Respect for driving

Sometimes I wonder how much respect people pay to the dangers of driving. Quite often I see people doing stupid things on the road, potentially dangerous things and wonder if they've really considered the consequences. It's such a basic thing to understand. When you drive a vehicle, you're taking your life into your own hands. The outcome rests prodominantly on the decisions you make while behind the wheel.

Cars nowdays have 50 airbags, crumple zones, strengthened pillars, non-shatter glass, etc. While these minimise the probability of sustaining serious injury in an accident, there are always weaknesses in car safety. Even in racing cars where huge amounts of money is spent on driver safety there are still fatal accidents at relatively low speed. The human body really isn't designed to withstand impacts from over ~20km/h. Whiplash is a perfect example. The neck is a fairly vital and vulnerable part of the human body. Even in a low speed accident the neck will sustain injury. After being hit from behind at a STOP sign my neck was sore for days, and that was probably under 10km/h. The best impact for the body is a collision from the rear. The seat offers good support. The worst impacts are either side-on or on landing on the roof. There is little protection for a heavy and focussed side-on impact, nor for a car landing on its roof.

There are objects by the side of the road which will gladly lend a hand in deforming a car. Trees and poles make for great focussed side-on impacts. Gutters, embankments, other cars, etceteras can all be great aids in flipping a car. Gravity will gladly use the mass of the car to crush the roof down a few feet. All the elements are there to turn a bad decision and bad luck into a serious crash. So where's the respect for driving?

Drink driving, driving fatigued, using a phone while driving, being impatient, excessive speeding, driving an old car, driving on bald tyres, badly worn brakes, stereo pumping, not really paying attention. They are all potentially contributing factors in causing an accident and they're all controlled by the driver. The driver might recognise that the tyres are not at their best and change their driving accordingly. That's a resolution brought about by recognising and respecting the danger.

It's important to consider and respect the dangers of driving. Not just to the driver, but their passengers and road users around them. The human body isn't built to withstand heavy impacts at low speed let alone high speed, so a bit of respect is warranted when driving.