Some studies of eye and head movement tracking show increased risk of crashing as high as 20% when mobile phone and other infotainment devices are accessed while driving.

Murcotts regard any visual or cognitive distraction as the highest risk factor working against safe driving. Texting and attempting to read messages/emails is such a serious risk that employers would be well advised to demand engine on phone off to avoid potential vicarious liability and breaches of EHS legislation.

The importance of the driver being totally focussed on the task of driving is born out in Murcotts Defensive Driving exercises when drivers are asked to perform simple low speed manoeuvres without error. Usually the driver’s concentration is heightened during the activity and any suggestion that the driver handle a phone call at the same time would induce considerable stress. Yet many drivers think nothing of holding a complex telephone conversation while travelling at much higher speeds on public roads.

A policy that encourages regular rest stops from driving also permits drivers to catch up on calls and messages so Engine On Phone Off is a policy can that improve the performance of those who drive for their work. 

Given the high dependence on mobile phones by most people, it follows that asking them to not use their phone while driving conflicts with their habitual behaviour. Rather than blame drivers for this “normal”  behaviour, an employer that adopts an Engine On Phone Off policy accepts its responsibility to protect their drivers from this risky tendency.

Vehicle crashes and road trauma can seriously impact the mental health of those involved or affected. Some people ignore the symptoms of their emotional injuries from road trauma or they don’t connect their emotional trauma to the event. Some people find it difficult to drive a vehicle again without experiencing severe anxiety.

During road trauma events your body floods your system with adrenaline to allow it to cope but when these chemicals wear off, some people will suffer from ongoing mental anguish including:

• Anxiety
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Memory loss
• Depression
• Sleep issues

The symptoms of mental injury from a road trauma may include anxiety about driving a vehicle again, avoiding certain driving situations or conditions and avoiding the location of the incident.

If you suffer ongoing issues, it can be very beneficial to seek help from a therapist or counsellor. This professional may suggest attending defensive driver training specifically designed to address your concerns.

Usually, post road trauma training is conducted one on one with a professional driver trainer skilled in the practice of listening to your concerns and offering advice and driving activities which will help to build your confidence and provide a rational approach to driving situations which you find stressful.

Safety is always the priority in this specialised training, and your comfort with the process is crucial to a successful outcome.  Tell your trainer if you are worried about any of the activities being offered so that appropriate adjustment can be made.

The process is not a test and is paced to suit your progress. You will be the judge on how well it is going.  Hopefully you will find it enjoyable as you deal with your concerns.

You might discover safe driving techniques which are new to you and which will reassure you when applied to your future driving. You might gain valuable insight into your particular road trauma event and its causes.  

Training is offered in two hour sessions and can commence at an off road venue initially. Some of the training will be theoretical based on discussions and exercises. Driving activities will be in your normal car and will include a basic safety check.  The number of sessions will likely range between five and ten but may end at anytime you feel you have achieved a positive result and have the confidence to return to driving.

A confidential comprehensive written report can be produced on completion of the process and supplied to you.

None of these ideas has anything to do with road safety, it's just ageist discrimination. 

Even the statistics can be misleading.  The facts are that many fatalities of older road users  involve pedestrians and passengers. Lumping these together with older driver deaths distorts the picture.

Of course as we get older health issues will affect our performance in many activities including driving. But medical practitioners need to be vigilant to detect medical problems for drivers in all age groups, not just the elderly.  The facts are that older drivers are generally more cautious but if they are involved in a crash, some will be seriously injured or killed due to their frailty. In some cases their health issues will be the direct cause of their crash.

The problem is more about safe driving ability for all drivers regardless of age yet most drivers have not been assessed since licensing.

More important than focussing on age  is the issue of continual learning for drivers but only a few bother to refresh their knowledge and skill throughout their driving careers.  And that learning needs to involve drivers increasing their self-awareness and the effects of their aging and health problems on their driving. For example, eyesight is a crucial factor in driver safety. Many older drivers will claim they didn't see the other vehicle or object prior to colliding with it. Regular eye tests, at least every 2 years, are a must but equally a review of the older driver's vehicle ergonomics will often highlight their inability to maintain proper control.

Some older persons' postures means that they sit lower in their vehicle and don't have adequate vision of objects close to their vehicle. In addition their reach to the steering wheel and brake can hinder their ability to respond quickly in an emergency. Reactions, therefore, may be slower so they need to increase their following distances, but most have not been taught how to do this.

In fact most older drivers have not been coached about their driving since they obtained their licence many years ago. Vehicle technology, road rules and traffic patterns are all vastly different. A common problem for elderly drivers is effective steering. Many have difficulty maintaining their vehicle's correct position in lanes and when manoeuvring at slow speeds for parking and the like, their shuffling steering technique, which is a hangover from learning to drive in a vehicle without power steering, limits their ability to avoid bumps and scrapes.

