Safe Speed Forums

I have receive this query and it is of further discussion.

Insurance companies will have more info about specific cars and accident stats, but there is nothing safer than a good well trained motorist, that is travelling carefully, applying many good 'behaviour's' than can aid in one's own safety every mile that you travel.

I am not able to advise you on any specific vehicle and it's relevant safety but Companies such as the AA will do a 'health check' on cars when considering purchase (may do after purchases?) or any good garage.

Airbags can help in accidents but if you do not have them learning and understanding how to drive well will help you not get into the accident (if you ever have happen to become involved in one), in the first place - hence defensive driving.

Good driving can keep a motorist safe from danger but it can take time to increase your abilities, knowledge and skills. There are many aspects to this and I am sure several of the Safe Speed members would like to contribute.
In principal there are good driving methods and skills that help each motorist to drive safely and each trip is way to learn something new and so gain knowledge and improve one's abilities.

There are places to go and learn more specifically - the Institute of Advanced Motorists is one such group and looking for those that teach 'Defensive Driving' techniques is another.
Principals like COAST - Concentration, Consideration, Courtesy, Observation, Anticipation, Awareness, Attitude, Space (your safety space all about you) and Two second rule, Time for journey & Time to react.

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Then there is the Safe Speed 100 Word Motorists Highway Code :
Drive on the left. Make sure you can see and be seen. Keep a constant look out all around. Be aware of signs and regulations and why they are there. Be predictable.
Recognise and anticipate danger and keep clear space from it. Always ensure that you can stop within the distance that you know is clear. Develop your skills.
Give courtesy, co-operation and space to others. Don't obstruct them.
Never take risks, drive unfit or compete with others.
Safety is paramount and far more important than priority. Take personal responsibility for your safety and the safety of those nearby.
Enjoy.
copyright Safe Speed 2009 2010 - http://www.safespeed.org.uk
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The Safe Speed 100 Word Motorists Highway Code maybe reprinted as long as the copyright and website are retained in all the visible message as a whole.

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Safe Speed for Intelligent Road Safety through proper research, experience & guidance.

It's too old to have a EuroNCAP rating for crashworthiness. It's likely to have ABS but not any of the other fancy features like electronic stability control and brake assist. IF it has an airbag, it will have "AIRBAG" or "SRS" moulded into the bit of vehicle from whence the airbag deploys. If it has one at all, it will probably just have one, on the driver's side, in the middle of the steering wheel.

It's probably not as "safe" in a crash as a current equivalent Peugeot. It's also probably not as safe as a bigger car of the same age. On the other hand, it's likely to be safer than an equivalent older car. Just how "safe" you want to be is, of course, a personal decision and everyone who gets behind the wheel of a car needs to take their own decision and the responsibility that goes with it. I can't afford to buy (or run) the safest car in the world. Come to that, I'm not even sure if there IS such a thing anyway!

To maximise the safety of their exisitng car, they ought to service it regularly using someone who knows what they're doing and use, if not genuine, then at least good quality parts and tyres. They ought to adjust their seat properly and wear their seat belt properly. Adjusting the head restraint can also make a big difference.

Anyway, as has already been said, the biggest single difference would be the driver's skill and attitude. When I was 20, I had a Reliant, and I'm still here today! There's no such thing as a car in which it's impossible to get hurt!

Mole - when I passed my test and got a car , my dad imparted some safety advice to me ,which is possibly good words to today's new drivers ( and I suspect came from his days in Monte Casino) - "better to be a live coward than a dead hero " -in other words , always assume that you should give way - don't make you a lessor person ,just one with less claims on your insurance , less dents on your car and less mess in your pants .I've done a lot of miles in ( FIL's ) Reliant - the sort of car you ALWAYS give way in-but then -I'll always have a soft spot for Reiants . .

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

There's a lot to be said for initially driving a fairly basic car, rather than learning to drive through your driver aids. My first car had awful brakes which taught me very effectively not to tailgate or carry too much speed in to bends.

It carries an obvious risk, but if it eliminates overconfidence (surely a young driver's greatest risk) then maybe it's worth it.

Thats probably where young drivers of today are going wrong.

In my day we all jumped into old ford anglias, moggy minors, austin A35s or similar low powered, crap handling, drum braked, safety item deficient cars and had to drive sensibly or come a cropper. If you wound up the engine to max speed you knew you weren't going to corner or brake like a race or rally car so learnt to read the road and conditions to suit the capabilities of the car (and yourself).

So many modern cars handle, brake and accelerate much better than rally cars did in the 70s and with all the safety items thrown in, it's no wonder that youngsters get a false sense of security.

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

Yes, working in the industry, I have to admit to being uncomfortable with that one. As people have said, the cars we (and our parents) learned to drive in are nothing like the cars available to today's learners. My first Reliant had drum brakes on each corner (single circuit and no servo but at least it had 4 of them!), skinny crossply tyres that today's average mountain biker would laugh at and a whacking 35bhp at the flywheel. By the time it started skidding, it would have scrubbed off enough speed to stop. You could actually find the edges of the "envelope" without that much risk of going very far when you got it wrong.

...and yet, more people DID die back then! Quite a lot more per million passenger miles!

So although my instinct is to say that all the extra safety tackle and crashworthiness of today's cars just encourages risk taking, the reality doesn't appear to bear it out! I guess the only logical explanation must be the intervention of SCPs! (and I might even believe it if free traffic speeds now were lower)!

Yes more did die back then, as to be expected, with less safe cars, no air ambulances etc etc. BUT did such a large percentage of the younger drivers die then, as do now? What needs to be looked at as a whole, is the percentage of younger drivers to more mature drivers which are being killed now, compared to when cars were less safe all round for everyone.

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.