Love life – avoid reckless driving
Posted on August 19, 2012, Sunday
IT’S chancy. Motorists know it but many of them still do it – courting danger behind the wheel.
Reckless driving is quite common on our roads despite the high fatality risks involved. In recent years, the growing number of accidents, caused by this perlious trait, had made the authorities concerned stand up and take notice.
Although enforcement has improved, on the whole, it’s still rather lax and reckless driving remains a life-threatening road hazard.
Driving on roads as congested as ours – coupled with a general disregard for the Highway Code – requires nothing less than full concentration if road deaths are to be avoided.
According to the highway traffic safety authorities, most fatal crashes resulted from driver distractions, including, not surprisingly, talking over the cellphone, reading and composing text and texting while driving.
Numerous studies on such wayward driving habits share a common conclusion – reckless driving impairs the driver’s ability to concentrate. The lack of focus causes the driver to take his or her eyes off the road, and before he or she realises it, a person could have run in front of the car – and BANG! The consequences are never pleasant.
Invariably, when the driver is not concentrating on the road, his or her reflexes are compromised. And in the time the driver lets his or her thoughts wander, accidents can and do happen, lending ever greater credence to the need for full concentration while driving. It’s a reality in the life of every motorist that cannot be over-emphasised.
It has been suggested that to avoid using the cellphone while driving, one option is to put it on silent mode. This way, the driver is not tempted to check and read any incoming messages. It’s always better to wait until we arrive at our destination before reading or sending any text.
Another option is to stop driving if we absolutely must use the cellphone. It’s also good road courtesy to make sure we stop at a place that will not obstruct traffic.
Every year, thousands of people die in road accidents, many of which on account of reckless driving. As one observer points out, reckless drivers pose a grave danger on the road because they are not concerned about safe driving. Lives can be needlessly lost unless preventive measures are taken to rein them in. After all, everyone has the right to use the road safely.
There is now no national law that bans reckless driving, especially with regard to cellphone use while driving. Some states have, however, taken the initiative to enact their own laws to deal with the problem.
It’s a move in the right direction not only to reduce road accidents but also redeem our dubious reputation as a nation with the highest fatal road mishaps in the world. Indeed, road accidents are one of the biggest killers in Malaysia – almost 7,000 deaths each year.
Motorcyclists are responsible for 60 per cent of the fatalities, usually from head injuries due the victims not wearing helmets. Even if they did, the helmets were not properly fastened.
A devil-may-care attitude is also a contributory factor. Some motorcyclists weave in and out of traffic without giving signals, run the traffic lights, overtake on double lines and are prone to speeding.
Without under-rating the severity of the other causes of road accidents, speeding has been the single main reason for serious motoring injuries and deaths.
Most road accidents happened because of human error and, not infrequently, a kiasu attitude as well. If we don’t learn from past mistakes and make amends to become better drivers, accidents will continue to occur, and for that, we only have ourselves to blame.
At this juncture, it’s timely to remind those planning to travel long distances back to work after celebrating Hari Raya in their hometowns, to observe road safety rules and guidelines.
Due to the expected congestion, there is a need to be vigilant on the road. According to road safety authorities, traffic volume is anticipated to jump between 30 and 300 per cent during the festive season from both the balik kampung exodus and the post-celebration rush back to work in the city and other urban centres.
Hari Raya is a time for rejoicing and road accidents can be kept from adding a sombre note to the celebration if motorists duly take heed of road safety regulations in place. It pays to adopt the ‘commonsense’ approach – be alert and travel safely.
On the joyous occasion of Hari Raya Aidilfitri, we extend greetings of the festive season to the Muslim community throughout the country.