PORTERVILLE POST | The Right News at the Right Time

THREE MINUTES !!!
Right to the End^© - Sep 09 2026
with Pastor Randy Minnick : minnick@portervillepost.com

This article isn’t about some personal rant about a pet peeve.

It’s strictly to point to a critical matter that concerns every single driver on the road today.
The author is a very experienced teacher who desires that his fellow drivers wake up and smell the Starbucks so that they may live longer. He is also someone who walks the walk: what he teaches, he diligently adheres to and can find no real reason why others can’t do the same. We just need to pay attention.
He is also qualified observer having been a police officer, a paramedic, and a truck driver who has seen lives devastated and lost due to nothing more than mindless and selfish inconsideration and even childish tantrums. He already knew that “Haste makes waste” but he has also seen that it also causes death, destruction, and untold misery and grief.

So, let’s get to the heart of the matter. There is a lot of suffering in this world that is absolutely avoidable if we eliminate, rudeness, selfishness, impatience, and inconsideration on the highways, and byways of our nation.

There is a lot of suffering in this world that is absolutely avoidable if we eliminate, rudeness, selfishness, impatience, and inconsideration on the highways, and byways of our nation.
We should note that it doesn’t take 30 or 40 years of professional driving to note the incredibly large number of inconsiderate drivers who think that no one else should be on their road but them and their shiny mount (and there are plenty of un-shiny mounts). It appears to be an affront to them that they must share the road and contend with others for the right of way. All of them seem to be “late for church”, as it were. Even getting to the next red light before other drivers is given Herculean effort as if having the mindset of winning a race. When slowed or stuck in traffic, they all seem to vent their frustration by being a “bumper sticker”: a driver who drives so close to the car in front of them that they can almost smell their license plate. Many (far too many) become violent and vengeful and abusive (whether being the “sticker” of the “stickee”): it’s called “road rage” (a subject for another time and which should be addressed).

Sometimes it’s just the way traffic is flowing. It is what it is and, technically, there isn’t anything anyone can do about it. So, why shove your car up against others as if they had some sort of control of it?

There are other circumstances with which to contend and that would be like the ability (or reduced ability) of other drivers. In other words, there’s no thought that the car in front of them may be driven by someone who may be elderly and who simply isn’t comfortable hurtling down the highway at speeds that their reflexes simply can’t adjust to. That means that driving the speed limit or slightly slower is quite acceptable to them. Shouldn’t that be acceptable with others since they pay the same highway/gas taxes that everyone else pays (and have been doing so for far longer than most folks on the road)?

You would think that that would be the case.
Yet, to a large percentage of drivers, it doesn’t matter; they’re just another hindrance/obstacle blocking their manufactured “exigency”. It is somehow a chore to be patient for a few minutes or so until the slower driver reaches their destination. It may even be that the slower driver may tire of having someone so close to them that they cede their right to the highway and simply pull over. As an example, though driving at about 50 mph (the speed limit is 55), the author averages pulling over 2 times per trip each direction on trips to Porterville (13 miles from home). In heavier traffic, it may be 4 or even 5 times and cars are nose-to-tail to see who is the best tailgater. Why is this necessary?

Earlier this year, the author’s wife suffered a terrible fall.
She had been so severely injured that it took two weeks for her to manage exiting the bed and a few more days to be able to ride in the car. Every single bump and turn, even at slow speeds, evoked a searing pain in her back. We weren’t crawling along; our average speed was about 45 mph or so to reach a destination that was only 2.6 miles from home. Yet, we were an obstacle in everyone else’s path which led to there being a several-car long line of grill-to-bumper vehicles gnawing at their throttle to get back up to whatever their idea of the speed limit was (usually 5-10 mph higher than the posted limit on our particular highway): we were despised for daring to be an impedance to their “mission”. Our solution was the courteous one; we simply pulled over and let them pass. It caused my wife a lot of pain to do that. That was just fine with them.
You would think that the average driver would have some consideration that there may be a reason that other cars are slower than he is. Haven’t most people learned that certain things can happen which cause such a slower-driving environment? That usually doesn’t happen despite the fact that the hindrance would typically have been brief.