The idea of continual learning for drivers is not well understood or accepted. Most drivers of all ages would not pass a road rule test without prior swatting and many have no idea of contemporary road craft techniques for crash avoidance. Murcotts have conducted a number of special programs for older drivers in an attempt to address this gap and it is clear that older drivers, like the wider population, have a belief that they are above average in ability. Having survived so long on the roads is no doubt part of the evidence they rely on for their positive self assessment but this can also be a factor in them failing to take on new advice. 

What we know is that unless there is lifelong learning associated with driving, breaking old driving bad habits and replacing them with contemporary safer driving techniques, will be challenging for driver trainers and coaches.

So suggesting older drivers have an "S" for "senior" is silly. It just doesn't address the problem.
 

Imagine a friend offered you a drink - a volatile, flammable, colourless liquid described as a powerful psychoactive drug, also used in modern thermometers. 
You would probably say “no thanks”.

What if that friend persisted and described the liquid substance as having a molecular formula is C2H5OH, an empirical formula is C2H6O, an alternative notation is CH3–CH2–OH, which indicates that the carbon of a methyl group (CH3–) is attached to the carbon of a methylene group (–CH2–), which is attached to the oxygen of a hydroxyl group (–OH)?1 

It doesn’t make you feel much better, does it?
But, if the friend said that he was merely offering you an alcoholic cocktail, you may just relax a little...and drink it!
These colourful descriptions are actually describing everyday alcohol – or more correctly, ethyl alcohol.  It is the stuff in beer, wine and spirits.

Now let’s talk about alcohol and how it affects driving.  Alcohol is a drug.  It changes the way the body functions, in particular, depressing the central nervous system.  In other words, it relaxes us.

However, while we love alcohol for its intoxicating and relaxing effects, alcohol has well documented adverse effects on driver performance, especially in terms of cognitive function and psychomotor skill.

Forensic Physician, Dr Edward Ogden explained as follows. ”The amount of alcohol required to affect human behaviour is quite small. Driving is an extremely complicated task.  We do it so often we take it for granted. But the driver is required to see, to understand what is seen, to make judgements about speed and distance to be aware and understand hazards as they occur and to see hazards out of the corner of the eye.  Alcohol affects all of these things.” Dr Ogden said.  

The most recent studies into alcohol and impaired performance were conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the USA and published in 20002.  The study found that even the smallest amount of alcohol decreased a driver’s ability to multi task.  The equivalent of one standard drink of alcohol increased drowsiness and decreased vigilance.  Two standard drinks decreased perception and visual function and interfered with the driver’s ability to drive within a marked lane.  Worse still, this small dose of alcohol actually increased reaction time.  In fact all of these functions that are essential to safe driving were affected noticeably at BAC levels below .05%.

Dr Ogden also makes the point that alcohol affects our ability to react to an on-road emergency. “Frequently we hear that someone has driven home affected by alcohol and may have driven home many times affected by alcohol without a problem - and that is because no hazard arose”. said Dr Ogden.  “But we know absolutely that alcohol affects our ability to make judgements in a hurry. And we know that they will not cope with an emergency.” Dr Ogden said.  

Consider this.  When you are driving your car at 65 km/h you are travelling at 50 metres per second.  If you react to a hazard – say a vehicle stopped 45 metres ahead of you – the normal reaction time is 1.3 seconds – so you get your foot on the brakes after travelling 24 metres.  Your braking distance – in a perfect situation – is 27 metres. That means the total distance travelled from the time you see the emergency is 51 metres.  If you are affected by alcohol – even a small dose – a one second delay in reacting to this emergency means you will now travel 75 metres before stopping.  You will slam into the stopped vehicle at around 58 km/h. If no one is injured or killed, the crash is not included in road safety statistics. The next time the same crash occurs it might involve a pedestrian with tragic results and of course it will be counted in the road toll. The first crash presented a great opportunity to intervene and prevent a worse result but authorities usually miss such opportunities.   

So, next time you think about having ‘one for the road’ – don’t!  You can make a difference.

Both organisations recognise the value of RISK PREVENTION for safe communities.

It follows that people who adopt Neighbourhood Watch safety and security principles would want to extend them to safety on our roads.

Prevention of crime is a proactive strategy and so is the prevention of road crashes and trauma.  It involves the same thinking and decision making. Doing things that avoids crime or crashes is a smart investment compared to the costly and emotionally draining demands of picking up the pieces after the event.

Both Murcotts and NHW have a common purpose - to educate people about managing risk. Not just talking about it but actually changing our thinking and decisions that can lead to new and safer behaviours in the home, on the roads and across our communities. 

Every crime or crash that we can help prevent adds incredible value to our society. It's a total reversal from potential loss to enormous gain.

