Anticipation

I was not even out of my urbanisation when a driver coming towards me rounded a bend on the wrong side. Clearly he was not thinking that someone else might actually be using the road at that moment.

That got me to thinking about just how many collisions might be avoided if all drivers used anticipation when behind the wheel. So, how would that work? For one thing, had I been driving at a much faster speed there would have been a smash up on that bend, and that would have completely messed up my day.

Any driving school worth its salt would teach the practise of anticipation, reasoning that if you can anticipate that something will happen, you can prepare for it.

What the other driver, in my example, should have done was to presume that there would be another vehicle approaching that bend from the opposite direction and then place his vehicle as close to the right hand side as possible. Then, provided that I did the same thing, and that both our speeds were appropriate for that stretch of road, there would not have even been a chance of a collision.

Notice that I am not using the word “accident” to describe the coming together of two vehicles under normal circumstances. In fact, I can only think of one genuine circumstance that fits the description of accident, and that involves the sudden appearance in the road of a wild animal. All other situations that come to my mind usually involve some fault on someone’s part. (The courts tend to agree.)

Here are some circumstances where anticipation can save the day:
- If you anticipate that you will have to drive or ride at some time during the day, avoid drinking alcohol;
- If you suffered a sleepless night, you can safely assume that embarking on a long, monotonous drive the next day will end badly;
- When driving along country roads with agriculture fields all around, you can anticipate the presence of slow-moving tractors on the road. It would be a particularly bad idea to speed with reckless abandon as a crash into the back of one of those tractors, with their sharp cutting tools might inflict some real pain;
- When driving through an area that is residential and consists of many cross streets, we can anticipate that there will be families living in the vicinity, and their children might be trying out their bikes. This is a time for an abundance of caution, unless you are unafraid of enraged parents.
- When driving at night, by realising that our vision is limited, if we anticipate that there may be people walking along the street wearing dark clothing, or an animal crossing the street ahead, by simply lowering our speed by at least 10 kilometres from our normal day speed, the collision can be avoided. The practise is called “driving within the scope of your lights.”

Stay Safe!

Copyright (c) 2007 Eugene Carmichael