Online Defensive Driving Tips

As cautious as women drivers try to be, they tend to get as distracted, if not more, than their male counterparts. And this holds true if the female driver in question is a mom. What with moms having to shuffle between doing household chores, fixing lunch, dropping their kids to school and going to work themselves, they have very little time for themselves. Plenty of moms confess that they fix their makeup and eat their breakfasts while dropping their kids to school; while driving. Everybody knows that moms are probably one of the most distracted drivers around! If you don’t want to be one of those unfortunate moms in a mess with the authorities for distracted driving, then here are some tips to help reduce distractions in your daily routine. Make sure everyone in the car is buckled up before you get started, and keep checking on them during stopovers. Keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel at all times. Never take calls while driving; divert all your calls to voicemail...

A lot of citizens are of the belief that the distracted driving laws carried out by the state government are going a wee bit too far. A lot of people feel that this is management at its worst! Where will it end? People with children feel that the biggest distraction when driving is their kid, so should their kids be outlawed? Should taking pickles off your burger be banned? Should texting while at a red light also be banned? The law maintains that any motor vehicle driver should devote all of his time and attention to driving and should refrain from any kind of activity that could cause distractions. A lot of people have been complaining about these laws and want to know how to identify a specific distraction. Many drivers are calling out for a little more common sense as far as legal restrictions are concerned. Yes drivers tend to eat, talk to passengers. Change CD’s and deal with misbehaving children. Laws should take this into consideration before coming up with restrictions. What d...

Although is long gone, the traffic Police are still reminding drivers that roads are equally as busy, and it is important for motorists to not let their guards down as far as safety driving is concerned. Here are a few important tips to remember in all weather conditions: Keep those mobile phones aside: Many motorists repeatedly defy the law regarding the use of mobile phones will driving. Distracted driving is becoming one of the major reasons for motor vehicle crashes. Keep those Seatbelts Buckled: All passengers and drivers should wear their seatbelts in a securely fastened and properly adjusted manner. Ensure that children are also secured in a baby seat or a properly installed child restraint. Obey the Speed Limit: Speed is one of the major causes for fatalities. Obeying the speed limits and slowing down can greatly reduce the chances of crashed and injuries from taking place. Slow down or move over: If you find yourself passing an emergency vehicle with its emergency lights on, t...

Dylan Lard, an 18 year old guy from Montevallo, hopped into his car with a friend to drive from Auburn to Tuscaloosa. While driving on Interstate 459, Lard began to feel very drowsy behind the wheel and closed his eyes for a bit. In doing so, he not only lost control of the car, but also lost control of his life. But miraculously, Lard woke up in the hospital after nearly 2 days after the wreck but found out that his neck was broken and his left hand would be permanently paralyzed. Today, Lard is a full time senior broadcast student at the University of Montevallo and he, along with 15 other students, have completed a recent campaign to spread awareness about the dangers and risks of distracted driving. The students created a video called, “Distracted Driving: A Deadly Mixture”. Being a community service project, the video was filmed, edited and produced in a series of segments covering a wide range of topics from distracted driving and impaired driving to texting and driving and drows...

The California Highway Patrol along with other law enforcement officers are now planning to keep an extra lookout for distracted drivers this month – the National Distracted Driving Month. Officers will be on the lookout for drivers using mobile phones while driving or drivers who text and drive or even eat and apply makeup while driving on the highway. Enforcement commenced on Monday and will go on till Tuesday, as well as on the 20th and 21st of April – focused enforcement days. The month long education campaigns coupled with the focused enforcement campaigns comes as an effort to target distracted drivers. To kick off this campaign, a media event was hosted where drivers were given certain tasks like eating, texting and applying makeup while driving on a closed circuit course.

Parents who are looking to improve their kids’ driving skills and ensure that they are safe behind the wheel should firstly warn them against using mobile phones while driving, sending or receiving text messages while driving, overcrowding the car with too many passengers, drinking and driving and going faster than the speed limit. Driving is dangerous and reminding them of the dangers can only help keep them aware. Warning your kids makes a lot of sense because every day more and more teens are killed in car crashes that occur due to distracted or drunken driving. As parents, you’ve probably already warned your kids about these threats. But how many of us have actually warned our kids about a very deceptive danger, one that many of us indulge in for a pleasurable driving experience? We’re talking about listening to loud music while driving! Surveys have shown that nearly 93% of teen drivers tend to play loud music while driving, which always has a distracting influence on them. Here a...

