Welcome to February, the year is fully in motion and by now we have really come to terms that we made it to the New Year and work must begin; it is however necessary to note that unfortunately, road crash made it to 2014, we need to up our games on the road and maintain a sense of vulnerability

Still on improper speed, it is clear from past edition that a lot is at stake when we choose to engage in speed not appropriate for the environment we find ourselves; it is not sufficient alone to drive at posted speed where applicable or prescribed, it is also very important to note that driving the speed limit does not mean we are not dangerous. This suggests that when we drive at speed limit it does not totally immune us from infractions on the road; we still need to be alert and proactive.

In discussing collision avoidance and crash prevention, stopping distanceis very crucial; crash occurs when collided with a moving or stationary object, effort to avoid such is to come to rest before the impact.Stopping distance comprises of three components; perception distance, reaction distance and braking distance

Perception distance is the distance covered when a motorist sight a situation/object and identify the risk it portends on/around path of travel which could lead to change of direction, causing a collision. It could be a pot hole, a vehicle approaching, pedestrian; this could also be referred to as recognition distance.

Reaction distance, when a danger is sighted and impregnated risk understood; we begin to think how best to avoid/prevent collision. Distance covered when we are thinking of which weapon to deploy from our arsenal to safely attend to the situation is the reaction distance.  Reaction distance is shortened with years of experience.

Braking distance, ultimately our aim is to avoid collision or crash; so every measure taken, either manoeuvring or trying to alert, would finally require braking, remember, we are focusing on the subject of a crashnot the recipient. Braking distance hence is the distance a vehicle travelsbefore it comes to rest after break is applied. You don’t want to cause a crash neither a victim.

These components all interplay within seconds and contribute to crash avoidance and define crash severity; they are not to be treated in isolation of state of vehicle, environment and driver.

Be careful when you’re driving such that everything moves so fast around, you’re stretching your perception, shrinking your reaction distance and your braking distance might be on the negative; it happens so fast but it is preventable.