You drive, you know that you could have an accident. You don’t really think it will happen, at least not on this trip, but you accept that, theoretically, it could. You also think that, even if you do have an accident, you are going to survive. You certainly don’t anticipate being maimed or permanently incapacitated!
Well, the good news is that you are probably right. The chance of you, or anyone else, for that matter, being involved in a serious motor accident is about the same as the chance of suffering a fatal drug overdose. A bit higher in some countries, a bit lower in others, but pretty unlikely any way.
Your experience tells you it isn’t going to happen, and your experience is pretty much on the money. Unfortunately, experience is always about the past: it doesn’t predict the future. Not only CAN you have an accident this on trip, but you might, and you are not invulnerable. You aren’t immune to a speeding ticket, either.
Most of us believe we are are less likely than others to experience negative events like being mugged or having a heart attack - “It won’t happen to me…” - a false belief that really comes to the fore when we get behind the wheel - most people think that they are better and safer drivers, that they are less likely to crash than the average driver of their age and gender.
That is a problem. When you think that bad things won’t happen to you, or that you are skilful enough to know when to bend the rules, you are likely to behave dangerously. For example, if you can’t imagine having a car crash, why should you bother to stick strictly to the speed limit, or leave a large enough gap between you and the car in front of you?
Sure you take risks on the road, but you don’t think of them as risks, because you don’t really believe that you will have a crash, or even get booked.
An important start to reducing your own chances of an accident or of getting a ticket, is to recognise your vulnerability on the road. You have to believe that it is just as likely to happen to you as to anyone else.
Do you think that other drivers make more mistakes, and take more risks, than you. Well, you make mistakes too. The difference is that only you know about them: and if they don’t result in an accident, you forget them, or dismaiss them as “unusual” or atypical.
See someone else on the road forget to signal, or change lanes in a dangerous fashion, and that just reinforces how much better you drive than they do; when you do the same thing, that’s different: changing lanes there without a prang proves how good your judgement is, doesn’t it, or not having time to signal was only because the street sign was badly placed, no time, not your fault??!
Next time you notice another driver make a mistake, instead of abusing them, try to remember a time when you did the same sort of thing. You might dismiss your mistakes because you know the reasons for them (like your mate didn’t give you enough warning to signal, or you were distracted for a moment), but a mistake is a mistake even if you know why you made it.
Because car accidents happen far less often that the radio and TV make it appear, the fact that you haven’t had one (or many) might make you think you are a better, safer or luckier driver than most. Lss likely than your friends to have a crash or be booked.
That isn’t very good reasoning. Even though car crashes are reported a lot, the chance of any one driver having a crash is fairly low. Most drivers never have a serious crash, but even if you have not yet had a crash, that doesn't mean you could have one in future - take that to the extreme: none of the drivers on the road today have ever been killed in a car crash ...just like you. Some of those drivers will certainly be in a fatal crash in the future, but no-one can say which of today’s drivers they will be...maybe you?
Here a few tips to help you stay with us:
Create a "safety zone" around your car. Forget about how much space you need for your buffer. It’s about time, not space: add the time from noticing a problem to your reaction time, the time it takes for your car to respond to the brakes or steering, factor in the other vehicles around you.... Too much math!
If you allow 3 seconds between you and the car ahead, AT ANY SPEED, you have given yourself sufficient time to deal with whatever is going on.
How do you figure 3 seconds? Just count 1(1000)1, 2(1000)2, 3(1000)3 as the car ahead passes a post or other fixed point. If you get to that point before you reach 3, you are too close. If the road surface of visibility are poor, drop further back. If you can manage to keep the same distance ahead of the car behind, too, that’s ideal; unfortunately you don’t have as much control there.
Wear your seat belt! They are the most important car safety feature. tghey not only minimise injusies, they help you keep control if the vehicle spins, crashes or starts to roll. They keep you in your seat and let you operate the controls; essential if you are going to avoid a rollover.
During an emergency, don't overcorrect your steering. Over steering can force your car to slide sideways and roll over. By the way, you are 75% less likely to be killed in a rollover crash if you have your seat belt on.
Air bags don’t give you better control, of course, but are a real plus in most accidents. Just be aware that the standard rule about keeping your hands in the 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock position might not be the best advice if you have airbags fitted. The American Automobile Association recommends drivers keep their hands out of the way of deploying airbags, in the 8 o'clock and 4 o'clock position.
You phone, Ipod, radio and mates in the car can kill you. Diver inattention causes 22.7% of serious car crashes. The most common distractions reported in accident scenarios include changing CDs, fiddling with the radio, eating, applying makeup, shaving, talking on a mobile phone – and even rubber-necking to look at another car accident.
That makes it even more risky than speeding (about 19% of accidents), alcohol (18%) or falling asleep at the wheel.
Of course, people who think they are more capable than average do all these things; they believe they can cope with whatever happens. Remember how we started this Intel? You certainly don’t anticipate being maimed or permanently incapacitated!
