Most auto collisions can be attributed to six common driver errors.
The six fatal errors are:
1. Impatience
2. Inattention and distraction
3. Impairment
4. Lack of Space
5. Speed too fast for conditions
6. Failure to wear seat belts
all other errors fall into this list, for example running a red light can be seen as several of the common errors including inattention, distraction, impairment, speeding, or impatience.
Impatience
A lack of patience is considered to be the most common driving error, and leads to most of the others. By nature, human beings are impatient and always striving for maximum efficiency. We race from task to task constantly pushing to get more done than we can reasonably do. Operating a motor vehicle is one of most dangerous places to be impatient however you don’t have to drive to see this common trait manifested. Often times impatience occurs due to a lack of preparation (leaving without enough time, not planning your route, not having things ready prior to departure, not verifying local traffic information, etc). For example, next time you visit your local grocery store during peak business hours, get a few items and line up for an “express” check-out line. When traffic (paying customers) moves quickly and efficiently, things remain calm and everyone is happy. Now imagine an unprepared customer with four items and an envelope full of coupons in his hand. He didn’t think to look for the coupons he needs today thereby saving him and everyone around him time. Now he is looking for them in an envelope that has several hundred other coupons. Watch as the other people lined up behind him grow impatient and even angry. He begins to look for another lane and makes poor choices due to impatience. Get behind the wheel of a car and the situation becomes more dangerous. We tailgate, we crowd, we speed, we make unsafe lane changes, so we can get to the next red light faster than anyone else. Impatience has a negative impact both mentally and physically, and negative attitudes can sap your physical and mental strength as well as be extremely dangerous.Inattention and Distraction
With greater intelligence comes a natural tendency to multi-task. Our minds race from topic to topic. This is one way our reaction time is diminished. When we first learn to drive we require much greater focus on the vehicle and surroundings. We are cautious and must use conscious thought and an applied focus just to keep the car straight in the lane. Years later and hundreds of hours driving, we become accustomed to driving, it becomes a mundane task to get from point A to point B. An experienced driver’s mind can wander around and it does. We dwell on personal problems or plans; driving for some has become a way to escape. When we are upset or looking for me-time, a drive seems like a great thing to do. This mental inattentiveness stretches out our ability to perceive a hazard. If you were tested for perception ability in a controlled circumstance – like in a laboratory – you could perceive a hazard in about a tenth of a second. This would be nearly impossible without a conscious focus on the road. Many people don’t realize there are 5-10 things you do to control a vehicle every few seconds and there are separate mental and physical activities you must perform to accomplish those activities. When our mind is occupied with other things, things other than driving, then that ability to perceive suffers even further. A rule of thumb is to give yourself roughly 2 feet for every 1 mph. Formula: 1 mph = about 1.47 feet per second; 40 mph is approximately 60 feet per second If you are traveling 80 mph at night on an unlit highway under normal driving conditions with standard low-beam lighting, you are able to visibly see about 225 feet in front of you. If my elapsed perception time is 1 second, a fairly normal time, I have traveled 180 feet of those 225 feet of available lighted pavement before I realize there is a hazard in the road. I now have 45 feet and roughly a second to avoid a potential accident. Now add in other impairments or distractions and a collision becomes nearly unavoidable. This problem is often referred to as “out-driving your headlights.” A simpler way to remember to give yourself sufficient space while highway driving is to use the “three-second rule” Driving instructors figured that if a person’s on-the-road reaction time was about 1½ seconds, doubling that would provide enough space to correctly spot a road hazard and take the appropriate action. The easiest way to implement this is to count to three after the vehicle in front of you has passed a road marker, light or other identifiable feature. If you can successfully count to three before you pass that object or feature, you have provided yourself enough time to react. If you do not get to 3 seconds, slow down and allow more space between you and the car directly in front of you.Distraction
The number of possible distractions grows more everyday as technology advances and cars become easier to drive. For example, the advent of the automatic transmission has allowed drivers to drive without a greater need for focus. Even some of the things that are supposed to assist us with our driving, like GPS systems, can contribute to the problem. Naturally, drivers believe they are better at physical and mental “multi-tasking” than others, but study after study done by respected research organizations has shown repeatedly that this is not the case.Virginia Tech, in conjunction with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, found that talking on a phone while driving increased the risk of a crash four or five times; this increased risk is nearly identical to the impairment of someone who has consumed alcohol over the legal limit to operate machinery.It is illegal to be a distracted driver; if your distraction causes you to have a collision, and that collision results in an injury or death, that can constitute a criminal act. If you hurt someone because you are clearly inattentive to your driving, you could be sent to prison for doing so. The minimum sentence for negligent homicide could be several years in prison.
Impairment
Impairment comes in many forms, and it is also closely related to some of the errors we have already discussed. When it comes to chemical impairments, such as alcohol and other drugs, most of us realize the dangers in operating a vehicle while impaired, however we are reluctant to take the necessary precautions to avoid this. Many of us believe we are not the majority and can drive while impaired. Impairment comes in many forms including:- Fatigue
- stress
- emotions
- illness and injury
- physical distractions