NIP arrived. 1005

Yes, there are a small number of drivers who either cannot handle their vehicles well, or who lack experience or observational skills or who think they are more competent than they are. Learner drivers, and those who drive along motorways at 30mph, terrified. You come across all of them, but they are a minority in my experience.

Much worse are those who think they are good drivers and believe that their reactions and brakes are so good that they can stop from 90mph in 2 feet, and thathat their intentions are so clear from their positioning that they never need to signal. Or the ones who insist on sticking to the motorway speed limit in the rightmost lane, thinking that makes them good drivers.

A simple hazard awareness test ought to jolt them out of that! Perhaps there should be compulsory "refresher courses" for divers every few years. Perhaps, once a driver has pbutted the test, something more than medical fitness to drive should be needed to permit them to keep their licences.

No, you miss my point and I agree. Diverting traffic from a road with a high hazard density to one with a lower hazard density should improve safety. Motorways are our safest roads primarily because some types of hazards are removed. So building a new motorway not only cuts journey times, but also improves safety for those that make journeys that can use it.

The drastic reduction in the rate of improvement in road casualty figures 10 years or so ago dates from the time of the government cutbacks in road building. They only "think of the children" when there is money to be made from it! If it costs money it is a different matter.

Absolutely! but drivers are human, attention does wander and they can be distracted. Some even fall asleep! That is what happens in the real world, peoples attention spans are limited. Perhaps it is only a few minutes at peak concentration.

So how are professional drivers, who might have to drive for many hours a day, every day, supposed to cope? I think perhaps part of it is managing your peak concentration, for example concentrating hard in heavy traffic, relaxing a bit on empty roads, or when waiting at traffic lights or stuck in jams.

I think it is possible to manage the level of conentration required in any situation, so that you have periods of high concentration, and other periods of lesser concetration when you drive in a less demanding manner. The problem I have is that many of the tailgaters in motorway right hand lanes and lane hoggers seem to be in low concentration mode. To me lower concetration is possible if you leave mbuttive amounts of space around you, and don't drive too fast. But management of you own conentrationlevels when driving is totally unexplored territory as far as research is concerned. But I believe that all succesful drivers must do it. You simply can't keep up peak conentration for hours on end.

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