How can flying be safer than driving?
Aviation is considered to be one of the safest means of transportation and it still holds that title with only 0.07 deaths per one billion passenger miles as compared to the motorcycle with 212.57 deaths per billion miles traveled.
The primary reason for Aviation to be safer is the fact that the aviators have to follow strict regulations. Every maneuver of theirs is by-the-book and never by what they think may be right.
All aircraft are bound to follow directives including the altitude, speed, and route from the Air Traffic Controller while it is the ATC’s duty to ensure that all aircraft in their area maintain vertical and horizontal separation of 1000-2000ft minimum.
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Airplanes fly in airspace which you can think of as roads in the air. Unless in extra-ordinary circumstances, you will never find two aircraft flying at the same altitude in any given airspace and will rarely intersect each other’s paths.
As technology advanced, safety equipment such as “Traffic Collision Avoidance System” or TCAS were introduced which can detect traffic getting closer to the aircraft to issue a warning and advisory to avoid a conflict.
Imagine the difference it could make if the same amount of compliance is achieved on the roads among drivers and traffic police along with the adaptation of next-generation safety technology onboard vehicles.
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Though there won’t be a revolution overnight, there are steps that we can emulate from aviation to make our roads safer.
1. Preflight Checks
Always start your journey by visual inspection of your car to ensure that your tires, lights, etc are okay before you get seated. Once you are seated, adjust your seat, mirrors, buckle up and keep your phone down.
2. Degrees of Separation
Always maintain a minimum of 1 car distance ahead of you or 2-3 if you’re on a highway since faster you go, the time it takes for your brain to process may be longer than the time available to reduce your speed to avoid a collision.
Always indicate lane changes using turn signals and try to maintain 1-2 car distance minimum when doing the maneuver to allow cars behind you ample time to react.
3. Speed limits
Speed limits are set after a theoretical calculation to ensure the safest journey while calculating all necessary variables such as distance, bends, traffic flow, etc.
You may be able to drive double the speed limit but by putting both your life and that of others at severe risk.
At best, an overspeeding driver will cut barely a few minutes off their journey which will be compensated again when traffic congestion begins.
The risk to life and loss of gasoline due to excessive acceleration is much higher than a few minutes you may save.
[bs-quote quote=”Remember to ALWAYS keep your eyes on the road. A 5-second glance away from the road at 65mph means that you drove through a football field without even looking at the road.” style=”style-17″ align=”center” color=”#dd0000″ author_name=”Lucman Khan “][/bs-quote]
4. Influence
If you are intoxicated or feel that your driving ability may be impaired for any number of reasons such as medications or fatigue, pull over and call for a taxi or traffic police for assistance.
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A taxi ride may cost you 1,000 at best but an accident would cost you over 100,000 in repairs, healthcare, and loss of productivity.
5. Go with the flow
No matter how empty the road may be, never go against the direction. There will always be that one car that came in too quickly before you could move away.
Remember, an aircraft maintains separation and follows waypoints even if that makes the journey longer, just for safety purposes.
6. Red is dead(th)
Just like traffic signals, aircrafts have a red light on the left wing and a green light on the right wing. In case of heads-on traffic, the aircraft that sees the red moves away while the one seeing green continues their heading without any maneuver.
[bs-quote quote=”Always stop at traffic signals and stop signs. They exist for a reason. The road may be empty but your obligation to the law withstands.” style=”style-17″ align=”center” color=”#dd0000″ author_name=”Lucman Khan “][/bs-quote]
Just like going against the flow, there may be an oncoming car that you may not even get a chance to see before it hits you.
Countries all over the world are working on Vision 2030 and 2050 to cut road accidents by half and full respectively but we are yet to start a dialogue on it. Let’s make 2020 the year where we talk about #SaferCarsPakistan.
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