CAUSES OF CAR ACCIDENTS Every day we hear or read news on incidents and accidents that related to traffic accidents.

Effects of traffic accident can cause injury or even death to human. Traffic accidents could happen to any kind of vehicle and road users. For example, as we drive along the Toll Road in the City or Jakarta Intra Urban Tollways, we can see a large board showing the number of accidents, injured victims and the casualties that have happened on the Toll Road. We would see that the numbers are increasing day by day. In Indonesia, traffic accidents are the second biggest cause of death after Tuberculosis. In fact, the country tops the list of countries with the highest accident rate in ASEAN. Approximately 28,000 people die in traffic accidents. (Jum'at, 30 April 2010, 17:24 WIB by Eko Priliawito - VIVAnews/Nurcholis Anhari Lubis - http://en.vivanews.com/news/read/147932-indonesia_s_traffic_accidents_asean_s_highest) People who involved in a traffic accident may suffer both physically and mentally. Physically, it might cause temporary or permanent injury that would result some part of the body could not be used as before or, even worse, losing part of the body itself. Mentally, it could trigger a traumatic experience and depression. In addition to material losses, traffic accidents have also caused other types of losses that involve productivity, time, health and other social costs. Traffic accidents range from minor fender-benders to fatality accidents. The causes of traffic accidents range widely, but in the end driver error results in most incidents. Knowing the main causes for traffic accidents and ways to prevent accidents can help prevent incidents. (Reasons for Traffic Accidents | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_8260796_reasons-traffic-accidents.html) Car accidents happen every day, and while some are unavoidable, many are preventable. Car accident casualties result from a variety of factors pertaining to driver, pedestrian and infrastructure. It is the responsibility of society as a whole to address such an important issue. Causes of car accidents: 1. Distracted driving Driver distraction causes 25 percent to 50 percent of traffic accidents, according to Mark Edwards, director of Traffic Safety at the American Automobile Association. When driving a car, your attention should not on your coffee or you car stereo and certainly not on your cell phone or even worse, your blackberry. Pay attention to the road and where you are going. Texting and looking at nontraffic-related sights while driving results in most distraction collisions. A distraction can only take a moment, like looking down to glance at the radio dial in your car, or turning to talk to a child, for an event to occur, resulting in an accident. It only takes a few seconds. Cell phones probably cause most of the accidents today when the driver has been negligent. Every day you see people on their cell phones jabbering away while cutting other cars off while driving along oblivious to the fact that anything other than their conversation is going on. Even with a headset having a conversation while you driving can be dangerous. You are not using all your senses to pay attention to what is going on around you. Its a very irresponsible behavior of a person that not only endangered his/her own safety, he/she also being a threat to others safety.

Other example of distracted driver is women who put makeup on while driving. Imagine if the woman who is putting on eye liner and having a collision at the same time. Her eye could get poked out and blinded and she might cause other person to get injured. 2. Road failure Advertisement boards and other items that may obstruct visibility at junctions, curvatures and other parts of the roads should be removed immediately. 3. Weather condition Drivers need to slow down during inclement weather. Rain, ice and snow reduce traction and visibility. Fog also reduces visibility. Strong winds can cause the car to suddenly veer while driving. Drivers should be aware of weather conditions before driving, and make sure tires have plenty of tread. Increase distance behind other vehicles, because braking distance increases dramatically on wet or icy roads. 4. Mechanical failure Human error causes most car accidents, and occasionally mechanical failure caused by the operators inaction results in a accident. Faulty brakes because of low brake fluid or worn brake pads create greater braking distance, resulting in rear-end collisions. Worn tires from improper inflation or failure to rotate can result in a sudden blowout while driving. Both these examples can be prevented by regular maintenance. 5. Aggressive driving Driving over the speed limit decreases reaction time for sudden stopping or swerving. It also greatly increases the impact of an accident. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that when increasing from 40 mph to 60 mph, the energy released in an auto collision more than doubles. 6. Ignore road rules 7. Driving under influence of alcohol or drugs Driving while intoxicated affects response time while driving, and accounts, in some years for over 50 percent of fatal accidents on the weekend. Friends and family should never let a loved one drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Having a designated driver committed to not drinking prevents potential serious accidents. Driving under the influence can also result in the loss of the driver's license and potential jail time.

Car accidents are combination of driver error, road condition and other human factors. Therefore, a strict regulation should be enforceable in order to strengthen the societys awareness of safety driving. The following are points that need to be enforced: 1. Speed limits 1.1 90 % of accidents can be avoided by strict enforcement of speed limits 1.2 Heavy Penalty should be imposed on all those who cross speed limits so nobody will dare to go beyond speed limits; 1.3 New heavy vehicles should have built in tamper proof speed controllers. New gadgets are to be developed for collision prevention and should be fitted on all vehicles. Research organizations should be asked to develop such gadgets on a war footing. For example, gadgets can be developed to automatically slow down the vehicle, if safe distance commensurate with the speed of the vehicle in front is not maintained. 1.4 Speed should be restricted at accident prone areas. 2. Penalty 2.1 Heavy penalty should be imposed for those who cause accidents; 2.2 Law should be modified such that the person who makes the accident has to bear the insurance claims and a huge compensations, making accidents unaffordable so that everyone will be very vigilant; 2.3 License of those who are involved in accidents should be suspended immediately; at least until they prove that they are not guilty; 2.4 License of those who make serious accidents should be cancelled immediately; 3. Drivers age requirement should be raised to 21 years; 4. Safety awareness should begin from childhood, as it is difficult to impart awareness to a grown up a human. If safety awareness is imparted at childhood, safety will be a habit; 5. Newspaper, Television and other media should be effectively used for Public Safety Awareness; 6. License of drunkard drivers and riders should be cancelled immediately; 7. Roads should be widened wherever required. Curvatures should be minimized. Medians should be mandatory and constructed in roads with two way traffic; 8. Zebra crossings should be provided for pedestrians for safe road crossings at appropriate places; 9. Signals for road crossings should be provided at important and busy places where a large number of people have to cross the road every day; 10. Humps should be provided at all important places, accident prone areas. Humps should be made mandatory for all sub roads where it enters a main road. Construction, size and shape of the Humps should be scientific. All the Contractors of the Public Works and other departments should be provided with the details of scientific Hump construction; 11. Humps should be clearly marked, to avoid accidents. Methods of permanent nature should be followed in Hump marking. For example white marble pieces / white color / fluorescent pigment can be used: 12. Obstructions on road sides caused by unauthorized construction and roadside sales should be eliminated completely; 13. Visibility should be increased near curvatures. Sometimes, even cutting of grass to increase visibility can help save many lives; 14. .Front and Back of Lorries and Trucks should be painted with bright Yellow color to increase visibility. This will help to prevent collisions while Lorries and Trucks are parked on roadside without parking lights switched on;

http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/Home/SafetyAndRules/ http://www.guidetosafedriving.com/ http://news.carjunky.com/car_safety/you-can-prevent-car-accidents-cdf290.shtml http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120228/letters/Preventing-traffic-accidents.408817 http://www.anneahira.com/kecelakaan-lalu-lintas.htm