A New Year is upon us! The beginning of the year is a good time to reflect and form new habits for the future. While you may have health and fitness-based resolutions, another area where we could all improve is traffic safety. Even if you are a very good driver, it doesn’t hurt to brush up on the basics and reaffirm your commitment to safe driving:
Keep Your Eyes, Mind and Hands on the Task of Driving
- Stay alert as you drive
- Keep your eyes on the road ahead, and scan the roadway from side to side occasionally to stay aware of your surroundings
- Don’t text and drive
- Don’t use your phone or other electronic devices while driving, other than GPS navigation that has been set up before you start the drive
Driving requires focus. Situations and conditions are constantly changing on the road, and you need to be prepared to adapt. Even if driving conditions seem calm, a few seconds of staring at a text or daydreaming may cause you to get in an accident you could have avoided.
Sharing the Road while Driving Defensively
- Practice awareness of the behavior of motorists around you (cars in your blind spot, erratic driving, braking or problems occurring in the traffic several cars in front of you)
- Maintain a following distance of 3-4 seconds
- Increase following distance in bad weather or when the roads are wet
Defensive driving is not aggressive driving. A defensive motorist is always taking level-headed precautions to lower their accident risk, such as being aware of the presence of erratic drivers and poor weather conditions.
Commonsense, But Still So Important
- Don’t drink and drive
- Obey posted speed limits
- Keep a level head – don’t drive aggressively
- Don’t drive when you are emotionally troubled or too distracted by a personal matter to focus
Obeying the rules of the road will go a long way in preventing a collision.
Attorney Laurie Robbins has years of experience handling motor vehicle accident claims. Find out more about your options for pursuing compensation in a consultation with Laurie Robbins. Contact our law firm in Atlanta today.