Safe Drive 2000 - tips and statistics for young drivers
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Freeway curves are gentle
and well marked, yet 50% of fatal crashes involve cars that
have run off the road. In 1994 there were approximately 1.24
million police-reported accidents involving cars leaving a
roadway and crashing into another vehicle or object. These
represented 19% of total crashes for that year and resulted
in over 500,000 injuries and 13,000 deaths. Possible causes? Excessive
speed, being forced off the road by a careless and/or
aggressive driver, and driving while drowsy are among the
most obvious. Ways to combat these
causes? Slow down. Speed limits are not set arbitrarily;
they are set after much research and thought and with the
safety of users like you in mind. Officials who set speed
limits do so looking at road condition, the lay of the land,
the purpose and size of the road, and usage to mention but a
few factors. The speed limit is not a “jumping
off” place, a speed to start from and increase as you
see fit. Older drivers might be mindful of this when
teaching young drivers the ropes. Respect other drivers,
know your limits and those set up for you to obey, and make
it through as much as the new millennium as you were meant
to. Careless and aggressive
drivers are out there and they are out to get you. The most
you can hope for is to avoid them and let them go their own
way. If you notice erratic behavior in another driver, move
away from him or her. Never get involved in a battle of the
wills or try to “squeeze by”. You’ll end up
as they might have, off the road or worse. If you think the
driver might be having physical difficulties, stop as soon
as possible and notify authorities in the area. Remember,
dialing 911 from any phone and reporting an incident will
alert the police to the pending emergency. This number
should be used for emergencies only, not just to report bad
drivers. Driving while drowsy is a
subject handled in more depth elsewhere but you should know
that if your thoughts start to wander, you see things that
are not there, or find yourself falling into
“microsleep” (4-5 second naps), it is time to pull
over. During that 4-5 seconds of inattention, a car can
travel 100 yards, plenty of time to take you off the road,
into another car, or over into oncoming traffic.In a 1999
report “Problem Area Descriptions, Motor Vehicle
Crashes” put out by the U.S. Department of
Transportation, researchers noted that in 1994 police
reported approximately 1.66 million rear-end crashes on all
roadways. These crashes accounted for 920,000 injuries and
1,160 fatalities. Driver inattention was cited as a major
causal factor in 41% of these accidents, inattention
compounded by following too close, 27%, external
distraction, 14%, and internal distraction, 10% for a total
of 91% of all crashes involving rear end
collisions. Inattention can be caused
by children disrupting the driver, pets being allowed to
roam around a moving vehicle, other objects moving or
falling, concentrating too hard on the scenery, mobile
phones or beepers going off, trying to read a map while
driving, or anything else that takes the driver’s mind
off the matter at hand, that is, arriving safely at a
destination. Aggressive driving
accounts for 56% of all highway deaths. It’s no mystery
that following too closely behind a vehicle at a high speed
and among drivers of varying experience and years behind the
wheel can lead to accidents, but on one trip to the office,
school, or market count the number of cars you yourself
would judge to be pushing another vehicle (tailgating),
making an unsafe lane change with not enough room to handle
a sudden stop of a vehicle in front or allowing enough time
for the vehicle behind to slow down safely, or turns/exits
made without signaling. There is no way to MAKE
another driver follow the rules. You are responsible only
for your own behavior. As you become aware of which actions
are aggressive or somehow endanger another driver or person,
you can begin to control the actions. There is no way to
know if the driver in front of you is ill, drowsy,
inexperienced, elderly or a new driver, a pregnant woman
being cautious, or a mother with young children in the car.
But you can cause them to die or die yourself and in less
time than it takes to tie a shoe. Remember this the next
time you follow too closely or are tempted to slam on the
brakes TO TEACH THE OTHER PERSON A LESSON. Hitchhiking is now banned
on most, if not all, of the nation’s freeways and
freeway entrances and exits. So any pedestrian on a freeway
is most likely a driver or passenger who has left a vehicle
for some reason, usually a breakdown. The Department of
Highway Safety recommends raising the hood of the vehicle
and staying in the car when a breakdown occurs UNLESS
weather conditions, the location of the car, or some other
factor lead the driver to believe that it is safer to wait
away from the vehicle. In such a case, the driver and
his/her passengers should move far enough away from the
vehicle that should it be struck by a passing vehicle they
would not be hurt. Drivers who must change a
tire or who feel they can work on their own vehicle should
follow several basic safety rules: If, at this point, you are
saying to yourself, everybody knows this stuff, ask yourself
why, if everybody knows, do so many people forget or ignore
the basics while driving, the very time when all past
knowledge and learning should kick in and serve to protect
your life and the lives around you. Be one of the drivers
who remembers and have a Safe Drive 2000 and every year to
come.