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Dear Friend:

A year ago, on a January night, a man was driving a car to meet his parents. He didn’t see them for 2 months… He has counting the last hour left him to drive of his thousand-mile trip from Munich, Germany to Vilnius, Lithuania. His car was fully loaded of gifts to his beloved ones.

He left behind 500 miles on German highways and the another, 500 on roads of Poland. He was almost made his trip. He was nearly sure he’ll soon say “Hello” to his parents! You see, the man drove 1000 miles in 16 hours alone, in quite heavy winter conditions, including

Two Short ‘Stops’ To Get Rested

And To Fill Tank Of His Car.

 

The driving conditions of those last 59 miles were tough. It was dark, heavy snowing and very strong side wind. Luckily, there were almost no traffic on the road, except a two three trucks every mile in both ways.

But while driving the 59 mile to his destination, there something happened to him. His car suddenly got out of control, turned around twice in the middle of the road and was literally swept away off the road. Directly to a ditch that was closed on the right side of the road. Big and loud Bum! Jaarrrr! And then… silence. No engine running. Just cold winter’s wind was whistling around. The accident was unexpected… Man was thinking he was almost at home…

Almost…

5 seconds… That’s a tiny time span from the moment his car got out of control and slipped into the ditch. Maybe the guy was too relaxed… maybe he was driving too fast… or, maybe he was too tired… maybe he has under evaluated tough winter driving conditions… maybe he had no experience to drive in winter… maybe he was talking over his cellphone with someone or…

Maybe He Was

A Bit Drunk..?

Too much ‘maybies’ and none of them is true. In fact, the guy simply did not reacted properly to the changed road conditions. And because of this, he just lost control over driving his car. What’s happened after the accident, is not a subject of this article. It was a happy end. He got home 4 hours later since the accident happened.

5 seconds…

So tiny time span, marked difference, between reaching the point of destination and the end of his trip. Reaction. What do you know about reaction? What is that? Why we need it? Well, the Wikipedia explains: “is the time between the presentation of a sensory stimulus and subsequent behavioral response”.

bmw 540

In Driver’s English

It Means This:

The time when your brain receives a changed traffic information (eg. you see a car in front brakes), evaluates it and forces you to respond to it (you break too, to keep a safe distance).

Your reaction is one of the most important mental operations necessary for safe driving. Every second counts on roads.  Slow reaction causes fast traffic accidents. Your reaction decreases when you drive…

1. drunk (even a glass of beer matters),

2. after you ate heavy food (stake, 3 hamburgers. In this case your body redirects blood circulation flows from brain to the stomach. You feel sleepy, not concentrated),

3. and talk to cellphone (your are not concentrated on driving),

4. tired, if you did not sleep well the last night (your brain looks for ways to get rested, at least half an hour),

5. and apply make-up,

6. and eat.

There are many more of them, but these are the six major points. Imprint in your mind: driving is very serious task. Your are NOT alone on the roads. You, as well as millions of other drivers, pedestrians,  bicyclists or bikers on roads want to reach his/her point of destination safely and happy.  Think about this.

If you drive, then concentrate on driving. Forget about calling cellphone, rather stop your vehicle, if possible, to answer the call. Don’t get into your car if you are even slightly drunk, take a taxi to get home instead. Take a rest if you feel tired and then drive. Stop and eat in quietness if you are hungry. You see, even…

2 Seconds…

Of lost concentration while driving may cost your’s or someone else’s life. Statistics say: so many accidents this year… So many people got injured… So many people did not reach their points of destination. Read the last sentence one more time. If someone passed away on a car accident, it directly caused pain, deep sadness  and…

Broken Lives For

Their Relatives

Click here to go back to read part 2.

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