You’ve probably recently learned how to drive a vehicle and feel anxious. But it’s easy to get more comfortable with age. The truth is most people pay attention to road safety rules during their teenage years because they are training for their licenses. Some level of comfort comes with less diligence whenever you’re driving. You’re not alone. However, there should be no excuse for ignoring the core part of road safety rules.
The CDC statistics indicate that over 32,000 people have lost their lives, and 2 million have suffered injuries because of vehicle accidents in the U.S. These numbers are disturbing. Still, we can follow basic road safety rules to prevent accidents. By ignoring some of these basic rules, we contribute to the loss of life and many injuries.
Here are some of the driving safety tips most drivers, including experienced ones, ignore:
- Minimizing distractions
Every driver understands that it’s wrong to look at your phone when you’re driving. Yet, most drivers check their phones while driving whenever a text message pops up or when somebody tries to call. They tend to make quick looks. Even if nothing terrible happens when you make quick looks, it may make you comfortable to the point of taking your eyes off the road.
It’s risky to take your eyes off the phone when you’re driving. Even worse, most drivers think checking their phones is safe because they’ve done it a couple of times, and nothing wrong happened. It’s important to understand that they’ve been lucky.
All drivers should strive to minimize distractions because it poses a considerable threat. You can put your phone on driving mode so that it sends a message to notify people you’re driving when someone contacts you. Also, you can pull over to take care of other things such as eating, drinking, or smoking.
- Ensure to buckle up always
Others wear their seat belts before the journey, and others wear them when they’re down the highway, while others ignore them completely. That’s dangerous—we must buckle up because seat belts help save lives. In case of an accident, seatbelts help prevent injury from a crash impact. It helps to minimize deaths and reduce injuries effectively during crashes. Whether in a limousine, Taxi, bus, or personal vehicle, you should buckle up.
- Drive when you’re alert
Driving when you’re tired can pose a real threat. CDC indicates that sleep deprivation can affect your driving, similar to what too much alcohol consumption does. Some people ignore the fact that they’re sleepy and choose to continue with the journey. Even if there’s less traffic, you shouldn’t take any chances. When you’re exhausted, chances are you may close your eyes while driving. Even a second can slow down your reaction time and cause gracious consequences.
Therefore, it’s necessary to have enough sleep to ensure that you drive when you’re more alert.
- Avoid drinking alcohol and driving
Too much consumption of alcohol leads to impaired thinking, poor muscle coordination, and poor judgment. These are core tenets of driving a vehicle. While alcohol increases your reaction time, it leads to flawed reasoning and, therefore, unsafe choices. It’s why it’s illegal to drive under the influence of alcohol significantly more than 0.08Â in the United States.
Besides alcohol, people should also consider other substances that can adversely affect their choices while driving. For instance, marijuana slows down your reaction time, impairs coordination, and leads to poor decisions. Moreover, you should avoid other over-the-counter drugs such as Benadryl, which causes drowsiness.
- Don’t Overspeed
High-speed driving can cause devastating situations on the road. Paying attention is a good move. But it would be best to observe the rough weather conditions to ensure you’re driving at the proper speeds that suit the requirements. Most critically, it would be best if you also moved at a speed relative to traffic flow. However, it doesn’t mean that you should go at high speeds just because fellow drivers are.
Don’t feel the pressure of driving faster than the surrounding vehicles. Instead, move to the right lane to maintain a much safer speed than the rest of the drivers. Note that it’s much more important to get to your destination safely than quickly.
Conclusion
Whether an experienced driver or not, it helps pay attention to the critical tenets of road safety. Overlooking this will result in accidents, leading to more deaths and injuries. It’s the reason why we insist that drivers should not ignore the safety tips mentioned above.
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