Every day terrible disasters on the roads are shocking the audience of TV news, but the next morning people forget everything and rebel against the new laws, issued to ensure their safety on the roads. The laws seem for them unnecessary, ‘‘fabricated‘‘ by the government and too expensive. They think so, until they face the misfortune themselves. Professor Dr. Kai-Uwe Schmitt from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich, who delivered a cycle of lectures on Injury Biomechanics for Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VGTU) students, persuades that any defensive driving measures are not going to protect anybody, unless traffic participants themselves change their way of thinking.
Over the last decade, the number of traffic accidents and killed or injured people in our country significantly decreased. In 2005, the number of accidents on the roads of Lithuania reached almost seven thousand, while in 2014 this figure reached a little more than four thousand victims. However, our country is still on the twenty-third place from twenty-eight, according to the road fatalities rate per one million people. Only Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania and Luxembourg have worse results than Lithuania. Kai-Uwe Schmitt says that according to the figures, there is still a lot of space for progress, so we have to try hard, in order to avoid such disasters.
"The most important message is that we have to protect ourselves and our relatives. If we are not taking care of ourselves, even the best car safety systems will be useless. Safety belts are still the most important prevention measure. Without seat belts, driving at 30 km/h, head and neck injuries can be fatal. It is equally dangerous to ride without seat belts at the back of the car. In this case, you cause danger not only for yourself, but also for the person, seated in front of you, "– assures the Professor, who has been exploring traffic accidents and injures for years.
Professor Dr. Kai-Uwe Schmitt emphasizes that among road users there is a tendency to neglect safety measures for themselves as well as for their children. It is still a common practice for parents to keep a child on the lap, or simply buckle young children with adults' shoulder belts, forgetting about special booster or high-back booster seats. Professor told us that a few years ago in Switzerland, at exactly the same time as in Lithuania, they changed the rules, according to which older and taller children use special booster or high-back booster seats.
"There was a great rebellion against the rules in our country, too. Probably, this is natural, because usually people do not accept new things easily," – told the Biomechanics specialist.
Kai-Uwe Schmitt warns us to keep in mind, that a child is not a small adult. His bone system is completely different, and his neck is not sturdy. You cannot protect children, just by holding them in your arms or buckling them by seat belts, designed for adults. On the contrary, even though a child is older, the height of the seat and the belt‘s position on his hips may cause even more problems during the accident.
"After all, we do not need expensive measures for safe driving. It is essential that a booster seat is properly adjusted at the proper height, while the booster seat‘s price is not important at all. It is not true, that more expensive booster or high-back booster seats prevent a child better. Therefore, high prices should not be an excuse for neglecting safety requirements for children. Birth rate is declining, our population as well, so we have to protect our progeny", – warned the Biomechanics specialist.
According to Kai-Uwe Schmitt, parents in Switzerland nowadays have no doubts concerning defensive driving requirements. Little by little, everybody understands the benefit of such measures for their families. In this country, even taxi companies have special booster or high-back booster seats for children, in order to ensure their safe transportation.
Professor at the ETH Zurich points out that not only car drivers or passengers but also pedestrians and cyclists should understand the importance of defensive driving requirements on the roads.
"I noticed that Vilnius is not a safe city for pedestrians. Drivers are not as careful towards other traffic users as they should be, so pedestrians have to be very careful," – said Kai-Uwe Schmitt.
According to the Professor, the cyclists should keep to the same self-defensive driving rules. The injury biomechanics specialist believes that a helmet corresponds to a seat belt in a vehicle. The helmet is obligatory for the cyclists, riding both on roads together with other vehicles, as well as only on sidewalks or special bicycle paths. Collision with another cyclist or even a simple pit on the road is potentially dangerous.
"It should be borne in mind that we have to be visible in order to avoid injuries. Reflectors for pedestrians and reflective vests as well as the lights for cyclists are obligatory for defensive driving. Even if now it is a matter of discussion in your country, in the future, people will understand that road safety is the most important issue. We have to change people's mind-set, if we want to change the results of accidents’ statistics. It depends not only on the people themselves, but on public authorities, too. They should also contribute, educating people about defensive driving, starting from young children", – convinced Professor at one of the world's best universities.
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Professor Dr. Kai-Uwe Schmitt from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich, ranking twelve according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities, is also the researcher of Institute for Biomechanical Engineering, the secretary of the International Research Council on the Biomechanics of Injury (IRCOBI), the consultant to the Federal Roads Office of the Swiss Government, as well as the partner, the board member and the chief investigator of the Working Group on Accident Mechanics (AGU Zurich).
