5 Tips for Safer Driving

1. Be aware of vehicle blind spots
See the attached image; the red car is in the blue car's blind spot. Try not to stay in a vehicle's blind spots for any longer than you have to, particularly around larger vehicles. Stay within view from their rear/side view mirrors, or get ahead of them. When checking your own blind spots, take a quick glance over your shoulder, but try to get your eyes back on the road ahead of you as soon as you can. Remember to use your turn signals when changing lanes, but watch out for the drivers who forget to do so.

2. Don't get caught up with distractions
Taking your eyes off the road for more than a few seconds can easily lead to disaster. Driver distractions have caused a great many crashes and near-crashes. If you have something genuinely important to do, then it deserves your full attention; pull over and get it done, or wait for a red light, stop sign, or some other lull in traffic. If it's not so important to be done right away, then is it really worth risking your life or the lives of others over?

3. Avoid overconfidence in your car's safety features
Many newer cars come equipped with such safety features as antilock brakes, airbags, electronic stability control, and so on. But none of these features can guarantee your safety. Don't allow yourself to get lulled into a sense that you can drive less carefully or handle more distractions behind the wheel because you have these features to back you up. The benefits of these safety features will be canceled out if they are not coupled with a driver's good judgment.

4. Use your headlights at all times
Headlights don't just help you to see everything on the road more clearly; they also help other drivers to see you. Most people are accustomed to only using their headlights once it gets dark, but you'd be surprised at how much more noticeable a car with headlights on is even during a bright and sunny day. To someone who is wearing sunglasses, other cars can blend in with the surroundings if their headlights are off. Particularly during lousy weather, running your headlights is a simple way to reduce the likelihood of an accident.

5. Shift into neutral if your gas pedal sticks
This problem has gotten Toyota into the news lately, but a stuck gas pedal can happen to just about any vehicle; all it takes is a floormat, a stray chunk of ice/snow, or some other object you might carry in your car accidentally getting stuck down where the gas pedal is. If this happens to you, shifting into neutral will disconnect the wheels from the engine, while still allowing you to use the power steering and power braking, among other things.