This really is a serious issue.
It doesn’t take a genius to note that, every single day, drivers seem to be in such a hurry that even going to the grocery store is deemed an exigency at the least or even a dire urge to express disdain for the law. Their respective destinations are deemed worthy of exceeding the speed of common sense while putting the entire driving population (including themselves) at risk of death or injury.

Such inconsideration is not limited to the open highway. The author witnessed many traffic crashes in neighborhoods where you would think that drivers would care about children playing as well as cross traffic.

Sadly, this is not the case. So, the bumper sticking mentality and attendant inconsideration for the law and others is a widespread malady which is not limited to highway traffic. It’s a mindset and that mindset can and must be remedied.
Who among us has not had the classic and moronic “bumper sticker” who sidles up behind him and refuses to back off? On more than one occasion, the author would try to mitigate the matter by obliging to speed up by 5 mph or so to place more room between the two vehicles. When that didn’t work, he sped up by 10 mph and made some room. That didn’t work either. It never does. In fact, on more than one occasion, the speed was pushed to 70 mph and the car behind was never more than 50 or so feet behind! Thinking about their life and the lives of others was not involved. That particular test needed no further proof.

Let’s ask this question:
what happens when things go amiss (and they certainly do)? The author’s personal experience over 50 years has shown that “rear-ender” traffic accident accounts for a serious percentage of injuries and damage. Thankfully, most of the injuries are minor. Those statistics mean something to you when, as a paramedic, you’ve seen these accidents throw people into the rearview mirror and tear a gash in their forehead that will leave a horrific scar for the rest of their lives (not accounting for brain injury and recovery time). Whiplash, even in newer cars, is also a serious matter to this day.

It’s observations like this that have made an impression on yours truly. To someone who has picked up bent, broke, dying, and dead bodies, due to tail-gating is difficult to deal with because the next broken or dead body could easily be mine.

It’s not something I can ignore or brush off as irrelevant. All it would take is for another vehicle to pull out in front of me and I’m an “accordion” wearing a Ford pickup for a bumper ornament and praying that my gas tank doesn’t explode while my doors are jammed by the impact from both ends and I can’t get out. It happens; I’ve seen it more than once. And, it’s always…always…and inexcusably…. preventable.
How about the bumper sticker who is at the tail end of a line of 4 to maybe 10 cars; the impatient driver with “get home-itis” shoves the pedal to the metal and tries to get around everyone (even on a blind curve!!) only to find an unexpected “obstacle” driving straight at him at 60-70 mph. The two cars’ closing speed is going to exceed 140 mph. I’ve seen that too; there’s no need to recount the carnage. Our local stretch of highway has accounted for its share of fatalities because of this kind of inconsideration and impatience.

Let’s take a look at the science.
The math is simple enough for the average 8th grader to grasp so this factor shouldn’t be beyond the average driver. The physics on the matter takes a bit more diligence but a classroom isn’t required. One only has to observe large objects in motion. A word picture will suffice.
The average car weights about 2,500 pounds. Trucks (they tailgate, too!), pickups (terrible offenders), SUV’s, and such all weigh more but the physics is the same. A moving object requires energy to stop it. It can be by braking or by another vehicle absorbing the energy of your car’s velocity. Telephone poles work well at stopping cars in no time flat. I can guarantee that a tree, or light standard will not give way to your high velocity; you will stop. There’s no vehicle on earth that can “stop on a dime” so don’t allow yourself to be deceived that yours will defeat the physics.
Let’s say that you are traveling at a reasonable 60 mph and you are about 30’ behind another vehicle. A car pulls out in front of that car and he slams on the brakes. You’re not exactly expecting such thing to happen so it takes a second to register what’s happening and then a second to react. At 60 mph, your velocity is 88 fps. Let me state that again: 88 fps. This is fast enough to cover nearly one third the length of a football field. One second but nothing registers; you are reacting and not thinking.
What happens in the next fraction a second will determine whether you will live or die. You will reflexively and wildly throw the steering wheel in one or the other direction in an attempt to swerve and miss the car. You are no longer in control of the car and there’s nothing you can do about it. Physics will not allow you to have authority even if you are able to think. If you are wearing your seatbelt, you will stay behind the steering wheel and won’t be stretched across the passenger beside you. If you aren’t wearing a seatbelt, you will likely die in an out-of-control vehicle.

