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Peter Owinje: Snapchat, Booze & Speed! Find Out the Things You’re Doing to Endanger Your Life While Driving

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Driving SafeDriving is a task or skill that requires a lot of patience and your attention. Lack of patience may explain why some drivers continue to show their bad manners on the road while driving. Since you share the road with other users such as pedestrians, trucks, motorcyclists and cyclists – with different needs on the same road it is important to be patient and mindful at all times. For instance, a truck needs additional stopping space and a wider space for turning when you compare it to car or mini bus. Thus, lack of patience with a truck driver who intends to make a turn may result in an accident.

Driving demands your focused attention and courtesy for other road users. The major interest in this article is the wrong things drivers do on the road. There are several road accidents that are caused by the wrong habits of the drivers. These bad habits must stop in order to make our road safer.

Drugs & Alcohol
Many drivers and some road users have been killed in some road accidents that are caused by drunk drivers. You may think you are a skillful driver or good at driving, but truly speaking, no matter how skillful you think you are or how good you think you are at driving, if you are drunk, your driving ability will be impaired. It is a known fact beyond every reasonable doubt, that alcohol can impair your driving ability. Therefore, if you do drink, you need to obey the simple rule: “if you drink don’t drive and if you drive don’t drink” This rule makes the road safer for all of us.

Fatigue
Fatigue is a product of physical labor. If a man works throughout the day without adequate rest, such a man is likely to become tired and a tired man is likely to become a drowsy driver. A drowsy driver poses a serious danger for any road user. Sleep can become irresistible and it can contribute to human error in many ways… especially while driving. There are accidents that are related to drivers sleeping behind the wheel. This explains why fatigue is one of the dangerous things that can happen to a driver who fails to rest. When you fail to rest before driving you are indirectly inviting fatigue and the result of fatigue is a progressive withdrawal of the attention needed for safe driving. Stop being a workaholic driver or person! Take time to rest. It is the way to overcome fatigue.

Distracted Driving
Eating and drinking; texting and reading; making calls and receiving calls… to mention but a few, are all forms of distraction that can affect a driver while driving. Distracted drivers are dangerous drivers. It does not pay to be a distracted driver.

No use of the Seat Belt
Some motorists, most especially the commercial drivers, drive without the use of seat belt. It is a known fact that seat belt can save your life during accident.

Overspeeding
The chance of having an accident is higher when drivers over speed. It takes a split second for an accident to occur.

The Use of Mobile Phones while Driving
Using mobile while driving is dangerous because it can reduce your attention needed while driving. Therefore, whether you use hand-held phone or hand free phone both are equally dangerous while driving.

Road Rage
This is angry behavior of a motorist while driving. On the 4th of March, 2016, I was travelling to Lagos, so I got on a commercial bus. While on the journey, the driver of another commercial bus, like the one I boarded, wanted to overtake the bus I was travelling with. Suddenly, our driver started to move the vehicle at a very high speed so that the other driver will not be able to overtake our bus. So I saw the two drivers showcasing their speed on expressway. They drove like this for a while, beside each other, until they got behind a long vehicle that was moving in the median of the expressway or in the middle of the road.
Both drivers had no other option but to reduce their speed. They then resorted to exchanging verbal insults. I wondered: ‘why all these drama on an expressway?’
Road rage or aggressive driving is a serious problem that all motorists must live above. Why? It is because it can affect the way you assess risks, and your ability to make wise driving decisions may be reduced, thereby increasing your chances of making unwanted mistakes on the road.

Finally, one major important solution to these wrong habits of some drivers is for all motorists to develop a safe driving attitude. “Attitude is that little thing that can make a big difference”

Photo Credit: Foto.com.ng

Peter Owinje is a renowned author and a transport and logistics expert. He is the founder and CEO of Global Transport and Logistics, a blog aimed at helping Nigerians and international citizens better understand transport and logistics

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