"A little Care will get you There!"
As many people will know, I am recuperating from a crash on my motorcycle. It happened because in spite of my dedication to the principle of anticipation, a lapse occurred and I failed to anticipate and that was my undoing.
Anticipation in motoring is simply the rule that if we can anticipate that something might happen we can prepare for it should it happen, to the best of our abilities.
A problem can occur as a result of travelling the same route every day, and we grow complacent. Nothing ever changes and we feel we know all there is to know. In my case I had turned into that particular one-way road system a brazillian times and the path was always clear. Everybody in the town knows that the direction of travel is going in. But, on the fateful day a man was visiting the town from Madrid and he turned his car into that roadway and drove counter to the correct direction, and that surprised me so much I over-compensated by braking very hard, and down went the bike.
We did not collide, (but came very close) and there is no damage to the bike as it fell on top of me. However, my left leg became trapped in just the right way for it to break.
This is about always expecting the unexpected. I have been thinking along these lines and amazingly as I do so I am seeing things happening that have not had any impact on me before, but these things do occur.
You are driving the correct direction along a one-way street when suddenly a vehicle approaches travelling in the wrong direction. What do you do? Firstly, you should assume this will happen, so you should situate your car to the right hand side as much as possible. That way, if there is room for the two vehicles to pass you will already be on the correct side.
You approach a junction with one-way cross traffic. You see the “No-Entry” sign that also indicates the direction from which traffic will be coming. Do you ignore the opposite side because there will not be traffic coming from that direction? The answer is it will be dangerous to assume that. Look both ways to be safe.
How safe is it to cut corners? It is never safe, especially if you can’t see that there is anything coming. This sounds rudimentary, but it is surprising how many people seem to think they are on the road alone.
Is reversing into the road an approved traffic manoeuvre? Sometimes it can’t be helped, but it is certainly not recommended. The risk of collision must surely be ten times greater when doing such a thing. If you have a passenger get that person to act as another pair of eyes for you.
Is it usually safe to speed on country roads that are deserted? Such roads present unexpected dangers such as slow moving farm equipment and animals on the loose. Consequentially, it is better to leave the speed to the motorway.
I noticed a man drive into a one-way street and promptly park his car in a legal space. When he came back to his car, instead on carrying on down the legal direction he turned around and drove out the way he came in. This was not someone who was confused. This was a deliberate and lazy act. Had a vehicle been in the act of turning into that street we would have had a repeat of my incident. The only thing you can do to protect yourself from such lunatics is to use more caution and expect that it may happen.
As many people will know, I am recuperating from a crash on my motorcycle. It happened because in spite of my dedication to the principle of anticipation, a lapse occurred and I failed to anticipate and that was my undoing.
Anticipation in motoring is simply the rule that if we can anticipate that something might happen we can prepare for it should it happen, to the best of our abilities.
A problem can occur as a result of travelling the same route every day, and we grow complacent. Nothing ever changes and we feel we know all there is to know. In my case I had turned into that particular one-way road system a brazillian times and the path was always clear. Everybody in the town knows that the direction of travel is going in. But, on the fateful day a man was visiting the town from Madrid and he turned his car into that roadway and drove counter to the correct direction, and that surprised me so much I over-compensated by braking very hard, and down went the bike.
We did not collide, (but came very close) and there is no damage to the bike as it fell on top of me. However, my left leg became trapped in just the right way for it to break.
This is about always expecting the unexpected. I have been thinking along these lines and amazingly as I do so I am seeing things happening that have not had any impact on me before, but these things do occur.
You are driving the correct direction along a one-way street when suddenly a vehicle approaches travelling in the wrong direction. What do you do? Firstly, you should assume this will happen, so you should situate your car to the right hand side as much as possible. That way, if there is room for the two vehicles to pass you will already be on the correct side.
You approach a junction with one-way cross traffic. You see the “No-Entry” sign that also indicates the direction from which traffic will be coming. Do you ignore the opposite side because there will not be traffic coming from that direction? The answer is it will be dangerous to assume that. Look both ways to be safe.
How safe is it to cut corners? It is never safe, especially if you can’t see that there is anything coming. This sounds rudimentary, but it is surprising how many people seem to think they are on the road alone.
Is reversing into the road an approved traffic manoeuvre? Sometimes it can’t be helped, but it is certainly not recommended. The risk of collision must surely be ten times greater when doing such a thing. If you have a passenger get that person to act as another pair of eyes for you.
Is it usually safe to speed on country roads that are deserted? Such roads present unexpected dangers such as slow moving farm equipment and animals on the loose. Consequentially, it is better to leave the speed to the motorway.
I noticed a man drive into a one-way street and promptly park his car in a legal space. When he came back to his car, instead on carrying on down the legal direction he turned around and drove out the way he came in. This was not someone who was confused. This was a deliberate and lazy act. Had a vehicle been in the act of turning into that street we would have had a repeat of my incident. The only thing you can do to protect yourself from such lunatics is to use more caution and expect that it may happen.
It should also be noted that the most dangerous spots on the road are those close to your own home. When you first get in the car it takes a little while to put on your driver's head, and when coming home we tend to relax in sight of our destination. Stay vigilant!
Perhaps I have made the point by now that out on the roadways and highways all sorts of things happen that shouldn’t. One out of two drivers are potentially a menace. If I’m not the one, then it must be you.
Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael
