She says . . .

Press, 16 April 1981, Page 15

She says . . .

Have you ever, when driving, had your attention drawn to something at the roadside — just for a split second — and looked back to see disaster looming ahead of you? If you answered “No,” either you have not done much driving, or you have not examined your conscience closely enough. Distractions at the wheel are the enemy of safety. •Even around town you’re covering 15 metres every second for much of the time, so it takes only half a second’s inattention to put you into the back of another car, especially as we almost all follow too closely to the fellow ahead. Roads are surrounded with distractions, of course, including advertising hoardings, scenery, shop-windows, people on the pavement. Then there are such “in-car” distractions as children, pets,

loose loads falling off seats,radios to be tuned... Beyond all this, some of us seem to go to great lengths to further distract ourselves from the job in hand. I saw a “mobile accident”, on Colombo Street the other day: a .rather precious young man whose car weaved over the road as he paid great, attention to his coiffure in the rear-vision mirror, causing about three “near misses” around him before he was satisfied with his appearance. I have seen people try to read road-maps while driving, and the sign or shopwindow gawker who keeps going as he twists around to gaze is very familiar. If you want to do these things, pull over and stop. Distracted drivers are a danger to themselves and to all those around them.—Barbara Petre