The 3 Best Defensive Driving Tips To Help Avoid An Accident
Prevention is the best medicine whether it comes to keeping yourself healthy and your immune system strong, or trying to prevent a car or truck accident to stay safe. Many accidents can be avoided even when you are not the one that causes them. Yes, there are other drivers out there doing crazy things like drinking or texting and driving and many other terrible habits.
Even if you have an excellent accident attorney like Lamber Goodnow injury lawyers it is a good idea to not get into the accident in the first place. This is the reason that defensive driving is the best strategy. It involves a few factors that allow you to be able to prevent an accident from happening. In this article, we will go over the top defensive driving tips so you can start implementing them right away.
1 – Don’t drive distracted
Distracted driving accounts for most of the accidents on the roadways today. It isn’t just the other drivers doing it. If you are the one distracted then it is going to slow down your reflexes and make it difficult to avoid an accident. You may even be the one causing it.
Texting while you are driving takes your eye off of the road for up to five or six seconds. This is a lot more time than it seems and in that span of time, you may need to react. If a car stops in front of you and you don’t realize it you won’t have time to apply the brakes.
Eating and drinking while you are driving is also a recipe for disaster as it slows down your ability to react to circumstances. If you have a sandwich in one hand and need to swerve around something in the road or another car then you are likely to end up in an accident.
Avoid doing things like putting on makeup or shaving as well as talking on the phone. These are things that should be done before you get in the car.
2 – Look ahead
Anticipating what is to come is a great way of giving yourself more time to react. Try to see what is ahead of the car in front of you so you will know if they need to apply the brakes.
This also applies to looking ahead to an intersection before you get there and paying attention to signs. Knowing if there is a stop sign gives you the time to start slowing down. When you arrive at the stop sign it is a good opportunity to look out for others that don’t seem to be slowing down.
3 – Give some space
You should never ride up on somebody’s bumper. Make sure to leave at least three car lengths of distance between you and them. This gives you plenty of time to apply the brakes if they stop suddenly in front of you. Remember, if you rear-end them then you are at fault even if they did something stupid.
