"Son, you're gonna drive me to drinkin'
if you don't stop driving that hot rod Lincoln..."
When politicians talk about road safety it often makes my blood boil. Most of the time what pollies say is designed to stir up controversy in the media that then conveniently shifts the real issue out of the spotlight.
In SA for instance we recently had a ‘Road Safety’ minister with more traffic offences than pretty well any ‘hoon’ cruisin’ Adelaide’s black top. A fine example and yep, what he said about a drag strip promoting hoon driving had a whole heap of credence didn’t it!
So here’s some basic road safety tips to hammer into your children and grand children. If they heed them it just might save a whole heap of damage, injury and maybe even a life. And if you wonder what qualifications I have to say this, five years of my forty year career in ‘Justice’ was spent as an Investigator on the SA Police Fatal Accident Squad where I investigated more than sixty fatalities.
1 - Time and Place. Boys are little men training to be warriors who can feed the tribe and help protect it. Unfortunately, today’s modern world doesn’t require too many warriors. That fact does nothing to stop boy’s primitive urges to do dangerous things, to take chances and be competitive. So, if you can’t stop boys undertaking perilous acts, try to get through to them ‘time and place’ – "Son, if you have to do crazy things, do it where you won’t hurt anyone else, and hopefully, won’t hurt yourself either.” If you think saying "Don’t do it!” is gonna work, well, change your name to Canute and head down the beach.
2 - Get the Big Picture. Never take your eyes off the road. Front, sides, the mirror. Know what’s going on all around you every second. Never let your eyes be still. Concentrate and you’ll see that potential accident coming (as a bonus you’ll never have a police car catch you by surprise either). Treat driving like a game of chess, have your moves planned way in advance and have a good idea about what your opponent (other drivers) are going to do.
3 - Leave Yourself an Out. Never drive faster than you can see. If heavy rain or fog reduces visibility, make sure that you aren’t driving so fast that when you suddenly see the broken down semi-trailer, you can stop before you hit it. Likewise, don’t drive faster than your headlights on unlit roads. Leave gaps around you so you can change lanes safely at all times and leave a big enough gap between the car in front so if it brakes for an emergency, you don’t hit it.
4 - Right Turns. When stationary in the middle of the road making a right turn, keep your wheels straight ahead and not turned to the right. If your wheels are turned, and you get hit from the rear, you will be catapulted directly into the path of on coming traffic. I investigated two fatal accidents where this happened and both innocent drivers were bumped into the path of semi-trailers.
5 - Stationary at Traffic Lights. Stop so that you can see a small strip of bitumen between your car and the car in front. If you can’t see the roadway, you are too close. Implement this and should you be involved in any sort of rear end collision, the front of your car will not hit the back of the car in front of you. It’s of little comfort to know you are not at fault when the front of your car is staved in, the radiator and air-con wrecked, and your car has to be towed away.
6 - Rain is Deadly – particularly after a long hot dry spell. Respect Rain!
7 - It’s Better to be Late Than Dead on Time. Always leave on any car journey, be it holiday or work commuting, so that you don’t have to rush. If you are running late, well, just think how much later you’ll be if you crash.
8 - Dehydration causes driver fatigue so keep your fluid levels up. Drink lots of water. Even around town have a water bottle to sip from while stationary at lights. Remember that tea and coffee promotes dehydration. That caffeine hit is very short lived. Playing mental ‘games’ on long trips helps keep you alert; working out average speed, fuel consumption, time to next landmark, that sort of thing. Try it, ditch the trip computer/GPS and do it the old fashioned way, it will keep you on your toes.
9 - Courtesy is contagious. Smile at people. Wave. Let people into your lane when they indicate to change lanes or are trying to pull out of car parks or side roads in heavy traffic. Australians are acknowledged as the rudest and least courteous drivers in the world – not something to be proud of so try to make a difference. It’s a little smug, but being courteous makes you feel good too.
10 - The Spike Rule. Drive like you have a sharpened spike sticking out from the centre of your steering wheel. A German university did a study about why people are still seriously injured in accidents when cars are so much safer; having crumple zones, airbags, anti-lock brakes etc. The study found that the safer a person thought their car, the worse they drove. The study said that if cars had no airbags or seat belts, but were fitted with a sharpened stake in the centre of the steering wheel and the petrol tank was exposed on the rear bumper, there would be no more accidents - because everyone would drive so bloody carefully.
...and hey, you be careful out there, ya hear!
