- Novice drivers are involved in traffic accidents 10 times more often than experienced drivers.
- Majority of people are involved at some point in their lives in a traffic accident with personal injuries.
Doing two things at the same time can be very risky, especially when it comes to novice drivers.
You shouldn’t drive if you find yourself
- Annoyed or upset by something that has happened
- Avoid fighting or arguing while driving.
- Emotional problems that distract your thoughts
- Busying yourself with the radio,
- Looking at your phone
- Smoking or eating while driving.
Distracted driving is the cause of many accidents. If you are dis- tracted you will have less time to react to an unexpected situation, since you will need more time to take in information. Driving requires your complete attention!
New drivers are slow to react. More experienced drivers react fore faster.
The “fastest” age group is people between 35 and 50 years. Beyond that, as age increases, reaction time also increases.
While driving during the night a high beam can temporarly blind the driver.
Dark coat reflects only 5% of light;
White clothing reflects 80%
Reflective materials between 90 and 98%
People in a hurry try to dispense with everything that gets in their way.
The perceived necessity of arriving early to your destination has the effect of eliminating everything that “doesn’t matter” from your consciousness.
- The pupil regulates the entrance of light by varying its size; it increases in darkness
- The lens refracts light towards the retina
- The lens’ refraction capacity can be modified by muscles and fibers that contract and relax.
- The retina covers a large part of the back of the eye and contains cells that transform rays of light into electrical signals, which are transmitted through the optic nerve to the brain, where images are perceived.
If you discover something at a right angle from your head and then move your head, the eyes will recognize it.
Experienced drivers take advantage of their peripheral vi- sion more than novice drivers.
• Pay attention and take measures to prevent any kind of alteration to your vision.
Underestimating speed can be very dangerous, most of all because you can misjudge the braking distance.
The higher the speed the less the vission becomes.
It is very difficult to calculate the speed of oncoming vehicles and judge the place where an encounter between two vehicles will take place.
Young people are more vulnerable to accidents because:
- An excessive need for self-affirmation, which makes them more competitive and willing to break the rules of the road.
- An overrated sense of driving ability, which leads them to reject certain safety measures like wearing a seatbelt.
- “Peer-pressure” behavior, which leads them to attempt risky maneuvers when with friends.
There are 5 factors that affect the evaluation and acceptance of risk:
- Attitude towards traffic, As they do not consider driving not dangerous, so they could adobt bad driving habits.
- Responsibility for behavior. Many believe that they drive better than others, and assign blame to other people.
- Driving experience. Many do not have much experience driving, which makes it difficult for them to perceive risks correctly.
- Level of control. They trust their own abilities to control the vehicle in dangerous situations, so they assume more risks.
- Low perception of risks. Many don’t see risky situations as dangerous (e.g., driving after drinking alcohol), which makes their behavior riskier.
Being a good driver requires a lot of knowledge and skills;
You must be able to perceive multiple stimuli in a short period of time;
When children get angry, their anger is uncontrolled. They shout, kick or hit objects or people. If drivers show that kind of un- controlled aggression, the consequences could be catastrophic. Instead, you must control any eventual irritation or anger that can arise when another driver on the road acts inappropriately or you perceive their behavior as inappropriate.
It is preferable that you, as a driver, consider that the poor behavior of other drivers or pedestrians is a product of ignorance and is not intentional.
Daydreaming is an example of a negative behavior, which diminishes attention.
Prople who blame others don’t change their behavior or have true experiences, slowing their personal development by not learning from their mistakes.
Driving under the influence of alcohol is punished with fines and with driver 's license suspension.
Driving while intoxicated or driving under the influence of narcotics or psychotropic drugs is punished with fines, driver's license cancellation and jail.
A new law punishes for atleast 2 year when driving under infulence that cause injury or death.
The brain is affected by alcohol much more than other organs in the body.
Alcohol affects mood, slows communication in the nervous system and the ability to distinguish between different stimuli, which negatively affects a driver’s reaction time when confronted with an unexpected situation.
Alcohol reduces peripheral vision.
With higher intake of alcohol you could have double vision.
In an average healthy person weighing 70 kilos the presence of alcohol decreases at a rate of between 0.10 and 0.15 grams of alcohol per liter of blood per hour.
