13 June 2010
MUSCAT: Bahwan DHL organised a workshop recently dedicated to drivers of heavy vehicles working for the company. The workshop was held in Majan Continental Hotel in Ghala. Around 50 Omani drivers attended the workshop. "Observe, identify, predict and decide," are four main keys that any driver should stick to mind, noted Jeremy Andrade, director and instructor at Defensive Driving Systems in Nairobi, Kenya.
Andrade highlighted the importance of seat-belts at the workshop. Andrade said, "A driver who wears a seat-belt does not mean he will not meet with an accident. It is the driving of the driver that decides the consequences."
Andrade said, "Imagine a vehicle is moving at 100kph, if the vehicle hits a tree, for instance, it will stop within 0.1 second. However this is just a primary collision. The secondary collision hurts the driver and causes most injuries and fatalities." On the secondary collision, he said, "If the vehicle is moving at 100kph and the driver's weight is 60 kilograms, then his weight will turn to be 1.8 tonnes. A person with 80 kilograms will be 2.4 tonnes at the speed of 100 kph. A person with 100 kilograms will be around three tonnes, and so on." In case of an accident caused for a driver who does not wear a seat-belt, nothing will stop him moving until something forces him to, he pointed out.
"In some cases when the passenger wears a seat belt but the driver does not, the seat belt might not be helpful for the passenger. The driver will keep moving inside the vehicle, which could harm the passenger who was, in fact, following road rules," he added.
Andrade also highlighted the seriousness of tiredness feeling faced by most drivers while driving. "The tiredness of the driver causes more than 20 per cent of highways accidents all over the world. The worst accidents happens when a driver feels fatigued and sleepy. Unfortunately, some drivers do not take this issue seriously," he said.
Most of the participants at the workshop admitted of having felt tired while driving in many of their journeys. On what they do once they feel fatigued, some of the participants said they stop, stretch and sleep for few minutes, others said they wash their faces, while the rest said they raise the volume of the radio, eat, drink coffee/tea and pray.
Andrade noted that the feeling of fatigue mostly occurs due to sleep deprivation.
During the workshop, Bahwan DHL awarded best driver for months of March, April and May.
Warith Al Kharusi, PDO logistics manager, awarded the drivers. For March, Saud bin Said Al Azri received his award, for April, Sulaiman bin Nasser Al Daria got his award, and for May Saud bin Nasser Al Shidhany received his award.
MUSCAT: Bahwan DHL organised a workshop recently dedicated to drivers of heavy vehicles working for the company. The workshop was held in Majan Continental Hotel in Ghala. Around 50 Omani drivers attended the workshop. "Observe, identify, predict and decide," are four main keys that any driver should stick to mind, noted Jeremy Andrade, director and instructor at Defensive Driving Systems in Nairobi, Kenya.
Andrade highlighted the importance of seat-belts at the workshop. Andrade said, "A driver who wears a seat-belt does not mean he will not meet with an accident. It is the driving of the driver that decides the consequences."
Andrade said, "Imagine a vehicle is moving at 100kph, if the vehicle hits a tree, for instance, it will stop within 0.1 second. However this is just a primary collision. The secondary collision hurts the driver and causes most injuries and fatalities." On the secondary collision, he said, "If the vehicle is moving at 100kph and the driver's weight is 60 kilograms, then his weight will turn to be 1.8 tonnes. A person with 80 kilograms will be 2.4 tonnes at the speed of 100 kph. A person with 100 kilograms will be around three tonnes, and so on." In case of an accident caused for a driver who does not wear a seat-belt, nothing will stop him moving until something forces him to, he pointed out.
"In some cases when the passenger wears a seat belt but the driver does not, the seat belt might not be helpful for the passenger. The driver will keep moving inside the vehicle, which could harm the passenger who was, in fact, following road rules," he added.
Andrade also highlighted the seriousness of tiredness feeling faced by most drivers while driving. "The tiredness of the driver causes more than 20 per cent of highways accidents all over the world. The worst accidents happens when a driver feels fatigued and sleepy. Unfortunately, some drivers do not take this issue seriously," he said.
Most of the participants at the workshop admitted of having felt tired while driving in many of their journeys. On what they do once they feel fatigued, some of the participants said they stop, stretch and sleep for few minutes, others said they wash their faces, while the rest said they raise the volume of the radio, eat, drink coffee/tea and pray.
Andrade noted that the feeling of fatigue mostly occurs due to sleep deprivation.
During the workshop, Bahwan DHL awarded best driver for months of March, April and May.
Warith Al Kharusi, PDO logistics manager, awarded the drivers. For March, Saud bin Said Al Azri received his award, for April, Sulaiman bin Nasser Al Daria got his award, and for May Saud bin Nasser Al Shidhany received his award.
By Rahima Al Balushi
© Times of Oman 2010
