5 Car Accident Avoidance Techniques

Car accidents happen frequently. Most of them, like the average fender bender, are not that serious. Still, if you make a severe automotive mistake, you might injure yourself, someone else, or cause significant property damage.

If you harm yourself or someone else this way, it can adversely affect your life. Your insurance rates can go up. You might need to pay for medical bills, or the other driver might bring a negligence lawsuit against you.

You want to avoid all this, and there are some specific ways you can do that. Here are just a few of them.

Slow Down

In the US, there are approximately 37,000 car accident deaths that occur each year. That seems like a lot, but remember, there are millions of cars on the road every day.

Still, you want to avoid becoming a statistic, and one way you can do that is to reduce your speed. When you speed:

  • You can’t stop the vehicle as easily if you encounter an unexpected traffic situation
  • You’re more likely to hurt yourself or someone else

The speed limit is in place for a reason. It’s because if you exceed it, regardless of whether you’re on the highway or local roads, you can’t react as quickly if something goes wrong.

If you’re driving slower, and the car in front of you stops suddenly, you can likely stop in time as well. If you’re speeding, you probably can’t. Your injury risk, and that of other drivers and pedestrians around you, goes way down if you stick to the speed limit every time you drive.

Don’t Let Technology Distract You

You can do some pretty incredible things in your car these days. For instance, you can use Bluetooth to:

  • Speak with someone on the phone
  • Text with someone

Some individuals feel like it’s safe if they dictate a text message to someone via their Bluetooth system while they’re driving. They might also speak to someone via Bluetooth as they drive.

It’s true that it’s safer for you to do these things than to hold your smartphone up to your ear or try to text while driving. However, just because it’s safer, that doesn’t mean it’s totally safe.

If you’re communicating with someone while driving, that distracts you, even if you’re using Bluetooth. It’s best if you wait till you get to your destination before you converse with them. If it’s a legitimate emergency, that should be the only exception.

Don’t Drink Before Driving

Drinking and driving also lead to problems more often than not. You might think you’re a good driver, even when you drink. Maybe you’ve gotten away with ingesting alcohol and then driving on multiple occasions.

Just because you get away with it a few times, though, that doesn’t mean you should keep doing it. If the cops ever pull you over and you get a breathalyzer, you’ll get a DUI. The courts can suspend your license, and you’ll have to take public transportation.

You can also get in an accident much easier if you drink and drive. Alcohol hurts your reaction time. You can black out at the wheel, and it’s highly possible you’ll hurt yourself or someone else.

Don’t Tailgate

Tailgating occurs when you drive directly behind the car ahead of you, not allowing there to be enough room between the two vehicles. There’s no logical reason to do this, either on the highway or local roads.

If you tailgate someone on the highway, you might do it because you think they’re going too slowly, and you want them to move out of the way. The better thing to do is get in the passing lane and go around them.

If you tailgate them, that can make them nervous and cause them to make a driving mistake, such as swerving into the concrete divider. Also, if they have to hit the brakes suddenly because of traffic conditions, you’ll probably ram into them from behind.

Listen to Music at a Low Volume

You can also listen to your music at a lower volume. If you have it cranked up all the way, you can’t hear car horns beeping at you or other traffic noises. You might not notice a dangerous traffic situation if your stereo system is blaring as loud as it can get.

If you do these things, then hopefully, you can avoid a deadly car accident. You’ll make the world safer for other drivers and pedestrians every time you get behind the wheel.