Precision driving: Driving road to safety takes care

I applaud auto manufacturers for the continuous safety upgrades made to their products. It’s not just the carmakers’ collective conscience at work — government mandates and consumer demands influence the ongoing safety campaign as well.

Safety concerns exist with good premise — year after year, U.S vehicle deaths exceed 40,000 individuals, and for 2006, the number is closer to 43,000. That translates to well over 100 deaths per day from auto accidents — a number that begs attention to safety.

Since the mid 1960s, we have seen a steady stream of safety features appearing on the cars we drive. Seat belts, shoulder belts, radial tires, disc brakes, anti-lock brakes, traction control, air bags, improved lighting, and crumple-zone construction have all contributed to cars that help drivers avoid accidents, or survive them if they happen.

Still, when a crash occurs, nearly 90 percent of resulting deaths are from an occupant’s head coming into high-velocity contact with something inside the vehicle. Automakers know this, and that is why they are trying to perfect side airbags and air curtains to further protect the drivers’ noggins. Regarding this phenomenon, I still maintain that thousands of lives would be saved if we all wore helmets while driving. Believe me, I don’t want to wear a helmet in my car, but if it’s a good idea for motorcyclists, given the statistics, it’s an even better idea for auto drivers. There are only a couple of thousand motorcycle deaths annually, and only half of them are from head injury. If we put our efforts (or helmets) where the majority of vehicle deaths occur (autos), we could cut that 43,000 figure way back. But I digress.

While the automotive industry endeavors to make vehicles safer, I wish to effect improvements in an area that I deem even more important — the driver. To me, better driving is the answer to improved safety on the road. Most accidents occur when a driver has a lapse of attention, so I strive to avoid those lapses. Even if my vehicle contains the latest safety features, I prioritize accident-avoidance over accident-survival.

I’m not sure I endorse the recent ad campaign where distracted drivers are shown to have a wreck, and survive. The message of the commercial is that a well-designed vehicle might help you live through a critical driving error. Survival is a good result, but I believe that avoiding distraction might allow one to see the danger, and miss the crash.

An insurance company is running a campaign that I like much better. The commercial shows a woman during her drive home in a mini-van. As the driver makes her maneuvers (stops, starts, lane changes, and turns), a narrator states that nothing happens. In other words, an attentive, practiced, defensive driver has successfully negotiated her way through potential dangers to her home unscathed — emphasizing accident avoidance as a driving goal.

The Idaho Department of Transportation recently announced that the 2006 death toll on Idaho’s Highway 95 was less than one-half of the previous year, and road improvements were credited for the reduction. Road improvements are important, but I believe that drivers have the most power to continue the trend of less wrecks. In fact, one interviewed ISP officer gave some credit for the current reduction to drivers driving well. This officer’s name wasn’t given, but I am thankful to him for realizing that drivers have the power to do better, and that much of the blame for vehicle deaths should go to drivers, and that they deserve credit when figures improve.

Good roads and safe cars are nice, but safe drivers are even more important!

A Case for Education

R.C., a retired teacher and driving instructor, offers a clarification of terminology and a plea for quality driver education, as he writes, “My instructor at EWU was E. Elden Engel, who was the guru of most of the driver education instructors in this area for many years. He was not happy with the term ‘driver training’ — he used to say that you can train a monkey to steer a car, but you ‘educate’ people to properly operate a vehicle.” R.C. adds, “I’m concerned that some students that I’ve seen in recent years are not focused on the task of driving.” Then he summarizes, “My point is that more than training is necessary, a thorough education in attitudes and use of proper rules of the road and constant attention to the task at hand in order to make our roadways safer for all of us.”

Thanks so much for your input, R.C. I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments — hence this column.