Wednesday, February 1. 2006Is 25 Years Without Training Acceptable? So this morning, while driving to work, I got to witness the skill level of the average american driver. On the freeway I drive, there are two, what I would call gentle, sweeping corners. Now, to be fair, they are a bit tighter than the average interstate corner, but still. There was an econo-box car going really slow in the fast lane, as normal since drivers tend to slow way down and coast through corners of any degree. Anticipating this, I moved to the right and got around the driver who had slowed to about 50mph for the corner. At about the apex of the sweeping curve, I notice out of the corner of my eye the driver started drifting really wide. Fearing they may over-correct into me, I start paying more attention and watch as they continue to drift until they smashed into the concrete armco barrier about five feet beyond the yellow lane that marked the limit of the left lane.I was completely amazed to watch this take place! I always wondered how all those black marks and scars found their way onto the barricades, and I guess now I know. A single vehicle accident on the freeway where the car simply drifted wide, without any outside stiumulus (unless my presence frightened them). This driver's amazing skill allowed them to smash into a stationary wall, in a gentle corner, all while traveling a mere 50 miles per hour, 15mph below the posted limit.
Fortunately, I acclereated and as the car bounced away from the concrete baricade, I was ahead of them, giving them the space to take up two full lanes to recover, and start moving towards the right shoulder. Out of frustration, I just kept driving. But it got me to thinking. I didn't get a good look at the the cornering challenged driver, but I imagine they likely haven't had any driver education since they were 15 - so if they were 40 years old, it has been 25 years since they had any driver training. Now, driving is easily the most dangerous and hazardous thing we do in our lives. In 2004, almost 43,000 people were killed in vehicle crashes. That breaks down to about 117 a day and about five fatalities every hour! For reference, in 11 years of war in Vietnam, just over 47,000 people died and almost as many people die in vehicle accidents every day on American highways than all the fatalaties in the one year long Gulf War I (147 from 1990 to 1991). Now to be fair, I didn't get a good look of the driver, so I have no idea how old or young they were or if they had some sort of physical or health condition that may have been a factor in the crash. I have no idea how tired or sleepy the driver was. And, to be fair, we all make mistakes. But if conditions were worse, the accident could have gotten someone seriously hurt. Should people who have serious physical conditions be allowed to drive? NHTSA states that fatigue is the number two cause of major accidents, following only Alcohol related crashes. So if they were tired, does that make it any better? I for one, think things need to change. As a nation we need mandatory refresher driver training courses. Police Departments/Cities etc. should generate funds, not through speeding violations, but by offering the mandatory refresher courses with approved cirriculums. (Most defensive driving courses I've attended were jokes). And I think mandatory training every license renewal is not unreasonable. MSF claims that over 90% of all motorcycles involved in accidents had no training. Its also been reported that trained motorcycists are 300-times less likely to be involved in an auto or motorcycle accident. Why? I think a huge factor is simply, training. Sources *America's Wars: U.S. Casualties and Veterans http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004615.html *National Highway and Traffice Safety 2004 Traffic Safety Annual Assessment http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/RNotes/2005/809897.pdf |
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It's more important than most people realize. By having a little skill and training coupled with LOTS of observation, a safe driver can actually keep a dangerous driver alive despite their best efforts at hurting/killing themselves through inattention.
As Ewan said in Long Way Round to the guy who ran into him: "Look with your f***in' eyes!"