: ‘That girl is going to get herself killed’ (2022)

#99

Post by jacquesm » Mon, Jan 09, 2023, 4:23 PM UTC

MrBuddyCasino wrote: post #96

jacquesm wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Old ladies in economy cars will pass you...

Haha yeah the struggle is real. Still, the majority of cars in the leftmost lane is usually expensive with a good suspension. I recently floored it for hours in a Dacia Jogger, going its absolute Vmax of 175 km/h, and that was uncomfortable. The same in an Audi or BMW is hardly noticeable.

Downhill for hours eh? Calling bs ;)

But seriously: I've had the old lady thing happen to me more than once.

Re: ‘That girl is going to get herself killed’ (2022)

#100

Post by themaninthedark » Mon, Jan 09, 2023, 4:23 PM UTC

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #46

giantg2 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see it as more of a vicious cycle. The "don't put this plastic bag on your mouth" warnings come about because the public supports those laws/cases. Those people are at the point were they rely on other to be responsible for them rather than using common sense. Those laws/cases create an environment where people come to expect warnings for everything rather than rely on their own common sense. I do think you're righ…

Are those warning labels there because they've been proven to be effective, or because someone sued and that's their way to mitigate that? I have a problem visualizing the venn diagram of people who are so stupid they'll put the bag in their mouth but also people who will listen to the words written on said bag.

A mix of both I think.

The plastic bag warning is aimed at parents of children mostly. Babies, love crinkly things. I know that my son when he started crawling would seek out the on floor garbage cans to play with the bags we used as a liner.

If you have someone who is not thinking about the ramifications, they would let the kid play with the bag, kid would end up putting it over their head(yay, surround sound) and some percentage would die.

There are similar warnings on buckets, about drowning. Kids that age love water, if they manage to get themselves head first in a 5 gallon bucket it only takes an inch of liquid of so for them to drown. Most people wouldn't think it takes so little.