GETTING FROM A TO B
5.1
47
READING
6
Work in small groups and discuss the questions.
1
Do you drive? Do you enjoy it? Why?/Why not?
2
If you don’t drive, would you like to? Why?/Why not?
3
How do you feel about the quality of driving in Bahrain? What about
other countries you have visited?
7
a
Which of the following do you think are the most important as
causes of crashes on the road today? Choose your top three. Then,
explain your choices and reasons to a partner.
1
the age of drivers
5
mechanical problems
2
speed
6
the sex of drivers
3
the number of cars on the road
7
the psychology of drivers
4
the weather
8
the quality of roads
7
b
Read the article below quickly and decide which the writer feels
is the most important cause.
8
Read the article again. Which methods below of making roads
safer are mentioned? Support your choices with examples.
1
restricting the speed at which people can drive
2
introducing technological innovations to make people slow down
3
educating drivers
4
improving safety features in cars
5
having tough penalties for drivers who break the law
6
introducing an upper age limit for drivers
7
assessing drivers’ abilities and issuing of documents
8
introducing street lighting to improve visibility
9
Analysing arguments
Read the article again and answer the
questions. Then compare your answers with a partner.
1
What are the main points made by the writer?
2
How well do you think the writer supports these points?
3
Which arguments in the text do you find convincing/unconvincing. Why?
VOCABULARY
SAFETY FEATURES
10
a
Without looking back at the article,
complete these safety features.
1
speed
5
seat
2
one-way
6
traction
3
traffic
7
anti-lock
4
cameras
8
air
10
b
Discuss the questions with a partner.
1
Which three of the safety features do you
think are the most important, and why?
2
Which do you think are the least
popular with drivers in Bahrain?
3
Is there another safety feature you
would like to see made compulsory in
all cars, e.g. on-board cameras?
SPEAKING AND WRITING
11
a
Work in groups of three. You are
going to have a discussion about the best
ways of making the roads safer.
Student A:
look at page 155.
Student B:
look at page 157.
Student C:
look at page 161.
11
b
Discuss the ways of improving road
safety. Decide together which method
you think would be the most effective.
11
c
Report your decisions to the class.
11
d
As a class, reach a decision as to the
best course of action on this issue.
12
Write your recommendations for a
report on road safety.
The dangers of
safety
Another solution has been to make cars themselves safer in
case of an accident. This has resulted in a focus on passive
safety or crash survival rather than active safety or avoiding
crashes. There are many innovations by motor manufacturers
which have made cars safer, such as seat belts, traction
control, anti-lock brakes and airbags. At the same time, a lot
of attention has also been paid to car interiors. This means
cars have got quieter, more comfortable and more luxurious.
Taken together, these improvements have tended to make the
driver feel more in control and insulated him/her from the fast-
moving and dangerous environment outside the car. Given that
cars are now safer as these improvements have been made, it
is surprising that the number of pile-ups is not decreasing.
Actually, it is wrong to talk about safe and dangerous cars in
this way. The key to this problem is not actually the car, but
the driver. In fact, making drivers feel safer is not the solution
to the problem, it is the cause of the problem. As drivers feel
safer, it encourages them to drive aggressively and to ignore
other road users and therefore increases the number of crashes.
The problem of car safety is not an engineering problem but a
psychological one. Ironically, if we want the roads and driving to
be safer, we need to make cars more dangerous!
Travelling by road is widely accepted as being the most
dangerous way to travel, with far more deaths per kilometre
than rail, sea or air. In fact, while road traffic injuries
represent about 25 percent of worldwide injury-related
deaths, fatalities on the road in the UK have been decreasing
for some time, with the most recent figure standing at 1,901.
We take a look at why the number is decreasing, but why it
seems impossible to eradicate fatalities completely.
Over the years, different methods of reducing the number
of crashes have been tried. The Locomotive and Highways
Act of 1865 introduced the idea of
speed limits to the motoring world.
Since then, more and more ways of
controlling the behaviour of drivers
have been introduced, such as one-
way streets and traffic signals, as
well as compulsory driver testing
and licensing. These days, there are
many more methods of enforcement,
including speed cameras and fines for
breaking motoring laws.
