The very recent car Accident involving 7 youngsters in a Toyota Innova moving at 170 Kms/hr colliding into a truck and claiming 6 lives brings us to the question, what more can be done to prevent such needless loss of lives?
In Health & safety risk management, the hierarchy of controls clearly defines the order in which controls need to be considered. While it may become complicated to define all elements of hazards associated with driving a car, let’s limit it to a singular hazard of accident at high speed driving (With or without drinking.)
So what are the current mitigating controls / options for high speed driving and their shortcomings.
Self-Discipline - The speed at which one drives is a personal choice and hence self-discipline is a good way to eliminate the hazard, however everyone is not of the same mindset and in most cases people driving at high speeds consider themselves to be in total control.
Taxi/Public Transport – Alternate means of public transportation are available and good means to substitute self-driving where alcohol, emergencies, stress or lack of sleep are involved.
Engineered Safety – Brakes, ABS, collision avoidance system, impact reduction techniques, tyre pressure indicators etc are safety features or Engineering controls built into cars to prevent accidents or reduce impact on an accident. Most of these features depend on a response/reaction time and may or may not work, especially at high speeds.
Speed Limits – Most roads/highways have speed limits assigned by the administration, supposedly worked out in a scientific manner. Most people do not follow it and some are even happy to pay the fine, if and when, penalized. At some place speed limits seem so ridiculous, that one might think that if I am going to break the limit, might as well do it with gay abandon.
Safety Belt / Air Bags – While these are known to be effective protective equipment at lower speeds, their efficacy at higher speeds depends on multiple factors and do not guarantee and safe walk out of an accident.
Amongst others, the speed of the vehicle at the time of impact, is one of the most important factors determining the extent of damage to the vehicle and the occupants and hence it becomes the obvious controllable choice. Unfortunately, faster acceleration and top speed happen to be selling points for vehicles.
In India the highest maximum speed limit on any road till date is 120 Kms/hr restricted to expressways. National highways and other roads are less than 110 Kms/hr. Why, pray, then we have vehicles capable of driving at 170 Kms/hr (as in this case). Even these limits are only for passenger vehicles with less than 8 seats, which is too broad for comfort since driving a small budget car at 120 Kms/hr is not the same as, let’s say, an SUV. Again, the policy does not differentiate between safety features of vehicles. So, a car without an ABS is treated at par with one with ABS and a car with two air bags is treated at par with one with Six airbags.
Suitable speed limiting (Governor) controls, backed by legislation mandating highest speed achievable, basis type of vehicle can be considered to be one of the solutions to get a handle on high-speed driving. Depending on the type of vehicle, its safety features, passenger carrying capacity, safety rating etc the manufacturer should set the maximum acceleration and top speed the vehicle can achieve, which of course will not exceed the maximum mandated by the Government. A smaller car or one with lesser safety features will have a lesser top speed allowed compared to a bigger vehicle or one with more safety features/rating. This may bring up some concerns, initially, like maybe the restriction being an impediment while overtaking or climbing up in a hilly terrain, but these are minor obstacles which can be overcome, again by engineering design like, maybe, a 3-5 minute selectable override. The collateral benefit will be more discipline on roads. Speed limiters are currently being used in some commercial vehicles and even made a statutory requirement in some countries.
In the future, in addition to the above, Satellites/GPS control may be mandated for controlling the speed of vehicles based on the designated speed limit for the particular road/highway/expressway. The technology exists and the auto industry as well as the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways need to start looking into this.
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