Vehicle condition, speeding, impaired driving (drink and drug driving) and driver distraction—the main causes of road fatalities—are going to be the topics of a new RTÉ TV series, “How’s your driving”, that aired Monday, February 12th (available online through RTE Player). The programme has been produced in association with the Road Safety Authority of Ireland (RSA).
Actor Simon Delaney will take viewers on a journey through Irish driving habits as well as investigating how well people know the Highway Code. The episodes will also include sections where drivers take a series of challenges on a test track—the first episode, already aired, examined the effects of impaired driving and how drinks and drugs can impact behaviour behind the wheel.
During the show, Delaney invited one driver, who had finished his second pint, to drive through a test course together with an instructor. The driver already feels uncomfortable while driving and eventually runs over a cardboard cut-out of a child in his blind spot. In the second part of the show, another driver gets dressed up in what looks like a “drug-driving suit”; basically, a brace of weighted and jolting apparatus that reproduces the impaired driving effects of cannabis, LSD, ecstasy, etc. Both the drivers involved in the experiment seem to be extremely worried about the simulation and increasingly aware of how this can impact on their safety and life. Showing this first-hand to volunteers did indeed have a strong effect on their awareness.
The RTÉ TV series not only deals with impaired driving, in the next episodes other dangerous driving events will be showcased: speeding will be one of the next topics, and drivers will be able to see how even adding just 10 km to your speed can make a difference; distracted driving will also be focused on—in this case, one driver will simulate driving while using a mobile phone; third and last, but not necessarily in order of importance, we will also see how vehicles that are not kept roadworthy or not well maintained can become dangerous by simulating the experience of driving with unsafe tyres.
The series aims to be a real eye-opener for drivers and approaches the topic from a different perspective if compared with recent RSA campaigns. We think this would be really useful as a driver training tool, particularly if you have a safety policy or a fleet policy with instructions on these aspects, or if you wish to sensitise drivers to the importance of carrying out walkaround checks.