Two of our immediate challenges are protecting the aged and frail members of our communities and providing a more positive outlook for our younger generation.

Ironically these two groups are often in conflict as the elderly become victims of crime committed by frustrated youth who see no real hope of getting ahead without resorting to crime and antisocial behaviour.

Murcotts has had success working with both groups providing refresher training for older drivers to keep them safe on the roads and designing targeted programs for young drivers who need to demonstrate to future employers that they have taken their driver safety responsibilities seriously by learning about defensive driving.

To this end Murcotts is offering NHW members and their families a discount of $100 off the normal one day defensive driving course to encourage everyone to think smarter, stay out of trouble and get home safely.

Murcotts is a supporter of Neighbourhood Watch and sponsors the NHW annual Awards event.

However, it has sounded a note of caution about implementing a program without first consulting organisations that will be tasked with delivering these programs to Learner drivers.

Murcotts’ Managing Director, Geoff Thomas, says that while it is important for politicians to show leadership on issues such as young driver education and road safety, it is also important not to set up expectations about program delivery until the proper processes have been carried out.

“Failure on this issue is not an option,” Mr Thomas said.  “The statistics are confronting and while the number of road deaths among 18 to 25 year old drivers has decreased over recent years, the fact remains that this group is vastly over-represented in road trauma statistics.

“In their first year of driving, research from the Transport Accident Commission shows that young Victorians are almost four times more likely to be involved in a fatal or serious injury crash than more experienced drivers.”

“Authorities should focus less on road deaths and concentrate on the number of crashes that result in serious injury.  Minimising this aspect of road trauma is actually harming our ability to focus on the real purpose of defensive driver training and in particular safe driving behaviours.”

Mr Thomas called on politicians from both sides of the political divide to avoid using the issue of road safety and driver education to score political points.

He said all Governments, both State and Federal, need to commit to establishing a bitisan review and consult recognised young driver training providers to scope out the most appropriate course for Learner drivers.

“Murcotts has been in this business for 46 years and we are yet to hear anyone in authority correctly define a Safe Dring Course or Defensive Driver Training,” Mr Thomas said.

“Too many driver training course in Australia miss the high order cognitive skills required by Learner drivers.  Consequently, programs aimed at controlling skids or focusing on getting out of trouble are missing key elements essential to safe driving behaviours.”

“Equally, any program limited to a short duration such as four hours is problematic.  Safe driving requires life long learning and driver training courses need to recognise the changing needs of drivers of all ages.  Murcotts offer full day programs but aknowledge the curriculum can only expect to touch on a few key outcomes, such as improving vision, hazard detection and crash avoidance.”

Mr Thomas said Australia’s road safety strategy has neglected the evaluation of driver training, choosing instead to review overseas literature. 

“The overseas evaluations are often flawed with a failure to use control groups and particularly a failure to account for variables in program design,” he said.

“It is time that Australia conducted its own studies into driver training and removed the bias against any form of defensive driver training for young drivers.

“Premier Dan Andrews is right to raise this issue.  But he needs to make it clear that credentialled and experienced driver training organisations like Murcotts are best placed to develop and implement courses that will ultimately save the lives of young Victorians and minimise the trauma to their families and friends.”

Murcotts is proud to announce a training program for volunteer drivers in the not for profit sector.

We have been working with our long term client, Eastern Palliative Care (EPC),  in delivering a number of programs including Safe Driving Workshops and also Accident/Crash Investigation. 

Recognising the important role that volunteer drivers perform, Murcotts has offered the qualification, TLI21210 Certificate II in Driving Operations to up to 100 volunteer drivers.

Funding for this program is being sourced through Murcotts' Victorian Training Guarantee contract for 2012.  

"EPC is an ideal client always willing to apply new solutions which has resulted in reduced crash rates for their staff." said Geoff Thomas, Managing Director of Murcotts.

"We are proud  to be able to assist the not for profit sector in delivering crucial vocational and safety skills to their people." Geoff Thomas said.

Murcotts was again successful in achieving a contract under the Victrorian Government's Training Guarantee to deliver Government Subsidised Training. This is an initiative of the State and Federal Governments.

To make matters worse, if you toot your horn you’ll be accused of being a road rager or just rude and impatient.  You just can’t win.

Well, it may be that it isn’t entirely the driver’s fault - that they read the traffic lights this way.  In fact, this is the system in many countries in Asia.

On a recent trip to Brunei, the tiny country of 450,000 people in the north of Borneo, I found that this was normal.

When driving in the city and faced with a green traffic light, you do not proceed until a green arrow appears.

What’s more, when faced with a red traffic light you may turn left if it is safe to do so.

In many cases each lane of traffic has its own sequence.  That means opposing traffic isn’t moving until your light is red and they have a green light.  Sounds okay, but to those of us that are used to anticipating the green light and our turn to move, it is very trying.

