Online Defensive Driving Tips

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.

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...

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...

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...

An elderly woman was killed this week after officials released a statement saying that she was driving the wrong way on the busy I-40 highway. She collided head on into another vehicle. The crash took place early Thursday morning at a mile marker near US 64 in Mocksville. 76 year old Barabara Frates Topa has allegedly exit ramp traveling eastward on Westbound I-40. Topa then went on to collide with a Toyota Camry and caused another accident that involved a Lexus. Topa died on the spot. The owner of the Toyota Camry was hospitalized with a serious injuri but is reportedly in a stable condition. The driver in the Lexus was also taken to the hospital with minor injuries. This could have prevented has the woman attended defensive driving courses for senior citizens.

Of course you love your spouse, but do you feel the need to have separate vehicles when you are driving together to work or a week end road trip? If your answer is yes, read on to find out how you can maintain a safe environment when one of you is behind the wheel. It is possible to get lost, even with the use of maps and GPS. Sit down and come to a mutual agreement on direction responsibility. This will avoid chaos when you do lose your way. Also, delegate the task of asking directions. This should be done by the passenger, because they will be more familiar with the information given in the map. You know each other’s driving style and probably don't even approve of it. However, if you find your spouse's unusual behavior while driving, get them to talk to you and calm them down. Then, perhaps, the driver can pay proper attention to driving safely. As a passenger, do not gasp or make some other distractive action if you come across a situation that poses potential danger. It is...

While law makers are trying to eliminate distractions like texting and using cell phones while driving, many motorists are now tagging along another risk – their dogs. According to experts, an unrestrained dog in a moving vehicle can be lethal. Dogs curled up on a lap, resting their paws on the steering wheel or merely hanging out of the window can pose quite a lot of risk. Several thousand car accidents that occur each year are believed to have been caused by unrestrained pets. Katherine Miller, the director of applied science and research for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says, “An unrestrained pet can be hugely distracting – if he is seeking your attention, putting his face right in front of yours, starts chewing up the upholstery or is vomiting because he is carsick”. This issue is now attracting attention in some of the statehouses. Hawaii, for instance, absolutely forbids drivers from driving with a pet on their lap. Similarly, the Oregon lawmakers...

Keeping in mind the winter storm that is going to hit the city on Sunday and Monday, the Governor's Office of Highway Safety issued a list of tips for driving safely on icy, snow covered roads: 1.If it is not necessary to go out during the hazardous weather conditions, then don't go. It is always better to stay at home in such situations. 2.If you are driving, concentrate completely on the road. This is not that time of the year when you can get away with one hand texting and the other holding coffee. Drive with both hands on the wheel. 3.Do not drive fast or you may lose control of your vehicle. Many drivers fall in trouble with unseen pockets of icy road. Give yourself plenty of time to reach the destination. 4.Avoid tailgaiting. At higher speeds, do not group up with other vehicles. This will help you avoid chain reaction crashes. 5.Do not use cruise control while driving on ice or snow or sleet. Cruise control is designed for only normal conditions suitable for driving. ...

How many times have you vowed to practice safe and defensive driving tactics and not text when you are behind the wheel? And how many times has this resolution blown up in smoke? Well, this year, things are going to be different. Your New Year's resolution to not drink and drive is actually going to work. PhoneGuard is a new application that has been launched especially to help you be amongst those 75 per cent of people who can keep up their New Year resolution beyond the very first week of the year. This anti-texting software fabricated for cell phones deactivates the keyboard thus eliminating the possibility of texting or emailing while driving or whenever parents find it inappropriate. This software disables emailing, texting and all the different distractions while driving a vehicle. When the cell phone is moving at more than 10 mph, this application automatically disables the keyboard thus eliminating all the possible distractions. Also, this phone can tell you when the driver...