You’re wearing your seatbelt. Good.
You just tied the record for lane crossing and you miss the oncoming cars and you get to live: maybe. You’ll know within three seconds. The odds are not at all in your favor.
Your car is now hurtling out of control at only slightly less than 60 mph. It’s skidding because the brakes are locked up and you have no directional control of the car. There is almost no braking action other than the friction between the squalling tires and the uncaring pavement. Is there a car in the oncoming lane you just re-entered? If there was (and there very often is), you’re probably going to be dead before you have time to notice.
If there wasn’t, you have the remaining three seconds to see if you get to live. You are fortunate because you, not only avoided oncoming traffic and because you managed to avoid being struck from behind by a tail-gaiter.

You still have a serious problem.
You’ve overcorrected in the opposite direction but physics still has no favorites. If you’ve violently overcorrected, your car will not stop moving forward simply because the wheels are turned in that direction. The forward motion now continues and hastens a nasty roll-over maneuver. Is your seatbelt tight? If it is, you may yet live. If not, the odds of you surviving a multiple-rollover crash are not looking good. The odds are that you will be partially or fully ejected. You will tumble across the pavement, be partially ejected and the car will roll over you, our you will be partially ejected and the car will pin you between it an awaiting power pole. I’ve seen all of the above in person.
If your steering wheel was somehow less violently thrown and your car doesn’t roll down the highway, you still have a problem and it’s not a small one. The spot-on odds are that there is a large obstacle, street light standard, large tree, or even a parked vehicle in front of you that you can’t possibly avoid. That’s physics again unless there is a nice soft large field next to the roadway. I’ve seen that, too, but I wouldn’t’ wouldn’t count on it. I’ve investigated enough accidents to know that the best bet is on the obstacles and it’s likely that you’ve seen enough news reports to confirm this statement.
In less than 5 seconds, your fate is sealed; two minutes could have been spent to purchase a far less costly outcome.

Let’s follow the simple math:

From the author’s home to Porterville, CA is 13 miles. The formula for calculating time is: D=RT (distance = rate times the time). The distance is 13 miles. The rate is 50 mph. The unknown is the time. So, the formula is 13 mile = 55 mph times X (unknown time). We just multiply 13 by the speed/velocity which will give us the answer in fractions of an hour. The answer is: .236 hours or about 14.16 minutes (60 min. times .236). Roughly 14 min. 10 seconds.
Now, lets subtract 5 mph and drop down to my preferred cruising speed of 50 mph. Using the same formula: 13 miles = 50 mph times X. The answer for Time = 15.6 minutes. In other words, the difference between driving courteously and being a less-than-courteous bumper sticker is about a minute and a half. It’s about the amount of time required to nuke your tea water in a microwave oven.

Just for grins, let’s see how that plays out ...
Just for grins, let’s see how that plays out if it’s a trip from Bakersfield to Fresno (which is 110 miles). We’re starting on Highway 99 where most bumper stickers seem to get their training. The formula: D=RT. D=110 miles. R=70 mph (the speed limit in most places on the 99). T is X. So, 110 = 70 times X. 110 / 70 = X. X= 1.57 hours (1 hour 34 minutes or 94 min.). Let’s stay that traffic is a bit heavy (and it usually is) and much of the time is spent at 65 mph rather than the usual 70-75 mph (you certainly will have a bumper sticker at that speed). Again: D=RT; D=110; R=65mph. 110/65= 1.7 hrs. Time = 1 hour 42 min. or 102 min. There are 8 minutes difference. Pray tell, just how important are these few minutes (less than a pit stop at a highway rest stop)? And, are they important enough to risks your own or someone else’s life?

The loss of time most drivers will experience during any particular day is probably three or so minutes. Tragedy and death are usually only measured in fractions of a second but these horrific events can be
redeemed with the simple price of patience and consideration.
THREE MINUTES is a small price to pay, I should say.