Many of us will spend decades behind the wheel. Most adults start driving between the ages of 16 and 20. Then they usually don’t stop until they are well into their elderly years. However, whenever you do something for this amount of time, it’s easy to become complacent or to assure yourself that you’re a safe driver even when your good habits start dropping.
Here are some good principles or habits to keep all throughout your driving career, and by focusing on keeping up these habits, you can greatly reduce your risk of an accident. Defensive driving has been proven too greatly reduced the likelihood of you causing an accident, which means that if you are in a crash, it is highly likely that it is the other person’s fault. Safe driving pays off. If, however, you are involved in a wreck, you should contact our Columbia car accident attorneys for help.
Have Your Route Planned Ahead of Time
In 2018 Pew Research exposed that 81% of adults in the United States have a smartphone. That means there is less than 20% of adults in the US who have an excuse to not use GPS before they get in their vehicle. Having a path planned out ahead of time is critical and knowing your exits, and exactly how to get to your destination. Making last-minute exits off of an Interstate or being confused about how to turn into a parking structure often leads to accidents.
Even if you’re going to use GPS navigation support through your vehicle or listen to the audio of it as you drive, it is well worth looking at the route before you leave your driveway.
Don’t Rush Through a Yellow Light.
We’ve all been in that key position where we might have time to stop safely for a yellow light, but we could probably “make” the light. Most adults do have the habit of rushing through a yellow light when in truth, they should have stopped. When we’re teaching young adults or teenagers to drive there is that constant voice of “yellow means slow down, not speed up,” but over the years, we stopped taking our own advice.
Make it a habit to not rush through a yellow light. Always keep in mind that it’s important to know when you can stop safely and when you cannot, but if you have enough time to take that into consideration, then you probably have enough time to stop. Other factors that might impact you stopping at a yellow light versus trying to “make” the light could include someone tailgating you.
Always take all of the factors into consideration when making a decision about a yellow light. But keep in mind that intersection crashes are often serious and can frequently be fatal.
Look Twice Before Backing Up
With rearview cameras and backup assistance, most of us are getting fairly lazy about looking twice before backing out of our driveway, parking space, or into the street when it’s necessary. Looking twice before backing up does a number of things.
First, it ensures that you are paying attention to what is happening behind your rearview window, not only what is happening in front of your rearview camera.
Second, Looking twice doubles your chances of scanning blind spots that you may have forgotten about. The challenge with blind spots is that we don’t often think about them, and in larger trucks or SUVs, many of them have blind spots that you would only see when fully looking over your shoulder.
Finally, pedestrians. When most of us glance at our blind spots or look through our rearview mirror, we are looking for vehicles. Our mind explicitly scans roadways for other vehicles. That is why there are high volumes of accidents involving pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists. Checking twice is the only way to tell your mind that it didn’t do the job well enough the first time.
Know How to Handle a Case with a Columbia Car Accident Lawyer
Many people wait until after they call their insurance provider, and after they’ve received an exceptionally low settlement offer to talk to a local car accident attorney. Columbia car accident lawyers are available whenever you need help, but they can provide the best value to you when you contact them immediately after the accident rather than working exclusively with your insurance company first.
Handling your case on your own and then handling a case with a car accident attorney are drastically different experiences. When you have a Columbia attorney, they can help you understand what elements of your statement can be distorted when it comes to negotiations, and they can help you fight during those negotiations for full compensation. Knowing this before you get into an accident can drastically change the outcome of your next crash resolution. Contact the professionals at Connell Law.