DRIVE SENSIBLY Important & Urgent! Dr Chandrasekhar Pardeshi. MD
[email protected] We frequently hear some philosophical questions and also their varying answers. One such question we come across is “ What is the purpose of life?” Answers to this question are as many as persons answering it. Purpose or aim of life varies with individual outlook. Irrespective of various abstract expressions, to me, the most important and urgent aim of life remains asSELF PRESERVATION! If we look at any animal including homo sapience, first and most important instinctive priority is to save itself physically and keep living till physiological or biological limits. But, we are all aware that death and taxes are only two things that are certain in life. Beyond factor of certainty, timing is also impressively significant. Both have in-built penalty for being untimely. If we don’t pay taxes in time, interest, penalty and some times prosecution penalize us. If we die before biological time, it just doesn’t matter to individual for the benefit of absence of existence. But dependents and dear ones bear the brunt of our mistake. The clause of penalty remains and is applied to our family members. I feel dying untimely is deadly crime against dependants and dear ones, as it penalizes them for no fault of theirs. MOST common cause of premature death among men of 15 to 45 years is automobile accident (5). And such deaths can be avoided to great extend. Please be with me while I do some loud thinking. Oxford dictionary gives meaning of accident as – unexpected event. Therefore expecting an accident is itself a reliable preventive measure. Though this is the solid truth, it is unbelievable simplification for any innocent adult. Let us therefore move further with subject of fatal motor vehicle accidents. What are causes of accidents? It is surprising to know that human factor is responsible for 90% of road accident and only 10% are due to environmental factors (1). Therefore, our attitude and we drivers remains major reason for accidents. I invite you to join me for safe driving tour and do basic relearning. •
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Motor vehicle is huge mass of steel and other heavy matter, which converts explosive petroleum chemical energy into mechanical one and makes vehicle move. It therefore, gives it gigantic momentum and inertia. Needless to say, it is not trophy or symbol of hierarchical position amongst peers. With its heightened momentum, its heavy mass is meant to collide with other objects or vehicles in front, unless saved from it by process called cautious driving. Motor vehicle is potential killer, which if handled properly can transport us to different desired destination; otherwise to final one. In India, motor vehicle kill more than 100,000 people annually and maim many times more. India has achieved dubious distinction of being world no 2 in this activity(4). China is no one. Every 10,000 vehicles in India, kill 14.39 persons annually. The figure For European countries is 1 – 2.5 (2). 1
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Social cost of accidents (for families and society) in India is about Rs 55,000 crores. This is about 3 % of GDP (4). Imagine Indian economy rising by 3% GDP by avoiding accidents. It can be shattering global shock. Developing countries loose about $100 billion every year because of accidents. This is twice the developmental aid received by countries together world wide (5). Since amount of physical pain and moans of victims and emotional trauma to relatives cannot be quantified, I am not able to specify it here. Fatalities are predictable and preventable. “His fault” or “Not my fault” positions are irrelevant. Tragedy of accidents does not consider who was responsible for accident. Very fact that we were not able to save ourselves from being involved in the accident compels us to suffer.
Lets consider some accident friendly premises and their logical inferences. •
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“Accidents does not happen to me and it has not .” Past record is irrelevant for future accidents. Guruji Goenka says, “Being aware of situation itself is solution.” As stated in beginning, expecting possibility of accident itself is vaccination against it. “I am special and superior person. People should follow traffic rules and behave themselves” People may or may not follow our traffic rules. We are never paid to teach lessons to others on road; on the contrary we are punished. We are supposed to save ourselves! Ego has no role on road. “I am in hurry, I will just speed up and reach in time” Higher the speed results in lesser is the time for reflex action. It results irritability, irrationality and misjudgments by drivers on the road. It also means more stress and coronary micro-hemorrhages. It increased risks of accident in geometrical proportion. Chances of accidents rise from 0% to 100% for speed of 20 Km to 100 Km per hour (4). It is best policy to align to optimum general speed of vehicles in surrounding traffic. Speed above optimum of the traffic does not save time significantly. Driving fast is not a method to reach in time, starting in time is. “I have great stamina. I can drive even if exhausted” Exhaustion means inability to perceive environmental inputs and lengthened latent period for reflexes during driving, jeopardizing our safety. Physiological limits and laws should be respected. “Night driving is cool thing! I can save a day by traveling at night” Visibility, distance orientation, spatial orientation is highly compromised at night for everyone on the road. Aggressive demand for road resource is on-going game of night driving. Lets not join the fatal games. Every night of Delhi kills on average 7.7 driving people (5). Enjoy sleep with spouse at night! Start early in the morning. Don’t save a day. Save lives. “? Rs % ¼ # $* § ¥ ± ♥! ” Driving demands total mental acuity. We must provide it totally to it. Mental worries can be tacked at home. Keep cell silent. Answer the missed call at leisure. “Seat belts or Helmets are cumbersome not necessary in city.” Seat belt is essential even when vehicle is not in motion. Take example of my friend Dr Gulab Wagh. He stopped on road to have a word with a friend with car in gear and foot pressed on clutch. His attention having diverted due to some thing, foot slipped from clutch and car jumped on to pole in front and had knee joint blasted into pieces. Had he had the seat belt on, he could have kept patella intact. Take another example of Dr Subhash Kale 2