Metabolism cannot be rushed. This process occurs at a constant rate that cannot be sped up with home remedies like coffee, eating candy, smoking a cigarette, taking a cold shower or doing physical exercise.
With a blood alcohol level between 0.3 and 0.5 g/l the risk of being in an accident is double what it would be without alcohol. However, with a blood alcohol level between 0.5 and 0.8 g/l the risk is five times what it would be without alcohol.
Affects :
- It alters your perception of your surroundings (e.g., colors).
- It alters your perception of time, space and speed. Distances are harder to calculate.
- It is difficult to maintain concentration, and therefore there is a high probability of being distracted behind the wheel.
- It increases reaction time, and therefore stopping distance in high-risk situations.
- It produces strong soporific effects. (sleepiness)
Affects:
- It produces more competitive and even aggressive behavior.
- The behavior of a person who consumes it can become impulsive, which could cause serious errors behind the wheel.
- It causes an overestimation of abilities, leading to greater assumption of risk, committing more violations, and driving dangerously.
- It alters the perceptions of surroundings and decreases concentration, causing the person to be easily distracted.
There are four stages associated with its consumption:
- Euphoria stage
- Dysphoria stage
- Stage
- Psychosis and hallucinatory stage
What is a euphoric state? When you are experiencing a euphoric mood, it can feel extremely joyful and pleasurable. When you are in a euphoric state, you may feel safe, supported, and carefree.
Feeling of anguish, depression, insecurity, sadness and apathy, among others. In this stage there is also an uncontrollable desire to continue consuming.
Stage in which the person begins uninterrupted consumption, while they still have a dose in the blood, to avoid dysphoria.
Loss of contact with reality, which can occur days or even weeks after consumption, and can last weeks or months. Sensory hallucinations that can be visual, auditory, olfactory or cutaneous.
- Periods of heightened sensitivity to light
- Episodes of blurry vision
- Difficulty to maintain concentration
- Episodes of depression or anxiety
In short: • If you have consumed any kind of drug, DO NOT DRIVE, always remember that all consumption involves risk. • Know that waiting for the effects to disappear or diminish is not a solution.
Amphetamines drugs cause irritation and lack of concentration after sometime.
Sleeping agents, like sedatives produces a sensation of relaxation and drowsiness.
If you have a chronic illness, you can decrease your risk of being in an accident by:
- Know about your illness.
- Knowing the side effects of any medicines you take.
- Knowing how to recognize the symptoms and knowing how to act.
- Avoiding situations that lead to crises.
- Avoiding driving during a crisis or an acute period of the illness.
- Not modifying or abandoning treatment without prescription medicines.
- Not consuming alcohol in conjunction with medications.
- Consulting your treating physician about the risks of your pathology for safe driving.
The most common symptoms of respiratory allergies are very similar to the common cold.
- A constant need to blow your nose
- Runny eyes
- Blurred vision
- Sneezing
- Fatigue and headache
There is evidence that some of these symptoms could cause errors in judgment of distances and a diminished capacity to maintain concentration in traffic, among others. In addition, medicines, frequently consumed to alleviate these symptoms, can cause increased drowsiness behind the wheel.
On a highway trip, driving at 90 km/h during a sneeze that lasts one second, the vehicle moves 25 meters without the driver being aware of the conditions of the road. How many meters would you end up advancing if you sneezed 10 times in a row?
USEFUL ADVICE FOR DRIVERS WITH ALLERGIES:
- Try not to open the windows while driving; air currents containing pollen can worsen an attack.
- Be careful with the air conditioning; direct air blasts can provoke allergic attacks.
- Maintain the ventilation ducts and the vehicle interior clean; clean the vehicle frequently, particularly if you transport animals.
- Try not to take very long trips if you need to take medications.
- Wear sunglasses, as they protect the eyes from allergens.
- Avoid driving around sunrise and in humid areas, as under both circumstances there are high concentrations of pollen.
- Do not self-medicate; consult your physician. Advice from friends and family may not result in the best medication.
If the stressful situation is maintained during a long period of time, it can cause sleep disorders, anxiety, digestive problems and even heart attacks.
Stress worsens problem solving abilities.
