Drivers Fitness Clear Vision
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The aforementioned is not a comprehensive list, therefore it is important to ask your doctor or pharmacist if the medication you are taking, whether over-the-counter or prescription medicine, may affect your driving or mental alertness. Valuable information regarding the side effects of a particular medicinal product can also be obtained by reading the package insert, or leaflet inside the package. New medicines, in many of the categories as mentioned above, have been developed to treat the same conditions, but which do not produce the same side-effects as the older generation medicines. Care should be taken to inform your doctor or pharmacist if you will be driving, operating heavy machinery or performing a task which will require you to be mentally alert and awake. If the medication you are taking affects your driving, stop driving immediately. Do not stop taking your medicine, but seek advice from your doctor or pharmacist. Your doctor may be able to adjust the dose or the timing of doses and add an exercise or nutrition program to lessen the need for medicine or change the medication to one that has less side affects. The responsiveness of individuals to medication may vary considerably and a single individual may respond differently to medication at different times during the course of treatment. The length of use, tolerance, overall health, age, metabolism, individual sensitivity to the medication, age, interactions with other medicine and other factors play a major role in an individual’s reaction to medication. This means that while a certain type of medicine or a specific strength or dose of medicine doesn’t make one person drowsy, it might affect another person much more severely and may cause extreme drowsiness and impair the person’s mental ability. In addition, the side-effects of medication may be more severe if you start a new medication, combining medication with other medication, take more than the prescribed dose, consume alcohol with your medication and in the elderly. If you have missed a dose of your prescribed medication, do not drive if your medical condition can make driving dangerous, e.g. if you have epilepsy or diabetes. Manage your medical conditions by taking your medication correctly, and discuss questions or problems with your pharmacist or doctor. Please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your doctor or pharmacist. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Call your healthcare provider immediately if you think you may have a medical emergency. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Physical Fitness for Safe Driving / Road Safety Much of being a safe driver is being fit to drive in the first place, and knowing when this is the case. When we discuss driver fitness we tend to refer to sobriety, fatigue, eyesight etc - all those conditions that might impact on the ability to see, think, and move well enough to safely operate a vehicle. In this section we would like to investigate the importance of an often overlooked factor – physical fitness of the driver. Physical fitness is used in two close meanings: general fitness (a state of health and well-being) and specific fitness (a task-oriented definition based on the ability to perform specific aspects of sports or occupations). Physical Fitness and Driving Ability Driving a vehicle is a physical activity, and a driver who gets no physical exercise may not have the required strength, flexibility, or coordination to control and operate a vehicle safely. A driver must:
Drivers who monitor and keep track of changes in their eyesight, physical fitness and reflexes may be able to adjust their driving habits so they stay safe on the road. Physical fitness is the functioning of the heart, blood vessels, lungs, and muscles at optimum efficiency. Physical fitness is now defined as the body’s ability to function efficiently and effectively in work and leisure activities, to be healthy, to resist hypokinetic diseases, and to meet emergency situations. Fitness can also be divided into five categories: aerobic fitness, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and body composition. When you optimise your fitness, you improve your concentration skills, stamina and fatigue resistance and thereby might be enhancing your safety on the road. Physical Fitness and Elderly Drivers It has been found that drivers have to make about 15 major decisions for each kilometre driven, each requiring almost immediate action. Experience and mature judgment are important, but older drivers often process information more slowly. Older drivers are generally safe and conscientious drivers - for some seniors the physical changes of aging can however interfere with driving responsibly and safely. As the number of older drivers’ increases, concerns about the safety implications have been raised as well. These concerns relate to flexibility, coordination and speed of movement when controlling a vehicle on the road. It is important to note that driving skills of senior citizens might be improved by regular exercise. Older people who performed a physical conditioning program developed by researchers at Yale School of Medicine were able to maintain or enhance their driving performance, potentially leading to a safer and more independent quality of life. It is advised that elderly drivers exercise regularly. Physical fitness is essential to safe driving, especially for seniors. Exercise can be as simple as walking for at least 20 minutes five times a week. Gardening, golf, tennis, and other activities also are great ways to keep your body in top physical condition. Physical Fitness and Professional Drivers There is no better illustration of the importance of physical fitness than to analyze the training amongst our Formula 1 drivers. Formula 1 epitomises the quest for maximum performance – drivers now use the same training techniques as top athletes to improve strength and endurance. These drivers have to maintain a perfect level of concentration throughout the race with all the senses at their peak awareness. Interesting facts about Formula 1 racing and the challenges to the bodies of these drivers are:
The McLaren Team is an excellent example of how driver fitness is recognized as a key component of ultimate performance and safety. The McLaren Team believes being at the top in Formula One does not only mean spending time and effort on making a car go quicker. F1 teams have become more and more aware of the importance of keeping drivers in top physical and mental condition in order to enhance the global team performance. The tools of the McLaren Lab are sub-programmes that focus on cardiovascular fitness, biodynamical factors; such as musculoskeletal balance, flexibility and strength – nutrition, mental energy and general health. Strength is tested with a series of exercises: three varieties of abdominal crunch (to failure), dumb-bell shoulder press (as many as possible in one minute), leg press (pushing against an immobile footplate that measures the force in kg), and two standing exercises where the subject pulls against a load while wearing a harness. Cardiovascular fitness is tested with a fearsome VO2 max test using static bikes and heart-rate monitors. This is complimented with biodynamical assessments, blood tests, and electrocardiograms. The VO2 max test measures the body’s maximum capacity to transport and use oxygen during incremental exercise – the V is for volume. It’s one of the most accurate ways of determining aerobic performance, which in turn is a good indicator of cardiovascular fitness. Even though the average driver will never face the driving conditions confronting Formula One drivers - road safety can only benefit by improving the physical fitness of drivers! 
Physical Exercise and Health Tips The main goals of your physical exercise should be to increase your heart rate and increase the capacity of your lungs. By exercising regularly, you'll see an improvement in the quality of your sleep and the cycles and phases of sleep will become smoother and more regular. Regular physical activity may also improve your overall health and your emotional well-being as well and help you to deal with the stress and worries of your life. In order for your body to function in a healthy manner, you need to have a certain amount of physical activity during the day and rest at night. This means you should not be exercising 3-4 hours before going to bed. Ideally, you should exercise in the late afternoon or early evening hours, as this will allow you to expend your physical energy long before your body readies itself for sleep. Fully equipped gyms with fitness trainers are assisting people to increase levels of physical activity. Cardio training is one of most crucial elements of physical training - cardio training will strengthen the muscles that are involved in respiration thus greatly improving your ability to get oxygen into the needed muscles, heart and lungs. This combined with the fact that cardio training increases your ability to expel waste (CO2) and you’ve got a training method that will greatly improve your endurance. Exercise could include the following:
Running, biking, running/walking on a treadmill, dancing, and jumping rope are all good activities to help you increase the amount of oxygen that reaches your bloodstream. Swimming is a fantastic exercise for building up your cardiovascular endurance and unlike other exercises has fewer and more simple drawbacks and is also a rather inexpensive exercise to perform. While swimming is nothing new to cardio training, the use of the Stair Master or Stair Climbing machine is a rather new trend that’s catching on rather quickly. There are also some non-aerobic exercises that can also help you overcome amnesia, including yoga and Tai Chi. Even the driver without time or financial means to exercise in a gym on a regular basis can add moments of activity into his schedule. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator or cycling to work might enhance your physical fitness. Even something as simple as parking your vehicle in a spot further away from your destination might benefit your physical well-being. Stay physically fit! Walk for at least 20 minutes five times a week or the equivalent. Gardening, golf, tennis, and other sports can also help keep you in good physical shape. Medical Advice and Driver Fitness The aim of determining fitness to drive is to minimise the risk to the individual, and other road users, while maintaining appropriate independence and employment. Health professionals are very important in determining the fitness to drive – not only of elderly drivers, but also of people recovering from accidents and other trauma. When drivers are using medication and the instructions fail to provide advice on the effect that the medication might have on safe driving, it might be best to check with the doctor or pharmacist to make sure. Doctors might also advise on physical therapy, medicine, stretching exercises,walking or fitness programs or refer you to other fitness professionals. Medical professionals will consider many factors:
Drivers should never overestimate their fitness to drive. It is better to consult with your physician and to refrain from driving for a while than to face the consequences of a tragic accident. 