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who was waiting behind herd of buffalo to let truck from opposite side pass. Truck driver being in hurry pulled pressure horn pushing buffalo in state of panic. Last buffalo just lifted her fore legs turned behind and landed on head of Subhash. His helmet got dented and scooter arms broken. Had he not had helmet on, tragedy wouldn’t have allowed me to narrate this story to you. Similarly, fatal brain damage on two-wheeler is not function of speed. Gentle fall on small spiked stone on temporal bone is enough to take life. Similarly, small pebble on curved road is enough to send one skidding under truck. Let’s make wearing seat belts and helmets as symbol of love to our family and dear ones. “Lock the door from inside!” This is one of most mysterious instruction from demons of outer space. But the real problem is that, we follow it religiously. There is no report of any person being thrown out of car because he had not locked the properly closed door. Additional locking properly pulled door while driving adds to difficulty of retrieval of injured in case of accidents. This wastes significantly crucial time for emergency medical help, which can make difference between survival and deaths. I have faced this unfortunate added difficulty twice while taking out injured people out of car. Please close the door properly and for Gods sake, DO NOT LOCK DOOR while driving.
Now let us shift our gear to RED ZONE driving. •
Overtaking: When you hear about an accident on undivided roads, ask if he was overtaking and answers most the time are affirmative. Total damaging force, Df of collusion with opposite vehicle is given by Df = Mu + Mo. Mu being momentum (mass x velocity) of your vehicle and Mo being momentum of opposite vehicle. Imagine impact of 10-ton truck and 1-ton car together at speed of 60 km on our body of fluids, flesh and bones ???…… Numbers of factors contribute collusion with opposite vehicle while overtaking. A ) “You wait – I go” policy : Let us drop this attitude. Others may have reasons to be in hurry but we definitely have reason to be safe. So let them go and internalize prudent attitude “YOU GO – I ,….WAIT.” B ) “I thought I’ll pass” : Overtaking should not be attempted unless one is EXTREEMLY sure of comfortable distance of opposite vehicle. Whenever question props in mind as to whether one will pass; the answer to is always NO and action is always - WAIT. Another fatal mistake is overtaking at blind spots like acute turns, mountains, raised contours of road where we are not able to see road in front therefore no question of seeing opposing vehicle. C ) “ I never thought he will turn right : Never overtake vehicle unless you indicate your intention. He may already have decided to take right turn or he may be overtaking another vehicle. D ) “I had given light” : Blinking your headlights for opposite vehicle is no way to get priority of access on road space. E ) “I didn’t see it” : According to my close friend Jagdhish Ghodke, “ when driving, think that any vehicle from any direction including sides, rear, opposite and from nowhere, can hit you. If you want to know how a vehicle comes from nowhere and hits you, meet my friend Dr Vivek Kakatkar. Technique of overtaking It is worth going through technique of overtaking though all of us are aware of it. Overtaking should be planned only if speed of vehicle to be overtaken is significantly less than our desired one. It should be attempted only if vehicles coming from opposite direction are so sparse as to 3
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allow the operation. Alterative to be behind similarly speeding vehicle gives us advantage of having pilot car, which takes all the brunt of eventualities and protects us. Operation overtaking needs to be well-planned, cautious, smooth and swift and with knowledge of every vehicle in vicinity. If overtaking is decided 1 Keep sufficient distance from vehicle to be overtaken. 2 Check if vehicle behind is not planning to overtake you. 3 Go to the lane of overtaking. 4 Check for approaching vehicle from opposite direction. 5 Check opposite vehicle is not being overtaken by another vehicle. 6 Check that vehicle in front is itself not overtaking or turning or changing lane. 7 Give signal and take consent (may be implied). 8 Check proper gear. 9 Take speed. 10 Give horn while actually crossing. – 11 Pass and stabilize at comfortable distance away from overtaken vehicle. 