| SECTION 1.4
This
section is a summary of the AAA Foundation for Traffic
Safety Film,
"Breaking
the Accident Chain of Events."
Many traffic accidents are caused
by chains or sequences of events which lead to trouble.
Consider the following accident situation.
In this example, an accident is caused by five links, events which
occur together to form a chain leading to a collision.
| Link
1 |
Driver #1, Harry, is on his way to work via the same
route he takes everyday. In fact, he is so familiar with this route that his concentration
sometimes wanders. Today is one of those days. His lack of concentration is the
first link. |
| Link
2 |
Harry is approaching a construction site. This
can always be dangerous, but crews work hard to keep construction sites as safe as
possible by marking them with traffic cones. These cones give approaching drivers advanced
notice of changes in the roadway. Unfortunately, during the night someone hit one of the
traffic cones that mark the construction site. This inconsiderate driver did not stop to
replace it, nor did the driver inform the police of the misplaced traffic cone. The fallen
traffic cone, intended as an early warning, is the second link . |
| Link
3 |
Driver #2, Paula, is approaching from the other
direction. She is upset and talking on her car phone. Her lack of concentration is the
third link. |
| Link
4 |
As she gets more and more involved in her conversation,
Paula’s speed is slowly increasing without her noticing. Her increased speed is the
fourth link. |
| Link
5 |
The construction site is located on a curve. This
location makes the construction site less visible, thereby increasing the danger factor.
This is the final link in this accident chain of events. |
Do you see the links coming together? They form a chain of
events with an accident as the inevitable result.
First, daydreaming Harry does not recognize the cone on the side of
the road as a warning. He wakes up to the need for a lane change too late and swerves
awkwardly into the other lane.
Paula sees both the construction site and Harry weaving into her
lane, but she is going too fast to stop in time.
If these events had happened on a straight piece of road there may
not have been an accident. Because they happened on a curve, the chain of events
will lead to its inevitable conclusion.
return |
