The Crash Triangle

Over the years, there has a lot of research done into the factors that go together to cause car crashes with the hope of being able to improve driver education, both at the learner level, but also at the rehabilitation, post incident level so that we see a reduction in killed & seriously injured (KSI) figures

This is a huge subject, that can easily go off on many different tangents, but one of the simplest aspects we can look at easily, is what I call the crash triangle

Many people will remember the “fire triangle” from their science lessons in high school. The principle is that the three factors, fuel, heat & oxygen, all need to be abundantly present in order for a fire to exist & thrive. Fire fighters will look at removing at least one of those factors when they tackle a blaze & obviously removing all three gives the best, most thorough & longest lasting result

In driving, we have a similar triangle for crashing, & just like the fire triangle, a crash can’t happen any of the three factors aren’t present, so drivers who are able to adopt these three good habits & reduce their road risk massively

Let’s take a look at the three items in insolation:

SPEED

We all know that increased speed is linked to increased road & it’s usually the first thing that’s mentioned at the crash scene. The problem is that phrases like “that idiot needs to slow down” & “it’s 30 for a reason you fool” aren’t helpful because their main aim really is to just insult the guy that’s crashed & divert blame away from you! Of course, he’s going to react defensively to that approach & say the same things back to you. It’s very blame focussed & unhelpful

The police (& other emergency services of course), drive above speed limits a lot & aren’t involved in car crashes much (it does happen, they are human!)

So the speed limit itself, isn’t necessarily a guide as to a safe speed to drive at on the road & part of our conversation needs to be that it’s entirely possible for a maximum safe speed to be above the legal maximum limit on any given stretch of road… just illegal if you’re not a member of the emergency services

Good use of speed requires drivers to also have a good understanding of how long it takes to stop their vehicle. The faster you’re moving, the more space you’re committed to travelling through before you come to a stop & vice-versa of course. Committed distance is the name that we give to that space in front of you that you will definitely pass through before coming to a stop

The golden rule of speed is that you must always be able to stop easily within the space you can see to be clear ahead of you (& staying on your side of the road of course)

SPACE

In the same way that having space in front of the car allows a driver to bring a car to a stop if they choose the right speed, some crashes involve drivers who realise, too late, that they need space to their sides too

When passing parked cars for example, the best practice is to leave 1mtr of space in case somebody opens a door

When passing cyclists or pedestrians, best practice is to increase this to 2mtrs, because these things can move sideways, potentially into the path of the passing vehicle (maybe due to wind, or to avoid potholes in the road etc) although both types of road user has intelligence & is road aware

With horses, the best practice is to leave as much as possible because horses of course can also move sideways but may not be as road aware as humans. People forget that horses might get scared by the activity of other animals that are hidden in hedges etc

Finally, it’s worth remembering that risk exists behind the car as well. EVERYONE who runs into the back of the car in front has done so because they didn’t expect the vehicle in front to do what they did. Any su

SURPRISE

So a driver can choose their speed, based on the amount of space that they have around them to keep safe & for this to really work, they need to look around them to eliminate the final part of the crash triangle, which is surprise

We teach learner drivers to look as far up the road as they can, & beyond that if it’s possible

What they means is that they’ll always be able to see up the road to a point where the road disappears from view, but then, if they notice the road bends to the right, they can look over fields to the right to see if there’s anything to learn

For example, you might see the roof of a combine harvester coming towards you over the hedges & given the narrow width of the road, you might decided to slow right down or maybe even pull over into a nearby passing place, to let the larger vehicle through

You might also see signs above the hedges, that may show you that there’s a roundabout around the corner & this may prompt you to think about queues forming just beyond the bend & cause you to reduce your speed

With regards to the vehicle behind you, you might not be totally in control of the amount of space that the driver behind is leaving but you can recognise the risk they’re creating & take steps to reduce that risk by driving in a way that is predictable & gentle. Sudden movements, particularly with the brakes, are what’s going to cause that car to hit the back of you. You can also, in extreme cases, pull over and let them past, but it’s worth recognising that the vast majority of drivers are too close to the vehicle in front of them, so managing the risk is better unless you want to take all day to get to your destination

Remember, nobody crashes because they’re an idiot, but they might crash because they’re too busy listening to the radio to take notice of these clues that the best drivers are noticing constantly – it comes down to how you’d like others to think about what type of driver do you are, do you want to be seen as “average” or “good”?

Hopefully something for you to think about over the weekend… it can help to remember these few phrases:

Less space / less speed / less risk

Always be able to stop easily within the distance you can see to be clear

Keep your eyes on main beam

Nick Heath Driver Training helps people of all levels and abilities with their driving. Established in 2005 and based on the South Cheshire / North Staffordshire border in the UK, I can help you to obtain a licence, become a driving instructor, regain your driving confidence or reduce your road risk for work purposes. I am a regular contributor to local and national radio when driving items come up in the news and am willing to contribute to the wider driver training conversation

Anyone wanting more information should call 0800 8 20 2038

?How can we deal with the problem of elderly drivers?

 On a driving lesson a few years back, we drove past Wheelock Farm. It was a lovely sunny day in the summer and with the nice weather and high temperatures, families had taken their kids to the farm to have a play on the park and take a look at the animals… the car park was absolutely packed!

