Road Safety
In my curtain raiser for last week’s piece, I deliberately tilted it to read, Demons of the Season. After a deeper and sober reflection, I realised that the real demon is the one in us and not the supernatural entity some allege are responsible for deaths on our roads. It refers to our mannerisms and gross disregard for rules and best practices.
I don’t know if you have read the 1940 Turkish novel, icimizdeki Seytan (The Demon Within Us) by Sabahattin Ali. It explores the themes of identity, love and social hypocrisy. Eighty-five years after it hit the shelves, the work is still considered a cornerstone of Turkish literature that is still relevant for its exploration of alienation, self-deception and the search for authenticity.
For me, the themes of hypocrisy and self-deception, contained in Ali’s novel, are relevant and applicable to the subject matter of avoidable deaths and fatalities on our roads. That is why I have tilted this week’s caption to reflect our inhumanity while using the road. Before I continue, please kindly read through last week’s piece and scale your-self on who really is the demon.
Your deliberate disregard or a supposed supernatural power responsible for your die-hard driving mannerisms. Anyway, let me again remind you that with about three weeks until Christmas, there will be all kinds of vehicles; rickety, sound; all kinds of drivers, licensed, learners, drunk, sane and insane.
Vehicular and human traffic would increase as motorists fight the urge to team up with families to savor the joy of the season. So, too would be increased infractions in the name of celebrating the season. In reality, road violation or better put, bad driving habit would be on the increase leading to avoidable crashes.
As I said last week, all this would happen because in every road crash, the predominant factor is human behavior, not demon interferences. Human behavior makes a direct contribution to crash risk, through the knowledge and understanding of traffic systems, driver experience and skill and the relationship between risk and factors such as speed choice and alcohol consumptions. The road, the weather and the vehicle will no doubt play their roles too. Not demons
Yet, to some, the month of December which ends the Ember months is also jinxed as too many road traffic crashes occur. Too many deaths. Too many injuries. This group believes there is a demon responsible for all the road crashes that would occur within this period, including others that occurred previously.
They don’t believe that motorists should be blamed. Rather, the demon that delights in sucking blood, the same demon that holds sway over the highways will as usual, ensure deaths occur. I differ from these groups because I have seen a lot of bad driving behavior to know that the devil does not need to do much to cause a crash. All he needs to do is sit down and watch us drive the same way we have always driven despite repeated warnings.
To others, however, the season is normal except for the above which demands extra caution. Without sounding the death knell, crashes will occur because of the wrong driving choices that we make; a choice of death, not life through their actions, actions that have formed their driving habits over time. Road crashes are avoidable even though a good number of people prefer buck passing.
The remedy is simple obedience to traffic rules . I don’t know if you share my view that there is nothing like a demon. A review of driving habits reveals the following select infractions as responsible for road crashes, not spirits or demons. As space allows, I would however focus on a select few starting with tyre.
Before, I do,allow me to wet your appetite with some snippets on distraction. I don’t know if you read my piece captioned, That Phone Call Can Wait. In that piece I tried to x-ray road mannerisms that knows no age, gender, class or status. Neither does it know faith or religion. I am talking of a mannerism which the World Health Organization identifies as a significant threat to road safety-distracted driving.
It has become the vogue. For reminders again, although I hope to wrap this up next week, distraction I once told you, increases the likelihood of crashes by four-fold if you were driving and phoning. According to reports, cognitive distraction from both hand-held and hands-free devices is the primary danger, not just the physical act of holding a phone.
If you are stunned by the risk level for phoning and driving, what then would you say when you read that texting which most of us indulge in while driving, is particularly risky and raises the risk of a road crash by as much as 23times.Yet,in the name of showing off by multitasking, we indulge in this infractions, yet blame the demons instead of the demons in us.
Now to tyres. Tyres are the life-wire of a vehicle-they are the critical point of contact with the road; support the vehicle’s weight, transmit force for acceleration, braking and steering among other functions. Yet, blowouts are among the major causes of road crashes that have claimed numerous lives. Incidentally, motorists exhibit a high level of ignorance which explains why you will see people travelling with their families with fairly used tyres or tyres not properly cared for. Why then do we blame spirits when the major cause of tyre blowout is incorrect tyre inflation especially under-inflation.
Tyres I told you about, ensures stability. That is why tyre manufacturers specify the correct tyre gauge and the expiry date which is usually stamped on the side of the tyre. It is very easy to find out the expiry date. Just check the side and you will find a 4-digit number stamped on it. This number indicates the week and year of manufacture and the expiry date will be four years after.
Manufacturers also indicate the maximum allowable inflating pressure for specific lyres. Different tyres are designed for different pressures. Unfortunately, most of us care less about this vital information and have become victims of quacks marauding as vulcanizers. Under inflation causes two things that ultimately lead to blowouts.
First, it causes undue flexing of the tyres as the vehicle speeds along the undulating surface of the road. This causes a separation between the internal materials used in making the tyres and the rubber flesh that holds the materials. This separation weakens the tyre. Secondly, it causes an increase in what is known as rolling resistance as the vehicle moves. The increased rolling resistance generates a tremendous amount of heat which together with the separation of the internal materials, leads to an explosion. Pure science and nothing mystical, yet we feign ignorance of this science.
Incorrect tyre inflation could also cause crash in other ways-When a tyre is incorrectly inflated, it makes partial contact with the road surface and so, does not have a firm grip on the surface. With over inflation, the edges of the contact patch (the part of the tyre that should be in contact with the road surface) does not touch the ground in the case of under inflation, the crown (the middle portion of the tyre) of the contact patch does not touch the ground.
Either way, you have an impartial contact of the tyre on the road surface and so, less grip. The impartial contact could cause crash thus; since the tyres don’t have a firm grip on the road surface, it prolongs the stopping distance when the brakes are applied in an emergency and this could make the vehicle crash into the object it wants to avoid. Another deliberate ignorance that has no place for demons or spirits.
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