There are many articles written about car safety – with the majority of these articles focussing on the safety of the driver and passengers inside the vehicle. But what about the person walking, running or jogging on the roads? Pedestrians account for about 18% of road deaths, and as our roads are become increasingly more congested, pedestrian safety needs to become a focus area. Pedestrians struck by the front of a vehicle account for the majority of pedestrian fatalities.
While there are no Australian regulations which apply specifically to the pedestrian ‘friendliness’ of vehicles, ANCAP, the Australian New Car Assessment Program has aligned its crash test and assessment procedures to the European Experimental Vehicles Committee’s (EEVC) component tests representing the three most important mechanisms of injury for pedestrians : head, upper legs and lower legs. In the ANCAP tests, up to 42 points are allocated to results relating to adult and child simulated impacts in the areas of the bonnet, windscreen and front of the vehicle.
Car manufacturers are increasingly employing techniques such as crumple zones and deformable structures in order to lessen the possible injury to a pedestrian on impact. Another technology that is emerging is that of the active bonnet. In the event of a collision an active bonnet system will cause the bonnet of the car to lift by a few millimetres as soon as contact with the font bumper is detected – allowing some space between the engine which will cushion the impact of a person.
Mercedes has recently filed patents for a safety system that applies the principle of airbags on the outside of the vehicle, with airbags fitted in the A-pillars which will deploy on impact, effectively cushioning the impact of a person.
These technologies focus on lessening the impact of a collision with a pedestrian – but obviously, first prize would be to avoid this situation entirely.
One safety system which helps to avoid a pedestrian collision is auto emergency braking (AEB) and forward collision warning which can stop your vehicle and avoid obstacles ahead. In some cars the system operates only for lower speeds, and in others, a warning is provided to the driver if a potential collision is identified – this technology is applied differently in various vehicle makes and models.
Into the future, we can expect that systems that rely on vehicle-to-vehicle communication will start to be deployed – using other vehicles nearby to relay information that alerts the driver to road hazards, including pedestrians. It is to be expected that, with advances in technology such as this, pedestrian road fatalities can be dramatically reduced in the future, in spite of our ever increasingly congested roads.
Do you know how to safely merge, change lanes and enter a freeway – or are you that driver that causes gritting of teeth and frustration for other drivers as they ever so slowly sail onto the freeway to the sound of screeching brakes behind them?
Situations such as this can be the cause of very serious accidents – if the driver behind is not alert and able to react in time.
Some drivers are just, to put it plainly, inept – while others may interpret the rules of the road differently and unintentionally.
In Australia, we have two different types of merge. Firstly, the dotted line merge, which is when a lane comes to an end, and a dotted line separates the end of the lane and the entry into the next lane. This is like the highway onramps and offramps. In a dotted line merge, the car in the lane with the dotted line has to give way to the cars in the other lane. This means that even if you are a nose ahead of the car in the adjacent lane – you need to slow down and give way to this car. From an etiquette perspective – if you are the driver in the lane into which the dotted lane car is merging – it is really polite to speed up or slow down to make room for this driver. If you are merging, match the speed of the cars in the lane that you are merging into – don’t try to enter a freeway doing 40 km/h – you will be an accident waiting to happen. Try not to stop in the merging lane especially when you enter a freeway – you need to achieve the speed of the cars travelling on the freeway safely, within the distance available to you, without losing momentum while also timing the availability of a gap in the cars that you will be able to get into.
The other type of merge is where two lanes become one, and the dividing line stops. In this case, whoever in in front has right of way. Good etiquette in this situation is to take turns to merge – like a zipper.
As far as changing lanes is concerned – keep left and overtake right on multilane roads. On a highway, make sure to use the fast lane for overtaking and move back into the slow lane when safe to do so.
It’s one thing to buy a car – new or used – but the responsibility doesn’t stop there. How do you keep your newly acquired vehicle in tip top running order? Here are a few pointers for you, to help you keep your car running well for as long as possible.
You are probably not a mechanic – and there are certain vehicle maintenance tasks that are best left to a qualified mechanic. However, there are some common sense things that you can do to increase the serviceable lifetime of your car, and help you to save money on those sometimes expensive repairs.
First of all – ensure that you have an owners manual for your vehicle. If you have bought a used vehicle, and the manual is missing, ask your local dealer or download it in pdf format from a reputable website. Secondly – when in doubt, read the manual. You will find all sorts of useful information here, from recommended tyre pressures for various loads, to details on fuel and oil and so on.
Always make sure that you equip your car with the best tyres that you can afford, and then make sure that you maintain them on a regular basis by checking the tyre pressure (when the tyres are cold), ensuring that your tyres are rotated and balanced every 10000 km and that the tyre tread is above the minimum specified by law (1.5mm). Don’t forget about your spare tyre!
Although your oil and fluid levels will be checked at each regular service, it’s a good idea to do this yourself, at regular intervals between services. The brake and radiator reservoirs are the clearish plastic containers under the bonnet – and they have a line indicating the optimal fluid level. The oil level can be checked using the dipstick (check your owner’s manual). The dipstick is a long rod with a coloured handle at the end, that you can pull out all the way from the bottom of the engine block.
Another item that you should check on regularly, is your battery. You can check these levels by unscrewing the caps on top of the battery and making sure the water level inside is just touching the ends of the caps. If you need to top it up, use only demineralised water, and remove the two power cables (black first) before you do so, taking care not to overfill the battery and spill acidy water everywhere.
