Crash Course: 157 Causes of Collisions and How to Prevent Them

Geoff Cragg is a tenured instructor in the Faculty of General Studies at
the University of Calgary in Alberta.

As Walter Hayduk points out, we tend to accept death and injury
resulting from vehicle accidents while happily donating millions to
combat diseases that claim fewer victims. He presents the arresting
statistic that the annual number of deaths and injuries resulting from
car accidents in Canada is equivalent to a jumbo jet crashing every
week. His book examines what he sees as the seven major causes of
accidents. The chapters on the physics of vehicles, the psychology of
driving, and collision statistics are particularly valuable. The
risk-assessment questionnaire provides readers with a detailed appraisal
of their driving habits and an opportunity to reflect on what they need
to change.

Hayduk’s central thesis—that through education, self-appraisal, and
preparation, we can become safer drivers—relies on the debatable
propositions that there is no such thing as an accident and that the
driver is the critical factor in any dangerous situation. His focus on
the individual obscures the importance of cultural, legal, political,
and technological factors. Similarly, his insistence on the wisdom of
following traffic regulations to the letter ignores the need to
critically examine the assumptions behind them. Although Hayduk
obviously possesses technical expertise, and writes easily and precisely
about complex topics, his formal training is not in traffic safety or
risk management.

These concerns aside, Crash Course is an informative and useful book,
and one with a deadly serious purpose.