Safe driving

Whether driving vehicles for work related activities or driving for personal reasons the hazards are the same.

Potential hazards associated with driving including roads and near road conditions or objects, environmental conditions, vehicles, driver competency etc and the way they interact.

Some factors contribute to the occurrence of a collision, other factors aggravate the effects of the collision and thus contribute to trauma severity. The one single factor we all have control over is driver behaviour.

Actions:

• Always drive within the legal speed limit at all times. Drivers should travel at speeds that are safe for the conditions, recognising that in some circumstances such as in rain or fog this may be below the posted speed limit.
• Do not initiate or receive phone calls or SMS messages on a hand-held mobile device whilst driving, always pull over, stop the vehicle before initiating or receiving a phone call or SMS message – note in Victoria and some other states you must turn the engine off to not breach the law. Bluetooth hands free devices are cheaper than fines and provide a much safer option. Similarly don’t become distracted with various music devices, heater controls or other things in the vehicle.
• Keep a safe distance from the car in front of you by leaving a three second gap, if driving conditions are affected by rain or fog etc stretch the gap to four or more seconds. When towing or with increased loads the distances should be increased again.
• Keep left unless overtaking or turning right is the law and it technically applies above 80km/hr on multi-lane roads however it should be applied at all speeds as it is courteous to do so (when practical) to allow other vehicles to pass your vehicle should they wish to. Overseas this is strictly enforced and traffic flows much better but Aussie drivers are very lazy at this. Blindly sitting in the middle lane of a three lane highway is the same, reducing the ability of trucks to pass correctly now they are prevented from using the right lane. If you are the subject of frequent tailgating by other cars it maybe you are sitting in the right or centre lane inhibiting the free progress of others.
• Be gentle and progressive when steering, accelerating and braking on wet or gravel roads. Apply gentle pressure to the accelerator to avoid skidding. Avoid sudden or jerky steering wheel movements as quick changes of direction can result in tyres loosing adhesion. If you get two wheels off onto a gravel shoulder, don’t over-react but smoothly ease the car back so that all four wheels are on the bitumen. Similarly in the wet when you hit deep puddles at speed, don’t over-react or brake suddenly.
• Brake before entering corners, slowing down enough so you can exit the corner while applying gentle acceleration which enables the vehicle to be driven through the corner in a controlled manner. Avoid coasting around corners or braking midway around.
• Be aware of road conditions that can change suddenly reducing the level of grip available. Bitumen roads can change from dry to wet when you pass under a group of trees or in shadow etc. Gravel roads often feature deep sections of loose stones on the edges or can change from hard packed with high grip levels to loose stones with low grip at any stage.
• Avoid road shoulders in the wet where puddles can gather which at speed can manifest as aquaplaning (where the tyre rides up on a film of water loosing contact with the road) or sudden ‘pull’ on the steering wheel. Over compensating with sudden inputs to the steering wheel or brake applications may have dramatic affects when the affected tyre regains contact with the road sending the car off the side of the road or putting it into a spin. Don’t over-react. Always drive to suit conditions.
• Don’t overtake unless safe to do so, always ensuring you have full view of the road ahead with plenty of space to perform the manoeuvre and return to the correct lane. Don’t get right up close to the vehicle you wish to overtake, hang back a bit and build up speed so that by the time you are clear to overtake you can pull out nearer to your overtake speed thus reducing time exposed accelerating on the wrong side of the road.
• Keeping windscreen and headlights clean improves view and hence safety when night driving.
• The law requires that you do not use headlights on high beam within 200m of an oncoming vehicle or a vehicle travelling in the same direction ahead of you – this distance is not all that large and courtesy would have us dipping lights much further away. High intensity short range lights mounted low on many cars are fog lights and the law states you “must not use front or rear fog lights unless driving in fog or other hazardous weather conditions that cause reduced visibility”.
• Kangaroos come out at dusk so if driving at night in ‘roo country be alert and keep your speed down. Take heed of signs advising the presence of wildlife. Slow down to walking pace if there are unrestrained farm animals on the road or roadside.

 Footnote: The state of Victoria is recognised as a leader in the field of road safety having become the first jurisdiction in the world to introduce compulsory seatbelts in 1970. Since then it has become a pioneer in reducing the death and injury rate on the roads. In 1970 there were 1061 road deaths in Victoria and the annual trend was ever increasing. In 2013 there were 242 road deaths in Victoria with a downward annual trend despite ever increasing number of road users. Victoria was also the first to introduce legislation for random breath testing in 1976, first to introduce mandatory crash helmets for motorcycle riders, first to introduce mandatory helmets for pushbike riders etc. The next time you despair at some enforcement issue on road law, speeding fines, breath testing, etc just remember the huge number of lives saved or injuries avoided by Victoria’s efforts in road safety.