How To Be A Safer Driver
One of the main priorities for car manufacturers is to improve the safety of their vehicles. Despite the increase in safety, cars are still incredibly dangerous. In 2016, there were 1,792 fatalities from road accidents in the UK. 155,491 people were slightly injured, and 24,101 were seriously injured as a result of UK road accidents. To help keep you and the roads safe, there are some simple tips that you can follow to help make your car journeys safer.
Three top tips to improve your driving
1. Choose your music carefully
A study has shown that the music you choose to listen to can affect your driving style. The music itself can be hazardous, especially if you are driving while changing music tracks, adjusting the volume or bass levels as your attention is diverted away from the road. However, if you listen to music, then you can choose safer genres.
The study showed that drivers who listened to high tempo music of above 120 beats per minute were twice as likely to drive through red lights and have twice as many accidents compared to people listening to slower tunes. If you want to be safe, try slower paced tunes to keep you focused on the road.
2. Keep your headlights on
It has been found that you can reduce your chance of being in an accident by 32% by keeping your headlights on at all times. It makes sense, as having your headlamps on makes sure there is greater visibility for you and other road users. This means that it can help to reduce the people who pull out in front of you as they have better visibility and distance awareness, it can also help to lower the risk of accidents with pedestrians and cyclists too.
Remember, some countries make sure new cars have automatic running lights at all times, such as Sweden and Finland, so don’t be surprised if people flash you to put your lights on when driving abroad.
3. Focus on the road, not the signs
While road signs can help you to understand the layout of the road and should not be ignored, some experts suggest that there are too many signs which can make drivers complacent. For example, people will drive too fast when they are told they have the right of way instead of being cautious which is what we should do.
In fact, the city of Drachten tested the theory by removing all of the road signs at twenty roundabouts. With this, drivers had a responsibility to check the road and interact with each other instead of relying on what traffic signs and lights told them to do.
When you see a sign, be aware but don’t let it make you complacent, you should still be responsible for driving safely.