Shulamit Tana
It is very easy to discount ourselves on the road, especially when we consider ourselves experienced drivers and in general - what does it mean to drive some 5-6 km/h faster per hour? So what if it says that the speed limit is 60 km/h, even the police probably won't bother to stop us at 65 km/h. Well, it turns out that this slight increase doubles our chance of being injured in an accident, and if we accelerate to 70 km/h then the risk will be quadrupled.
Many safety nets require us as drivers. We must have a driver's license, obey traffic laws and possess car insurance In effect, at the very least mandatory - but it is recommended not to be satisfied with it only and to expand the insurance coverage of your vehicle, for example through comprehensive insurance, so that they can provide you with a wider financial safety net in the event of an accident. We also check the car's specifications for protection and safety measures, and pass it a test once a year to make sure all the systems are working properly and as required. With all these precautions, it's a shame that we put a cross on facts that were established already in 1687.
In constant motion: lies we tell ourselves
The principle of constancy is Newton's first law of motion. It states that every body will remain in its state as long as no external forces act on it. That is, a vehicle will not move if it is not moved, and it will continue at the same speed, as long as the road conditions or the strength of pressing the gas pedal do not change. According to the second law - this balance is violated with the action of a force on the body that produces a change in momentum - times the mass of the body by its speed.
The only-slightly-stronger step on the gas, which in total accelerates the car's travel by 5 km/h, means that you will have to take into account another 2.1 meters in case you have to step really hard on the brakes. For the purpose of the example, two cars are driving side by side in different lanes when they meet at a distance of 26 meters, when suddenly, a cyclist appears. Both drivers recognize the rider in the same fraction of a second, and both take exactly 1.5 seconds to translate the image into screeching tire braking. The first one, traveling at a speed of 60 km/h, will be able to stop the car within 25 meters, and the second, which starts braking from a speed of 65 km/h, will only succeed after 27.1 meters. 2.1 meters that can be the difference between life and death for one of those involved.
A multivariate equation
These are not the only variables that affect the distance you will need to come to a complete stop. In the equation - which takes into account numerical data such as initial speed and the rate of deceleration - there are also physical variables. Driving on a slippery road or in a vehicle with worn tires increases the chance of a collision in case of sudden braking. Now take "only" 5 km/h over the speed limit, add distractions - from checking text messages to drunken drinking, we updated the reaction time to 3 seconds (minimum), and the physical conditions, and before you is a chronicle of a collision known in advance: in concrete separation, in other cars , in pedestrians.
When the mass of the car hits a body with a higher mass than itself, the damage it will cause to that body will be small compared to that which will be caused to the hitting car and the people sitting inside it. When the collision involves a pedestrian, whose mass is much smaller than that of the car, and hence - has a smaller effect on his own speed of movement - the results can be fatal.
open to interpretation
Unlike Newton's traffic laws, traffic accident data from the beginning of the year can be looked at from all kinds of angles. On the one hand, since the beginning of the year, 218 people have been killed on Israeli roads (as of 10.10.18), on the other hand, this number represents a decrease of 67 deaths from the corresponding period last year. But on the other hand, The European Road Safety Council recently published the report which surveys the situation of the 32 member states of the Council and Israel received some particularly bad marks. In the index of the relative change in the number of deaths since 2001, Israel reached 29th place; In the average change in the number of traffic accident fatalities between 2007-2017, Israel took the last place. The number of seriously injured people from the beginning of the decade jumped by more than 20% and brought Israel to second place from the end.
In the absence of an organized study regarding the factors that led to the decrease this year, or the increases and decreases of previous years, one can only speculate, and among the reasons put forward by officials at the National Road Safety Authority and the Green Light Association are increased police presence on the roads, proactive intervention actions among accident-prone populations, but also a decrease at the average driving speed due to the increase in traffic jams.
So the next time you're crawling in traffic, remember that at least it means a little less accidents, and the next time you're tempted to let your foot press just a little more on the gas pedal, and go over the speed limit on the road, remember that the result could be fatal squared.
