Avoid accidents: Some handy tips
H. Kishie Singh

BAD driving, over speeding, overtaking from the left. Not enough driving experience. Lane changing i.e. zig-zag driving. Tail-gating. Drinking and driving. Driver fatigue. Jaywalking pedestrians, stray animals. Not obeying road signs. The list is long, and endless. A little mistake on the road could cause an accident.

The driver should keep in mind certain things. Our roads are the busiest in the world and adding to the confusion is the variety of transport: man-pushed handcarts, cycles, rickshaws, two-wheelers to sixteen-wheelers to tank transporters weighing up to 60 tons.

Drinking and driving are, of course, a no-no! But did you know driver fatigue causes more accidents than alcohol? Drunken driving affects only those who drink and drive, while driver fatigue can affect everyone who drives a vehicle. If there are any signs of tiredness like yawning, losing concentration, erratic driving, the driver should pull over to the side and sleep. Drowsiness should be a red alert for the driver. A 10-15-minute nap will rejuvenate him.

Badly parked cars are another source of accidents. Always park safely off the road, whether to rest or to change a wheel. So many times I have seen families having fun on the road while the punctured wheel is being changed. Everyone should be well away from the car. The traffic, whizzing past at high speed, can be dangerous. The car can also slip off the jack.

Cell phones are a new source of accidents. Handling the cell phone and driving is not allowed in India.

A good and experienced driver can also be in danger if the car he drives is not roadworthy. Defective wipers — or the lack of them — are a handicap to good and safe driving. Most drivers of taxis, buses and trucks take off the passenger-side wiper, thus reducing visibility by 50 per cent. Worn-out tyres are also a major source of the car going out of control. Bad brakes will cause the same effect.

Lack of experience in a new car can be dangerous. It is not enough to know the ABC (accelerator, brake, clutch) of driving. The new cars have some strange and unique safety features. Learn them.

Two-wheeler riders in Himachal Pradesh have a save-petrol-at-any-cost attitude. Invariably, they switch off the engine and freewheel downhill, often with their entire family riding with them. This is attempting suicide and murder at the same time. This extra weight along with the kinetic energy generated by rolling downhill will make braking very difficult with only one brake at the rear. No one in India uses the front brake on a two-wheeler. Braking with the engine, and using a low gear would definitely help.

There was a strange accident on NH-22 the other day. A new Zen had driven straight into the side of a mountain. There were brake marks which went in a straight line into the hill side.

The driver had switched off the engine to save petrol! Inadvertently, he had also locked the steering. The man must have been completely inexperienced or plain simple crazy. He should have been in a lower gear coming downhill, and used the brakes sparingly, instead of freewheeling!

Yes, he had his wife and young son in the car with him. How’s that for a responsible citizen. If he has scant value for his wife and son, he cannot be trusted to be kind and courteous to other road users.

There are hundreds of thousands like him on the road.

These are accidents which can be easily avoided. All you have to do is think. It is quite likely you could be an innocent victim too. Well, what you could do is to have adequate insurance.

Happy motoring!