On the Road

Did you know that speed regulating strips are dangerous?

Yep, you know the kind, those more numerous, shorter versions of the ’sleeping policeman’ (more like a sleeping Gordon Sumner I say. Inside joke, prizes for guessing.) that make you talk funny:

“Hey Jim, what kind of fa-uh-uh-uh-uh-ah-ah…”

Evidence? Last Sunday’s MotoGP race at Donington Park, England, the race winner being not Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo or Valentino Rossi but the second Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso. It was raining lightly at, as it so often is in England, but not so heavy as to warrant rain tyres i.e. a rider’s worst nightmare.

Lorenzo and Toni Elias were challenging for the lead at one point in time but were taken down by white lines on the track kerbing.

Advanced riding clinics often tell riders to avoid these white lines because they’re far more slippery than concrete. And with two postcard-sized patches being all the contact a bike has with the road, losing traction even for a split second is disastrous.

It also highlights another factor about circuit racing (take note wannabe motorcycle street racers): it’s safer than riding on the street. Rossi himself has said he doesn’t dare hop on a scooter and pop down to the shops for stuff because on the road, a rider has far less control over other factors than he would on a circuit. And Rossi echoes the sentiments of other top-level bike racers. They might do 290km/h in a race, but not even 0km/h on the road!

Watch the line Vale!

And avoiding white lines isn’t just advice for bikers either. In wet conditions (or even dry ones) sometimes all that’s needed for a complete loss of traction is an initial upset – which white lines can provide.

But while white lines are a possible danger, speeding will put in a lot more trouble than you can get out of a lot quicker than they can, so above all, ride or drive with a cool head and stay safe.

Tags: Donington, MotoGP, Rossi, safety, traction, white lines

Want to feel like Spiderman? Go drive a car.

No, I’m serious.

We often forget that being able to drive a car is both a privilege and a responsibility – when you start the engine, two tonnes of potentially lethal automobile are at your disposal, to be placed in a certain condition, time and place solely at the driver’s discretion.

Why bring this up? A recent accident in Loyang claimed the lives of three people, when the Subaru in question lost control at what was undoubtedly high speed, then embedded a tree into itself and caught fire.

Also fresh on my mind are two other high-profile accidents last year: one on Old Upper Thomson Road where two polytechnic students were killed in a Mitsubishi Lancer, and another Subaru in Geylang which split into two.

Speed was probably the main factor in these accidents, judging by the damage, although other causes like driver fatigue can’t be ruled out. The two in the Lancer weren’t wearing seatbelts either.

Speed alone is neither fatal, nor dangerous – It’s the context which makes it so. With F1 drivers for instance, speed is their daily bread, yet the last F1 fatality was Senna 15 years ago.

When you speed up, everything occurs faster and reaction time is reduced. The behaviour of the vehicle changes, no matter what you’re driving. If you’re not experienced (and sometimes even if you are), adrenaline makes it hard to react in accordance with the laws of physics over raw instinct.

Consider two cases:

1. A well-rested highly experienced driver, a modern car with a high level of safety equipment, perfect daytime weather and a familiar German Autobahn.

2. A freshly-minted licensee, a car with a less than stellar NCAP rating, midnight, an infamous winding road in an area inhabited by wild animals, vegetation on the tarmac and four occupants without safety belts on.

There’s a tiny difference between being a driving enthusiast and a reckless killer: It’s what you consider before stepping on the gas.

Tags: accidents, responsibility, safety