Crash course; Why people crash?
1. POOR ANTICIPATION
An absolutely huge one, this. Most drivers just don’t spend enough time analysing what’s going on around them and working out what other cars might have to react to. Which can be fatal. Here are some pointers…
a) Don’t overtake on a dual carriageway when approaching a slip road. Another car could try and join from the slip road, forcing the car you’re overtaking into your lane.
b) Slow down at crossroads, even if it’s your right of way and, whatever you do, don’t overtake anywhere near them. The disaster potential is massive. From cars not stopping, not indicating or pulling out from junctions while someone’s overtaking on the main road, crossroads court death like the Kennedys.
c) Look at the road surface for clues. Are the hedges freshly cut with grass lying on the road? Chances are the council are trimming them up ahead. Is there mud on the road? If yes, you’ll have less grip and there may well be cows being moved from one field to another or a slow-moving tractor, is it wet? Then watch the road markings - they’ll be slippy.
d) Look for clues as to which direction the road’s about to turn. You may be approaching a blind crest but telegraph poles, trees or the way the hedges taper off could give you essential pointers for setting yourself up for the corner.
e) Don’t sit alongside other cars in quick-moving heavy traffic, or when a dual carriageway feeds into a roundabout. Chances are you’ll be in someone’s blind spot and get cut up.
2. BADLY MAINTAINED CARS
Drive around with sub-legal tyres, warped brake discs and faulty brake lines and you’re asking for trouble. There’s simple stuff too, like running out of screenwash, not cleaning winter muck off your lights and not replacing bust indicator bulbs. Even breaking down leaves you at huge risk of being hit by another car as you sit about on the hard shoulder.
3. GOING TOO FAST FOR THE CONDITIONS
Don’t confuse this with breaking speed limits. Speed limits are based on averages - average driver in an average car on an average day. For instance, we reckon a high performance car with great brakes doing lOOmph on a quiet motorway is fine. But the cops wouldn’t like it.
How about driving past a school in a 30mph zone, though? It’s 8.45am, raining and parked cars line both sides of the road. Small children everywhere. A Gatso wouldn’t flash you at 33mph but anything over 20mph is, in our opinion, lethal.
Why? Because you’re going too fast to make sense of what’s going on and wouldn’t be able to stop in a worst case scenario. Giving yourself enough time to react is the key to safe driving, so cruise past and look good.
4. SHOWING OFF
Young blokes are probably most guilty of this. New, young drivers want to prove they’re the man. But driving like a god takes years of practice and you’ll never crack it in your first drive alone. Even worse, you’ll probably have a car full of mates. And that’s bad news for two reasons.
Firstly, they’ll often be making loads of noise and egging you on. That’s both seriously distracting and encourages you to drive beyond your abilities. Secondly, people in the back of a car unweight its front end, giving the front tyres less grip. Plus, when you back off suddenly in a corner, the extra weight means the back end is much more likely to try and overtake the front.
Our advice? Take it easy, build up your skills and, if you want to push it, get on a track day.
5. FATIGUE
Government research suggests as many as 10 per cent of accidents and 300 deaths per year are caused by fatigue. While drivers might not travel the kind of distances your average 40-year-old rep does, you are at risk when, for instance, travelling back from a nightclub in the early hours of the morning.
Key times are between 10pm and 6am and 1pm to 3pm, which coincide with dips in our circadian rhythms. Telltale signs of tiredness are locking your arms rigid, concentrating on keeping your eyes wide open and focusing on points in the distance rather than constantly adjusting your vision. Also, waking up suddenly is considered a big sign of sleepiness!
If you feel tired, pullover, get a bite to eat and, if necessary, have a power nap. Loud music and open, windows won’t work when your knackered.
6. TARGET FIXATION
A huge problem for motorbikers and something that can affect us all. Imagine you’re nailing it down an unfamiliar A-road. After a long straight, you turn in to a right hander which suddenly tightens on itself. A lamppost lurks near the exit.
Instead of looking down the road in the direction you want to be heading in, you start focusing on what you don’t want to hit: the lamppost. Problem is, your hands unconsciously follow your eyes and, next thing you know, you’ve got a huge headache and a mashed car.
You’ll see target fixation happen to a lesser extent in busy supermarket car parks. People (birds, usually) focus on the space they want and forget that other drivers won’t know that they (the bird) are about to turn in suddenly. Klunk!
7.TAILGATING
A huge factor in motorway shunts. People get comfortable with 70mph+ speeds and zone out, not realising it’d be impossible to stop if the bloke in front slammed ‘em on.
It’s particularly important to hang back from vans and lorries. Why? They’ll typically block your view ahead, so you won’t be able to anticipate what they have to react to. Good drivers leave at least a two-second gap between the car in front and, on motorways or dual carriageways, always keep an eye on what’s about to over or undertake them so they know the best escape route if it goes seriously tits-up.
8. COMPLACENCY
It’s often quoted that most accidents happen within a mile or so of home - and for good reason. If you’re just setting out, you’re not fully settled in to driving and more likely to let vital clues pass you by. And if you’re nearing the end of a long journey, you start to relax in anticipation of putting your feet up.
Again, familiar surroundings make you drop your guard. Complacency also occurs when you’re going a bit too slow to stay alert. You know the story - old git up ahead, twisty road, queue of cars reluctant to overtake, everyone resigns themselves to a 40mph Sunday drive and switches off. Don’t!
9. DRINK AND DRUGS
A survey found that 25 per cent of you had driven under the influence of narcotics. And with drugs getting cheaper, that’s likely to increase. In fact, a Transport Research Laboratory study found that the number of drivers killed with drugs in their bloodstream had risen from three to 18 per cent over one decade. At present there’s no clear limit for drug driving, leaving the police to rely on complicated roadside tests.
Drink driving, meanwhile, is easier to understand but no less deadly. A massive 21 per cent of all drivers killed in the UK during 2002 had blood alcohol levels over the 80mg limit. That figure was up three per cent on the year before but, alarmingly, convictions for alcohol-related offences in England and Wales fell from 89 to 85. Just goes to show that all the Gatsos in the world can’t stop a pissed idiot who’s obeying the speed limit. Our advice? Keep the drink and drugs to nights out, and well away from your motor.