A school bus driver in Connecticut faces charges for sending and receiving nearly 1,000 text messages while driving! This comes as new proof to the problem of distracted driving in the country. Evelyn Guzman was caught when police officers reviewed the onboard surveillance tapes with regards to Guzman’s daughter who was a bus monitor and who was charged for repeatedly assaulting a 9 year old autistic girl. All the Guzman’s do not represent the general population, the risks that are posed by texting and driving are getting increasing national attention. Reports have shown that talking on a mobile phone while driving literally quadruples the risk of an accident, and can be compared to drunk driving. Talking on a hands-free handset is also extremely dangerous. Texting while driving is even more dangerous as it takes the driver’s eyes off the road. T-Mobile recently launched a service called the DriveSmart service which senses when a phone is being used in a moving car and automatically se...

Many Connecticut lawmakers are now considering increasing the number of penalties issued for violating the various distracted driving laws. This could also include the possibility of confiscating the violators’ phones and licenses. The state has also banned texting while driving, being one of the 8 states along with the District of Columbia, to make it mandatory for drivers to keep a hands-free communication device at all times when driving. But many lawmakers feel that this is not enough. The state laws have also prohibited school bus drivers and drivers with a learner’s permit or those under the age of 18 from using mobile phones while driving. Another proposal retains that a drivers license should be suspended for 24 hours if they have been issued summons for 2 or more incidents of texting and driving.

The Senate Bill 146, legislation of Oklahoma that bans the practice of texting while driving has recently been passed by the state Senate in a 32 to 9 vote! The bill that was authored by Senator Jerry Ellis and co-authored by Representative Danny Morgan states that fines can be issued in cases of texting and driving and could even exceed speeding if it is signed by Governor Mary Fallin. Morgan’s bill aims to ban texting while driving for driver’s under the age of 18, while Ellis’ bill aims to ban texting and driving for all drivers, except for emergency and medical personnel or law enforcement officials. The current state law bans drivers under the age of 17 years from texting while driving. Surprisingly, the young drivers have supported this bill the most, as they have all grown up texting and driving and know how dangerous it can be. Oklahoma only ranks second in texting per capita. The Distracted Driver Act that was passed by Governor Brad Henry allows police officers to issue ticke...

A man from Dalton has recently been ordered to visit 4 North Georgia high schools and talk to the students about the dangers that distracted driving can cause. The man is currently facing charges for vehicular homicide. 65 year old Jerry Ray deal has recently pleaded guilty for 2 counts of second degree homicide by vehicle. This case follows the tragic deaths of 33 year old Jason William Vick and 7 year old Billy Martin of Ellijay. Apparently, it was reported that Deal was distracted by his cell phone when driving. Distracted driving can cause a lot of damage and injuries and in most cases death. It is very important for people to participate in defensive driving trainings in order to avoid these accidents. Jerry Ray Deal could have avoided it if only he had gone for classes.

While driving to work today, did you check out that driver weaving all across the road just because he or she was distracted in some way or the other? Every day I come across hundreds of drivers who either text while driving or are distracted in some way or the other. The Colorado State Patrol Troopers say that they had to look into nearly 40 fatal accidents last year because of distracted driving. This is nearly a 5% increase from 2009. The Colorado State Troopers claim to investigate nearly 14 crashes every day due to distracted driving. Distracted driving is considered to be the second leading cause for crashes in the state. Speeding of course will always be the first cause. A famous news program recently went out with the State Patrol to see for themselves how the Denver drivers would act during peak traffic hours. The drivers were apparently found looking at cell phones instead of at the road. Once the roads start getting congested and traffic is intermittent; more like to stop an...

Toyota has always been committed to reducing roadside fatalities and accidents, and has helped to curb this by educating teen drivers and parents about the real dangers of distracted driving. By providing its free advanced teen driving skills program, Toyota expects the American roads to be safer this year. The program was first started in 2004, and since then, nearly 16,000 teens and parents have learnt some of the most important defensive driving skills and have learnt how everyday distractions can have extremely dangerous consequences. Teenagers who wish to participate in this program should be between the ages of 15 to 19 and should hold a valid driver’s license or learner’s permit. In an effort to help promote safer driving practices, Toyota’s driving programs go beyond the standard defensive driving course, as it helps to put new and inexperienced drivers behind the wheel, ready to face new challenges. The program as specifically made for teens as well as parents, and teaches: 1....

Teen drivers will now be able to learn safe driving habits with the Tracy Chapter’s, of the Get Real behind the Wheel, has its first on-track training program on Sunday at the Altamont Motorsports Park. This particular program helps young drivers test and further their driving skills while they face a number of challenges and hazards on a tested driving course at the race track. Teens will navigate through the course under extreme conditions, like distracted driving and hydroplaning. This program is free of charge. The founder of the program, Ken Ucci, has seen a wide number of students participating in the program and has said that the numbers will continue to rise. Till date, the program has seen a grand number of 1,000 teens go through training. The program on Sunday will have anywhere between 40 and 60 teen drivers driving at the course, which is a far cry from the first program that had only 6 drivers. Ken Ucci hopes that more teen drivers will participate in this program and will...

The Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s county’s sheriffs offices have all observed a steady decrease in the number of motor vehicles crashes involving deputies in the last 3 years. In 2009, Calvert County recorded a total of 46 accidents that involve deputies, with nearly 21 being preventable or caused due to the deputy. In 2010 however, Calvert County recorded a decreased number of 37 accidents with only 9 listed as being preventable. In the past 3 years in Calvert County, there have been 3 accident cases that involved deputies during high speed chases. One accident killed an 18 year old girl when a deputy who was responding to a domestic call managed to T-bone her car at a high speed. The decrease in these incidents is due to the hiring of new recruits who are all young and fresh out of the police academy. After the incidents in 2009, many of the recruits and older deputies have had to undergo some serious training, in order to make things better. Many of these trainings include defensi...

Drivers are multitasking anywhere, anytime while driving. They read messages, call, eat, talk, apply makeup and lots more. Not that we encourage them to do it but let’s be clear – Multitasking is dangerous especially when you are driving! Multitasking is an addiction that most of us have. We live in a fast paced world and we can’t stop ourselves from killing two birds with one stone. Multitasking is good to some level. But seriously during driving, let’s hope the drivers have not lost their sense. Not only are they putting their lives in danger but that of others as well. Recently a guy was spotted reading books, taking calls and drinking coffee while driving. If you are doing all these things in one time, where exactly is your concentration? More than 80% of drivers have identified themselves as multitaskers. 60% of them eat while driving, 19% of them indulge themselves in fixing hair, texting or chatting while 14% have to comfort or discipline their children while on the road and 8% ...

Let’s face it, we are not all perfect and that is true in our driving methods as well. Even though we may be responsible for some others but at times, we can make silly mistakes without realizing what we are doing. The following points are some of the most common driving mistakes that we tend to make every now and then. Too much distraction: Distracted driving is one major cause of road accidents and cell phones take the top list of being the culprit. If you are not paying too much attention on your driving, you are endangering yourself and that of others. Today, texting is approaching the danger levels of drunk driving. So, pay attention to the road no matter how busy or in a hurry you are. Too much pressure to gas and brake pedals: A silly but important point. If you drive like a maniac putting too much pressure on the brake pedals, you are wasting a lot of fuel. Car not adjusting to body: The automobiles do not fit all sizes. That is why seats and other parts of the cars are adjusta...

An association between OSHA and U.S. DOT has been formed in order to fight against distracted driving. The main goal is to stop texting while driving on the job. “It is imperative that employers eliminate financial and other incentives that encourage workers to text while driving. It is well recognized that texting while driving dramatically increases the risk of a motor vehicle injury or fatality.”, says Hilda L. Solis, Labor Secretary. President Obama had signed an Executive Order related to safe driving last year. This order included the prohibition of federal employees from texting when they are driving. On the 21st of September, OSHA announced an initiative. The following points were included in it. A special campaign that will work on educating employers to discourage work related distracted driving. Reaching out to young employees by coordinating with the DOL partners and agencies. Investigate and issue penalties whenever a complaint is lodged regarding an employer that demands ...

Distracted driving has been the major cause for vehicular accidents in recent times. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, distracted driving deaths have increased to 5,870 per annum. If the concept of texting had not existed, the number of distracted driving accidents would have decreased from 4,611 to 1,925 per year from 2001 to 2007. The use of cell phones is not restricted to only the teens. For many adults, their cars become their offices and the cell phone is like a professional lifeline. Drivers keep texting at stoplights or check their emails while keeping one hand on the wheel. The dangers of distracted driving are listed below: Cellphones are important but they should be used in a legal manner. Talking on a cellphone while driving is a lot more dangerous than anyone realizes. The reaction of a driver on a cellphone is similar to the one who is intoxicated. The ones talking on the cellphone while driving are four times as likely to crash. Texting while driving is...

The professional race drivers recently visited the campus of Nationwide Insurance Company as a part of safety campaign to emphasize the problems associated with distracted driving. NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) has various drivers to test and highlight the safety issues associated with the distracted driving. NASCAR when started driving was specifically aimed at high school kids. But the major studies on different drivers with commuter trains showed the need for an expanded message to general public. He said that professional driving is completely different from everyday driving wherein the normal driving should be defensive one, compared to professional racers who need to drive offensively. On the road one need to be aware if he/she is going to step onto the road, noticing that if a kid on a bike is coming toward you or someone who is ahead is going to stop you. So distracted driving is such a case which needs to be carefully monitored and evaluated through v...