Online Defensive Driving Tips

With gasoline prices on the rise (again!), drivers can benefit greatly from a few tips on how to reduce gasoline expenses said the U.S. Department of Energy. According to this agency, reckless driving includes speeding and rapid acceleration and braking, and this can result in lowering your gas mileage by nearly 33 percent at highway speeds and by 5 percent in town. In general, it is a known fact that every 5 miles that you drive over 60 mph is going to result in you paying an additional $24 cents per gallon of gas. Excessive engine idling also results in wastage of gasoline. Using your car’s overdrive gears and cruise control appropriately also leads to better mileage. Try not to place unnecessary heavy items in your car, as adding an extra 100 pounds to your car will reduce the miles per gallon by nearly 2 percent. Maintaining your car regularly can save you a lot of money on gasoline. Fixing any serious problems like a faulty oxygen sensor can result in nearly 40 percent improvement...

Sherrod Brown, the U.S. Senator of Ohio, is reportedly calling for passage of the Roads Safe Act. This measure would fund a program for creating a device that would prohibited drivers who are intoxicated from being able to start their vehicles. Brown spoke at Cleveland Police Headquarters, explaining that this bill would authorize $12 million in the annual funding for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety program for five years. According to Brown, the funding for all this is going to be provided through the money that the federal government has appropriated for the road safety initiatives. This renders the bill cost neutral. Julie Legget is fully supporting this legislation. Legget is the executive director of the northeast Ohio chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Legget says that drunk driving is now reaching epidemic proportions in Ohio. Ohio, has the third worst record in the nation reporting over 122 thousand driv...

This particular session conducted by AARP has no tests, but is filled with valuable information. The AARP Driver Safety Program has been designed specifically to teach senior drivers about the new traffic laws, defensive driving techniques and how to adjust to changes in vision, hearing and reaction time. Currently, the class that is being taught has students with a joint driving experience of 966 years! But even extremely experienced drivers can learn a thing or two from this new 8 hour program. New strategies are taught to learners about the ways to cope with age-related vision, hearing and reaction time that tends to diminish as we age. According to the driving laws for the Tennessee, you are supposed to have at least a 2 second space between your car and the one in front of you. However, as we age, our ability to judge distances changes, and so the new recommendation is at least 3 seconds. Many senior drivers have stated that driving has become extremely dangerous, what with there ...

When her young brother, Marvin Terry, was killed in a car crash in September 1990, Donna Carter's life took a new turn. Terry died in an accident involving drugs and alcohol. Since that unfortunate tragedy, Carter has been helping save lives with Mothers Against Drunk Driving. “I don't want to go through that again and if I can help another family from having to go through that, that's what I'm out here doing”, she says. Terry was 26 when he was killed in the deadly car accident. He was a passenger in the vehicle and was not wearing a seat belt. According to the South Carolina Department of safety, two people died on the Highways during the Thanksgiving weekend. This is, by far, the lowest number of highway deaths during that holiday weekend recorded since 1964. Sonny Collins, the South Carolina Patrol Lance Cpl., believes that one of the major reasons for the decrease in the number of deaths on highways is that now more people are making use of the seat belts provided....

Defensive driving can also be defined as intelligent driving. However, it also involves a lot of consideration and patience, for other road users. It involves being constantly alert and this in turn can save thousands of lives. There is no doubt that, without patience a driver is simply headed towards a whole lot of trouble and major disasters. An auto mechanic who operates in Cassia Park, St Andrew, Mr. David Jones said, "Once the basics are learned, the way is clear for safer, more satisfying driving." He also went on to say that defensive driving, “also means obeying the traffic signals and ensuring the vehicle you are driving is in good working condition.” Furthermore, an intelligent driver also ensures that she or he: 1.Is well rested and relaxed before starting assigned driving tasks. 2.Does not take any drugs or alcohol that could make her/him drowsy before taking the steering. 3.Watches out for pedestrians and other road users. 4.Plans a journey thoroughly, before emb...

It is that time of the year when you have to take extra precautions while driving. With deer always on the move, defensive driving tactics should come as second nature for drivers. The accidents taking place between deer and cars is on the rise. According to the police, there were around 31 of these accidents that took place in Lincoln County last week alone. The statistics are threatening to increase with the start of the gun deer season. As advised by the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office, it is always better to check whether your headlights are in proper working condition before you hit the road. Likewise, the number of distractions should be reduced. The owner, Bob Dehnel, of One Way Collision Center in Merrill has seen the amount of damage that is caused due to car deer accidents. He says that some of the cars that come into his shop still have fur stuck to their front end. The repairs of all this can be really expensive. “On average, costs range from $1,000 to $6,000 dollars ea...

According to the reports of the Mercury newspaper, Josue Martinez died on the spot after his car crashed against a power pole on Easter Monday, last year. He was driving at more than double the speed limit. Josue Martinez, aged 22, was a resident of Launceton. Reports showed that he was not wearing a seat belt and had a blood alcohol reading of 0.205. To top it all, his car was unregistered and uninsured. The officer was a member of the former Road Safety Taskforce. He had been drinking at the police station bar after his shift ended at midnight. It has been estimated that the car was moving at a speed of 128 km per hour on High Street Launceton before it hit the pole. John Gledhill, chairman of the Road Safety Advisory Council, finds it difficult to believe that something like this could happen in the taskforce. “It is highly unacceptable that anyone, regardless of who they are behaves in that manner.”, says he. He believes that Martinez's death is a reminder of the impact alcohol...

The AARP Driver Safety Program is scheduled for 8 am to noon on Wednesday, Oct 13 at the Alvin Police Department, 1500 S. Gordon St. This upcoming session is sponsored by the Alvin Police Department and the American Association of Retired Persons(AARP). This driver refresher course was first initiated in 1979 by the AARP. It is specially constructed to help out older drivers. This Driver Safety Program tries to cover issues and health problems like physical changes related to age, declining perceptual skills, license renewal requirements and other local driving problems. The instructor appointed by AARP, Ken Moore, will be teaching this course. He says he is looking forward to “reminding seniors of the skills and techniques that they must have once learned” and to “give them an update on the rules of the road”. Only the first 18 seniors, aged 50 or older, who register will be admitted into the class. The members of the AARP will be charged $12 person, whereas those who are non-members ...