Preventing Automobile Accidents
Automobile accident is the number one cause of deaths among toddlers, kids, teens & young adults ages 1 through 29.
You Can Saves Lives
Be aware that number one cause of car accidents is driver's behavior (aggressive or ignorant) - not mechanical failure or road conditions. If you are a parent of teenage son or daughter, take extra time and effort to provide a realistic picture of the risks of teen driving. As you can see from the statistics compiled by National Center for Health Statistics, car accident is the number one cause of death among teens (ages 15 - 19), accounting for amazing 40% of all deaths in this age group. Not only that, your kids are at great risk, if you have an aggressive or ignorant driving behavior.
Car accident is the number 1 cause of deaths among children.
Don't rush - Don't get upset - Don't multi-task - Don't drink when you drive - such behaviors will harm you or others
Pay attention - Be courteus on the road - such behaviors will save your life and others.
Aggressive driving and Ignorant driving behaviors are contributing to unnecessary DEATHS big time!
Remember: defensive driving really saves lives.
Learning to Drive Devensively
According to the National Safety Council (NSC), an estimated 77% of accidents are due to driver error. Defensive driver training greatly reduces your risk of being involved in a preventable crash. NSC's driver improvement program shows drivers the direct connection between their attitude and their driving behaviors. It helps them recognize that their reckless driving and its consequences result from their own choices, and guides them towards accepting responsibility for their actions.
About NSC's Attitudinal Dynamics of Driving (DDC-ADD) Courses
10 Tips to Prevent Car Accidents
- Avoid drinking and driving.
- Minimize distractions such as reading newspapers or talking on the cell phone when driving.
- Properly maintain vehicles. Tune up cars according to maintenance schedule, and especially take note monthly of tire condition.
- Do not encourage aggressive drivers. Let other aggressive driving behavior roll off your back, or call the police. Losing your temper could worsen the situation.
- Leave a safe distance between your cars and others. For every 10 miles per hour of speed, leave at least one car length space between your vehicle and the vehicle ahead.
- Maintain a constant speed. Don’t continually slow down or speed up.
- Adjust mirrors properly and check the side and rear-view mirrors every 15 seconds.
- Take defensive driving classes to improve your ability to drive and be better prepared for the unpredictable behavior of other motorists.
- Proceed with great caution through intersections. Intersections are the center of most accidents. When entering an intersection, look left, then right, then left again to ensure the area is clear.
- Be sufficiently aware of road conditions and be more visible. Keep your lights on at dusk and dawn and during rain, as is the law in most states. Understand basic vehicle dynamics, such as knowing how to recover from a skid.
(source: Property Casualty Insurers Association of America)
Other Ideas for Accident Prevention
Although many accidents are caused by behavior that is difficult to alter, by mechanical failure, or by road conditions, some technical solutions are becoming more widely available to prevent accidents:
- Proximity monitors: These would automatically detect how close you were traveling to the car in front of you and automatically adjust your car's acceleration to prevent you from getting closer than you can safely stop at your current speed.
- Sobriety detectors: These locks prevent the ignition key from working if the driver breathes into one and is shown to have consumed alcohol.
- Drifting monitors: These devices monitor how close a vehicle is traveling to lane markers and, if it starts to drift toward or over the markers without the turn signal being activated, sounds an alarm.
(source: Wikipedia)
More About Car Accidents
Car accidents—also called traffic accidents, auto accidents, road accidents, road traffic accidents (RTA in many police forces' terminology) and motor vehicle accidents—cause thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of disabilities each year. Worldwide, car accidents kill an estimated one million people each year. In most developed countries, young (under 25 years old) male drivers have been shown to be by far the most likely to be involved in a car accident, and this has become an area of focus in recent times. Reasons suggested for this prevalence include inexperience combined with over-confidence, peer pressure, showing off, and even neurological development arguments. In addition most serious accidents occur at night and when the car has multiple occupants. (source: Wikipedia)
|