Unit 11 - Forensic Traffic Collision Investigation
Institution
PEARSON (PEARSON)
This assignment covers everything required to receive a distinction in the forensic traffic collisions and investigations unit. My assignments are helpfully broken into subheadings by mark criteria, and important topics to receive full marks are written in bold. It should be used to provide an easy...
Unit 11 - Forensic Traffic Collision Investigation
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Assignment 11a
P1: Explain factors that cause road traffic collisions and
injury
Human factors
Driver error is the exhibition of poor driving behaviour, such as failing to indicate or driving
recklessly. Driving this way ignores safety guidelines set in place and so can increase the
risk of accidents
A driver with little experience may struggle to adapt to a wider variety of situations, more
complicated situations increase the risks of an inexperienced driver failing to react correctly
and having accidents.
Going over the legal speed limit significantly increases the risk of accidents by reducing
the driver’s reaction speed, making them more likely to harm a pedestrian or damage
property.
Injudicious action refers to disobeying road rules, such as ignoring road markings. Ignoring
the designed road safety guidelines and therefore increasing the risk of accidents.
Anger or stress can cause a driver to make offensive instead of defensive driving
decisions, leading to collisions.
Defective vision or other disabilities can impact a driver’s ability to control the vehicle or
react efficiently to dangerous situations.
Both medicinal and illegal drugs can cause things such as drowsiness, impact
concentration, slow reaction speed and limit awareness, vision and coordination. Increasing
risk
Alcohol slows down the brain, reducing a driver’s reaction speed. It also impacts judgement
leading to people making unsafe decisions on the road.
Similarly, Fatigue slows down reaction speed and awareness, making accidents more likely.
Distractions such as mobile phones or sat navs distract drivers from the road, and
sometimes sat navs can take them down unsafe or inaccurate routes.
Passengers add extra weight to a vehicle increasing the friction between the wheels and
road, they can distract the driver and the overall increased mass increases the braking
distance.
, Environmental factors
Rain increases braking distance as friction is reduced. When falling heavily it can obscure
the driver’s vision impacting their ability to control the vehicle safely. It can cause
aquaplaning, meaning water builds up between the tires and road making control harder.
Ice is similar in that it reduces friction between tyres and the road, and frosted over windows
obscure vision. Black ice is even more dangerous as it cannot be seen easily on the road
and can cause vehicles to spin out.
Snow significantly reduces friction making control more difficult. When falling it obscures
vision and can damage vehicles through ways such as fluid freeze.
The sun can obscure a driver’s vision when shining into their eyes, causing trouble driving
safely.
Strong winds can make steering a harder task, making it harder to avoid collisions.
Traffic lights are synced to prevent collisions, if they fail crashes can happen
Street signs inform drivers of upcoming road changes, making them less likely to need to
make abrupt and risky decisions. However, when they’re obscured they can lead to
accidents through things such as speeding or delayed decision making.
Calming refers to methods used to slow and restrain traffic, such as speed bumps and stop
signs. Lack of use can lead to high speeds and busy roads in unsuitable areas, usually
causing danger to pedestrians.
Congestion makes cyclists feel more at risk of crashes, and makes it harder for emergency
services to reach people efficiently
The state of the road can be the cause of accidents, via the presence of things like
potholes and overhanging trees making the driver lose control of the vehicle or be unable to
see properly.
Design of roadways is important as different safety applies to different roads, For example
motorways are constant streams of cars moving at high speeds in one direction, a small
accident on an empty residential road can have bigger consequences on a motorway, when
cars are moving too fast to brake quickly. For this reason many motorways are built with
multiple lanes and a hard shoulder, where cars breaking down can pull over to stop and
avoid being hit by a car behind them.
Vehicle factors
Most cars today must be built with an Automatic braking system. This senses when the
wheels are about to lock from braking, and rapidly increase and decrease pressure to
prevent it. This reduces braking distance, allowing leniency for slower reaction speeds.
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