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Mike Waters' blog: 19 February 2014 - Practice over theory
Date: 19 February 2014
We've never been safer in our cars and vans.
The brakes are better, they are packed full of technology to stop us from having an accident, and if we do crash the vehicles are well equipped to protect us.
The problem for some drivers is that this generates a level of complacency. Serious and fatal road collisions are not uncommon.
Sometimes, things go wrong with vehicles which can lead to a collision. Maybe the tyre blows, or the brakes fail, but this is fortunately very rare.
In the vast majority of cases an incident is the result of human error, not the vehicle letting you down.
We cause collisions through a combination of mistakes that we make, bad attitude, risk taking or a loss of concentration and that's something that we must all take seriously.
That's why it was shocking to read the statistic that nearly half of men have fallen asleep at the wheel.
It's a really clear example of drivers knowing that they are taking a risk but going ahead and doing it anyway.
If you did a survey of 100 drivers, it's a fair bet that most would know how they should behave when they drive, most would profess to have the right attitude and most would have an understanding of how to reduce the chances of being involved in a collision.
The problem is that large numbers of drivers don't put this theory into practice.
I'm guessing nobody sets out (crash for cash criminals aside) to deliberately collide with another vehicle, road sign or worse, a pedestrian or other vulnerable road user, but we know from traffic statistics that collisions happen all too often.
What is completely unacceptable is drivers who fail to mitigate their road risk or increase the chances of a collision through their behaviour.
We all know what we should do, but it's always worth a reminder. It's so important to take driving seriously, and for all of our sakes, put the theory into practice.
