How can motoring safety be guaranteed under influence?

Do not get your hair in an uproar because I am not making any untoward suggestions. Accidents on the road happen for several reasons, ranging from errors of judgment, ignorance of traffic signs, to external aberrations beyond our control, and the influence of some ingested substances.

These ingested substances - such as legal/illicit drugs, alcohol, and medication - and some diagnosed/unidentified medical problems can cause insomnia, stress, incompetence, and inattentiveness.

Add to those the normal stress of everyday life and you will get the big picture. I have seen a lot of strange driving while picking up and dropping off children during school runs.

As you well know, human beings often can find an urgent reason to do something regrettably rash in nature - as in, not keeping to an assigned traffic lane, poor vehicle maintenance, etc.

Take for example this morning, when I observed a man with a baffled look stopped right in the middle of the road with his second-hand Honda CRV.

My curiosity was finally satisfied when, as I swerved off to drive by and around his vehicle, I saw that his left front wheel was twisted off/around at an odd angle: poor maintenance habit.

However, there are some ways that you can ameliorate the effects/impact of all the preceding mortal failings. Call it defensive driving, if you like; I prefer to call it surviving on the road. Here are my regular daily top road safety tips:

1. Assume that everyone else on the road is crazy and drive to stay out of their way, be it the pedestrian who inattentively crosses the road oblivious of your existence or the oncoming driver who swerves into your lane suddenly and without warning.

2. Take each driving day/occasion as a totally unique one, quite different in every respect from all others experienced previously, because anything can happen at any point in time/space as road conditions are never static for long.

So, never take road conditions for granted because of historical experience, so that you can remain more flexible as road conditions change or gradually unravel in front of you.

3. Try out or simply take note of alternative routes to your usual destinations, in case of an emergency or an official need to divert traffic by the authorities.

4. Turn the local radio station on regularly while driving anywhere and refrain from keeping the stereo or CD/MP3 player permanently turned on automatically.

At least, tune in to the scheduled news and weather broadcasts. Who knows? You may get lucky enough to steer clear from the path of a twister or be far away and safe when an earthquake or wild fire takes over the immediate vicinity.

5. And, for goodness' sake, whether you are in a Left or Right-Hand drive country and walking along as a pedestrian, observe the rules for crossing the road/street, whether or not there is a pedestrian traffic light or a Zebra Crossing present.

For a right-hand drive country, where the steering wheel is on the left side of the vehicle and driving is on the right side of the road, the rule is: look left, then right, and then left again - to ensure that the road is clear and that there is no oncoming traffic in either direction - before crossing the road.

Happy motoring!