Zero Accidents

               PRELIMINARY WORK The chapter presents a list of rudimentary physical and mental excercises essential to do while learning the driving and another before each drive. List 1 1. Data & records 2. Possible situations & black spots 3. Blowing & attending to horn 4. Negotiating curves/bends 5. A crazy driver is an error-prone driver  6. Importance of observation Before you take to driving it is imperative to observe how a car is driven. Sit on a good driver's side and study how the vehicle moves through different traffics -- on city roads, busy thoroughfares, highways, broads as well as in suburbs and countrysides. Do this for at least 3 months or 5000 kilometers.  Points to observe: -- overtaking  -- turning -- braking -- lane-changing -- backing -- speed variation -- gear-changing 7. Importance of a driving school  8. Wisdom plays more vital role than intelligence  9. Road bottlenecks 10. Power of em...

                        MIND VS BODY The chapter tells about the body movements that become involuntary or automatic over time and sometimes, when the mind faces a sudden new problem, it fails to mobilize the body to steer out to safety.  "Repetition of the same thought or physical action develops into a habit which, repeated frequently enough, becomes an automatic reflex."                                         -- Norman Vincent Peale "The cautious seldom err."     -- Confucius  Driving: A Psycho-motor Skill  01. Self-made accidents are primarily caused by mal-adjustment between body and mind. 02. The motor skills are directed by mind; mind mobilizes the body. 03. Legs and limbs work in sync.  04. Healthy physical condition is prerequisite for effective motor movements. 05. Patient dri...

                     TRAGIC STORIES The chapter recounts some tragic life stories resulted from road accidents for the purpose of sensitizing and leaving a lasting impression in the mind towards avoiding road mishaps. The stories are a development on the reports  collected from some media  sources.

        THE DRIVER OF  PRINCIPLE The chapter encodes a list of principles that a successful driver follows and another list of people those who are ignorant of the principles or incapable of following the principles, and lay out instructions to become a principled driver. 1. Speed limit 2. Number of errands 3. Use of mobile phone Points to remember: 1. Follow a fixed speed for your regular errand route. Do not gear up even when the route is empty. 2. Keep the 2nd gear at turnings.  3. Do not fix your look to your sides, for example, for studying a picturesque building, a unusual public activity, etc. 4. Do not drive if the vehicle horn is not working.  5. Do not drive if any indicator is not working.  6. Do not adjust the seat while on move. 7. Keep a safe distance from your front vehicle.

                           TECHNOLOGY The chapter recounts the technological advancement in automobile sector and proposes new technology  required for certain areas -- from vehicles to roads -- responsible for accidents. 

                           TIME FACTOR The chapter retells as well as thesizes on the force of time and how it acts on the human activities through different changes and prescribes desired time management for the drivers.  Don't push the time to an edge: • Do not begin late. • Start early. For example, if you want to reach a place at 10 a.m. and it takes a 1-hour drive, start at 8.30 a.m. • Make gear-to-road driving. For example, if a piece of road requires 2nd gear, do not go to the 3rd gear even when the traffic is sparse.

                         UNEDUCATION The chapter narrates the perils of ignorance and how the unenlightened drivers have unleashed a never-ending road catastrophe. Different measures have been proposed in the chapter to contain the ignorant drivers and make the road education reach everyone. 

                      ROAD ETIQUETTE  The chapter outlines the road etiquette as addressed by different governmental and non-governmental agencies, social organizations, and other public fora, and tells about accident-generating road nuisances, in a persuasive tone for the drivers to acknowledge, internalize and practice good manners.

               ROAD ENGINEERING The chapter contains the descriptions of roads and streets especially the points where accidents frequently take place and suggests improvements in construction, design, maintenance, and traffic management. The names of some experienced and famous road engineers, who were kind to have dialogues with the author on the subject, have been featured in this chapter. 

            SPEED : A SOCIAL CRIME The chapter describes speed as a social crime and strongly logicizes the argument considering several aspects that are palpably affected by this crazy driving. 

    N P SAMAL An academic, poet and author, N P Samal has studied English literature, laws, sociology, and psychology. He has self-published three poetry collections, Creation & Crunch , Mama Rhymes , and The Sermonic Verses , and the manuscript of his 4th book, The Nuance , has been proposed to some poetry-specific traditional publishers in the US and England. He also has three popular blogs, mypoems.npsamal.com, journal.npsamal.com, and zeroaccidents.npsamal.com which have regular readership from a number of countries from Europe, Asia, and North America.  A senior  teacher in the department of humanities, he had thought of writing a unique book on road safety-cum-driver's guide after he survived a fatal car accident in 1993. At last, the project of this book, Towards Zero Accidents , was launched on his 30th accident anniversary in 2023 in the presence of some noted educationists, academicians, literateurs, the DCP Traffic, Assistant Commissioners, journalist...