12 Congratulate yourself every time for successful operation of this crucial part of driving. If one specializes in this 12 step operative technique one can avoid almost 80% of fatal accidents (my own opinion). Crossings, Turns and change of lane: Right turn must be well-planed and sufficient indication given for vehicles in every direction. Indication by hand is essential, as electrical bulbs may not be noted in daytime. We need to be accustomed to new attitude of people overtaking from our left side. Dead truck: Stranded trucks parked on road at night without tail lamps or any indication are many times responsible for full speed collusion by unsuspecting drivers and severe casualties. The impact of force of a collision at 50 km/h is the equivalent to the vehicle falling from a 3-story building, but at double the speed, 100 km/h, it is as if the vehicle dropped from a 12-story building. Tests have shown that in a 60-km/h collision, a 15-kilogram child (the approximate weight of a 3 year old) produces the equivalent force of 550 kilograms. Only way to avoid this silent killer is to suspect all the time in night and be aware of it. It would be prudent not to drive on road where visibility is compromised. Even better way is not to be there at night. Long journey: Longer the journey more is driving hours leading to exhaustion, stress and accident. Scientific study and records indicates that for you and me individual annual chance of death in travel is 0.00144 (deduced from ref 3). Dr Kihore Gangurde suggests to consider this definite travel risk before undertaking casual journey like attending social functions or religious sojourns. He thinks for longer distances safe public transport like rail is always preferred. I propose that journey by car should be limited to 200 km and by two-wheeler to 20 km of one-way travel. Unknown driver – Remember as stated before drivers in general are responsible for 91 % of accidents (1 & 4). Imagine handing over charge of our existence to man whose credential are unknown. It is not uncommon to learn latter that the casual driver you hired was suffering from epilepsy, drug addiction, withdrawal symptoms or exhaustion or simply unfit to be behind steering or may be fit to be behind bar. Driver hired must be known, dependable, responsible and careful. The best driver who has all the desired qualities and is also educated and concerned about passengers and is always available is YOU! Don’t give way right your life to any casual driver. Other factors like Dogs, Animal (including human) can suddenly be middle of road in front of you and are responsible for 6.8% of accidents (4). We need to aware of these surprises in driving New car, new young driver, and neo riches – none of these things should invite new life.
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Internalization Fortunately we all know the facts stated above, yet unfortunately, we all do same mistakes again and again. Why? The answer lies in fact that traveling is domain of cortex, while driving is reflex function of sub cortical centers. Therefore what we think rational may not always be reflected in our driving actions. Then is it the dead end? Fortunately NO! We can internalize the safe driving habits to great extent. Remaining aware of possibility all the time; discussion of safe manners and measures with family members specially when we do mistakes, reminders by other members of family about following safety precautions like wearing seat belts and our discussions amongst us will greatly reduce chances of fatalities. Opening doors of imagination of actual accident happening and consequent injuries and physical sufferings can be effective guiding force for safety. When we face poor roads conditions, hostile traffic and unruly divers competing for scarce road resource - our basic premise must be very clear. We must realize that whole world in which we live FUNCTIONS CORRECTLY, because it is supposed to be the way it should be after innumerable permutation and combination of past millions of years. It is we who have to adjust to it. Similarly traffic conditions are going to be the way it is. It is we who have to save ourselves. Wrong and right is subjective and that too relative issues. If we internalize this principle, there are less chances of conflict of ego and aggressive approach on road. We pass on lot of knowledge to our progeny. We teach them how to score in exams, how not to behave in society, how deal with (cheat?) clients, how to create heap of wealth but we forget to teach them survival techniques to enjoy the fruits all the toil. We are indifferent to this important topic of driving, which is questions survival at every movement of driving life. We must inculcate safe driving philosophy in our hostile traffic environment. I must warn you here that I have opined only on fatal automobile accidents. I have not touched vast areas of anatomy of accidents or topic of safe driving. Some of the information about these issues is available at web sites given at end. "Carriages without horses shall go, And accidents fill the world with woe." -Mother Shipton (circa. 1530) Luxury of living In spite of the prediction five centuries before and present gloomy state, driving a car can be treat of life. You will realize that mightiest kings and wealthiest statesmen, generations before could not enjoy luxury and charm of our vehicles. Car has changed torture of travel into luxury of life. Imagine a car drive on rainy day with water falls and lush green mountains around and soft classical music on with your family or friends in Trimbak valley. The comfort, warmth and protection a car can gives you is triumph of technology of today’s science. All this luxury and love of family is ours, as long as we remain aware of what is important and urgent! So let’s enjoy the drive and vow not be lost to our dependents and dear ones! Happy driving! References 1 : Treat et al., 1977 2 : Central Institute of road transport ( CIRT), latest Indian journal of Transport management 3 : Department of road transport and highway 4 : Report of Alok Rawat, Principal secretary, Sikkim. 5 : WHO study http://www.visualexpert.com/Resources/roadaccidents.html 5
http://www.sos.state.il.us/publications/rr/rr_chap10.html http://www.karnataka.com/driving-manual/driving-manual-4.shtml http://www.cybersteering.com/tgmain/tgt/sd.html#top
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