With the recession just about over, it would do you some good to give away gifts that cost hardly anything, but benefit everyone. Improve your defensive driving skills! The New Jersey State Police has begun offering simple tips and suggestion to motorists this season with the hopes of enjoying an accident-free holiday season this year. Personal safety, safety of friends and other loved ones should be more important than any kind of urgency that may crop up while on the road. When we get behind the wheel, there are so many factors that demand our attention that it can be very risky. But none of these factors are worth risking our lives for. Answering phone calls and texting while driving can wait, adjusting the radio can be done off the road, checking your child’s attitude can be done at home. When you are behind the wheel, just drive and do not concentrate on anything else. Distracted driving accounts for most of the major motor vehicle crashes in the United States, and the number of d...

Advocates on road safety gathered at the Capitol on Thursday to focus on drunk driving accidents. The highway fatalities have certainly dropped in Missouri since last year. But the numbers of accidents caused due to alcohol constitute nearly 32 per cent of the total 281 victims. Leanna Depue, the Director of the Missouri Department of Transportation Highway Safety, said “Missouri Remembers is not only a way to honor those people, but also reminds others of the importance of driving sober during this holiday season and every day of the year”. A special tree with “Missouri Remembers” ornaments was put up in the capitol rotunda by the safe roads coalition. The ornaments were put for anyone who wanted them. The testimonials are to remind the people of all the losses. Phaedra Marriot-Olsen, a victim of a drunk driving accident, said, “Besides the numerous many physical injuries that I had, the emotional nightmares were the ones that were hard to forget”. The Highway Patrol Col., Ron Replogl...

A lot us experience a little aggressiveness in us while driving. We sometimes tailgate, change lanes without signaling, travel faster, abuse verbally to other drivers or give a rude gesture. We are human and we can’t help being a little off at times but what we really miss out is that being aggressive not only is dangerous but brings about serious consequences which we don’t want to face. Aggressive driving happens when a driver commits some traffic offense so as to endanger the lives of others or property while road rage is a criminal offense or an assault with a vehicle or other weapons to the passenger or operator. The road is always crowded with so many types of drivers and since commuters spend a long time behind the wheel, it ramps up their stress levels resulting in feeling aggressive or prone to road rage. The danger of both road rage and aggressive driving can result in death, serious injury or committing a crime that would land you in jail. Though you cannot control other agg...

Around half of students confessed when a question was being out forward as to how flip-flops were experienced by them while driving on school. On getting such a response the officers asked to them that while driving your foot from accelerator to brake, a flip-flop can hang one’s foot and get caught in brakes pedal. The exchange was informal but was very much informative. As per the rule the high school students of Pasco would be able to get the parking passes only after taking the Safe Wheel Class, which is a one-day four-hour session based on the classroom portion of Florida Driver Challenge. This course is designed to give the young drivers a better understanding of the principles of safe defensive driving. Initiating such a program is really good as the accidents arising due to lapse of attention are increasing with around 25% of young ones involved. A tangible change in driving habits was seen which would lead to the district giving blessing to take the course to each and every hi...

Every year someone in the legislature attempts to pass a law making the ban on cell phones usage while driving. But the latest cause is to celebrate a ban on text-messaging making them prohibiting of usage of all emergency phones usage. Such measures have been taken up to get enough traction in the legislature and governor’s office so as to become law. This will not stop organizations from trying to make up laws and rules for the same. The Prima Country’s cell phone users prohibit employees from making the usage of country cell phones for personal reasons or to make usage of landlines more. So this law has ultimately leaded to usage of cell phones being banned while driving vehicle. In case of emergency the employees would be required to take caution and park at the closest leading to parking of space and curb up the cellular telephone usage. Seeing this the citizens of the country are required to sign an acknowledgment when getting into a country issued phone and one needs to take def...

The awareness campaigns to drive against those who are driving while driving have been present in the past 20 years. The efforts of group include MADD and SADD along with Indiana State Police Program which have been pulled over to make people realize and think that getting on the wheel while driving is very much dangerous. But everyday people realize that engrossing in an activity while driving is more deadly than driving drunk with sending out the text messages while driving. According to a NewYork study they found that there is eight fold increase risk of crashing while texting out for the ability to multitask. Talking on cellphones increases the risk of crashing to 4 times which equals to about 0.08 amount of blood. These statistics are very distratous when we see that many people everyday are driving when talking on the cellphones. Also the messaging text while driving has been banned in many states. So those who have not banned would require a law that would ban text messaging whi...