Just 15 centimetres of water can float a car – but we are failing to educate drivers about the dangers of floodwaters

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 18:36:15 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://theconversation.com/just-15-centimetres-of-water-can-float-a-car-but-we-are-failing-to-educate-drivers-about-the-dangers-of-floodwaters-233116>

"Every year in Australia, people driving into floodwaters drown and many more
are rescued. Do you know what to do when there’s water on the road?

We searched all state and territory learner and driver handbooks for
information about floodwaters, including signage. Our findings, published in
the Journal of Safety Research, are disturbing.

Across half of Australia’s states and territories, the driver handbook ignores
flooding. That’s a missed opportunity, considering the handbook contains road
rules and provides advice on how to navigate safely. While some states fail to
provide any flood-related information, others give detailed practical guidance.
Only the New South Wales handbook includes explanation of the meaning and
purpose of flood signage.

This is despite almost all states and territories experiencing vehicle-related
flood deaths, including drowning, between 2001 and 2017. It’s a major problem
that is only going to get worse as the climate changes. So our research shows
driver education needs to come up to speed, fast."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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