"Breaking the Accident Chain of Events"

Traffic accidents are caused by chains, 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.

Breaking the accident chain of events is easier than it might seem, because any chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

In this case, if Harry had been a little more alert he probably would have realized that the safety cone was in the area for a reason.

• If he had started to slow down, he would have broken the chain at Link 1.
• If the driver who had hit the cone last night had been courteous enough to have put the cone back up or told the police it was down, the chain would have been broken at Link 2.
• If Paula had not been distracted by her phone call the chain would have been broken at Link 3.
• If Paula had controlled her speed more effectively the chain would have been broken at Link 4.
• Of all five links in this accident chain of events, only Link 5, the location of the construction on the curve of the road, was beyond the control of the drivers.

In the chain of events you have to break one link only to prevent the accident.

Although just one action by any driver would have stopped the accident, we are rarely aware that an accident chain of events is forming.

There is a solution:

If drivers pay attention and accept the responsibility of the job, most accident links will be broken before the chains that cause accidents can even begin.

Let’s take a look at another accident chain of events.

• Like many drivers, Diane, driver #1, is a little nervous about merging onto a freeway. Her anxiety prevents her from making decisive driving decisions. This indecisiveness is the first link.
• At a nearby bar we find Driver #2, Pete, who is on his way home after a couple of drinks. He is not stumbling or passing out, but alcohol impairs a person’s ability to drive long before that person is legally drunk. Pete’s impaired senses and reflexes are the second link.
• Driver #3, Jeff, is one of those drivers who forgets to look over his shoulder before he changes lanes. This cavalier attitude to lane changes is the third link.
• Driver #4, Chuck, is coming home from work, and he is a little tired -- the fourth link.
• It is around dusk when these four drivers come together to form the accident chain. Some of our drivers haven’t decided whether to turn on their lights yet. The decreased visibility of their vehicles is the fifth link.

How do those five links form to create a chain that leads to an accident?

Diane is waiting on the ramp waiting to merge; Pete is getting impatient because by his standards she has missed several good opportunities already.

Jeff is driving in the right lane of the freeway bearing down on the entrance ramp and Chuck is cruising without headlights in Jeff’s blind spot. Jeff sees Diane on the entrance ramp and he signals his intentions to move over and make room for her, but he fails to check before changing lanes.

Chuck watches Jeff pull in front of him and gets angry that anyone would cut him off that way, so Chuck accelerates to pass Jeff on the right.

Diane sees Jeff’s signal and is pleased that he is making room for her so she begins to enter the freeway just as Chuck begins to pass Jeff on the right.

Diane catches a glimpse of him and panics, slamming on her brakes.

Pete, on his way home from happy hour and happy that Diane is finally moving, begins to move forward, turning his head to check traffic and also sees Chuck. He realizes the Diane must stop and begins to brake, but it's too late, he can’t stop. He hits Diane from behind!

Chuck and Jeff go on, both oblivious to the accident. Chuck leaves, totally unaware that his reckless maneuver has been the most important link in an accident chain of events.

• Diane should have been more assertive in merging, eliminating Link 1.
• The alcohol in Pete’s veins slowed down his reflexes just enough to cause an accident. Had he been completely sober it would have eliminated Link 2.
• If Jeff would have made a proper "head check" before changing lanes, he would have noticed Chuck and postponed changing lanes, thus eliminating Link 3.
• Chuck’s hurried reckless driving put everyone at risk. If he had slowed down and obeyed existing traffic laws, he would have eliminated Link 4.
• Only one link, Link 5–the time of day–was beyond the driver's control. If all the drivers had had their lights turned on, maybe the accident would have been averted.

The links that made up this chain are all too common. No one can keep all the individual links from forming—there are just too many of them.

The only way to keep the accident chain from forming is for individual drivers to break the links around them, and the only way to do that is by:

• Driving carefully
• Staying sober
• Learning how and when to make decisive driving decisions
• And always checking blind spots before changing lanes.

And that is everybody’s responsibility.