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Do You Think You're a Good Driver? This Guide Will Tell You

Do You Think You're a Good Driver? This Guide Will Tell You

A. P.

Jueves, 23 de enero 2025, 09:05

Spanish roads are filled with individuals who do not adhere to the rules, as evidenced by the number of fines processed by the DGT each year (over 5 million in 2023). In light of this, we ask: do we break the rules out of ignorance? This hypothesis is somewhat supported by a study conducted by the Institute for Traffic and Road Safety Research (INTRAS) in 2009, which re-examined the B license of more than 2,000 drivers. A staggering 96.5% failed, most with more than half of the questions answered incorrectly. More recently (2024), a report by Línea Directa claims that nearly half of drivers are unaware that it is no longer permitted (since March 2022) to exceed the speed limit by 20 km/h when overtaking on a conventional road.

María Collado, a traffic and road safety psychologist and educator in points recovery courses, as noted by the DGT, explains: "Knowing the rule is one thing, understanding it is another. In many violations, we see a lack of understanding of what some rules are for." Meanwhile, Patricia Pérez, a psychologist at the National Road Safety Observatory (ONSV) of the DGT, points to a 'conscious' disobedience: "Rules are broken when it is perceived that the measure lacks adequate justification or is disproportionate."

Whether due to ignorance or distrust, breaking traffic rules is a decision that affects not only the perpetrator. As psychologist María Collado reminds us: "Following the rules is the only guarantee of road coexistence we have. If we don't, we cannot predict others' behaviour or anticipate risky situations."

While distractions have always been significant in accident statistics, new technologies have elevated them as the most represented concurrent factor in fatal accidents. In 2023, they were present in 30% of cases. The worst part is that it is a huge problem that continues to grow. In the latest special control and surveillance campaign by the DGT dedicated to distractions (October 2024), the percentage of drivers reported increased by 10% compared to the previous year. Nearly half of the reports were for driving with a mobile phone in hand.

For Luis Montoro, Professor of Road Safety at the University of Valencia, there are three major groups of distractions: "Those originating from the driver's environment, increasingly complex; those from the individual, such as stress, personal, family, or social issues; and thirdly, those from new technologies, both those equipped in vehicles (navigator, ADAS...) and especially the mobile phone, a deadly trigger of distractions. Training and knowledge of the causes and risks are the best strategy to prevent them."

The proliferation of individual and collective, private and public means of transport, combined with the functioning of social media algorithms, has sparked a "war" of everyone against everyone in traffic. Cars against bikes, bikes against cars, motorcycles against cars, pedestrians against scooters... We often forget a basic concept for safety: respect for others. "We must understand that we all have the same right to use the roads," warns Collado. The danger is when this confrontation is transferred to the road, forgetting "our obligation to appreciate others' right to life."

The mutual respect is the basis of the 'Urban Road Coexistence' campaign, presented by the Spanish Foundation for Road Safety (FESVIAL) and the passenger transport company Alsa, with the support of the DGT. For Fesvial's vice president, Ignacio Lijarcio, "traffic represents the manifestations of society, and what we frequently see today are very individualistic behaviours. Me as a pedestrian, me as a scooter user, me as a driver... and anything that is not my right, I don't like."

Stress, anxiety, the fast-paced life... These are constants in our society. And when we get behind the wheel, all of that can turn into hostility. The report "Influence of Aggressiveness in Traffic Accidents," published in 2018 by the Línea Directa Foundation, in collaboration with INTRAS, states that aggressiveness multiplies the risk of having a serious road accident with victims by 10, and by 30 the risk of suffering an accident with serious injuries.

For the ONSV psychologist, driving can trigger certain emotions and lead to more aggressiveness: "It can worsen that emotional situation due to elements that can be a source of stress, such as traffic jams or parking difficulties. Stress slows down both perception and decision-making and increases the likelihood of being distracted or causing a hostile situation." Often, at the root of this hostility - so dangerous for traffic - is the feeling that the blame lies elsewhere: "It's easier to judge others' actions than to self-criticize, as doing so may worsen one's self-concept," she adds.

The ONSV psychologist highlights the importance of being able to detect those situations that can condition our driving and recommends, to minimize them, "having positive sleep hygiene, a healthy lifestyle, and organizing outings with enough time."

Similarly, defensive driving protects us and, in turn, those around us. As explained by Juan Ignacio Serena, Specialist Coordinator of Training at the DGT: "It is a driving style based on observation, focusing our attention on all stimuli that are relevant and can affect both our safety and that of other road users."

The key word is anticipation: "Anticipating possible incidents, which, with greater or lesser probability, may occur, and being prepared to make the right decision that helps us resolve the situation to avoid problems."

Defensive driving requires having both short and long vision simultaneously, concentration, and the ability to assess different scenarios at once. Serena gives us a paradigmatic example: "If in a roundabout with several lanes we are driving in the one located furthest to the right, it is essential to control the vehicles approaching from our left flank. It is likely that one will leave the roundabout from the inner lanes without signalling, cutting across our path, so we must pay maximum attention to our left mirror, as their speed and trajectory can give us an idea of what they intend to do," he concludes.

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