Torque Shop: How to avoid chain collisions
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Chain collisions can occur when drivers are distracted and unaware of their surroundings.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF ST READER
Shreejit Changaroth
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How do chain collisions happen, especially on highways, and how can I avoid being involved in one?
The two primary causes of chain collisions are inattentiveness and a lack of situational awareness.
Attentiveness, on the part of the driver, refers to the level of concentration exercised by the person controlling the vehicle. Whether it is braking on time to stop at a comfortable distance behind the vehicle ahead or avoiding an obstacle, the driver has to be sufficiently focused behind the wheel.
These days, drivers can be distracted by the mobile phone – even if it is securely mounted or connected to the car’s infotainment system – or the myriad functions on board the car. It makes you wonder if motor manufacturers sufficiently legislate safety standards.
On that note, while many current-generation cars come with collision avoidance systems such as lane departure warning, autonomous emergency braking and blind-spot monitoring, they are not intended as substitutes for driver attentiveness.
In any case, the responsible driver is one who makes all the necessary adjustments and on-screen selections before driving off, so there will be no further distractions on the move.
Being situationally aware means keeping track of existing driving conditions, which includes noticing if there are road works, changes in weather conditions and what other road users are doing.
On highways where average speeds are above 70kmh, the driver should be watching the road beyond the vehicle immediately ahead. It is necessary to scan across all lanes, too.
Usually, you want to be able to see when a car that is at least two vehicles ahead activates the third brake light. This way, you have enough time to react.
Tailgating reduces not only the time available to react, but also the ability to look far ahead.
Maintaining a safe distance does not come intuitively to most motorists. It is a habit that must be nurtured through some degree of deliberate observation, such as counting how many seconds it takes for you to pass a lamp post or road sign that the vehicle immediately in front of you has just passed.
Collisions occur when traffic comes to a sudden stop and you do not have sufficient braking distance.
The general rule of thumb is to stay three seconds behind the moving vehicle in front of you. Increase that to at least four seconds when the road is wet, as the braking distance increases when the road surface is slippery.
If you are being followed too closely by the car behind you, the best course of action would be to move aside to let the tailgater pass.
Be aware that during heavy downpours, floods can cause vehicles to aquaplane, or cause cars to slow down suddenly. Drivers may also brake heavily when their visibility is temporarily obstructed by a sudden splash of water, so you want to keep enough distance to avoid getting into trouble.
Similarly, look out for road-work signs that may cause a lane closure. Be diligent to merge early into a free lane, instead of rushing to the edge of the lane closure before trying to slip into an adjacent lane. This can cause traffic to slow down suddenly, which can then lead to a chain collision.
