Staying Safe When There are Hazardous Road Conditions

1. If ever you go off the road or get into an accident, collapsible cones are great to have. Placing Cones around your vehicle, and any other vehicles involved in the accident, help to let other drivers know that you are there, so to avoid another accident. Although collapsible cones are good for during the day, Reflectors are good for at night.

2. If you are someone who travels late at night, Carrying a flashlight, a lantern, or any other source of light, are especially important. You never know if it will be night or day when you get a flat or have to check your fluids. Also be sure to keep fresh batteries on hand in case the batteries in your flashlight die.

3. Keeping can always be helpful to have in your car just in case.

4. A jack is useful when you get a flat tire.

5. You should always carry a spare tire in your trunk. Be sure to bring a four-way along so that you can remove the lug nuts to get the tire off.

6. Reflectors are always good to keep in your car, like the collapsible cones, these work best at night, to assure that other drivers will know that you are there, as to avoid an accident.

7. In case of a car accident, it is always good to carry a camera so that you can take pictures of the scene immediately, whether for insurance purposes or other wise.

8. A warm blanket is always good to carry with you in case you get stuck on the side of the road in cold conditions.

9. A small bag of kitty litter is recommended for you to carry with you in your trunk. If you get stuck and one or two of your wheels are spinning, whether you are stuck in mud or snow, throwing a handful or two of the kitty litter under your tire helps it to gain traction.

10. Carrying a window scrapper in your vehicle is always a good idea as well. If your windows ice over while you are at work or in the grocery store, you will be able to clear your windows.

11. Carry a little food and water. For food, do not store something that needs to be refrigerated, needs to be cooked, or even something that needs assistance of an object, such as a can opener, to be opened. Pack light, and pack something like granola bars.

12. When lit, flares give of light, helping other drivers to know that you are there.

13. Some situations that you could encounter might require for you to shovel yourself or someone else out. For instance, you backed into the snow bank.

No matter how safe and cautious of a driver you are, there is always room for improving your safety. The following is a list of safety tips to help ensure your safety and the safety of others.

Safety Tips

Always abide by the speed limits. They are placed there for your safety. Even though speeding might get you there faster, it poses a danger for you as well as others driving around you.

"Abrupt movements of any kind are extremely dangerous and can cause severe accidents when driving in the snow and ice. It's important to always travel at a safe and careful speed" (National Safety Commission Alerts, Safety is No Accident, Thursday, December 13, 2007)
Always allow yourself plenty of stopping time, whether you are driving up to a stop light, or coming up to a stop sign. If you have to, take your foot off of the gas pedal before you get to the stop ahead sign. Doing this, slows your car down without the slamming of your breaks, lessoning your likely hood of sliding through the stop sign.

Leaving early allows you plenty of time to get to where you are going safely and on time. When it comes to driving and bad weather, make sure to leave a five to ten minutes earlier then usually. This allows you a few minutes to get where you are going on time and safely. Always give yourself enough time to get there.

Do not turn your head around to look into your back seat, not even to talk to your children. When you do this, it takes your attention off of the road, and endangers not only your life, but other's lives as well.

Keep the changing of your radio station to a minimal. While your attention is being placed on the radio it is being taken off of the road. Posing a hazard for not only you, but those drivers around you as well.

Always check your car over before you leave to be sure that all of your lights are working properly.

There will always be information found, new technology that will always be updating the safety list. You could for your own personal need, write down a list of your own to be sure that you are remaining a safe driver, as well as being prepared.

Resource: National Safety Commission,http://www.nationalsafetycommission.com

Do not talk on your cell phone while driving, always pull over into a parking lot or a driveway. The National Safety Commission states that, "motorists who use cell phones while driving obstruct the flow of traffic, choke highways and lengthen commute times."

It's that time of year again to be taking out our hats, gloves, shovels and boots. It's time o equipped our vehicles with scrapers, and for some of us who own a rear wheel drive vehicle, bricks in our trunks to weigh down the back end, reassuring that we are less likely to slide back and forth across the road way. Driving in itself can be dangerous, but when you add in bad weather conditions, things can turn from bad to worse in a matter of seconds. There are many things that can be said about the hazardous road conditions during the winter weather when the roads become covered with snow, ice and slush.

No matter how careful of a driver you are, there are those few careless drivers whose choice of actions can pose a danger for you. You must always remain aware of these few careless drivers as well as being alert of surroundings so that you can make better judgment calls if the time should arise to do so.

I have seen many different forms of accidents during the winter months. I as well had been in a few, both driving and as a passenger. Every accident that you are in, no matter how small, whether you back into a snow bank, or slide through a stop sign, is a dangerous one.