‘All of a sudden a car came from nowhere!’ Sound familiar? Car crashes happen every day in every country in the world, and we often insist on blaming external factors. However, the reality is that it’s often us at fault. In fact, it’s estimated that 95% of crashes are actually due to human error. The other 5% can be split between mechanical failure (which doesn’t include a worn tyre or faulty brakes, as that still counts as human error!) and something that could not have been prevented or predicted, such as a tree falling across the road. In this blog we are going to explore the reasons why human error is such a major cause of road crashes, and how adapting our behaviour can prevent them from happening…

Driver Skill

The first area to consider is the skill the driver has in controlling the vehicle. While most drivers have reasonable driving skills, and are able to make the vehicle go where they want it to go without colliding with anything else, this is generally only the case when they have enough time and they are concentrating on the task. Whether or not a driver has had professional driver training/lessons, or was taught by family or friends, once the psychomotor skills associated with driving such as pressing the brake, finding the biting point of the clutch and using the steering wheel are mastered, driving a vehicle becomes relatively easy. Loss of control will always feature in a crash but it is rarely the root cause… Click here to read full article

7 replies
    • Sulainon
      Sulainon says:

      Enlightening indeed. Thanks for the consistent knowledge and information dissemination. The common practice is the use of mobile phone while driving. Guess human error is inherent and self- discipline should be strictly adhered to.

      Reply
  1. Caleb Olowojola
    Caleb Olowojola says:

    Thanks for this enlightenment. The number of people that we lose to road accident in Nigeria is more than the lives that are lost to HIV/AIDS and malaria – 2 endemic diseases in the country.
    I lost a dear one to road accident in 2008 due to the carelessness and poor judgement of the driver. I hope our people will be able to read and heed the warning of the expert. Once again, profuse of my appreciation.

    Reply

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