Anger management

Date: 11 October 2006

Accidents are more likely to be caused by drivers being distracted and not paying attention to the road than by any other factor, but frustration at being caught up in heavy traffic also plays a part

A Mr D Coulthard was at the wheel of his company car on assignment in Shanghai when he took a call from his line manager. The distraction fractionally delayed his braking for a corner and he came off the road, allowing a rival company to gain a crucial advantage.

I know that because I could see what happened at the Chinese Grand Prix on my TV. However, when my drivers blame accidents on errant dogs, I have no way of knowing whether they are telling the truth, which is what makes the Government's figures - collected from police reports - so alarming. Driver inattention causes more accidents then anything else, but how much higher would that 32% figure be if drivers didn't fear self-incrimination?

I put this to a group of my drivers in the latest of our irregular safety get-togethers. They know these meetings are penalty-free zones, so it's almost a confessional. AA for the bunch of strung-out tailgaters that comprise our firm's professional drivers.

Everybody admitted to losing concentration. No surprise there. More telling were the examples of lost concentration, such as the duels with other drivers in tailbacks. One otherwise mild salesman told us of his anger at getting cut up in a jam. He sheepishly explained his determination to get back in front whatever the cost, and the subsequent checks in the mirrors to pre-empt any re-overtake. But because of those checks he missed the warning blaze of brakelights and slew to a halt inches from the bumper ahead.

More and more drivers in the group admitted to something similar, until the pattern became obvious. Driving today is so curtailed, either by rules or traffic, that natural energy normally released by good progress gets all backed up. Then another car impedes us and all that bottled-up energy explodes. And, as we all know, when you're losing it, concentration is the first thing you lose.

Don't tell my drivers, but I don't worry too much about speeding. Speeders have to concentrate more. Even if you're just concentrating on spotting camera vans, the attention is road-focused and that's good. It's the lack of concentration that scares me, whether speeding or not. Law-abiding smugness can be dangerous, too, because the attention is focused on law-breakers. "Ooh that's shocking, must be doing at least 90mph," they say, concentration solely focused on the devil in the Discovery. As with the tailback duellers, the problem is down to clenched tension. I'm seriously planning company yoga classes.

Racing drivers are instantly penalised for losing concentration, as are motorbike riders, whereas car drivers survive for years yo-yoing between cloud-spotting dreaminess and spittle-flecked rage. If they don't find the middle path, one day they'll find the Government department of statistics waiting round the corner.

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