If you are not keen on any of these tasks – look for a service station where they can assist you. It will really help to keep your car on the road for longer and also reduce any cost of an expensive repair that possibly could have been avoided.
Getting in your car and driving is still one of the most dangerous things that you do each day. Car manufacturers have done a lot in recent years to improve the level of safety in some of the latest models, with features such as adaptive cruise control, lane departure technology and collision avoidance systems – but what can you do if you own an older vehicle that doesn’t come with these safety features?
Well, the good news is that there are a number of things that you can do to upgrade the safety level of your vehicle:
Upgrade your tyres. Get some advice on the best possible tyres for your car – tyres that will deal with wet weather conditions as well as dry, and will provide you with the best traction on the road to improve handling of your vehicle.
If your car’s entertainment system is not the most modern, and you need to plug in your smartphone or tablet, you may land up with a mess of wires and a distraction when you try to adjust the controls. Have a look at buying one of the following:
Install a reversing camera – important if your vehicle is one where it’s just not possible to see everything behind you. This could just make the difference between life and death for someone walking, riding or playing behind your car.
Install a blind spot warning system. Sometimes, a standard physical check by turning your head may not be enough – poor lighting and bad weather conditions can mean that you miss something.
Take off that bull bar – its really not necessary in the city and on suburban streets. A vehicle fitted with a bull bar can kill a pedestrian at half the speed of a vehicle without one. If you don’t have reason for a bull bar, replacing it with a standard bumper will make your car safer for pedestrians, other drivers and cyclists.
Its December, and Christmas is just around the corner – can you believe it! At this time of the year we will all be doing more driving than usual – shopping trips, trips to the beach, visiting friends and relatives – and for some of us, an annual road trip to holiday or spend Christmas with family.
If you are planning a long road trip, you need to think about preparing your car – this is not the time to have your car break down halfway between home and your destination due to something that could have been prevented with a little maintenance.
Even if your car’s services are up to date – it is a good idea to have your car checked over by a qualified mechanic before you leave on a long road trip. There are a number of things that can fail due to normal wear and tear, that only a mechanic will be able to pick up. Make a point of doing this at least 3 weeks before Christmas, so that if problems are found you will have enough time to get them rectified.
Here are some checks that need to be made:
If you are not a member of one of the automobile associations in Australia, and you don’t have a roadside assistance plan, consider joining, so that you will have access to a tow truck or roadside assistance if you need this.
If you are embarking on a long trip this December, make sure that your car is roadworthy and all the mechanics have been checked over by a qualified mechanic.
Start out with a clean car (you will feel better if this is the case), and don’t overload your vehicle. If you pack too much, you and your passengers will feel very cramped in the car, and it won’t be an easy task to find things you have packed. It will also take longer to unpack when you reach load limit. destination, and most importantly, you run the risk of exceeding your vehicle’s safe load limit – your car’s suspension will be put under extra strain making your car potentially difficult to handle and your brakes won’t function as effectively as they should to name but a few of the problems associated with overloading.
Take along a stocked roadside emergency kit, some food for the road and a sunhat and jersey or jacket in case you happen to be stranded on the side of the road at any time.
Always ensure that you and your passengers wear seat belts – and don’t turn off that annoying alarm that warns you that someone in the vehicle has not buckled up.
Drive at the recommended speed limit for the road you are on, taking into account the weather conditions. If the weather is bad – slow down. If the weather gets really bad – find a place to stop and wait until it eases.
Don’t drive when you are tired. A drowsy driver is just as dangerous as a drunk driver – take turns with another driver in the car, or if this isn’t possible, pull over and get some sleep.
Pay 100% attention to your driving – no mobile phones, fiddling with the entertainment options and so on. Leave that to your passengers, and concentrate on getting you all to your destination safely.
If the road is busy, maintain a following distance appropriate for the road and weather conditions – and a minimum 2 second gap between you and the car in front of you.
There is not a lot that you can do to change the way that other drivers behave on the roads – but you can focus on your own driving, and a little care and courtesy will go a long way to keeping you and your passengers safer on the roads.
While most roads and highways in Australia are safe, well-maintained and meet high quality standards, Australia is a very large country, and outside of the main cities is a vast area, much of which is remote outback, with variable road conditions.
Firstly, you really do not want to be stranded in a remote region of Australia, unprepared. If you are going into the outback, we would suggest taking some basic items with you, just in case:
Once you are fully prepared and on the road, look out for the following hazards in order to avoid an unnecessary accident:
There is no better way of exploring Australia than getting out of the city – and if you are prepared and cautious you can be sure to enjoy the experience!
According to research conducted by Insurance Australia Group (IAG) in 2016, 54% of Australian drivers state that they have trouble merging with traffic.
Many people have an issue entering a freeway or a busy road, and struggle to identify opportunities to merge with the traffic – irritating the stream of cars behind them. Exacerbating the problem are those drivers that simply will not adjust their speed to create a gap for a car to enter the stream of traffic – or worse, speed up to ensure that a gap cannot exist.
A lot of Australian drivers have difficulties on freeway on-ramps as well as bottlenecks along main roads, both of which are often hot spots for merging-related collisions.
Here are some tips for safe merging: