AAA Knows How to Avoid Car Crashes

AAA, that great American driving institution, has provided us with 12 Ways to Avoid a Car Crash. In a recent interview with Bottom Line, William Van Tassel, PhD, manager of driver-training ooperations at the AAA's national office in Heathrow, offered up some timely advice.

You should consider two things when driving safely: 1 - your own driving strategies, and 2 -dangerous drivers/vehicles.
1 - Your personal driving strategies - What can you personally do to reduce the risk of being in a car crash?
A - Stay off the roads between midnight and 3 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday mornings. That's when many drunk drivers are out, and when you are most likely to be tired. During the week, most crashes happen during rush hours, but they tend to be less severe than those caused by drunk drivers.
B - Know the routes that have left-turn green arrows, and use them. This is especially helpful if you live in a region with lots of older people. For some reason, they get confused about oncoming traffice, and turn left without enough time to clear approaching traffic.
C - When roads are wet, brake and accelerate on the straightaway. Brake before you enter a turn and don't accelerate until you've completed the turn. This will reduce the chance that you'll skid.
D - Keep your headlights on, event during the day. Everyone in Florida knows this works! Lights on means other drivers are more likely to see you!E - Look through the car ahead of you. You need to watch cars ahead of you and anticipate. You will have better time to react if you see what's going on several cars up the road. (my editorial - don't tailgate! You lose a lot of time to react.)
F - Use your brake lights to alert people behind you. If you are stopped at a light and see another vehicle coming behind you, tap your brakes. It helps them see you better, especially if they are driving into the sun.
G - Position your hands on the wheel at 8-9 and 3-4 o'clock. The old standby of 10 and 2 o'clock positions have been found to cause arm fatigue on long drives, and a reduction in drive reaction time in emergencies.

2 - Dangerous Drivers and/or Vehicles Avoid them as best you can.
A - Stay away from vehicles that are towing trailers. Inexperienced drivers frequently underestimate the amount of time it takes to slow down and stop their vehicles when they are towing extra weight. This can lead to rear-ending the car in front of them. Another thing I've seen is someone who is towing a trailer change lanes like he doesn't have a trailer behind him. Very nervewracking!
B - Let aggressive drivers pass. If some crazy driver behind you flashes their lights, tailgates, or makes erratic lane changes - get out of their way and stay out of their way. They are an accident waiting to happen and you don't want to be anywhere near them.
C - Be extra careful in reverse. Parking lots are the scene of many minor accidents. Always turn your head and upper body to the right to look directly out your rear window. Don't rely on your rearview mirror for the whole picture. Take your time.
D - Keep an eye on the drivers to your sides, not just their cars. Drivers (like Cleveland Browns quarterbacks) frequently "telegraph" their next move. If you notice someone that keeps looking in your direction, it may mean he wants to get into your lane. If you see someone speaking on a cell phone (or even worse - TEXTING), put some distance between you and that driver.
E - Avoid driving near trucks. Crashes involving large trucks are often fatal. When following a truck, stay far enough back so you can see their side mirrors. The sign on the back of the truck that says, "If you can't see my mirrors, I can't see you" is accurate! Also, when passing a truck, don't be a part of a long line of cars. Let the other cars pass the truck, then quickly pass it yourself (following all speed limits of course.) Make sure there is plenty of room between you and the truck before you pull in front of it.

Teen Drivers and Accidents: Top Three Tips for Safe Teen Drivers

I thought this information would be relevant to our readers, because it's relevant to me! (How's that for self-absorption? And we thought only teens and pre-teens believed the world revolved around them.) Last Tuesday, I was hit by an SUV and my car was seriously damaged (to the tune of $4,600 and change). It was a classic situation of a young driver, headed for an accident: 20 years old, male, with two passengers in the vehicle - one was 19, the other was 21. Fortunately neither drugs nor alcohol were involved, and even better, no one was seriously injured, though all three were transported to the hospital. It was very unnerving to hit another vehicle at a decent rate of speed, and then watch as the other vehicle swerves and rolls.

I found the following article on the Ask Patty website (mentioned earlier this year).
By Yvonne T Williams
A recent OECD Global report on young drivers entitled ‘Young Drivers: The Road to Safety’ found what most of us instinctively know - that young drivers are over represented in crashes and road fatalities. The report also stated that road crashes are the single greatest killer of 15 – 24 year olds in the industrial world. In the USA 5,699 kids in the 16 – 20 age group were killed on the roads in 2005, so we are not immune to the global trend affecting young drivers. The OECD report made a number of important recommendations. Supervised driving hours were highlighted – the OECD recommends an extension of pre-license practice for teen drivers of 120 hours supervised driving.In countries such as Australia, where they’ve already adopted extended supervised driving hours, crashes involving newly licensed drivers in the 2 years following introduction of such changes, reduced by 40%. With thousands of new teen drivers hitting the US roads in 2007 we must spare a thought for all the Moms and Dads who will be taking on the role of driving coach for the first time. Make no mistake, being a driving coach for your child is one of the most important and difficult jobs you will be called upon to do. What you teach your teen drivers will have a major influence on how they behave on the road when they eventually get their license.What you may not realize is that your kids have been ‘driving’ since they were in their baby seats. They’ve picked up every good and bad driving habit that you have and will take your driving style with them when they get out on the road.The first important piece of advice we can give every new Mom and Dad driving coach is to take a very long, hard look at how they, themselves perform as a driver these days. Bad habits creep into our driving without us even being aware of it. If we talk and text on cell phones while driving, if we don’t wear seat belts - or if we run amber lights, or play loud music while the car is full of passengers and un-restrained pets, then how can we expect our teens to stay safe when they start to drive.
Like most parents, you’re leading a hectic life these days, but the hours you spend with your teen supervising their driving, will pay you back in so many ways. Give your young drivers the best chance they can get at staying safe on the roads by trying just a couple of our coaching tips.
1. Give them at least 120 hours of supervised driving under all sorts of conditions. They need practice on freeway driving, country driving, night driving and in difficult conditions like rain, fog or snow. Driving to school or the supermarket is important, but they also need to clock up their hours in a wider variety of driving situations.

2. Driver distraction and inattention is the number one driver killer. Whenever you and your learner get behind the wheel – switch on your attitude like a racing driver and be ready for anything.

3. Teen drivers need to concentrate at all times so make sure you never have loud music, pets or passengers in the car while they’re practicing.Always do the right thing and set them a great example – you are a vital role model in this critical but exciting phase of your teen’s life.

If you have any questions or issues on coaching teens you can always contact the Coach a Rookie help desk at http://www.coacharookie.com/. We have driving instructors, advanced driver trainers and road safety educators available to help you with any driver training issues.

Yvonne is a road safety educator and member of the Australasian College of Road Safety. She is also a freelance journalist and co-founder of a global road safety education web site – http://www.coacharookie.com/. She has two grown up children Yvette and Tristan and a husband called David. They just love cars and motor sport of any kind and they are really into V8 Super Cars in Australia and the US Nascar Series. Yvonne is a motoring writer for a number of newspapers and web sites so she is passionate about driving new cars and writing road tests.