In those countries there are more than 300 million licensed drivers. Unfortunately, not all of these drivers have the necessary physical or emotional makeup to operate such a complicated machine as the modern motorcar.

In the United States alone, more than 1.8 million persons have died in traffic accidents since 1900. More than 5,900 persons are killed each year in automobile accidents in Canada. In France more than 12,000 people per year lose their lives in traffic accidents. The same is true in Italy and Japan. In Brazil the toll is almost 50,000 deaths related to motor vehicles per year; in a single long holiday more than 400 people lose their lives in the highways, it is not infrequent several people be killed in a bus station by a drunk driver and it is also common accidents involving buses and trucks resulting the death of more than 50 people.
 

The Most Common Causes of Accidents

Human error is responsible for about 90 percent of all reported accidents in the world.

The most frequent traffic violations committed by poor drivers are:

1. speeding the principal contributing factor in fatal and nonfatal traffic accidents;
2. failing to keep the right distance from the front vehicle and yield the right-of-way ranks second in nonfatal and third in fatal accidents;
3. driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs a factor in at least half of the fatal accidents.

Safe Drivers Must Be Trained

The final responsibility for preventing traffic accidents rests with the driver. The best way to be sure that every motorist is capable of operating an automobile is to offer formal training in the techniques and mechanics of driving. Friends or relatives do not make ideal instructors. Frequently such persons did not have formal instruction and, although they mean well, often pass their own bad habits on to the pupil.

The driver education programs offered by many high schools in the United States, and some other countries provide the best means of training prospective drivers. These programs are conducted by teachers who have been trained to instruct new drivers. Some schools also include driver training in their adult education programs. On the other hand in some countries with very high accident rates, no attention is given to train drivers in the safe fashion.
 

What a Driver-Trainee Learns

A typical course for training prospective drivers consists of three phases. One phase is classroom instruction. The second phase is a laboratory phase, which includes either driver simulation techniques or practice on a driver's range or both. The third phase is actual driving experience on the street.

In the classroom the trainee learns the basic mechanical principles of how and why an automobile runs. A student also masters the rules of the road and learns to identify and know the meanings of various traffic signs and warning signals. Sound safety practices are also taught.

No amount of classroom instruction, however, can teach a person how to drive. This skill must be acquired by practical experience. For this reason the trainee learns how to perform basic operations starting the motor, guiding a car through traffic, stopping, and parking by actually driving an automobile.

The Human Element in Driving

Throughout the driver education program, both in the classroom and in the training car, one major fact is emphasized over and over again. This fact is that the habits a student acquires during the training period will be reflected in future behavior behind the wheel and these habits will largely determine whether one becomes a safe, competent driver or a dangerous driver.

Every motorist must understand that an automobile is a large, powerful machine. It can move at very high speeds. Even at speeds of 100 kilometers an hour or more it can be operated so smoothly and easily that its driver may be lulled into a feeling of false security. It is therefore imperative that every driver remain alert.

Reaction Time

The motorist who is not alert cannot cope with a sudden emergency as quickly as is necessary. An overly relaxed driver requires more time to react to an emergency than does an alert one. For example, it takes longer for a daydreaming driver to react and apply the brakes when a child darts into the car's path than it takes for an alert driver to do so.

The time interval between a driver's first recognition of danger and the response to it is called reaction time. The average reaction time for most drivers is 0.75 second. The alert driver in the situation cited above would apply the brakes within half a second after detecting the child.

A driver's reaction time may be affected by many different factors. Some of these are permanent handicaps; others are only temporary. Certain cases of arthritis and paralysis, for example, are permanent handicaps that may prevent some persons from reacting fast enough in an emergency. The normal slowing down that occurs as a person grows older may also lengthen reaction time. Temporary, correctable factors include faulty eyesight, defective hearing, and such illnesses as the common cold.
 

Minimum distance required to stop a vehicle, based on reaction times and speed

Notes: 1) a driver with normal reaction time, driving at 50 kilometers per hour needs approximately 10 meters to stop his vehicle. 2) a driver in the same conditions but with delayed reaction time ( due to alcohol, for example) will need 28 meters to stop his car. 3) a car at 120 kilometers per hour and traveling at a distance of 10 meters from the front vehicle, never will be stopped by his driver without hit the front vehicle once the minimum distance to be stopped is 22 meters.

An emotionally immature person is almost always a dangerous driver. Examples of emotionally immature persons are:

• those who show off;
• those who resent authority;
• those who act impulsively and take chances;
• those who are aggressive and intolerant of the shortcomings of others;
• those who exaggerate their own importance and abilities;
• and those who do not respect the rights of others.

Alcohol & Drugs

Reaction time is also severely slowed by alcohol and drugs consumption. Alcohol is involved in almost half of all annual road traffic fatalities in the United States. Laws equating specified blood alcohol concentrations with evidence of being drunk have been passed in most countries. Attempts to curb drunk driving have taken the form of heavy fines, jail sentences, and loss of driving licenses. Unfortunately no every country enforce those laws and due to that drunk drivers keep killing hundreds o people all over the world.

Safety Devices

Since its beginnings the automobile industry has developed many safety devices and features, such as four-wheel brakes, brake lights, turn signals, and safety glass. One of the most significant safety devices is the seat belt. This helps prevent a person's being thrown from a car or tossed about in it when an accident occurs. An estimated hundreds lives could be saved each year if all passengers and drivers used seat belts.
 

Driving safety
 

• obey every traffic law and rule of the road,
• before the car is started, the driver and all passengers should fasten their seat belts.,
• granting the right-of-way to another driver may prevent a collision,
• obey speed limits,
• keep right distance from the front vehicle, mainly when driving in a highway,
• pay attention in the main road and in the incoming traffic from secondary roads,
• do not use your car as a weapon,
• do not act impulsively or take chances,
• respect the rights of others,
• never drive after drinking alcoholic beverages,
• if you are a drug user, never drive a car after made the use of drugs. Avoid risk your life and the life of others,
• preserve your life and the lives of your passengers and of the other people in the road,
• help the authorities keep the roads clear of bad drivers.

© 1997