ACCIDENTS
Road accidents are common all over the world. We Indians are still at least 100 years back in time when it comes to roads (consider Bihar not the Pune expressway). If the modern world has multiple lane highways, our highways are still single or double lane. The common word remains, "Accidents".

If our highways have head on collisions, they have multiple rear end ones. Just imagine the plight of hitting a mass of mangled cars and that's not over, many others are following, after your car becomes another junk.

But if most of the modern world have airbags, we rarely have them. But we are not even strapped up even if we have seat belts in our vehicles.

Sure humans are careless drivers. But why? Even the skilled Grand Prix drivers can meet his end after devoting a whole lifetime of career to studying techniques of vehicle dynamics and control. So who are the best drivers in the world. Surely Indians! Our taxi and truck drivers are the best, negotiating overtakes in their hurtling overloaded vehicles. The real fact is that humans are imperfect drivers. The human reflexes are not designed to handle speeds in excess of 30kmph, leave alone 100kmph. To understand the fact we shall have to analyze a bit of human evolution.



REACTION TIME
Human vision is almost 180 degrees form left to right. And 70 degrees vertically. So we have a wide vision capability. Evolution has designed our eyes to search. So we can concentrate on a particular range at a any single point of time. That range is the area of a mere coin held at arms length. Now it takes 1/10th of a sec. To move our focus from that 'coin' area to another point, and another 1/10th to process that information in our brain. The latter is the reflex speed we have and it varies according to what state our body is in.

REACTION TIME = EYEBALL MOVEMENT+ PHYSICAL REFLEX

During nighttime, reflexes capabilities are enhanced (result of evolution). And the opposite happens when we have alcohol in our blood. Alcohol delays acting of the CNS (Central Nervous System) Many of us Indians manage to drive under the influence of alcohol and it is our confidence and God's blessings that have saved us till now.

Anger however does some good to our reflexes. But the brain becomes more physically inclined that mentally, so here we end up acting overconfidently.

Another factor is our reflexes during motion. Human reflexes are designed for walking or running speeds. But do we drive below 30kmph? Accidents do occur even at 20kmph. So when we are getting the adrenaline rush at 80kmph, we are far beyond our reflex limitations.

Reason for all these? Remember humans were designed for hunting and gathering. Evolution is still in process but where it will take us, only a 10000-year period can tell us.

Did you know that cockroaches have reflexes multiple times that of humans. No wonder it is so difficult to stamp them with our feet. There is a catch however. They live in a different dimension of time. What 1 minute may be for us , it is 10 seconds for them. So they have excellent reflexes. If cockroaches were to drive in a grand prix, almost no accidents could occur.

VEHICULAR LIMITATIONS
There are reasons when we are not in the best position to handle emergencies much due to a cars design. Incorrect driving posture, Blind spots, tinted glasses, sound detection, braking efficiency etc.

Headrests, passengers, tinted glasses are bound to give blind spots to drivers. Rolled up glasses, AC blower noise, music systems, and distracting co-passengers deteriorate our hearing capabilities. Humans are blessed with stereophonic hearing to give us a three dimensional detection of the source of sound.

Imagine a vehicle honking behind you in a highway and all the above stated conditions, how will you locate the vehicle by not leaving sight of the road ahead and looking behind? This situation becomes all the more difficult when it's dark and raining.

Modern cars have power assisted disc brakes with ABS and traction control. Not all Indian cars have them. These provide assistance to vehicular control but does not completely avoid accidents.

There are also cases where the vehicle does not behave as we expect it to. It is the steering wheel that the driver communicates with all the time. Brakes come later. We can brake and still fall into a gorge,skidding. But we can always steer away from the gorge without braking.

When assessing a cars external safety features, what one should determine first is braking behaviour on wet roads. That's where everyone gets the surprise accident. First of all the brake pads don't hold if they are wet, then the car goes out of control just as the brakes bite.

Are you a moderate non-aggressive driver? (esp. ladies)
Be prepared for emergency situations. Being slower doesn't mean you will be free of accidents. Of the thing you should learn is experience of skidding and emergency getaways. Once in a while you need to hit the pedal hard and flex your driving capabilities because that will let you react in accidental situations.
Practices in empty spaces and try quick reversing too but don't do that elk test. Also be extra careful on wet surfaces.

CAUTION: I must state that the above should be done with some expert guidance as there is always the risk of overturning your car.

Are you a rash driver?
Doesn't matter. Well this one can cure you of road rage.

Take a test: Lets assume you are driving in the city with traffic lights every odd kilometer. For once drive at a relaxed and moderate speed. Let a seemingly faster car pass you. It should be a car that you would feel offended to give way to. Chances are that you will definitely meet it at the next red light. What you do in addition is that is as soon as you see the cars stopping far away, get into neutral and let the car roll to a stop in neutral gear. That's where you save fuel and brake pad wear (in comparison to your rival car).

In simulation tests it has been found that it never pays to race in city.

FEAR
Rash drivers or moderate drivers, what should be foremost in our minds are that carelessness costs lives and property. We must have some fear in our minds to cultivate responsible driving behavior.

People have to party, then they have to drive back home. Most people will miss a driver at night and many wont have a driver for them at odd hours. Old habits die hard, so my opinion for people who will ever go on drunk driving is that if you are doing it , drive with extra fear to get up to that safety level of action.

During an accident everything happens in a split second. You may never know when your face actually hits the steering and gets smashed. Also just imagine the plight of missing your car for the time it is in the workshop getting accidental repairs.

Many of us Indians must have started driving without a license. But we should always realize that you need to reach a particular level of maturity to get the wheel and drive responsibly, for apart from other lives, your life matters the most.

FUTURE
The future does have innovations like Highway automation following economics of MRTS (Mass Rapid Transit Systems).
Imagine a group of cars traveling on a highway . They are equipped with radar detection sensors and onboard computers. They follow each other in a straight line, maintaining a safe distance between them considering parameters like speed. Each car communicates with all other cars in the group and tell each other when they will depart from the line to catch another lane. That way reduces accidents to the maximum possible and enhancing fuel efficiency. Yet another is planting magnets along the road. Sensors below the car follow the magnets and steer automatically. Drivers here sit back handsfree, reading or snacking throughout the journey.