Stress causes:
- Anguish, provoking poor reactions
- Impulsive reactions
- Reduce his or her field of attention
- Holding on to certain thoughts and actions
- Out-of-body experience, in which you view the unfolding of events as though you were a spectator.
- Panic
You should always avoid driving when you are under stress, and also try not to become stressed while you drive.
Its main characteristic is suffering a mood changes that cause episodes of anguish, sadness, and lack of energy, among others.
There is evidence of people with depression deliberately causing traffic accidents.
Depression affects driving as follows:
- Mood changes can cause the driver to be lost in their own thoughts and not focused on traffic conditions.
- Not paying attention can cause delay in detecting risky situations like pedestrian on the street.
- Depression leads to a higher probability of suffering states of exhaustion and fatigue, which is why it is not recommen- ded to drive at night, during long periods of time, or in monotonous environments.
- A person suffering from depression can become easily upset under certain circumstances and react impulsively or disproportionately towards others on the road.
- Depression causes insecurity, which leads to making mistakes or acting unexpectedly while driving.
- Normally people with depression take medications that can affect their ability to drive.
It has been shown that the risk of driving under the effects of some of these medications is equal to the risk of driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.5 to 0.8 g/l; that is, driving under the influence of alcohol.
Modern antihistamines are much safer for driving, since they normally do not produce drowsiness, like some of the older ones.
Psychotropic drugs are those medications used to treat mental conditions like depression, anxiety, or sleep disorders
Anxiolytics (tranquilizers), sedatives and hypnotics, diminish states of elevated activity and induce sleep.
Neuroleptics or antipsychotics can cause drowsiness and low blood pressure.
15 and 30% of all traffic accidents are caused either directly or indirectly by drowsiness.
Although you might think that falling completely asleep behind the wheel is the mistake that causes accidents associated with exhaustion, risks of drowsiness appear much earlier.
Another myth is the belief that drowsiness only comes on at night, when in reality drivers can become sleepy during the day and for a variety of reasons.
Exhaustion is an important cause of traffic accidents, mainly those that occur on the freeway.
When you begin to get tired or sleepy, among other effects, the following happens:
- Reaction time increases.
- Increase in number of distractions behind the wheel
- Judgment and the ability to make decisions behind the wheel are altered
- Coordination worsens and driver mobility is altered.
- Microsleeps can occur
- Perceptions of surroundings are altered.
- Aggressive behaviour
Exhaustion can occur for many reasons:
- Combination of physical strain and monotony
- Remaining seated for long periods worsens blood circulation
- Different noises can contribute to drowsiness.
First sign of exhaustion is yawns.
In these final phases, you see things that are not there; neck muscles relax and your head starts to fall uncontrollably.
If at any point you begin to feel tired while driving, while you are looking for a place to stop be sure that you are getting fresh air inside the vehicle.
- Time of day. The early morning (especially between 3 and 5 AM) and late afternoon (between 2 and 4 PM) are prone to drowsiness, even if you have slept enough.
- Sleeping fewer hours than usual. Exhaustion can set in if you have slept only a few hours, espe- cially if you sleep for less than half the time your body needs.
- Changing your sleep pattern.
- Quality of sleep.
- Monotonous driving
- Consumption of sedatives and stimulants
- Sleep disorders
- Blurred vision that prevents you from perceiving your surroundings.
- Diminished auditory sensitivity, which affects perception of sounds in the environment.
- Feelings of dragging, neck and back pain, migraines, cramps and other irritating or unpleasant sensations.
Changes in movements:
- They are slower and less precise.
- The number of maneuvers is reduced, for example you may correct your course fewer times.
Changes in behavior:
- Paying less attention to your surroundings
- It is normal to take more significant risks behind the wheel.
- Increases hostile or aggressive behavior towards other drivers on the road.
- Reaction time is increased.
If you are tired or drowsy while driving, the best thing to do is stop to rest in an appropriate place and sleep; 20 or 30 minutes of sleep is usually sufficient. If you continue driving under these conditions, the risk of being in an accident will increase.
On long trips, rest for at least 20 or 30 minutes every 2 hours or 200 kilometers (maximum).
Although you may have received excellent training and gotten your driver’s license, you should consider yourself a no- vice who must obtain significant experience in order to become a safe driver.