Stretching exercises on the road Structured exercise programs bring obvious benefits, but most people can move toward better fitness by changing their daily lifestyle to incorporate more activity. Muscles used in any activity, any time of day, contribute to fitness. Even people who are behind the wheel for most of the day might consider doing some basic stretching exercises when making a stop:
To improve overall conditioning, health experts recommend at least 30 minutes of moderately intense physical activity on all or most days of the week. Examples of moderate activity include brisk walking, cycling, swimming, or doing home repairs or yard work. If you can’t get in 30 minutes all at once, aim for shorter periods of activity—at least 10 minutes—that add up to a half hour per day. Conclusion It has been said that taking a brisk walk every day can help make you a safer driver. We owe it to ourselves, our loved ones and road users around us to do our utmost to be safe at the wheel. May we constantly improve our physical fitness and driving behaviour! Drunk Driving and Road Safety Drunk Driving and Road Safety Drunk Driving is one of the biggest threats to Road Safety in South Africa. Research indicates that 50% of people who die on the roads have a blood alcohol concentration above 0.05 gram per 100 millilitres. Brief Summary: Legislation: The National Road Traffic Act (NRTA), Act 93 of 1996 as amended. Section 65: Driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drug having narcotic effect, or with excessive amount of alcohol in blood or breath
Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) limits: Concentration of alcohol in blood: 0,05 gram per 100 millilitres (all drivers), professional drivers: 0,02 gram per 100 millilitres. Breath alcohol content: 0,24 milligrams per 1000 millilitres (all drivers), professional drivers: 0,10 milligrams per 1000 millilitres. Any person detained for an alleged contravention of any provision of this section shall not - (b) during his or her detention smoke until the specimen has been taken, as the case may be. No person shall refuse that a specimen of blood, or a specimen of breath, be taken of him or her. 
Penalties Imposed For Drunk Driving Section 35: On conviction of certain offences licence and permit shall be suspended for a minimum period and learner's or driving licence may not be obtained (1) Subject to subsection (3), every driving licence or every licence and permit of any person convicted of an offence referred to in - (a) section 61 (1) in the case of death of or serious injury to a person' (b) section 63 (1) driving recklessly, (c) section 65 (1), (2) or (5)' 
where such person is the holder of a driving licence or a licence and permit, shall be suspended in the case of -
Speeding, Road Safety and Accidents Speeding can be defined as exceeding the posted speed limit and driving too fast for conditions. Unfortunately many people do not view obeying speed limits as an important way to avoid crashes. Speeding is regarded as a factor in nearly one-third of all fatal crashes. The important factors to consider are the following:
The Arrive Alive Campaign is aware that the public needs to be made more aware of the dangers of speeding. If speeding is to be combatted more effectively, we would have to devote increased resources to better enforcement, including more law officers to patrol the roads and we must support technological advances such as video cameras [“photo radar”] to target aggressive speeding drivers. We would also have to consider the effective development of speed calming devices in road engineering especially in specific rural areas. Alcohol and speeding are a deadly combination. Research in the USA has indicated that a much higher percentage of intoxicated drivers who were involved in fatal crashes, were speeding than sober drivers involved in fatal crashes. Young male drivers are most likely to be involved in fatal accidents where speeding and alcohol are prevalent. Many speed related crash reduction efforts try to utilize the 5E’s strategy namely Education, Enforcement, Empowerment, Engineering and Evaluation. It is however the drivers responsibility to obey the traffic laws and to be sure that all passengers are safely seated and belted. Driver Attitude and Speeding An International Study in Scotland on speeding and driver attitude concluded that: * Attitudes on speed related attitudes – to speed limits, speed cameras remain unchanged *Drivers are attached to their cars and the possibilities that they offer. They encourage and maintain particular patterns of household location, work, leisure and familial and social networks. But they also enable drivers to speed. * Many, though not all, drivers speed. At the broadest level of analysis, drivers will exceed the speed limit if they have the opportunity to, feel the obligation to, or cannot resist the inclination to. The type of road they are driving on, the type of car they drive and the present road, weather and traffic conditions provide different opportunities for speeding. Felt obligations and responsibilities to those awaiting them at their destination and, for some, to the transient others with whom they are presently sharing the road, influence their speed choice. Inclinations to drive fast vary systematically with age and, to a lesser and decreasing extent, with gender. * Reducing speeding behavior requires reducing the opportunities that facilitate fast driving, reducing the lifestyle obligations that cause drivers to speed up, and modifying inclinations to speed by enhancing the power to resist them. The first is, in principle, straightforward: change cars and roads. Price and status differentials between different makes and models of cars could be preserved, and cars remain attractive, even if none were capable of speeds substantially in excess of the maximum statutory permitted velocity. Making highways safe and comfortable to drive on — a smooth and quiet surface, long bends with a smooth camber, good sightlines — also makes them attractive to speed on. Yüklə 0,56 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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