Rash driving? But complaint number may not work!

If you happen to be behind a transport vehicle (taking call center or other IT professionals) to and from their destinations in Bangalore you will see a sticker on their rear window reading ‘rash driving – call a certain number’.

As a practice most organizations include it their standard operating procedure to inform the public of escalation point of contacts. I find this process quite lax for a few reasons –

1. There are no standards for writing up this information. The fonts vary and therefore you may or may not be able to read the information

2. The way the drivers zoom by the chances of you noting the numbers is one in a million!

3. In case you do happen to call (and surprisingly, some report LAN line numbers) there maybe no response at the other end.

4. We can’t blame the accidents on the transport drivers as well since they have targets to meet in terms of drops and that puts additional pressure on them to get to their destinations sooner.

Finally, if you do also call and get through to report a complaint it may come back to haunt you as the victim since the transport driver will figure out the complainant and take revenge.

So here is an example of a good idea turning into another checkbox ticked off by those pretending to be making our roads safer.

Instead investing time to help drivers understand the social, economic and business implications of their behavior can go a long way in making this change an important one.

Keen to know your views. Please post them here.

Make believe seat belts and callousness

I was amused when the cab driver snapped on the buckle as he neared the office.  It had become a practice in a way! There seemed to be a fear of checking at the entry gates and hence the need to show his attention to road safety.

 Shoocking but true. This is reality still on Indian roads. I have seen vehicles with rudimentary. ‘make believe’ seat belts in the front just to avoid getting into trouble with the police.  As long as there is a band across your chest, no one bothers!

 What people fail to realize is the injury even a sudden stop or impact can do to the passenger in the front.

When was the last time you let someone else have the right of way?

In our fast paced world, right of way has become more like a birthright. In our drive to shave extra minutes off the clock, we squeeze through traffic and cause snarls at places where we could have avoided it.

I am amused to see the shocked expressions on the faces of drivers when I give the right of way even if vehicles come in from my left. Those few seconds of waiting does not do me any harm and probably, makes the others feel a bit more guilty of haste.

Try it the next time you hit the roads – give way even when you have the first access to cross and watch the reaction!

 

Fatigue and driving

I have noticed that driving in peak traffic drains me more than anything else. It is not just navigating traffic, the noise, pollution, the lack of lane discipline gets one stressed.

 

In one of the road safety advertisements, they show the car headlamps blinking like the way our eyes go through the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) rhythm and then shutting completely. The voiceover is chilling – it says – over 99% of people who fall asleep at the wheel never wake up again.

It is best to take an alternate mode of transport than to force yourself and drive. Even if you feel tired while on the road, it makes sense to move over to the side, park the car and rest for a while. Losing a few minutes will not take away much from your journey but a fatigued mind can.

 

Giving way for emergency service vehicles

It is shocking to see some drivers trying to overtake or to outmaneuver emergency service vehicles like ambulances on the roads. You could be the reason for someone not getting medical attention on time. I have noticed some motorists closely following ambulances hoping to beat traffic by tailing it. It can only take irresponsible citizens to conjure up something like that.

 

Not taking a call will not kill you

With the advent of mobile telephony came the phenomenon of talking on the phone and driving. As much as it is loathed as bad etiquette on the roads, it is also viewed as a poor habit. Not taking a call will not kill you – you can always return the call or the caller will find a way to reach you again. Research has also found that it is difficult to focus on more than one thing at a time on the roads – especially in India where one needs to be aware of the surroundings and the hazards. Some adventurous drivers think that a hands free set would be convenient, but, again this isn’t a solution.

Graphic imagery versus words

We know a picture can say a thousand words but when it comes to road safety advertisements it can say a million. In our interactions with citizens, we often play road safety advertisements which we have collected from around the world. These include messages on speeding, drunken driving, helmet wearing, seat belt usage among others. This forms the perfect foil for presenting our road safety program details. The graphic imagery is so powerful that we notice the audience completely engrossed in the ads and their reactions are reflective of their feelings. An ad which shows a lady grieving her friend’s death due to a speeding car shell-shocks the audience due to its real-life situation. There is a difference between showing gory images and reality pictures – a fine line when it comes to convincing citizens on safe road habits.

“It is a great feeling to know that my company cares for me”

 

This comment was shared by an employee at a recently concluded road safety program conducted by FFL at an MNC. It was based on a host of activities ranging from training sessions to interactive games that was held to educate employees about safe road habits. The impact of the program was captured with a post event survey which was exciting – it showed a willingness by employees to change their behavior, it showed a concern for the poor road habits in the cities in India and a need to make a difference. We know we were making headway. I would encourage companies to incorporate road safety programs as part of their yearly plans and not as knee-jerk reactions to crashes and injuries. It helps to keep employees aware of your concern for them.

 

You drink, you drive, you lose…..

In India, driving under the influence of alcohol is quite widespread and steps to controlling them are not effective. By providing the ‘extra rope’ of flexibility – some ads speak of the limit of drinking…my contention is that alcohol is a drug which inhibits coherent thinking and therefore should not be allowed if you are driving. It also impacts people in different ways and in different intensities. You lose your sense of control, you lose your self-respect, you lose your principles….it is a decision you need to make… 

In India while driving a motor vehicle, if a person, has in his/her blood alcohol exceeding 30mg per 100 ml of blood detected in a test by a breath analyser, That person shall be punishable for the first offence with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees, or with both; and for a second or subsequent offence, if committed within three years of the commission of the previous similar offence, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to three thousand rupees, or with both…

For more information on drunken driving and its issues, check out http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Misc/driving/s26p2.htm

Isn’t child road safety a responsibility of adults?

The safety of children is often ignored or misunderstood due to lack of awareness and apathy.

 

In many developing countries, pedestrians are a particularly vulnerable group of road

users. In Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and the Middle East, more than 40 per cent of reported road accident deaths are pedestrians, compared to ‘only’ about 20 per cent in Europe and the United States. Furthermore, certain types of pedestrians, such as the young, have been identified as being especially at risk in these road accidents. Accidents involving children less than 16 years of age on average contribute to 20 per cent of pedestrian fatalities in developing countries making them a major safety problem and cause for concern. (Source: Teaching children in developing countries to be
safe road users – Paper given at First Road Transportation Technology Transfer Conference in Africa, Arusha, Tanzania, May 23 – 25, 2001)
 

While steps are taken to incorporate road safety training and education in schools for children, there must be discipline among parents to ensure that the children are indeed safe.  In India, where safety practices are lax in most states, it makes sense to focus on educating and communicating safe road habits with responsibility as the reason for change. Involving children in the process of education helps in the message being imbibed better.