Another little quiz for you:
Scenario 1: You are fast asleep in an hotel when the fire alarm wakes you. You check your watch and it is 2am. Do you..
a) Assume it is a false alarm and wait for someone to turn the damn thing off?
b) Jump out of bed, get dressed and make your way calmly to the meeting point?
Scenario 2: You are driving along a motorway at approximately 70mph. Ahead of you the vehicles start braking. Do you...
a) Assume that the vehicles ahead are being overcautious, or are too close to other vehicles, and expect them to release the brakes and carry on driving?
b) React quickly, checking your mirrors and begin braking until you see the situation easing ahead?
Ross - my youngest step-daughter's boyfriend - works for a holiday company and, now the season has finished, offered Jane, Anna, Maggie, our three grand-daughters and me this weekend at one of their sites at Embo, near Dornoch. A fantastic setting, right on the beautiful, sandy beach.
I had lessons during the day (while the others drove over to Embo), then I enjoyed the 90 minute drive in the late afternoon. The route, along the A96 and A9, stays close to the Moray Firth coast for the most part, giving some wonderful views. Add to that a completely clear sky, no wind and The Cocteau Twins' Four Calendar Cafe on the CD player, it all made for a perfect drive.
And then there were the fireworks. My favourite way to enjoy Bonfire Night is to sit on a hill, watching fireworks go off in every direction. But going on a drive, seeing the different displays is almost as good. Especially if you are not the driver.
I can only imagine the conditions on the M5 last Friday night. I was lucky enough not to be there and have every sympathy for the victims and everyone affected by the terrible accident. There has been some talk about the police beginning a criminal investigation, focusing on the firework display at the nearby Taunton Rugby Club. The Highway Act 1980 forbids 'the discharge of fireworks within 50 feet of the centre of a highway without lawful authority or excuse.' As far as the M5 is concerned, this means about 2 -3 car lengths from the hard-shoulder. The display was apparently over 100m away and the rugby club say the display ended ten minutes before the accident, although smoke from the bonfire could have contributed to the lack of visibility.
Now think back to scenario 2, at the top of this post: Imagine you are driving on a motorway, at night, in occasionally foggy conditions and you are driving at approximately 70mph. Suddenly ahead, you see vehicles braking. Or, your vision in swiftly obscured by fog or smoke. At 70mph you will have covered approximately 20 - 25 metres before you will have even reacted. Assuming conditions are dry, and you react quickly, it will still take you another 70 metres (15 - 20 car lengths) to stop.
It is possible that, if every driver on the road was driving at a speed in which they could comfortably stop in the distance they could see to be clear, were keeping at least 2 seconds from the vehicle ahead and reacted quickly when something unusual happened ahead, that there might still have been an accident. But the chances would have been dramatically reduced.
On Sunday morning it was wonderful to wake to the gentle breaking of waves on Embo beach on Sunday morning. Another near-cloudless sky and I could begin to understand why Embo is twinned with Kaunakakai in Hawaii. But I had lessons in Inverness and Ullapool to attend to, so, after walking the dogs on the beach, I left Jane and co. to enjoy the morning while I scraped the ice off my car for the first time this Autumn (I bet they don't have to do that very often in Kaunakakai).
With a couple of consecutive days of lessons in Ullapool I stayed, as usual, in an hotel. Very nice, you might think, but having a piercing fire alarm go off at two in the morning is anything but nice. What did I do? Well, I lay there thinking "Someone please turn that bloody thing off." I didn't react as I should have done and made my way to safety. I simply assumed that everything was ok and that someone had set the alarm off for a laugh, or by accident. It wasn't until over a minute had passed that I considered that it really could be a fire and I started getting dressed. The alarm was then silenced and I went back to bed. But that minute delay on my part could have cost me my life if it really had been a fire.
The next morning I was considering my delayed reaction and it led me to think about the M5 accident. It is very likely that all it took was for one vehicle not to react to what was happening ahead. I see my pupils do it all the time (and experienced drivers too). They see the car ahead braking (or indicating) and yet they still keep their foot on the accelerator, subconsciously assuming that the situation will have cleared before they have to do anything about it. At the very least, not reacting to what is happening ahead will usually result in firm braking and having to change down a gear or two (something which perhaps could have been avoided with an early response). At the very worst, it could result in a multiple vehicle pile-up on a motorway, with many deaths.
Before I became a driving instructor, I used to think that a 70mph speed limit on motorways and dual-carriageways was outdated and too low. But the thing with speed limits is that people think it is acceptable, even allowed, to go 10% (or more) above the speed limit. So, if they do introduce a raised limit of 80mph on motorways, it will mean there will be plenty of people thinking it is ok to drive along at nearly 90mph. Do you know what your stopping distance would be at that speed? Over 200metres, or over 50 car lengths (again assuming dry conditions). Have a look at www.safespeed.org.uk/background for more information. I wonder how many more deaths there may have been on the M5 with an 80mph speed limit?
So, conclusions to be drawn from this weekend:
1. Police - Don't waste your time scouring every square inch of Taunton rugby pitch looking for 'evidence'.
2. Consider a trip to Embo beach (especially if Hawaii is a bit too far away).
3. Buy, or download, Four Calendar Cafe.
4. When a fire alarm goes off, unless you have been told different in advance, assume it is THE REAL THING and get to safety.
5. When driving, react quickly to whatever is happening ahead of you (brake lights, indicators, pedestrians, junctions, parked vehicles, traffic lights etc), even if it just a glance in the mirrors and easing off the accelerator, until you know everything is safe.
6. If they raise the speed limit to 80mph, get used to leaving a VERY BIG gap between you and the vehicle ahead.
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