There are also the pedestrian challenges.  Most intersections with traffic lights have clear signals for pedestrians.  They have an animated light with little man – looks like Fix-it Felix from Wreck-it Ralph - walking fast with the time in seconds illuminated and counting down from something like 10.  That means Move It!  No time to stroll here because two seconds after Felix turns red, the traffic is coming at you!

So what we have now is a line of cars stopped at a green light waiting for the green arrow, cars turning left and running red lights and pedestrians walking against the red Felix because you can’t make it across the road in 10 seconds.

So next time you are stuck behind a right turning vehicle with a green light, and the driver appears uninterested, decide if they are distracted, asleep or from another country.  If the latter is true, be patient.  I was a tourist in Brunei and I don’t run red lights.  The left turners behind me were very understanding.

Virtually everyone is at risk of drowsy driving, especially those who are deprived of sleep, driving long distances without rest breaks, driving through the night or at other times when they are normally asleep, taking medications that increase sleepiness or drinking alcohol, driving alone, driving on long, rural, boring roads, and those who are frequent travellers

Driving drowsy is the same as driving drunk. You're very impaired, your judgment is impaired, your reaction time is impaired, your memory is impaired. And this huge sleep debt you've accumulated suddenly seizes you, and that's when people die," states Dr. Dement. He also stresses that drowsiness is not a warning sign, it is the last thing that happens before you fall asleep, whether you want to or not.

DROWSY DRIVERS DIE!
The above slogan on road side signs warn of a very serious road safety risk.
But what is drowsiness?  Is it different to fatigue? 
Fatigue and drowsiness are often considered to be the same thing. 
Fatigue is the feeling of being physically tired, lacking energy or strength or mentally drained or exhausted. It is not necessarily the same as feeling sleepy or drowsy. However, the term “fatigue” is in common use and may mean many things, including drowsiness (sleepiness), lethargy, tiredness, malaise, listlessness, or weakness.
While physical fatigue can be a distraction and can reduce a driver’s concentration, the greater risk for drivers is drowsiness. Going to sleep at the wheel of a motor vehicle is the cause of around 20 per cent of fatal road crashes Australia. 
Studies show that a person who has been awake for 17 hours faces the same risk of having a crash as a person who has a BAC of .05.  At .05 BAC a driver is twice as likely to have a crash as a driver with a .00 BAC. 
The cause of drowsiness is sleep debt.  If you do not get enough sleep, or the quality of your sleep is poor, you build up sleep debt.  This is common for many drivers but particularly so for people who suffer from sleep apnoea.
Do you suffer from sleep apnoea?
Does someone close to you complain about your constant snoring or restlessness during sleep?  Do you often wake during the night, gasping for air?  Are you always tired and often go to sleep while sitting quietly in front of the TV or at your desk?  You may have sleep apnoea.
Sleep apnoea is a condition in which breathing stops momentarily during sleep.  It is caused by the throat and tongue collapsing during sleep and blocking the airways.  In Australia, about 25 per cent of men over 30 years of age experience some degree of sleep apnoea.
Breathing can stop for 10 seconds or longer causing you to wake, gasp for breath, then fall asleep again. Often the cycle is continuous causing a fragmented sleep thus sleep debt.  

Extreme drowsiness during the day is a symptom. When sleep apnoea is severe, the risk of falling asleep while driving is greatly increased.  Poor concentration and irritability may also result.
The only way to repay sleep debt is by sleeping.
So what are the signs that you are drowsy?
• Sore or heavy eyes – you just want to close them
• Zoning out – eyes are open but the mind is blank
• Micro sleeps - brief loss of attention or light sleep
• Constant yawning
• Drifting in the lane
• Over-steering
• Poor concentration restlessness
• Trouble keeping you head up
• Mood changes – irritability
• Difficulty remembering the last few kilometers
• Variations in driving speed
How do you deal with drowsiness?
• Make sure you regularly get enough sleep
• Seek medical attention if you frequently feel sleepy
• Don’t start a long trip after a long day of work or at a time you would normally be sleeping
• Plan your trip with regular breaks – a fifteen minute break every two hours of continuous driving
• If you feel tired, stop the car and have a power nap.  A power nap of 15 - 20 minutes will help but any longer and you will enter a deep sleep and perhaps feel worse when you wake.
• Remember, a power nap is only a temporary refresher.  At some stage very soon you will need to have a proper sleep.
• Be aware of the drowsiness effects of any medication you take.
To get a more informative explanation of this topic view our training video about drowsiness with a segment presented by Dr Murray Johns, Founding Director of the Sleep Disorders Unit at Epworth Hospital, Melbourne.

Go to  http://www.murcotts.edu.au  From the resources menu select: fleet-driver-safety and download the video “drowsiness-and-fatigue”