- Image via @matthewlejune on Unsplash

Can dash-cam footage help refresh driver attention?

OPINION: Complacency and apathy on the road can have consequences, so can we get some benefit out of the mistakes of others?

1y ago
16.4K

Seasoned drivers should be well aware of the bad habits they can form. Professional drivers can sometimes run the risk of making presumptions about what other drivers are going to do. This can lead to accidents, simply because the driver did not account for the little moment of chaos that changes everything before them.

Perusing YouTube channels, such as Dash Cam Owners Australia - despite the videos being book-ended with playful music or Simpsons stings - can be a sobering viewing session, even if the videos seem to be an ongoing compilation of Aussies asking the eternal question of "waddarya-varkandoon?"

Language warning on the video below.

Personally, in the days following a binge-session on this particular channel, I have found myself being particularly mindful at roundabouts, watching to make sure people keep in their lane, or that others don't pull out in front of me. It has also extended to those moments of scooting through intersections and hoping that someone doesn't disobey the red light and just wander out in front of me like Australian fauna at dusk.

The channel does also contain some more confronting footage with their crash compilations, which can be a sobering reminder that "They Drive Among Us".

I am somewhat hesitant to suggest that a sole strategy of binge-watching these kinds of videos would be of a definite benefit. When a driver focuses too intently on one potential hazard, there is a risk that they miss a different one coming from another direction. Drivers should be as broadly alert possible, and not fixate on one particular target. That is when they would likely get blind-sided by something else.

Image via @supermassive on Unsplash

Image via @supermassive on Unsplash

Rather, that reviewing such video footage should complement our own personal internal reviews of our abilities and limitations. We should always look at where we are on the road, and have an exit strategy for any situation that could occur.

Car safety adverts, in an effort to shock people into doing the right thing on the roads, have sometimes been quite graphic, bordering on outright gory. Yet statistics, at least in Australia, seem to show only the slightest of downward trends over the past decade.

Not that I am the kind of person who willingly accepts the wisdom of YouTube comments, given that any section I've dived into usually results in me feeling like I need a shower afterward. But on this channel, there was one YouTube comment on this channel that did resonate with me. And I paraphrase:

"I watch these videos so that I can be more aware, but also to make sure I don't end up being featured in one."

Random youtube commenter, maybe

"I watch these videos so that I can be more aware, but also to make sure I don't end up being featured in one."

The tool of ridicule is no stranger to road safety adverts, often employed in drink-driving warnings to tell would-be pilots to not be idiots and drive while under the influence of alcohol. However, off the top of my head, I am unable to remember any campaign that would openly point and laugh to say, "You're not this idiot, are you?"

As we age, it becomes awfully easy to become complacent on the road. We get into our own grooves, pick up our own little habits, and make assumptions about how the traffic moves. We can all make little mistakes every now and then - we are only human, after all - but sometimes having reminders of what (or who) exactly could be around the corner is just the thing to have us pause and remind ourselves of what responsibility we carry as drivers.

Because we also don't want to feature in these videos, either as the cause, or as a co-star of the feature.

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Comments (6)

  • I certainly think it helps. When my dad is driving I can often spot hazards just as early quickly as him and he's been driving for over 40 years. My dad has always taught me to assume everyone else on the road is a complete idiot and could do anything, as I've witnessed on the roads and on these dashcam videos. Always expect the unexpected when driving.

    I'm a cyclist also, so am very accustomed to other road users doing silly things (not always car drivers either).

      1 year ago
    • I’ve received similar advice, and always to look for telltale signs of potential dickheadery. You just never know and anything which helps hone the alertness should surely be considered a good thing.

        1 year ago
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