FleetWatch Online - 48-On the Defensive

The number-one safety technology in any vehicle is the brain of the driver and no amount of training will ever be too much when it comes to road safety. Central to safe driving and improved road safety in general is the art of 'defensive driving', where the maxim is 'always expect the unexpected' and even, 'every other road user is an idiot, so beware!'

While it might be relatively easy to determine the cause of a crash in hindsight, drivers generally have not been exposed to the full range of road safety risks, says Dave Johnstone of Zwartkops Driver Training. "We learn by example and experience after acquiring our drivers licence. A quick look at the skid marks on our roads confirms that we are not suitably prepared. Defensive Driver Training gets back to basics, making drivers understand that there things that you can change in life and things you can't, like a vehicle overtaking on a blind rise coming towards you, for example. That human beings do have limitations that we do not understand because we haven't been exposed to them, and that vehicles have limits."

Better control
With over 13 000 road fatalities per annum and the estimated cost to the country of R43 billion, the cost of a crash far outweighs the cost of training a driver and should be compulsory for all drivers, especially those with PrDP's and Traffic Officers, believes Johnstone.

"All too often we read in insurance claim forms that 'the vehicle skidded' or the 'vehicle went out of control'. Understanding vehicle limits and driver limitations would reduce crashes by a huge margin. The truck driver faces massive challenges from vehicle defaults, unreasonable time frames for delivery as well as other road users that do not understand the dynamics of heavy duty vehicles," says Johnstone.

"Undoubtedly many truck jack-knife situations are caused by car drivers cutting in front of trucks at the last moment to 'gain a few meters' before exiting a freeway off-ramp. Both light and heavy duty drivers have not practiced emergency stops from different speeds and are subsequently caught out when the emergency situation arises. If you think about it, there are only two things a driver can do when faced with an emergency situation - change speed, direction or both. This very often leads to loss of control," adds Johnstone.

Drivers of all classes of commercial vehicles should undergo ongoing appraisals to determine weak spots in their driving skills and sent for further training if need be.

Driver trainers need to fully understand the demands of the transport application a particular student will work in. Truck driver training is definitely not a ‘one-size-fitsall’ discipline.

Getting the basics right
Getting back to basics means observing following distance, he explains: "The law requires two seconds. Most drivers do not know how to check this on the road and subsequently 'go with the flow' of other driver's examples and end up less than one second's following distance. The human being has a reaction time, on average, of one second when driving. No rocket science calculations needed here - the driver would not even be able to get to the brake pedal or auxiliary brake before hitting the vehicle in front if it hit a solid object like an equal weight vehicle coming the other way! In fact, the bare minimum, for ideal conditions should be a three second following distance. You need a lot more if you are driving a loaded heavy-duty vehicle, sometimes as much as three times the stopping distance required by an empty vehicle."

Correct use of emergency lanes is another basic 'skill set' all drivers should have. "More and more trucks are displaying a 'driver not permitted to travel in the emergency lane' sticker, but these same trucks pass other vehicles that have mover over to let them pass!" says Johnstone. "The law states that a driver can move over for the purposes of letting another vehicle pass during daylight hours only and only on a dual road, not on a multi-lane road. It is illegal to travel in that lane and enter it near a blind rise or a curve in the road. The driver must have clear visibility ahead for at least 150m."

Common sense
Drivers need to be taught to look and plan about 12-15 seconds ahead so that they can plan an overtaking maneuver with at least an escape route to one side, Johnstone says. "The law states that dipped beam headlights may shine a maximum of 45m. If you are traveling on an unlit road with your headlights on bright at 100 or 120km/h and an oncoming vehicle causes you to dip your headlights - do you adjust your speed? No! The result is that you end up hitting pedestrians, animals, potholes, tyre casings or anything else in the road because we are driving blindly into the night. The truth is, we cannot stop in the distance we can see."

This advice sounds like common sense, but as Johnstone concludes, "I have learned that common sense is not very common! Defensive Driver Training saves lives, money and time. So what's your excuse for not doing it?"