She says...

Press, 27 March 1980, Page 27

She says...

Many city drivers go out on the open road only rarely — not even once a month, for some. It’s as well to remember that even a couple of weeks with no over-50 km/h driving can somewhat upset your judgment at higher speeds. A good deal of driving is performed automatically — we react without having to think out our move in advance. A simple example: we see a ball bounce on to the road, and without thinking, move our foot to the brake pedal. Similarly, driving for a long period under certain conditions — such as urban speed-limits — our brains automatically base estimations of speed and distance on what we expect, and are used to, in an under-50 km/h environment.. This is a slightly complicated way of saying that when we get out on the open road, we initially tend to misjudge speed and distance. It doesn’t take long for

the brain to adjust to the new conditions, but for those firt few kilometres at 80 km/h it’s essential to put extra concentration into the job in hand. If you relax and, from lowspeed habit judge overtaking and other manoeuvres on a 50 km/h basis, the likely results are obvious. Accident figures seem to show that when people go on trips, accidents are most likely in the firt few kilometres before they have adjusted to openroad driving, and in the last few kilometres, when they are weary and thinking ahead to their arrival. City drivers, be warned. — Barbara Petre.