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Car Safety
 Car
safety is extremely important. According to the Insurance Institute
for Highway Safety, 42,636 people died in car accident sin 2004.
Driving a car can be dangerous, but proper car safety could have
helped prevent at least some of these deaths.
Items of car safety that your vehicle may or may not have:
• Lights. Brake lights and turn signals and headlights are
all safety features of your car… make sure that you use them,
and make sure that none of your bulbs have burnt out.
• Mirrors. Properly align your side mirrors and rear view
mirror to help eliminate blind spots. Remember, though, that even
with your mirrors properly aligned, you will still have blind spots,
so be sure to check them before you change lanes.
• Seatbelts. Seatbelts keep you from being thrown forward
and even from being ejected from your vehicle.
• Bumpers. Bumpers were created to withstand a small collision
without damaging the main body work of your vehicle.
• Airbags. These days, there are not just front air bags,
there are also side airbags and curtain airbags. All of these air
bags protect people’s heads in the event of a collision. Airbags
can be dangerous to children, so be sure to read your owner’s
manual before placing a child in the front seat.
• Anti-lock braking system (ABS). Anti-lock brakes can shorten
your braking time by preventing the brakes from locking and causing
you to lose traction while braking.
• Four wheel drive. Wheel spin is less likely when the power
is distributed to all four wheels.
• Four wheel steering. This gives a driver faster and more
accurate maneuvering ability at high speeds.
These are just a few pieces of car safety that are being added
to most cars today. There are also less common forms of car safety
(that are growing in popularity) like dynamic steering response
(DSR), lane departure warning system (LDWS), directional headlights,
inboard brakes, traction control (TCS), Electronic Stability Control
(ESC), and other interestingly fun and safe technology.
Of course, just because you have a car with side curtain air bags
and four wheel drive and a lane departure warning system, it does
not mean that you can drive completely carefree, thinking that your
car will take care of you.
While advancements in car safety are making modern vehicles more
and more safe, they are only safe when a safe driver is behind the
wheel. Car safety starts with you, the driver.
Car safety tips for the driver:
• Be completely sober!
• Wear your seatbelt.
• Do not talk on your cell phone while driving your car…
the more attention you pay to your friend on the other line, the
less attention are paying to the road, and vice versa. Your driving
time is not the time to be multi-tasking.
• Do not eat while driving. Do not read, put on make-up, or
dress while driving, either!
• Keep both hands on the wheel.
• Follow the speed limit.
• Drive slower in poor weather (or do not drive at all!)\
• Never tailgate. Be sure to always leave plenty of room between
you and the car in front of your.
• Think of escape routes. Make sure that you leave yourself
enough room that you can change lanes quickly (without hitting anything)
in case there is a problem (like a deer, another car not seeing
you and changing lanes, etc.). Always have an outlet. Do not let
other cars box you in.
• Drive Defensively. Stay calm. Do not let other drivers anger
you. If they cut you off, leave it at that. Make sure that your
anger towards them does not cause you to cut someone else off!
• If you are sleepy, do not drive.
• Stay out of other people’s blind spots.
• Think of potential “problems.” For instance,
if there are young kids playing with a ball, be aware that they
might chase it into the street.
• Try not to drive much at night.
• Maintain your vehicle!
There are many things that you can do to help maintain car safety.
Sometimes an accident may be another driver’s fault, but oftentimes
even those accidents could have been avoided if you had done something
differently (not to say that it is your fault if another car hits
you!)
Car safety is important, so make sure that your car is as safe
as possible and that you are, too!
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