Wheelock is a big place, and there would have been ample parking to cope with the rush, had there not been two air ambulances also parked on the field – very unusual to see two of them together!

A tragedy had happened that day! A family had visited the farm and was having a picnic at the back of their car when a driver reversing out of a nearby space lost control of their vehicle and reversed over an adult and a child who was sat in the wrong place at the wrong time

That driver was in his 90’s according to later news reports

This wasn’t too long after the late Prince Philip had been involved in an “at fault” crash in Norfolk. He’d pulled out of the Royal estate into the path of an approaching vehicle that hit him with such force that it rolled his Range Rover onto it’s roof – so it must have been close enough to be in full view when he left the junction

Whenever things like this happen, the social media sites go wild with loads of younger people saying how everyone should be asked to retake their tests after 70 or maybe even how your licence should automatically be taken from you at that age, never to drive again

These statements are easy to make… unless you’re the 70yr old involved!

Imagine waking up on your 70^th birthday and having to go for a driving test that, if failed, meant that you couldn’t use your car again. Today’s driving test is very different to the one that these people would have taken 50yrs ago, so they’d require lessons… imagine restarting driving lessons at that age after 5 decades of safe driving!

But here’s the painful bit, if you passed your driving test in 2006, 20yrs ago, today’s test is also very different to the one you took, so you’d probably require driving lessons too if you were mandated to retake it for some reason and you’ve probably go 2 decades of accident free driving under your belt – would you be up for that if it became law that everyone took at test every 10yrs or so? Would you support the introduction of that law, knowing that if you made a mistake and failed it, it’d mean that you lose your transport to and from work and maybe even lose the income source completely?

A bit of empathy goes a long way when you’re trying to work out a policy for these types of things – with age related stuff, it’ll definitely be you one day!

Dementia can start to take effect in people who are in their 40’s and in it’s initial stages, it’d usually be almost impossible for you to notice yourself that there’s a problem. It usually comes on gradually, so you can initially get used to and adapt to the early symptoms and just see it as part of every day life

Many elderly people with dementia are doing the same thing and adopting habits like writing things down so that they don’t forget to get by. You don’t see the number of times that they walk into a room and have forgotten what they wanted to do in that room and you don’t see the terror they feel when the wind outside makes the fence panels bang together. They don’t know that they’ve got dementia, and they’re continuing to drive because they don’t know there’s something wrong

The current situation is that your licence expires on your 70^th birthday but it can be extended by 5yr intervals if you make a request to do so and make a declaration that your health hasn’t changed

So straight away, we see the problems:

·        Firstly, somebody who doesn’t know they’re ill, and who relies on their car for independence and social interaction, is being asked to self-certify that they’re well enough to drive

·        Secondly, the mental deterioration that causes many of the road safety problems can begin a long time before the driver considers themselves to be entering old age

·        Thirdly, there are loads of people who are in their advanced years who can drive safely and competently every day without issue

A few years back, I wrote to Fiona Bruce, Conservative MP for Congleton at the time, about an idea I’d had to address these issues. Although she replied and apparently mentioned it at meetings, it didn’t really go anywhere

My idea is that we need a way of showing these people that their skills are deteriorating and a way of encouraging them to consider hanging up their key’s voluntarily

People over 40yrs of age in the UK are invited to have blood tests that screen for various health problems such as heart attacks, strokes and diabetes. We’re invited for these tests every 5yrs

If we made these tests mandatory for drivers, and if we included mandatory eyesight checks and reaction tests, I think we’d identify a lot of the risk factors in their early stages

Obviously the opticians would be able to correct the majority of the eyesight problems with prescription glasses but it’s the reaction tests that I’d be most interested in…

Because in their 40’s, most drivers would pass these reaction tests easily, but if we do it right, and maybe give each performance a score, then as people age, they’d be able to see the scores going more and more towards the threshold for failure (and subsequently, their revocation of their licence). I think many would voluntarily drop out of the game, make appropriate arrangements with their families for the necessary support and surrender their licence when they reached a point where they really thought there was a possibility of them failing it

The beauty of this idea is that it’s not age bound and it’s progressive, meaning that it should show a gradual reduction in skill level giving the driver time to make accommodations for not having a licence, rather than the sudden death characteristic of failing a driving test

Whatever we do, we should remember at all times that these people are people and that they deserve to be treated with the same respect for their situations that we’d all like to be treated with. Nobody goes out in their car with the intention of crashing and very few will every deliberately drive dangerously… in the two cases I mentioned at the start of this essay, those two drivers were probably aware of their age, aware of some slowing down, but not aware of the extent to which that slow down was affecting them and a crash is a very harsh way to come to that realisation

Nick Heath Driver Training helps people of all levels and abilities with their driving. Established in 2005 and based on the South Cheshire / North Staffordshire border in the UK, I can help you to obtain a licence, become a driving instructor, regain your driving confidence or reduce your road risk for work purposes. I am a regular contributor to local and national radio when driving items come up in the news and am willing to contribute to the wider driver training conversation

Anyone wanting more information should call 0800 8 20 2038