Driving in varying weather conditions - the repercussions
The almighty God, the supreme sculptor of the human body who knows the finale from the beginning in his infinite wisdom, has made times and seasons for the benefit of humanity.
Advertisement
Appropriately, however, we in the tropical zone have two distinctive weather conditions — the dry and the wet seasons, in other words, the sunny and rainy seasons. All these demonstrate the superlative qualities of our creator, Jehovah God.
It, therefore, behoves us, as humans to systematically study these weather conditions and programme our activities accordingly, particularly motorists who ply our roads daily.
Research has shown that in Ghana, for one solar year, about 70-80 per cent of the weather condition is sunny while the remaining 20 per cent is rainy. This essentially, enables us to go about our activities briskly with the ambient temperature ranging between 23°C and 39°C.
Now, without much ado, let’s run through these two weather conditions and see the repercussions they have on motorists.
Driving in sunny weather
Mr Robert Difonu, a Senior Officer at the Ghacem Company in Takoradi, recounted the ordeal he went through recently. He said he inadvertently left an important document meant for an upcoming management meeting in the factory, so he had to go home for it.
Unfortunately however, on his return, the traffic was so heavy such that, he was stuck in it for over an hour. Besides, his car air conditioner was faulty, and he had to open the windows — the high ambient temperature as a result of the radiant heat of the sun was so terrible. He was therefore forced to remove his coat and tie for a bit of relief because he was sweating. He had since reactivated his car air conditioner. He, however, reached the factory very late and went for the meeting but with a deadpan face—totally dejected. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Many motorists feel uncomfortable when they are stuck in traffic when the sun is at its peak.
When the ambient temperature is very high
In the midst of the year 2015, I was compelled to pick my daughter, Maame Yaa Kame-Ofori, who had then finished her final examination at the St Roses Senior High School at Akwatia. However, I could not go by my car due to the poor nature of the road.
I, therefore, hired a taxi. The driver was wearing a green- coloured singlet, thus exposing the caricature in his armpit. When I enquired, he said the weather was too hot due to the high temperature, so he felt comfortable when he put on a singlet. By Jove! I instantly bought a T-shirt for him to put on, since it was not fair and equally uncultured to travel a long distance in a singlet.
Indeed, most taxi drivers are culprits when it comes to indecent dressing. They dress anyhow, thus exposing their shoulders and armpits. The situation becomes unpleasant when they begin to sweat—the repercussion of high temperature condition.
When the air conditioner is on
On the flip side, Mr Eugene Fianko Debrah, a senior driver at the Cocoa Processing Company, Tema, filled the fuel tank of his saloon car to the brim at a cost of GH¢140.00. However, later in the day he had to top up with GH¢40.00. Why? You may ask. He disclosed that there was a motor accident on the dual carriageway of the Accra-Tema Motorway involving an articulated truck. All the vehicles going to Tema were forced to ply the shoulder of the road; and for 1-2 hours he was stuck in the traffic. However, because the heat of the sun was too much, he put on his air conditioner for all this while.
Ideally, when a driver is stuck in traffic, the engine is presupposed to be idling, which does not draw more fuel. On the contrary, when the air conditioner is switched on, it draws power from the engine to propel it. For that matter, whether the vehicle is in motion or idling it requires appropriate fuel to operate, because more power means more torque and more torque requires more fuel. That is the philosophy behind the use of the air conditioner. Yes, comfort is not for free.
The effects on the vehicle
Thermodynamics teaches that at high ambient temperature, the road surface invariably becomes hot and so do the road wheels, the tyres that are constantly in contact with it. The situation becomes even worse, when the driver resorts to speeding and frequently applies the brake. The bare fact is that at high speed, in a sunny weather condition, the kinetic energy developed by the application of the braking system is equally transmitted to the road wheel, through radiation. This is enough to increase the temperature and pressure of the air within the tyre constituent which can cause a weak tyre to burst.
Motorists are hereby cautioned to be careful, not to accelerate and at the same time apply their brakes erratically, particularly when the ambient temperature is very high.
