Road safety tips for rural driving - part one
December 2nd 2006 06:25
Dip those headlamps!
I have sometimes pitied my sons, who, all their life have had a mother who has commented on the driving of others as we have traveled over may a country mile. Look at that fool – passing that truck on a double white line on a bend!” “What the hell is this person doing passing three of us when there is a car coming?”
I was going to start this blog by wowing you with a tonne of statistics, but after a degree of research, I discover that only South Australia has done some research on rural accidents. 59% of all fatalities and 50% of serious injuries occur on rural roads. More than two thirds of country fatalities occur on straight sections of road and 70% of crashes on open rural roads are single vehicle accidents such as roll overs or running off the road. And so it goes on. http://www.sapolice.sa.gov.au/sapol/road_safety/road_statistics.jsp
Apart from those three items mentioned above, here are a few more things that make the hair on my neck rise when I see it. If what I write adds to a voice in your head which tries to keep you safe, then I have succeeded.
•When driving in the country you do not need to make close friends with the car in front. It's a good safety rule that says that you should be at least five car lengths back if you are going to pass. If you don't intend to pass 300 - 400 metres is even better. There are good reasons. It means you have a small chance to move out of the way if the car in front has to brake. Kangaroos, tree branches and a million other things could cause this to happen. Also if wanting to pass, if you are back a bit you can see the road ahead without having to weave in and out to look.
•Double white lines are always there for a reason. You may think you can see far enough, but sometimes there are bends ahead or small hills that hide vehicles. Never pass on these lines or on a single unbroken line if that line is on your side – however tempting.
•If you are tired stop for a while. According to the South Australian report, 20% of fatal accidents are understood to be caused by fatigue. Drinking water, winding down the window etc only help for a little while – if you are tired you are tired. “Better late than never” as they say. When my kids first started driving I suggested that if they were stuck in a long line of traffic or began to feel uncomfortable because the group were going too fast for them, pull off the road for a while and let them go. It gives you a break and is much less stressful when you go again. You might lose two minutes - but so what!
•Finally, night driving. Please learn the use of headlamps and the dip switch. As soon as you have a car in your sight ahead start thinking about dipping your lights. Better dipped than undipped. Don't wait for them to dip before you. They may be stupid enough to have extra high headlights, but it doesn't mean you have to be stupid too. If you are having trouble seeing, look at the left hand side of the road as your guide to stay on the road rather than into their lights. Swear at them if you like but don't put your light up again! Before you start to do country driving have your headlights checked to ensure they are facing the best way for you to see and for the oncoming traveler not to be blinded. And always dip you light when you are coming up behind another vehicle. There is nothing worse than two sets of lights shining in a rear vision mirror and a side mirror right into the driver’s eyes.
“The total number of road deaths in October 2006 was 122 - this is a 5.4% decrease from the October 2005 figure. The number of road deaths in 2006 to the end of October is 1,319 - this is a 1.6% decrease from the same 10 month period in 2005.” This was from another road safety Dept of Transport statistic. Still too many, don’t you think! Take care!
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