By Nnamdi Ikeh-Akabogu (FRSCN)
Being fit to drive depends on a number of things: your levels of fatigue and stress, your general health and your eyesight are all major factors contributing to your ability to drive well.
Ever find yourself having a bad day as a driver? Let’s put the typical contributing factors like bad traffic, other ignorant drivers and road work aside.
There are some things you need to make sure you keep in check in order to be fit enough to drive:
Get enough sleep
Driving when you’re tired can severely affect your ability to react and stay alert and can cause you to have an accident. If you’re not a confident driver, being tired makes you less likely to relax. There’s nothing worse than a tense or anxious driver so make sure you get a good night’s sleep before embarking on long journeys.
Expand driving experiences
Research proves that the more you drive different cars the better your driving skills become. The same goes for road environments and the amount of experience you have driving in different terrains/highways/routes. Don’t be afraid of driving someone else’s (family member/friends) car if you get the opportunity.
Get your eyes checked regularly
Did you know that 59% of road accidents can be attributed to poor eyesight? It’s estimated that eyesight can start to deteriorate as early as the age of twenty, according to smartdrivinguk. Routine eye checks are important because having good eyesight is a basic requirement for safe driving. If your vision is poor you’ll be less able to fully function while driving and be qualified as unfit to drive.
Maintain confidence
There’s nothing worse than a paranoid driver! Drivers who hesitate are more likely to cause accidents. Getting over you fear of driving, especially if you’re a new driver takes practice yet there are many people with years of driving experience who are still too scared to travel along highways and busy roads. Try practice driving during quieter times along highways and places you don’t usually feel confident driving.
Don’t show off
On the other end of the scale, over-confidence and/or showing off while driving is a recipe for disaster. Showing off to your friends or partner while driving is not only annoying, it’s down-right dangerous too! A fit driver understands that doing wheelies and hand-brake-turns just makes you look stupid.
NEVER drink and drive
And lastly, although most importantly: a fit driver is a sober driver. Driving under the influence is as common as it is dangerous and with SA’s high road death toll due to drunk driving, we all need to be more aware of the dangers of driving after a few drinks. There are some great ride-sharing alternatives, like Uber, in SA which leaves us with no excuse for get behind the wheel after drinking.
The traffic expert is DCC Nnamdi Ikeh-Akabogu, DCC Morning and Evaluation (M&E), Special Duties and External Relations (SEDER), FRCC HQ, Abuja.
