By Peter Wilton
Ontario Drivers are Suffering from a Collective Case of ADD (Aggressive, Distracted and Drowsy Driving) That is Resulting in 85 Per Cent Of Motor Vehicle Accidents and is a Leading Cause of Workplace Injury in Ontario.
Aggressive, Distracted and Drowsy driving are the leading causes of preventable motor vehicle accidents in Ontario. Not only are these accidents leaving, in their collective wake, carnage on the Province’s roadways, they also account for 31 per cent of traumatic fatalities and 10,000 lost-time injuries, according to 2001 statistics gathered by Canadian workers’ compensation boards. Collectively, the Ontario Service Safety Alliance (OSSA) members filed a total of 3,320 lost-time claim forms as a result of motor vehicle accidents. The sheer number of accidents and claims makes motor vehicle safety one of the most significant issues facing OSSA members.
“ Distraction involves a diversion of attention…” International Conference on Distracted Driving – October 2-5, 2005
AGGRESSIVE DRIVING
Most of us would deny that we have ever driven in an aggressive manner, but while we may not have been foaming at the mouth while waving our fist, chances are that the majority of us have, at one time or another driven 20 kilometres or more above the speed limit, engaged in excessive lane changing, failed to signal, or followed too closely. All of these actions are considered to be attributes of aggressive driving. At its extreme, aggressive driving can lead to road rage with drivers engaged in verbal and physical confrontations.
Here are 11 suggestions from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation’s 2001 report, Aggressive Driving and Road Rage, to avoid being or encountering the aggressive driver:
DISTRACTED DRIVING
Although many of us pride ourselves on being able to multi-task, humans are not geared to do more than one thing at a time. When you are trying to multi-task, what you are actually doing is dividing your attention. The Canadian Automobile Association has defined a distraction to drivers as follows:
“Distraction involves a diversion of attention from driving because the driver is temporarily focusing on an object, person, task or event not related to driving…”
The electronic revolution has resulted in an explosion of new timesaving electronic devices over the last 15 years – from cellular phones to GPS navigation systems—that have joined the driver in the front seat and each new time-saving device is another distraction for the driver. In a study conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, which followed 100 cars over a 12-month period, researchers found that in 80 per cent of all crashes and 65 per cent of all near crashes, the driver was distracted in the three seconds prior to the accident. The study went on to find that the risk of crash did not increase when the driver was conducting simple tasks, but increased by up to seven times during complex tasks.
DROWSY DRIVING
Nodding off or falling asleep while driving is a serious under-reported risk. One in five, or 4.1 million, Canadian drivers admit that they have nodded off or fallen asleep while driving in the past 12 months, according to “The Road Safety Monitor” put out by Traffic Injury Foundation. Drivers are at greatest risk of falling asleep when driving on highways with posted speed limits of more than 80 km per hour, or when driving between midnight and 7 a.m., as well as in the mid-afternoon. Drivers put themselves at even greater risk of falling asleep if they do not get six hours of sleep or if they take sleeping pills or antihistamines before getting behind the wheel.
Eight out of 10 automobile accidents are preventable, according to a study put out by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. Most of these accidents are a result of driver behaviour — driving in an aggressive manner, becoming distracted, or driving while drowsy or fatigued.
While the evidence of driving in an inappropriate manner is scattered all over our roadways, the public is still largely unaware of risks. Employers should educate their workforce through a consistent campaign surrounding defensive driving. Studies have shown that when defensive driving courses are provided, employee accident rates drop, employees drive more effectively, and there are cost savings in terms of wear and tear on the vehicle and gas consumption.
Poor Roads = Poor Driving?
What do the state of Ontario’s roadways have to do with motor vehicle accident statistics?
Living in Ontario is comparable to living in two different countries— Siberia and the Bahamas. As a result, Ontario drivers have to be skilled in driving through diverse weather conditions, from the glaring sun and thunderstorms of summer, to the freezing temperatures, ice and blizzards of winter. Not only do Ontario drivers need to be skilled in driving in diverse conditions, they have to make sure that they have prepared their vehicle for these conditions in order to avoid accidents.
Depending on the road surfaces, braking and reaction times are different. For example, it takes drivers three to 12 times longer to stop their vehicle on an ice covered or wet road than it takes to stop on a dry surface. As a driver, it is important to check the road conditions regularly, and to practice braking just to know how the road feels. Avoid hitting the accelerator too hard; if the wheel is just spinning, it will become more difficult to move with every spin.
One important habit prior to starting to drive in winter or bad weather is to check the following:
SAFE DRIVING SOURCES
Here are some websites you can visit for more information on road safety:
2. The Dangers of Drowsy Driving, Ontario Ministry of Transportation, www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/safety/quicknotes/drowsy.htm
3. 2003 Aggressive Driving Study, Summary of Reports, Canada Safety Council,
www.safety-council.org/news/cam
4. Aggressive Driving: Help Get the Word Out Windsor-Essex County Health Unit
5. Canadian Motor Vehicle Traffic Collision Statistics: 2004 Transport Canada,
6. Work-Related Roadway Crashes- Challenges and Opportunities for Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health cp 2001,
Excerpted from Safety Mosaic, Summer 2006, Vol. 9, No. 2
That when move or lifting objects you should reduce the vertical distance between the origin and the destination of the object.