Cooperation on the road

Had an interesting talk with a high level policeman the other day. No, I hadn't done anything wrong, at least nothing that he knew about! It was during a break from talks at a road safety function and the policeman was more willing than usual to talk to a journalist. Because he realised I wasn’t out for a sensational story, but that I was genuinely interested in making our roads safer.

The message he really wanted to get across is that driving for a long time doesn’t necessarily make you an experienced driver. It’s all too easy to believe that just because you have spent XX number of years and X hundred thousand kilometres behind the wheel that you have seen it all and know your way around the roads pretty well.

Not true, said the police superintendent. For example, drivers living in the bush may have done many thousands of kilometres on all sorts of roads, varying from decent bitumen to rough as guts corrugated and potholed dirt. They can read the road to perfection and judge their speed and distances accordingly. But when these country guys travel to the big smoke their instincts at reading congested traffic conditions and understanding things like big roundabouts may be found lacking. And there's the eternal bugbear of being lost. Even when you plan well in advance on maps and with instructions from friends it only takes one small mistake to find yourself nowhere near where you want to be. A lost driver is potentially a dangerous driver.

If you’re a city slicker then your driving skills are finely honed into judging traffic gaps, applying the correct acceleration and reading the body language of other drivers in an instant. But when you venture out onto country roads you may not have the inbuilt skills to cope with the higher speeds and the often rapidly changing road conditions. In particular, you may not be accustomed to looking far enough ahead to make the right judgements for the speed at which you are driving. Or at staying bright and alert when travelling at a steady speed for too long.

Once upon a time I used to recommend speeding up for a few minutes if you felt your attention wandering during long driving stints. That certainly got the mind into gear again. But nowadays with a huge over emphasis on policing speed limits that driving tip has been removed from my safe-driving suggestions. I've always recommended the Stop-Revive-Survive policy, so these days it's the best way to go.

Be kind to each other at all times when on the road, especially during the school holiday periods when there's a bigger than average mix of cars on the roads. That other driver who isn’t acting correctly for the circumstances may well be out of their home territory and temporarily struggling to cope as a result. So instead of tailgating them, or blowing your car’s horn in frustration at them failing to move off quickly enough, or carrying out some other anti-social act, try to remember that they may well be experienced, sensible drivers who aren't on their home turf.

Try a bit of understanding and kindness and you may well be rewarded by one of those friendly thank-you waves that make it all worthwhile.

Cooperation on the road

Cooperation Enhances Road Safety