According to the Road Traffic Management Corporation, over 14 000 people died on South African roads last year.
And in many cases, the tragedy was caused by the small actions of the motorists.
The Institute of Advanced Motorists in UK agrees. An analysis of over 700 000 crashes found that most of them weren’t about drivers losing control of cars; they were small problems that suddenly caused huge, deadly problems.
Maanda Tshifularo, head of Dialdirect Insurance. said: “The collisions that lead to fatalities are mostly caused by drivers committing minor offences. If we could take a hard look at our own driving and make small changes for the better, we could save thousands of lives.”
Top driving problems
- Not adjusting side view and rear-view mirrors correctly.
Make sure that you adjust them to show the maximum visibility of vehicles behind or next to you and make your blind spot as small as possible.
Install blind spot mirrors if your mirrors don’t have any.
- Going slow in the fast lane.
You frustrate other drivers and force them to pass you in a slower lane, which increases the risk of a collision.
Drive in the lane most appropriate for your speed and let other motorists pass you.
- Not using the indicators.
Indicators provide a very simple but valuable way for communicate to others how to plan around your movements.
Indicate even when there is nobody else around and switch off the indicator after you use it.
- Stopping without warning.
If you see an available parking bay, empty lane or your turn-off, indicate. You need to communicate to others where you need to stop or turn.
- Leaving your brights on.
Your brights or high beams are great for illuminating the road but they blind oncoming traffic. Be considerate to oncoming drivers. If you are unsure about the road ahead, go slower and flash the brights to see ahead.
- Bad seating position.
Adjust your seat so that it allows good all-round visibility, enough headroom, and comfortable reach of all controls.
You need to be able the steering wheel, gears, pedals, switches and emergency indicators to their full range of motion and have a clear view of mirrors without needing to lean or stretch.
- Burning daytime running lights at night.
Daytime running lights make your vehicle more visible to oncoming traffic in the day – they are dimmer than normal lights. Also, many vehicles’ tail lights don’t switch on when the runners are on.
- Not using headlights when in overcast, rainy, foggy, dusty or smoky conditions.
The less visible the air, the more likely it will scatter the light so your brights will create a wall of light in front of your car.
The less visible the air in front of you is also means you need to drive slower.
- Slow down at yellow lights.
People who speed up won’t slow down if the light turns red before they get through.
