Your Driving
and
the
Road
There’s something else about drinking
and driving that many people don’t know.
Medical research shows that alcohol
in
a
person’s system can make crash injuries
worse. That’s especially true for brain,
spinal cord and heart injuries. That means
that if anyone who has been drinking
-
driver or passenger
-
is
in
a crash, the
chance of being killed or permanently
disabled is higher than
if
that person had
not been drinking. And we’ve already
seen that the chance of a crash itself is
higher for drinking drivers.
I‘
I
Control
of
a
Vehicle
ou have three systems that make your
2hicle go where you want it to go.
hey are the brakes, the steering and the
xelerator. All three systems have to do
teir work at the places where
the
tires
teet
the
road.
ometimes, as when you’re driving on
IOW
or ice, it’s easy to ask more of those
mtrol systems than the tires and road
an
provide. That means you can lose
mtrol of your vehicle.
1
i
1
1
i
I
1
1
1
1
1
4
1
I
I
I
Braking
3ralung action involves perception time
md reaction time.
%st, you have to decide to push
on
the
)rake pedal. That’s perception time.
rhen you have to bring up your foot
md do it. That’s reaction time.
4verage reaction time is about
3/4
of
a
;econd. But that’s only an average. It
might be less with one driver and as
long as two or three seconds or more
with another. Age, physical condition,
alertness, coordination, and eyesight all
play a part.
So
do alcohol, drugs and
frustration. But even in
3/4
of a second,
a
vehicle moving at
60
mph (100
km/h)
travels
66
feet
(20
m).
That could be a lot
of
distance in an emergency,
so
keeping
enough space between your vehicle and
others is important.
And,
of
course, actual stopping distances
vary
greatly with the surface of the road
(whether it’s pavement or gravel); the
condition of the road (wet, dry, icy); tire
tread; and the condition of your brakes.
Avoid needless heavy braking. Some
people drive in spurts
-
heavy
acceleration followed by heavy braking
-
rather than keeping pace with traffic.
. . .I28
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