you can do it whilst talking on the phone / to your passenger.
you can do it whilst fiddling with the aircon or following what the guy on the radio is saying.
its so easy, that we can find ourselves daydreaming, or thinking about things other than whats going on around us.
so with people crashing their cars daily, what is the issue ?
craigs_workshop,
Feb 25, 4:35pm
the difference between the uneventfull journey & the half completed disaster is found between the ears
because although a car is a physical object controlled by a physical entity . . . . .
.
. . . . . . . . . . .driving is a mental activity
craigs_workshop,
Feb 25, 4:35pm
we need to stop blaming the conditions
we need to stop blaming the speed
we need to stop blaming the roads
in almost every single case, the blame lies with the thought processes happening during the 5 seconds before the crash happened
accidents are rare, they almost never happen. crashes are daily events
almost every single crash is an avoidable event
m16d,
Feb 25, 4:37pm
I'm not a hundred yet but I still hope to be driving when I am.
skin1235,
Feb 25, 4:49pm
not fair
next you'll be suggesting that not all drivers are in fact competent to drive
but how do you weed them out and stop them?, they ain't gonna take a step forward from the ranks to admit they're dicks behind the wheel, just an accident about to happen - which as you say is no accident - so is it a deliberate move then, the inevitable result of their stupidity and a steering wheel meeting up
daryl14,
Feb 25, 4:51pm
I think the problem is that you drive where you look. If you see something you did not expect then you stare at it. And then you drive into it.
We just need to stop looking at other cars.
tgray,
Feb 25, 4:52pm
Comes down to a mathmatical probability certainty, considering the numbers involved. A million trips a day, if you think of a one in a million event. Every country in the world will have car accidents as long as they allow cars on their roads. You simply cannot eliminate the accident equation from the stats.
skin1235,
Feb 25, 4:54pm
don't make eye contact huh, lol, keep the eyes low bro, he'll run ya down if you look at him
craigs_workshop,
Feb 25, 4:54pm
statisically, they are irrelevant
they almost never happen
lookoutas,
Feb 25, 5:16pm
This is so true.
It's called "visual attraction"
I learnt years ago, never to look for rocks while Jetboating. If you look for rocks, you'll find the bastards. Always look for boatable water, and the rocks will wiz past. Very closely.
The same applies on the road. Always look at the portion of road where you want to drive - not the bridge railing or the bloody great truck that's taking up the other half. This is a big problem with a lot of frigid drivers. Looking at either one will draw them to it.
gmphil,
Feb 25, 5:26pm
agree with the above lol hand eye co-ordination so I look road because I find my hands seem to follow my eyes
tamarillo,
Feb 25, 5:43pm
There are many youtubes clips of motorcycles with target fixation. One famous one of a Harley that just went straight on into the ditch, not even turning his head to see round corner, then next guy follows him in. Not fast, just fixated, you go where you look.
lookoutas,
Feb 25, 6:08pm
That's the terminology tama - it's "visual fixation"
"Visual attraction" is ter'man'ology. and that will probably make us run off the road too!
That's right outer - dirt biking is exactly the same.
headcat,
Feb 25, 7:03pm
OH God! Another perfect person.
tintop,
Feb 25, 7:14pm
Yep - don't forget that 80% of drivers self rate themselves as 'Above Average'
Go figure .
intrade,
Feb 25, 7:54pm
people get told they dont need to use there brain its all save , so they turn there brains off and thats how they die seriously there is a off switch. i told my dad when he asks me extreem dumb questions . i said man turn your brain on dont ask me crap that you know when you turn that switch in the on position you will know the answer . and he said yes it works. there is billions of people with the brains turned off! its scary, seems them ipads governments rules and regulation that there car cant crash because they have stability control and 100 airbags turns there brain off because they are saved no matter what so no need to turn on that brain switch.
kevlight,
Feb 25, 7:57pm
We have a little sign on the work truck ,so good i photo-copied , and put it in the work shop. . Prevent Accidents. Do things with Purpose !. You Are Responsible.
still having incidents,the dash cam in my truck results in employee filling out these on a regular basis .
,no seat belt ,driving while eating /drinking,driving while rolling up strops,driving in reverse with restricted vision (load blocking rear view)generally bad attitude. verbal warning . written warning . final meeting with all staff and said DICK smirked through meeting "when area Manager returns from holiday you will be stood down from driving duties". he should be taken off the truck, before he rear ends someone ,with his lack of attention and habitual speeding "from the Chip in the GSP device logged on to the speedo" we all had to sign an agreement to drive in a safe manner, but this dick, is putting the firm reputation at risk in the Sign written Ute. how does he get away with it ?. related to the Boss . !
