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5 Tips for Avoiding a Vehicle Accident

Tailgaiting DangersTips From Your Certified and Licensed Insurance Appraiser

Because most of us drive a car on a regular basis, it becomes habitual. This is true for both good and bad driving habits. When you form bad driving habits you’re exposing yourself to risks - and the risks are much higher than you might imagine.

So how can you keep safe while driving and avoid accidents? There are a few ways. Most of them involve forming good habits and cutting out the bad.

1. Follow the Rules of the Road

Laws are not just there to be annoying. They are there to protect you and others from injury and death. The most obvious example is running red lights - clearly you are putting yourself and anyone else around you at risk when you break that law. Accept that there are reasons for the rules and follow them.

2. Don’t Follow Closely

Tailgating is a very good way to get in a fender bender. You simply cannot know when the car in front of you is going to stop or slow down suddenly. The more space you give the car in front of you, the better your odds of avoiding an accident.

3. Put Your Phone in the Trunk

You may think that’s a funny idea, but deaths and injuries due to accidents caused by mobile phone use have skyrocketed. Teach yourself to wait until it is truly safe.  You will not get away with using your phone while driving forever.

4. Don’t Test Your Limits

How fast can you go around that curve? How quickly can you get to work? Can you make that light? When you start focusing on only yourself, you lose sight of the others around you.

5. The Golden Rule

If you want others to treat you with respect on the roads, then do the same. When you go for a walk, do you want drivers to respect your rights as a pedestrian? Respect pedestrians. Don’t do anything that you wouldn’t want someone else to do.