Factors that increase the risk of vehicle collisions
Factors that increase the risk of vehicle collisions:
- Driving too fast.
- Inadequate lighting.
- Reversing without the help of a banksman (see later).
- Blind spots, such as corners and entrances.
- Bad weather conditions (e.g. rain).
- Obstructed visibility (e.g. an overloaded forklift truck driving forwards).
- Poor design of pedestrian walkways and crossing points.
- Lack of vehicle maintenance (e.g. brake failure).
Collisions can occur between the vehicle and:
–– Other vehicles, e.g. between two lorries manoeuvring at a depot.
–– Pedestrians, e.g. between a car in a staff car park and a member of staff leaving work.
–– Fixed objects, e.g. between a forklift truck and the support leg of racking in a warehouse.
Areas of particular concern are vehicle entrance and exit points, such as the forklift truck entrance point from an outside yard area into a workshop. These parts of a building tend to have a high incidence of vehicle collisions
because of the:
–– Concentration of vehicles through these routes.
–– Presence of blind spots
Changes in light levels that may occur (from brightly lit to dark and gloomy, or the reverse) – the driver’s eyes take a while to adapt to the new light level.
Remember that some of the highest-risk situations occur when pedestrians have to interact with vehicles. Any collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian is likely to lead to serious or fatal injury.
