Driving Safely Through the Holidays

                                                                                         

As the holidays approach and more people are on the road, practicing safe driving tips will help you prevent or cause unnecessary accidents. There are many safe driving tips out there, some of them more obvious than others like driving the speed limit or wearing your seatbelt. But here are a few to consider that may not have crossed your mind:

1. Don’t Make Assumptions About the Other Driver - You can never rely on what the other driver will do. While you are driving, keep a wary eye on the other guy and leave yourself plenty of room. Anticipate the mistakes he might make and be ready for them. Eventually, he will! Because he's just like us! When you are driving on "autopilot," you have turned control of your vehicle over to those other drivers - you are at their mercy. Their fate is your fate.

2. Practice the Two Second Plus Rule - Create space between you and the other driver and never allow yourself to get "boxed in." Adequate space creates time and helps you avoid collisions. Maintain at LEAST two seconds of following distance, more if you can. Adjust your position in traffic as necessary to avoid driving in others' blind areas. Don't allow yourself to be tailgated—change lanes or adjust your speed to encourage tailgaters to pass you.

Many of us were taught to use the car-length rule for following distance (one car length for every ten mph). That rule is no longer recommended because car lengths are difficult to visualize, impossible to visualize when moving, and the rule didn't provide enough space in the first place. For example, 6 car lengths at 60 mph provide roughly 108 feet of space. At 60 mph, the average alert reaction time eats 60 to 130 feet (and in the real world, closer to 135 feet for many), leaving little or no time to act. Two seconds of following distance at 60 mph, on the other hand, gives you over 176 feet of pavement to react and respond. Even at two seconds of following distance, you must respond quickly, but it can be done under normal circumstances.

How do you apply the two-second rule? Watch as the vehicle ahead passes some object—I often use shadows or marks on the road surface—then count "one-thousand-one, one thousand two." If you pass that same spot before getting to "two," you're too close—back off!

3. Drive Predictably - Have you ever seen a driver fly down the left lane of an expressway, then at the very last second, veer across all the lanes and onto an off-ramp (usually cutting off a number of other vehicles in the process)? Driving instructors call that a "kamikaze." It's probably the most extreme example of unpredictability, the kind of unexpected sudden movement that results in many traffic deaths each year.

Be predictable! If you find that you are too close to your intended off-ramp (or turn) to be able to signal normally and slow down gradually, then forget making any sudden corrective moves and go on to the next exit, or to the next block. Turn back, or go around the block to get back where you wanted to be.

Being predictable is part of planning ahead and paying attention -- for the freeway exit, you should change lanes long before your exit ramp, getting yourself into position early so that others have plenty of time and space to react and adjust.

If you are confused about where to turn, or looking for an address, be careful not to stop dead in the road when others aren't expecting your sudden stop. Instead, pull off to the side or into a parking lot until you figure out what to do. Pay attention to your turn signals. It is not unusual to see a driver whose signal doesn't auto-cancel happily motoring along, unaware, for many blocks.

4. Be Aware of Blindspots, Yours and Others - It should make you uncomfortable if you are driving in other drivers' blind spots! Virtually all vehicles have blind areas—even motorcycles. (Motorcyclists are sometimes limited in how far they can twist their head to look behind them.) Yet, some drivers habitually change lanes without checking their blind areas for other vehicles. It's a good idea to adjust your position relative to other traffic to stay out of other drivers' blind spots whenever you can.

Where are your blind spots? That depends on the vehicle. A car typically has blind areas at the sides near the rear of the vehicle, meaning you cannot see anything in these areas by looking in your correctly-adjusted mirrors. Other vehicles may be blind to anything that is directly behind. Vehicles in which the driver sits very high may have forward-quarter blind spots—they may not be able to see anything low to the ground in front or to the sides near the front.

5. Beware of the One Car Crash - When many people think about what the most "dangerous" collision is, they don't always come up with the correct answer on first guess. Many think it is the "T-Bone" (a 90 degree impact at an intersection), or a head-on. But time and again, the statistics show that the collision that kills more of us than any other is the single vehicle, off the road collision.

If you think about their causes, then the ways to prevent them become obvious -- they happen when we lose control for one reason or another. The driver might be distracted for a moment, or fatigued and drift off to sleep. A one-car crash can occur with a loss of traction (and an uncontrolled skid, or even with a tire failure.

The "classic" one-car crash results when a vehicle does a slow drift to the right, and hits the dirt, or perhaps the rumble strips on the right shoulder of the road. Typically, the driver gets alert at this point, and overreacts, jerking the wheel left to bring the vehicle back onto the road. That "jerk" to the left causes the front left tire to strike the raised edge of the pavement at a fairly sharp angle -- often causing a rollover or a swerve into the oncoming lanes to the left. Why "classic?" Because investigating officers will tell you they see this type of mishap so often, it is now a cliché.

If you find yourself drifting off the right edge of the pavement, release the accelerator and let the vehicle slow as you continue straight ahead along the shoulder, then use the steering wheel to bring the vehicle smoothly back onto the pavement. You can use the brakes while slowing, but be careful not to apply them too heavily, and make sure you are not trying to turn while braking.

If you practice all of these simple techniques, you will have a safe and most happy holiday.

About the author:
Greg Chapman of Greg Chapman Motors is a knowledgeable and leading provider of used cars, trucks, and SUV's. Since 1959, Chapman motors has supplied reliable used cars in Austin and the surrounding area and is known as one of the bad credit car dealers in Austin. For more information please visit http://www.gregchapmanmotors.com.

Article Source: http://www.Free-Articles-Zone.com