All opinions are mine and mine alone.
Many of us see driving as a necessity. Indeed, most of us need to be able to drive our vehicles to live our everyday life, getting work, picking up groceries etc. Of course, when you do something every day, it’s easy to forget about the significant risks involved. After all, driving is all about getting inside a complicated combustion machine that weighs around a tonne and manoeuvring it at speed down a narrow lane, doing your best not to hit many others that are doing the same. Indeed, the truth of the matter is that there are many risks associated with driving, although the good news is you can do a range of things to help minimize these and stay as safe as possible. Keep reading to find out what they are.
Proper hand placement
Once people have taken their driving tests, they often forget to use proper hand placement on their vehicle wheel. Some folks even only use one hand to drive! However, there is a very important reason that your instructor told you to keep your hands at 9 and 3 when you are driving – it’s all about control. Yes, that right if something was to happen and you need to make a quick move to avoid another vehicle or person having your hands at 9 and 3 will give you the best opportunity to do this. To that end, if you want to be as safe as possible on the road, you will need to maintain proper hand placement at all times!
Adjust your seat.
Too many people get into their cars and drive off without checking that their seat is in the optimum position. It’s not just a comfort matter either, as positing your seat correctly can help you to have better control of the wheel while driving. Although comfort also comes into play, because drivers that use the optimum seating position will be less distracted than those that don’t, something that can impact on safety too.
It’s pretty easy to work out if you are sitting correctly in the driver’s seat as well. All you need to do is press you back against the seat and check that you can comfortably rest your wrist on the top of your steering wheel. Indeed, it is especially important to check this if you have learnt your car to someone who may have changed the position of the seat.
Get to know your vehicle.
No two cars are the same, even ones of the same make and model! After all, there are so many things that affect how they will drive. With that in mind, it is well worth the time and investment to get to know your vehicle as well as possible. This means getting to know its quirks as well as how your brakes and tires respond to different situations. Although, if you find that they are not to your liking, you can always get replacement brake pads, callipers, or fit new tires, all of which can help to improve performance and safety.
Also, if you are lucky enough to have a higher end vehicle with special functions like ABS, cruise control, and parking assist, it is a smart idea to familiarise yourself with these. Indeed, it can make all the difference to be able to drive confidently and safely in the long run. If in doubt, find an empty parking lot to practice using such functions in before you head onto the highway.
Drop the distractions.
As these statistics on Road accidents in the United States show, distracted driving is one of the most frequent causes of accidents. Unfortunately, there are a great number of potential distractions that we must be mindful of when driving.
Perhaps the most significant one is cell phones. Indeed the temptation to reply to a text can be overwhelming in the moment. To that end, turning our phones to silent and putting them where we cannot see them is a good move. Although, it is worth noting that many vehicles now come with integrated entertainment centres that will read texts, and let you reply verbally, which is much safer.
Cell phones are not the only distraction to be wary of. In fact, using your GPS, entertainment centre, radio, or even being distracted by other passengers in the vehicle can be a problem. That is why we must be mindful of potential distractions before we begin our journey and do everything we can to minimize them.
Always consider your blindspot.
Another thing that we must be mindful of, to drive safely is our blind spot. The blind spot is the area behind us that is not reflected in our mirror, and so we cannot see what is going on there. Indeed, every vehicle has a blind spot, and that is why it is necessary to physically run around and check this area before making decisions like pulling out or turning. The only exception to this rule being if you have a car that has a blindspot warning system.
Be extra careful at night.
You may be totally confident in your ability to drive at night. However, statistically, it is still a time when accidents are much more likely. That means it is important to take extra precaution when driving in the dark.
In particular, using the right beam of headlights is vital as too low can mean you miss important things like signs, road markings, and other vehicles. Conversely, if your lights are too high, they can temporarily blind other drivers and become a safety hazard for them. To that end, manually monitoring the strength of your headlight beams when driving at night, or setting them to dim if you have access to this function automatically is the best approach.
Additionally, the likelihood of other drivers being intoxicated or under the influence of drugs rises at night, especially after midnight. Therefore wherever possible limiting trips at this time of night is a smart idea.
Stay out of the fast lane.
As the Eagles once sang about, life in the fast lane isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, especially when you are driving. The reason for this is the great majority of accidents that occur on the highway happen in the fast lane. Additionally, when your vehicle is in the fast lane, it’s much harder to navigate away from dangerous drivers and situations. Therefore, if you don’t absolutely need to take up this position on the road, choose an alternative lane.
Pick up on the clues around you.
In our next section, we will discuss the dangers of making assumptions when driving. However, sometimes there are situations in which it is prudent to pick on the clues that are around you. In particular, it is usually a safe bet that when a vehicle is in a bad state, the driver may not be the most careful or reliable. The good news is that you can avoid a lot of potential danger by giving cars that are beaten up damaged, or otherwise uncared for a wide berth.
Assumptions and driving don’t mix.
It is also true that assumptions when driving can be a dangerous thing. After all, you never really know what the other driver is thinking or is going to do, even if they are displaying the appropriate signal.
That is why it’s always best to be on your guard when driving and not assume that people will behave as they are expected to. Indeed, when driving, it is still better to err on the side of safety. Otherwise, you may have to deal with the consequences at a later date.
Speak Your Mind