Reducing Road Accidents
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ACCIDENTS on the road are seldom inevitable, but there is far too great a tendency to regard many of them in this light. Probably the most important factor in most cases is impatience. It is a state of mind which renders drivers inconsiderate, often to the extent of careless or even dangerous driving. This temperamental lack of control is much more important than speed, for many so-called fast drivers are amongst the safest on the road.
. It is a very good rule to keep a vehicle under complete control within the limits of visibility—in other words, always to expect some obstruction around the corner or at the other side of a rise. Carelessness in this direction results in many head-on collisions, a form of accident which should really be of most infrequent occurrence, particularly as it usually involves drastic consequences, because the full effects of the combined vehicle speeds are then experienced.
During quite a short run one can see numerous examples of overtaking on blind corners or in circumstances where approaching vehicles necessitate cutting in. Every case of this-type should be considered as dangerous driving and the culprits severely punished. For the sake of the general well-behaved user of the road it would be far better for the police to station themselves at strategic points, where such criminal procedure frequently occurs, than to harass drivers in respect of small offences which involve no risk to others.
Much of the trouble is, of course, caused by unsatisfactory road conditions, for congestion greatly increases the temptation towards roadhogging. Any driver who travels against the flow of traffic returning from some popular resort knows what this means. He is literally not holding his life in his own hands—it is in the hands of others.
There is .still a lamentable lack of essential courtesy in the giving of signals and in paying attention to them when they are given. How often does one see streams of cars passing an outstretched arm, this discourtesy being often accompanied by violent hooting and rude comment? Signals are frequently given too late. Many a driver will indicate that he is about to turn out and will do so almost at the same moment, with the result that there is either a crash or one is avoided only by powerful braking.