Dashcam footage of the Vanderbijlpark crash that took the lives of 14 school children was released yesterday amongst much speculation. A question many should be asking is what would they do should they find themselves in a similar situation?
The CEO of MasterDrive, Eugene Herbert, says a possible head-on collision is something every defensive driver should always expect and, consequently, be prepared for. “Understand and accept mistakes or bad decisions will be made on the road by others.
“Drivers must always be prepared for a potential head-on collision and respond in a manner that minimises risk for all road users. While nothing can guarantee complete safety, there are recommended steps that can reduce harm in the critical moments before a head-on collision.”
There are techniques that can either reduce impact or help minimise injuries and death if a head-on collision is imminent. “These techniques, however, are often at ‘war’ with your instinctual reaction -which are often not the safest course of action.
“Choosing the right reaction depends on awareness of what may happen during a potential head-on collision and how to respond appropriately. This will make a war between instinct and a trained reaction, significantly less,” says Herbert.
Instinctual vs. trained reactions
- Scenario: a vehicle is overtaking ahead and is now in your lane, on a direct collision course.
Instinct: the ‘faked left’ response is when the driver in the correct lane swerves into the clear right lane. The overtaking driver then also suddenly realises they are in the incorrect lane, and they too move back into the same lane as you – except this time you are at fault and a head-on collision still occurs.
Trained reaction: as the non-overtaking driver in the left-hand lane, never move into the right-hand lane. In most instances, the safest choice is to move left onto the shoulder or side of the road.
- Scenario: you fixate on the oncoming vehicle.
Instinct: drivers steer toward the object they are staring at.
Trained reaction: after identifying the risk and potential head-on collision, look away from the oncoming vehicle and in the direction you want to safely navigate to.
- Scenario: you need to reduce your speed to safely make your next move.
Instinct: you slam on brakes causing them to lock (if you do not have ABS) or lose control because of the sudden and extreme change in speed.
Trained reaction: stop accelerating and gradually apply brakes. Once speed is safely reduced you can start manoeuvring into a safe position.
- Scenario: there are obstacles such as trees or ditches on the left of the road where you need to move your vehicle.
Instinct: slam on brakes, freeze, or make a sudden and last-minute overcorrections.
Trained reaction: it is still recommended to steer toward the left shoulder to avoid a direct head-on collision. Aim to hit obstacles from the side in a glancing blow rather than a full-frontal crash.
MasterDrive extends their heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones affected by the tragic head-on collision involving the scholar transport on Monday. “We support the calls from society and proposals from government for scholar transport drivers to undertake greater training. This is the first step in preventing needless loss of young, innocent lives on our roads,” says Herbert.
MasterDrive has a developed scholar transport training programme which the organisation is happy to extend to more service providers and use in interaction with all sectors of society to improve the transportation available to our youth.
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