Troops back from deployment more likely to cause car accidents

To the average person at home a traffic stop creates order, but to a returning soldier it could remind him that not moving makes one a more likely target. A pothole is a natural spring phenomenon but to someone trained to look for hidden IEDs, what kind of reaction can it elicit?

Members of the U.S. military — especially enlisted troops in the Army and Marines — were significantly more likely to cause auto accidents within six months of returning from deployment, according to a study by USAA Property and & Casualty Insurance Group, a major insurer for military families.

These veterans probably are engaging in survival driving habits for a war zone, such as not stopping in traffic, driving fast and making sudden, unpredictable turns, experts said. But those same driving practices create havoc back in the United States.

The insurance company looked at the driving record for each member in the study for the six months prior to deployment and then at their experience after returning to the U.S. The three-year study started in January 2007 and included 158,000 troops who had 171,000 deployments to various overseas locations.

USAA found a 13% increase in at-fault accidents for troops within the first six months of returning from deployment.

Read article here

It's clear that the military is carefully trained, but does more focus need to be placed on adjustment to civilian environments once they are on their way home? If they are at least sensitized to the changes a deployment causes in them, what about sensitizing them to the need to relax certain of those alert buttons in themselves? What if anything is being done to help them in this regard?

I'm interested in hearing your views.

Mods feel free to move if this is not in the correct forum. Thanks.

unless the soldiers a massive retard, he should know that a pot hole in hick falls, iowa , isn't a 700lb ied.

saying that, it's nothing time won't fix.

reply to post by randomname


Are you a bloody idiot yourself? These survival techniques work a level below conscious thought. The tremendous pressure that these people were put under in combat zones drives that stuff in there deep. Don't be so ignorant.

reply to post by Mkoll


Thank you !!
The training and time on deployments make reactions like this instinctive
I've been there myself on many many occasions
Driving without looking ahead - eyes scanning the roadside for anything unusual and instinctively reacting to a glint of light or reflection or anything out of the norm
Coming to a traffic jam and reaching for flares or non lethal lasers to disperse the jam ( then laughing at myself when I reach for the dash board to find no such devices )
Refusing to slow down or allow myself to become channeled ( prime IED territory )
The same can be said for on foot - out for a days shopping round the local markets - checking windows for snipers - crossing the road to stay away from a mail box or trash can - constantly looking for my next cover
Always assessing the situation
Not consciously - all in the sub conscious - and have a little giggle to myself
It becomes instinctive and takes a little while to subside
Hell I can walk into my own house and still check my highs lows and dead corners
But then I have spent a lot of time on ops
When your life and the lives of those around you depend on these skills and drills day in day out you can't just turn it off
You don't want to fully turn it off - as you'll be going back before you realise
My personal example - and these are just the ones I can mention
2002 ME (pre war operations ) 2003 Iraq 2004 Iraq 2005 afghan 2006 afghan 2007 afghan 2008 afghan 2009 Iraq 2010 afghan 2011 afghan
Now you tell me
After that wouldnt certain skills become the norm for people like myself ?
Why would I chose to let those skills fade ? Going by this glimpse at my service record ?
Many will never understand
And will never try to

Edit as you can tell by the number of stars you received compared to the poster above you !

reply to post by Neocrusader

That's an awful lot of deployments! We can understand how certain reactions and movemets have become ingrained, especially if they were put into practice. What I'm curious about is how you find the balance in civil society again, especially when it comes to driving and avoiding accidents. Do you think since more accidents happen to the younger soldiers than the older ones, that there is just room enough for a rapid moment of reflection that allows you to lessen an impulse reponse perhaps?

reply to post by aboutface


The balance comes with time and accepting that your reacting to training
As I said before many times I've laughed at myself for reacting as if I was on ops - even if only briefly
You see the traffic in a nano second you have your evasive actions planned and reach for your defences ( be that flares, lasers, sirens or weapon systems
But literally a nano second after that initial reaction I'm 'reeling' myself back in and laughing ar myself
From spotting a potential perceived threat - half a second later I'm laughing at myself - it's that quick and instinctive
Both the reaction and the realisation of my reaction
For younger troops it must be a bit more difficult
I'm in my 30's and been driving for a while - due to my position and employment I rarely drive on ops - I'm a commander - the younger troops do the driving so I can concentrate on the op

So you end up with these 18-21 year olds who havent been driving long thrust into these situations - infact for some they only get their driving licence prior to deployment so their only real experience of driving is in a high threat combat zone

So when the majority of your driving experience come from 'combat driving' this results in bad habits when you return home
It's a problem that has been noticed and addressed by many nations
The Germans and especialy the Brits have done much research and have detailed briefings about this matter prior to deployment and again during 'decompression' on return from ops
But the rediscovery of alcohol and the feeling of invincibility ( having survived ops ) plays a very big part too

Originally posted by Neocrusader
reply to post by aboutface

 

So you end up with these 18-21 year olds who havent been driving long thrust into these situations - infact for some they only get their driving licence prior to deployment so their only real experience of driving is in a high threat combat zone

So when the majority of your driving experience come from 'combat driving' this results in bad habits when you return home
It's a problem that has been noticed and addressed by many nations The Germans and especialy the Brits have done much research and have detailed briefings about this matter prior to deployment and again during 'decompression' on return from ops
But the rediscovery of alcohol and the feeling of invincibility ( having survived ops ) plays a very big part too

Thanks for your reply. Perhaps a constructive thing to do in families of our returning younguns would be to underline the wisdom and how cool it is to have one's own designated driver? I became one for three years, no criticism, no questions, just a reliable support for someone while they took care of their demons and got on with the business of growing up. .