Traffic can be an extremely hassling experience, be it as a commuter or as a driver yourself. However, despite the conveniences brought by travel, vehicle accidents are threats that might still happen to you if you’re not careful. Best practices to keep yourself safe from vehicle accidents can spell the difference between a safe journey home to a trip to the hospital.
World Health Organization numbers indicate that at least 1.25 million become victims of vehicle crashes all over the world every year, with more than 20 to 50 million survivors suffering from serious injuries or even acquiring disabilities as a result. This makes vehicle crashes the eighth main reason of fatalities to people worldwide. Unfortunately, more than half these casualties belong to the “vulnerable road users” category, comprised of pedestrians and riders of bikes and motorcycles. As such, it’s important to make sure you know how to keep yourself safe from vehicle accidents. Here are a few tips:
- Maintain the right mindset while driving. Sometimes accidents occur not because you don’t have enough knowledge or skill, but because of the wrong mentality. Don’t overestimate your driving skills, and make sure you have the right mindset when it comes to training and practice. Remember that you should make it a commitment to practice being a responsible driver, as you are handling a vehicle that can potentially harm not just other people around you, but yourself and passengers as well.
- Training is important, and try to get as much training as possible. Regardless if you’re a practicing driver or a licensed driver, try to make sure you actively get training if you have the means to do so. Supervised practice and training for poor weather conditions will equip you with the appropriate skills to be able to maneuver your vehicle much more carefully and make sure you can keep yourself and/or your passengers much safer from accidents in the long run.
- Be wary of your limitations. Make sure you are wary of your and your car’s capabilities and that you constantly observe these while driving. Make sure you limit your passengers as much as possible, even if your car can support many. Remember, risks of fatal crashes increase with more passengers, so it’s best to stay careful. Try to limit your night driving as well, as a lot of risk factors are involved while driving at night.
- Sometimes, it’s in the car. If possible, try aiming to ride or drive a car with high safety scores. Try to avoid small vehicles, sport utility vehicles, and trucks whenever possible. Review consumer reports and statistics on the safety ratings of vehicles in order to get to know about these statistics much better.
- Don’t be distracted while driving. Make sure your phones are either turned off or on silent mode while driving to avoid distractions. Avoid looking at a lot of things that aren’t relevant to making sure you’re riding properly. Pay close attention to elements on the road such as signs, lights, and traffic symbols that would prove beneficial to ensure your safety as a road user.
Conclusion
A vehicle accident can be extremely inconvenient if you’re in one, and while accidents can indeed happen to anyone, keeping yourself safe from them is still a possibility. The measures above may hopefully give you a heads up as to what you should be aware of to keep yourself safe. You may also click here to get the assistance of an injury attorney should there be a need to keep yourself up to date with your other legal options.