In The Driver’s Seat

In The Driver’s Seat

By Theresa Murphy

Despite holding a full licence for years, two key experiences cautioned me about driving.

1.Being the culpable young driver in an accident and 2. personal familiarity with the tragic consequences of a reckless speeder.

As a fifteen year old, learning to drive in my parents’ car, I was navigating the family car onto the narrow country lane, on which we lived, showing off my dexterity, when I steered too far towards the opposite ditch. With little time to rectify my mistake, I flattened my foot to the floor, on what I thought was the brake, only to realise, too late, to my horror, that it was the accelerator. Instead of swiftly finding the correct pedal, lack of experience and presence of mind froze me into a terrified spectator, helplessly witnessing the car make its inevitable collision. Although only the car was physically damaged, my mind was forever dented with a lasting driving lesson. Safe, competent driving requires impeccable familiarity with the car and 100% concentration, for quick reactions. Presumptuous teenagers, are too young for the responsibility and parents are not the best teachers.

In the early hours of a Sunday morning, when I was 19, a speeding car, full of elated youngsters, returning home from an exciting night out, hurtled off a windy country road, smashed through a fence, unceremoniously tumbling down a slope, instantly extinguishing the lives of five of its six occupants, one of them a girl from my Primary School class. It plunged an entire community into stunned shock, unbridled grief, haunting loss and torturous guilt that it could have been avoided.

Drivers ed, with a trained instructor, is vital for initial learning and continual booster, throughout our driving lives.

Alertness to other road users’ careless, unpredictable behaviour is as crucial, as capably manoeuvring the manoeuvres.

Driving age should be at least 21.

Adrenalin-pumping, speed-inspiring, distracting, loud dance music should be prohibited, similar to mobile phone usage.

Maximum vehicle speedometer speed allowances should reflect legal limits.

Safety sensors beeping warnings of open doors and unbuckled seat-belts, should include dashboard devices, which on detection of alcohol or narcotics, on drivers’ breaths, prevent engines from starting.

Refresher lessons and test-resitting, should be imposed for rehabilitation, after licence revocation.

Restricted Licences, (R plates), limiting driving speed to 45 mph, for one year for new drivers and after licences have been reinstated following revocation, currently uniquely employed in Northern Ireland, are statistically proven to reduce accidents.

In the wider UK, compulsory annual MOTs (Ministry of Transport and Vehicle Testing) ensure all vehicles, over 3 years old, meet road worthiness and environmental emissions standards.

Multi-purpose smart cameras, tested in Finland in 2011, check speed, seat belt usage, distance between vehicles, tax and insurance.

These practices should be adopted worldwide.

To be a better, safer driver and help others do the same, I pledge to drive carefully, with minimum distractions, genuinely competent skills and observant eyes peeled.

Are my ideas too draconian? Ask a car crash survivor.