Embarking on a holiday road trip can be both an exciting and daunting task, especially if travelling with young children. Don’t become a statistic, following these seven basic road safety tips, they could save your life:
1. Watch the speed limit, not the clock
Speeding is responsible for 20 – 30% of all fatal road crashes.
- Speed has a direct influence on accidents and their severity.
- Lower speed makes roads safer and results in fewer deaths
The faster you drive, the less time you have to react to changes on the road and limits your ability to manoeuvre out of a dangerous situation.
According to the Department of Transport, speeding and driving under the influence together are the main causes of road accidents in South Africa.
2. Buckle up all passengers
The purpose of seatbelts are to restrain passengers from ejecting from their car seats and stop them from being thrown into the air and colliding with an object during an accident.
Reports have shown that seatbelt use can reduce mortality for rear passengers by 55–75%.
3. Check rear view mirrors
Driving experts recommend checking your rear view mirror every 5-8 seconds.
Check your surroundings frequently to see that nothing has changed dramatically by glancing in your rear and side view mirrors regularly and for short bursts not longer than 1 – 2 seconds.
Of course, you’ll also want check both those mirrors whenever you’re changing lanes, pulling over, or anything else that requires you to steer off the path you’re travelling on. For the rest of the time your gaze should be firmly fixed ahead of you.
4. Stop when tired
The National Sleep Foundation reported that 60% of people surveyed admitted to driving in a drowsy state, and 37% have actually fallen asleep behind the wheel.
Our reaction times and decision-making ability is so impaired when drowsy that it has similar effects to having alcohol in the system. In fact, staying awake for 18-hours straight can make you act and drive as if you have a blood alcohol level of 0.05, just 0.03 below drunk state.
5. Hands off the phone, eyes on the road
While its actually illegal to use one while driving, cell phones are one of the major causes of distracted driving and road accidents in South Africa. On average, reading a text and responding whilst you drive can distract you for about 9 seconds. That’s a long time considering that an object can suddenly appear in front of your car in a second.
Some interesting figures from the International Transport Forum’s (ITF) Road Safety Annual Report:
- 25% of road accidents in South Africa are as a result of texting and driving.
- The likelihood of an accident occurring when you text and drive is 23 times higher.
Although 95% of drivers are aware that texting whilst driving is illegal and dangerous, 21% of them will still do it anyway.
6. Keep headlights on at all times
A car’s headlights are not only for you the driver to see ahead of you in the dark at night. It has a very important function even during the day in that it makes you more noticeable to other road users. The more visible every car on the road is, the less the chances of accidents with other vehicles and pedestrians.
Other than at night, the important times that your headlights must absolutely be on are just before sunset, and when there is low visibility such as cloudy, rainy, misty, and foggy days.
7. Practice defensive driving
Lack of experience, aggressive behaviour, distracted driving and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs are common problems over the holiday period.
While you can’t control their actions, you can control your own and defensive driving is just that – defending yourself against the hazardous actions of others. Be alert, observe your surroundings, and think three steps ahead by anticipating the actions of the drivers around you. Defensive driving is arguably the most powerful tool in your road safety arsenal.
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