A simple common sense approach to ensure everyone`s safety on the roads.... [+ click to enlarge] Roads are set to be congested again this festive season. Seat belts save lives. Use them. Make sure your helmet is of the correct size. Be aware of your surroundings.

We've heard them all a thousand times over - 'speed kills', 'buckle up', 'don't drink and drive', 'no mobile phones while driving', et. al. Yet, despite continued education and campaigning to instill a culture of road safety into our psyche, our road fatality rates continue to climb upwards, and worryingly, with no signs of slowing down.

It is common practice among instructors of defensive driving or advanced driving courses to compare fatality rates due to accidents against that of war and plague. As of August 2009, 51 people were reported killed in Malaysia due to H1N1. That got everyone wearing masks.

Yearly, more than 6,000 die on the road, yet there is an alarming number of people who do not buckle up their seat belts or motorcycle helmets. The irony is really worth marveling. What's more, those face masks do nothing to stop you from being infected. Seat belts actually save lives, and that is a proven fact.

At the time of writing, the Chinese New Year is but a week away. Par for the course in festive periods, it is set to coincide with an increase in traffic accident rates. When the city dwellers hit the roads and head to their respective hometowns, traffic density nationwide increases. Traffic that was previous confined to the big towns and cities are now spread throughout the nation.

As the various roads get congested, the onus then is on the driver to keep him or herself at maximum alertness to deal with the hazards posed by the increased surrounding traffic. It only takes a split second of a mishap to make you another statistic in the Road Safety Department's lengthy road casualty list.

However, with a degree of alertness and pro-activeness on the road, you can greatly increase your chances of survival on the road and ensure that you and your loved ones reach your destinations intact.

Here, we would like to share with you some simple practices worth cultivating into your driving repertoire in addition to some other practices worth ditching. This is simple, this is common sense, and this can save your life!

1. Buckle Up!

This is actually a message from JKJR (Jabatan Keselamatan Jalan Raya), and this applies whether you're riding on four wheels or two. If you're in a car, you need to wear your seat belt; and if you're riding a bike, you need to wear your helmet, no two ways about it.

Seat belts are important to hold you in place during a collision, so that you don't get flung to the dashboard. If your car comes with airbags, the danger of not wearing a seat belt increases multi-fold because airbags inflate at speeds of 200kph. You certainly don't want to be thrown at that direction.

For motorcycle helmets, know that wearing them alone isn't enough. You need to buckle the strap; it's an offense if you don't. Also be sure that your helmet is a proper fit, a loose-fitting helmet is almost as useful as a shower cap in a collision. Rather than absorb the forces of impact, the helmet actually transfers it to your skull because of the space available for the helmet to travel relative to your head.

2. Be alert and be aware

Ignorance is not bliss. Cars don't avoid you simply because you "didn't know" they were there. It is important, especially when driving on congested roads, that you be aware of vehicles in your vicinity. Keep track of vehicle motion around you as much as possible. Your car came with mirrors for a reason, use them.

Be mindful of the average traffic speed around you and try to match it. While there is some truth in the saying 'speed kills', the real danger lies in excessive differences in speed between vehicles plying the same road. In a road where everybody drives at 110kph, a driver driving at 60kph is equally as dangerous as one driving at 160kph. By driving too slowly, you become a road hazard because you are obstructing the smooth flow of traffic.

3. Give everybody breathing space

Cars driving in a cluster is a recipe for disaster. Margin for error decreases to uncomfortable levels, and a pile-up is just an emergency brake away. If you're coming up to slow traffic, keep a safe distance, and then overtake when it is absolutely safe to do so.

Conversely, if you see fast a approaching vehicle coming from behind, speed up to build some distance or move aside to let it through. We can assure you that an agitated driver breathing down your neck is not the best thing for your health, even if he has to pay for eventual damages of a collision.

4. Live and let live

For some reason, our road planners have an unfortunate habit of designing roads that bottle neck e.g. four lanes merging into two. It is actually bad practice, but because they are everywhere, the onus is now on us motorists to be cautious approaching them.

There will be a lot of lane changing as you approach the bottle-neck. As you get closer, cars become more desperate to cut into your lane. In situations like these, calm heads and understanding between drivers are important to ensure a seamless merging of traffic. Even if you occupy the 'main' lanes, you would do well to diffuse the situation by letting one or two cars in ahead of you.

5. Queue-cutting

Probably the single most annoying habit of Malaysian motorists after road-hogging. Cutting of queues, especially in busy junctions show a complete lack of courtesy and consideration to others by the offending driver. It is also very dangerous. Some drivers can get real crossed when you cut in front of them, and you may end up earning an unnecessary dent on your fender.

It doesn't matter if you're in a rush; everyone is, and they queue up. Accidentally missing the starting point of the queue is not an excuse either; you can proceed forward and make a U-turn. There are usually many ways for you to reach any given destination.

6. Reversing after missing junction

Certainly there's no need to elaborate on the dangers of such a practice? All we can say is, if you missed the junction, drive on and make the U-turn. As we said earlier, there are usually many ways for you to reach any given destination.

7. Know your car and know yourself

Though you may be tempted to dismiss this as another motoring journo's cliche, but believe us when we say that it is to your advantage that you be familiar with your car's abilities. While there's no need for you to memorize the numerical values of your gear ratios, it pays for you to be aware of things like the handling competence of your car, the nature of your engine's power delivery, or effectiveness of your brakes.

From there, you will be able to judge how much speed you can safely carry into a corner. You will know how much room is needed to safely perform an overtaking maneuver. You will know how much distance you need to bring your car to a stop in an emergency. You also need to be very aware of the level which you can safely and competently handle the car.

8. ABS, EBD, ESC, TC, DTC, et. al.

Most cars these days come with an array of electronic safeties to protect the driver from getting into some very hairy situations. While there is little doubt that they work, it has also led some to believe that these systems make their car accident-proof. Well, if you subscribe to that school of thought, you need to re-evaluate your belief.

These electronics, while being very capable and very ingenious, do not possess god-like powers. They therefore, do not help you cheat the laws of physics. If you go into a slippery corner carrying too much speed, you will crash; if you hit the brakes too hard mid-corner, you will spin; electronics or not.

The Bottom Line

There are plenty of things we can do behind the wheel to avoid getting into accidents. The above list just covers the surface, but at the end of the day, it all boils down to you exhibiting alertness and pro-activeness in anticipating and reacting to situations.

Courtesy and consideration is also important, as more often than not, jams can be diffused by one car letting another through to ease off the knot. The bottom line is to display a positive attitude. At Autoworld, we enjoy our driving, but how enjoyable can it be if our roads become little more than glorified death traps?

Here's wishing all our readers Gong Xi Fa Chai. To those traveling outstation, we wish you a safe journey.

• Buckle Up, It's The Law

• Autoworld Forum > Car Cafe > Road Safety Forum