Road safety is a shared responsibility (III)

Incidentally, motorists exhibit a high level of ignorance which explains why you will see people travelling with their families with fairly used tyres or tyres not properly cared for. The major cause of tyre blowout is incorrect tyre inflation, especially under-inflation. Tyres are the most vital part of a car, they determine stability. That is […]

Incidentally, motorists exhibit a high level of ignorance which explains why you will see people travelling with their families with fairly used tyres or tyres not properly cared for. The major cause of tyre blowout is incorrect tyre inflation, especially under-inflation. Tyres are the most vital part of a car, they determine stability. That is why tyre manufacturers specify the correct tyre guage and the expiry date which is usually stamped on the side of the tyre. IT IS VERY EASY TO FIND OUT THE EXPIRY DATE. Just check the side and you will find a 4-digit number stamped on it. This number indicates the week and year of manufacture and the expiry date will be four years. Manufacturers also indicate the maximum allowable inflating pressure for specific tyres, different tyres are designed for different pressures. Unfortunately, most of us careless about this vital information and have become victims of quacks marauding as vulcanizers. Under-inflation causes two things that ultimately lead to blowouts. First, it causes undue flexing of the tyres as the vehicle speeds along the undulating surface of the road. This causes a separation between the internal materials used in making the tyres and the rubber flesh that holds the materials. This separation weakens the tyre. Secondly, it causes an increase in what is known as rolling resistance as the vehicle moves. The increased rolling resistance generates a tremendous amount of heat which together with the separation of the internal materials leads to an explosion.
Incorrect tyre inflation could also cause crash in other ways-When a tyre is incorrectly inflated it makes a partial contact with the road surface and so does not have a firm grip on the surface. With over inflation, the edges of the contact patch (the part of the tyre that should be in contact with the road surface)does not touch the ground. In the case of under-inflation, the crown(the middle portion of the tyre) of the contact patch does not touch the gound. Either way, you have an impartial contact of the tyre on the road surface and so less grip. The impartial contact could cause crash thus; since the tyres don’t have a firm grip on the road surface, it prolongs the stopping distance when the brakes are applied in an emergency and this could make the vehicle crash into the object it wants to avoid. It could also lead to loss of control of the vehicle when speeding. This is more with over-inflated tyres. High vehicles like trailers could lose their balance when they hit a bump, pot-hole or while descending a sharp bend. The situation can be likened to someone with one leg shorter than the other.
Seat belt, one of the most effective means of reducing deaths and injury for vehicle occupants is the use ofseat-belt by all occupants in the front and rear seats as contained in section 58(3) and (4)of the National Road Traffic Regulations (2004). Seat-belt use saves. They don’tprevent crashes but play a crucial role in reducing the severity of injury to vehicle occupants. Vehicle safety features are distinguished by “primary safety and secondary safety.”Primary safety features aim to prevent an accident taking place, e.g. good brakes and tyres. Secondary safety features aim to prevent or minimise injury to a vehicle occupant once the accident has occurred. Seat-belts are a secondary safety device with a number of objectives which includes preventing ejection from the vehicle in an impact, reducing the risk of contact with the interior of the vehicleor reducing the speed of such impacts, providing a distributed force to the wearer to give the necessary support in an accident and restraining the vehicle occupant before guiding them back into their seats.
While we emphasise seat-belt for adults we must remember that the safest way to carry a child and to protect that child is to use a child seat that is suitable for the weight and size of that child. Do you now that even at a minor crash; an unrestrained child would be thrown about inside the vehicle, injuring themselves and others? They could also be thrown from the car through one of the windows. Do you also know that in a crash at just30km per hour, an unrestrained child would be thrown forward with a force, 30 to 60 times their body weight? They would be thrown about inside the vehicle, injuring themselves and quite seriously injuring or even killing other people inside the vehicle. Do you know that it is not safe to hold a child on your laps? In a crash, the child could be crushed between our body and part of the car’s interior? That even if you were using a seat belt, the child would be torn from your arms and you would not be able to hold onto to them, no matter how hard you try. Do you also know that it is also dangerous to put a seat-belt around yourself and a child or around two children; or to carry that child or children in the front passengers’ seat or on your tummy? That the safest way to travel with that child no matter the distance is a child seat or restraints?
Lastly, there is the responsibility of government to ensure the appropriate structures are in place. The present government’s efforts in fixing the roads are commendable but we still need the appropriate government agencies to ensure the standard road infrastructure is put in place.
Concluded