It’s human nature that people make mistakes. Even if you think you don’t, there will be other people on the roads who do -- so you need to change your driving to allow for them. That’s the message in the New Zealand Transport Agency' latest road safety ad, 'Mistakes', which has gone viral.
The end result of any car crash is basic physics. The faster you’re going, the worse the outcome will be if you crash. And if you hit another car that’s moving, the impact speed may be doubled meaning the outcome will be twice as bad. That’s a huge amount of force even if you’re doing 50km.
A slower speed may have allowed the driver in this ad to take evasive action – he would have had more time to react to the other driver’s mistake. They would probably still have crashed but the impact speed would have been less - meaning the physical force (and the outcome) would have been less severe. Even slowing down when seeing the other car waiting "just in case" something happened would have given him more time to react.
How does the ad make you feel about mistakes? What challenges have you experienced around driving at a safe speed? Have you seen examples on the road where people misjudging or making mistakes around speed have played a role in a crash or near-miss?
This post has been sponsored by the New Zealand Transport Agency.