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Stay safe!	2007-02-26

Winter driving can be dangerous. Take er slow, and follow these helpful tips. Tip # 1 Surveys are showing increased numbers of accidents in reference to the Institute for Highway and Traffic Safety. A majority of these accidents were avoidable as well as the ability to reduce the amount of the damage. Tip#2 Be aware of the distance between your vehicle and the vehicle ahead of you. Following too close increases your risk of being involved in a collision regardless of whether or not you were at fault. Keeping a safe distance means more time to react and slow down, as well as being able to safely steer clear of the accident zone! Here’s a general rule of thumb to follow: for every 10mph leave one car length between you and the other guy. For example, 50mph leave at least 5 car lengths. More is always better to be on the safe side of things. Remember if you’re too close there will be little time if any to react to the situation fast enough to avoid becoming involved in the accident as well. Prevention is just one of the keys to developing safe driving habits. Tip#3 Be alert! The world needs more lerts! Knowing what is going on around you while you’re driving could save your life or someone else's. Watching for other vehicles switching lanes erratically meanwhile not using signals to indicate their intentions could put you in a high risk situation. Especially if you are following too close to the vehicle ahead of you and it decides at the last minute to change lanes leaving you right on top of a stopped vehicle in your lane. Ouch! That sure is going to hurt! Tip#4 Make a habit of doing a walk around on your vehicle on a weekly basis, it only takes a few minutes to do and you can find out a whole lot about whether your vehicle is safe to be on the road or not. Inspect the operation of all of the lights and the condition of your tires. Finding an under inflated or a light that is not functioning could save you from being involve in an accident or even worse being the cause of one! Have any issues found during your walk around taken care of immediately. Air and bulbs are far cheaper than dealing with the head aches brought on from causing an accident! Truckers, ambulance drivers and police officers circle check their vehicles before heading out onto the road ways so why shouldn’t we! Drive Safe don’t take unnecessary risks. Tip#5 Periodically have the lenses on your headlamps inspected for discoloration and cloudiness. Due to the plastic lenses we now have on most vehicles today since aprox 1992, the environment is taking its toll on them, UV rays, acid rain, environmental fall out, road debris etc. As the lenses become discolored they’re effectiveness to produce enough quality reflective light becomes seriously reduced. Preventing the driver from having a clear view of what’s in front. The reduction of light being produced by the headlamps will also affect how well you are being seen also. Our only option to correct this problem until recently was replacing the entire headlamp assembly, that gets expensive. With today’s technology a headlight restoration kit is now available on the market as a do it yourself repair. The kit is used on many emergency service vehicles today. The restoration kit will deal with those cloudy discolored headlamp lenses restoring them back to an almost new like condition allowing the headlamps to be safe again for use on our roadways providing the driver with a clear view of the road way ahead of them at night. In reference to the National Institute for Highway Traffic and Safety, dim headlight are one of the leading causes of serious night time accidents. It pays to be able to see where you are going. The kit is available through Permatex, and retails for $23.95 part # 09225. Tip#6 Make sure you keep your windshield clean and that your windshield wipers are able to clear the windshield without causing smears or streaks causing your view of the road to become impaired. Make certain that your windshield washer fluid reservoir is filled with the appropriate washer fluid for the season you’re driving in. A bright set of headlights or regular lights coming toward you at night with a dirty windshield can leave a driver with they’re vision of the roadway ahead of them greatly reduced, perhaps long enough to easily be the cause of a serious accident. Take a few minutes to clean your windshield and top up your washer fluid. It could save your life or someone else’s. Replace your wipers every six months or as soon as you notice they are no longer clearing the windshield properly. Tip#7 If your windshield has cracks or chips, either have them repaired if possible or have the windshield replaced ASAP. The windshield plays a very important role in the structural integrity of today’s vehicles. A windshield that has its integrity compromised in anyway becomes a serious safety hazard for all those traveling in that vehicle. A windshield that breaks during a collision and stays in place becomes somewhat of a shield for the occupants of that vehicle protecting them from debris during an accident. It will also prevent items from inside the vehicle from flying out. Tip#8 Buckle UP! Seat belts do save lives. Most major accidents happen minutes from a persons home. So don’t take a chance just buckle up. Have the operation of your seat belts inspected at regular service intervals. Tip#9 Have your brakes suspension and steering components inspected at least 3 times per year for damage or worn components. Have a trained service technician conduct the inspection for you, since they are trained to know what to look for and are able to determine what items require immediate attention. You can’t put a price tag on safety! If you can’t steer or stop your vehicle safely nothing else matters. Preventative maintenance is only one of the keys to safe driving. Tip#10 Cell phones, just one of the most misused high tech accessories we have today in our vehicles distracting us from paying attention to what is going on around us while we are driving. Try practicing some of these ideas when having to answer a cell phone while driving. Place your caller on hold or tell them you will call them right back . Take a few minutes to work your way out of traffic to get to a spot where you can pull over safely. And proceed to make your calls, this way you are not putting yourself or anyone else at risk of becoming involved in an accident due to being distracted while on your cell phone. Why not have all of your calls directed into your voice mail system while you are driving. Once you reach your destination or pull of at a rest station catch up on your missed calls. Hands free devices have not lowered stats on accidents caused by cell phone users being engaged in conversation while operating a motor vehicle. Cell phones can bee a wonderful tool please use common sense while using them and operating a motor vehicle or the call may just cost you more than you think! I hope you find these tips of good use, your friend Motormouth.

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