craigs_workshop,
Feb 26, 1:59pm
but thats the whole point of the thread
you dont need to be good at driving to avoid almost every single accident situation that will come your way
if you have working eyeballs & an attention span - then 100 km/h driving is not dangerous for you (or anyone else)
we need to stop blaming things other than the person behind the wheel
skin1235,
Feb 26, 2:07pm
that won't be received very will, the thought that all those 'accidents' were not accidents at all, just the results of personal non ability, non working eyes and a defunct attention span whatever next, will we be expected to face our deficits and actually take the blame ourselves
no, no, I prefer the teflon coats I have been able to wear since preschool days
richardmayes,
Feb 26, 3:01pm
My first thought too! Look at me, I'm SO GOOD, I can drive backwards at 200km/h with one hand AND an eye patch over one eye. And I can't imagine a set of circumstances where anybody else might be less infallible than me.
We are all young once though I suppose. ?
Has anyone here ever driven a 1990s 1500cc Automatic Nissan Sunny Sedan with 165/70 tyres all round, through those big sweepers at the bottom of the Ngauranga gorge (the ones with shiny metal joints in the road half way around the bends where you bump off and on the bridge) at night, in the rain?
Not all cars are created equal, and some cars are MUCH less equal than others. and keeping it all pointed in the right direction at 100km/h isn't ALWAYS a complete doddle.
socram,
Feb 27, 6:24am
As posted elsewhere. We don't have to have good spatial awareness, be able to read the road, or judge the speed of oncoming vehicles, nor know the cornering, steering and braking limits of our cars on good or bad surfaces.
All we need to do is trundle down the street at no more than 50kph without hitting anything and guess correctly on a multiple choice test where theoretically, we can guess the answers anyway.
Read a number- plate or take a simple eye test that old Eli out of "Last of the Summer Wine" would probably pass, and lo and behold, we then have the right to drive a 200kph killing machine for life - or until the age of 70 anyway.
Having done that, we can then speed to our hearts content, talk on the phone or text etc., run up $40,000 worth of fines that we don't really have to pay anyway.
Can anyone see where the major part of the problems lie?
Driving at 100kph in a modern car is indeed so easy and the aftermath when we get it even a tiny bit wrong so very tragic. Sadly, there are just too many people on the roads who have been allowed to develop bad habits from an early age and instead of making a determined effort to improve, they just don't.
Hands up all those who have taken any form of advanced driving test or instruction, AFTER passing their test and gaining a full licence? Maybe several on here, but the general public who are not petrol heads? Very, very few.
skin1235,
Feb 27, 7:19am
it ain't gonna happen socram, not for this generation, the one before it, the one before that, and the next 2 coming, the education has to come from the bottom, and to do that the educators have to get an education - far easier to have customs wave their magic wand around the arrivals lounge and demand the yellow peril raise a hand if they can drive, then lead them out to the rental car park, cos they can't understand enough to take simple directions by voice
and yeah my hand is up, annual defensive driving course as the employment contract required for several years - they were not repeat programs, each got harder to pass than the previous, and a pass was the ticket to drive for the next year, no second chances ( although the company did sometimes deploy a failed driver elsewhere on occasion most fails were then unemployed)
socram,
Feb 27, 7:45am
Interesting that as a life long petrolhead, thinking I was fairly up to date with driving, I only found out that the cadence braking I'd been using for the previous 35 years was fine for a non ABS equipped car, but totally useless for an ABS car, when I did a Pukekohe course for (new) Minis!
I learned far more of use in that one day than I thought possible - particularly as above, looking to where you wanted to go, not looking at the object you wanted to avoid, plus the behavior of the ABS car under emergency stopping conditions.
I didn't know that you had to stamp hard on the brake to activate ABS but you could also still steer. I also learned that you could brake hard with one wheel on wet grass and the other on tarseal.
I therefore conclude that it is not just regular testing as such we need, but a constant re-education as technology changes, which means anyone who passed their driving test more than 15 years ago probably needs to get up to date.
A skid pan lesson would also be of great value but apart from Hampton Downs, I don't know of any other accessible skid pans. Scandinavians probably don't need them as they drive on ice and snow all the time, but those in the North Island who never, ever see or experience snow or icy conditions?
skin1235,
Feb 27, 8:22am
a grass paddock works well as a skid pan too, equally as unpredictable as ice or aquaplane situations, plus its good fun in a harmless way and not a bad place to practice slide corrections etc
skin1235,
Feb 27, 8:32am
its human nature, 80% of drivers consider themselves to be above average lol if 80% are in the top 50% then we all need to go back to school and relearn math theres no argument, the top 50% can only contain 50%, therefore 30% have an inflated view of their ability, or 30% are telling porkies we all know its not us personally, the neighbour is far worse, and his missus shouldn't even be allowed to walk on the footpath unattended, his 17yr old son should have been drowned at birth, but all my kids are fine, they must be cos I taught them to drive, lol, oh dear
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