GARRETT COMAN
Staff Writer
So you made it through driver’s ed and you’ve been driving for a while, but do you still seem to have problems? They might manifest in a fender bender or two, or perhaps just that your passengers always seem to have a death grip on the grab handles and eyes glued to the road, or worse yet, always insist on driving when you reach for your keys.
First, realize you are not alone. Young adults are generally bad drivers. Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of teen death in America, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That is quite remarkable, considering what teens are known for doing while not driving. NHTSA reported that more than 460,000 teens were killed or seriously injured in 2003, with a likelihood seven times greater of being killed in an auto accident between ages 16 and 20 than age 8 and 15.
It might be time for a little refresher on safe driving. With a few minor adjustments to your style and a little practice, people might ride in your car again — if that’s what you want, of course.
Let’s start with some of the basics, such as the driving position. While it might be entertaining to confuse other drivers with your head in the back-seat window, it becomes hard to see where the car is going and reach all the controls with the seat fully reclined. But the other extreme, hunching over the steering wheel with the seat all the way forward, has proved in accidents to yield very intimate experiences with airbags. The correct seating position, according to the California drivers’ manual, requires hands at 3 and 9 o’clock on the steering wheel, the seatback at a slight recline and the torso as far away from the steering wheel while allowing wrists to comfortably touch the top of it. Also, take a moment to adjust mirrors, as they work best when you can see something besides the side of your car.
Next, concentrate on driving. Although it seems a good idea to use this “down time” on the road to make the necessary phone calls to keep the earth rotating, weaving a two-and-a-half ton SUV through L.A. traffic at 20 over the speed limit is probably enough. Ditto for the makeup, last-minute dinner, iPod and pumpkin spice mochas that no one can live without. Distractions can contribute toward 50 percent of traffic fatalities, according to AAA. Driving is for the driver and the road, mano a mano.
Also, remember that there’s no need to rush. Speeding accounted for more than 13,000 deaths in America last year, according to NHTSA. With L.A. traffic, one must constantly weave through the lanes, which compounds the dangers. If a five-mile trip takes a little more than five minutes at the 55 mph speed limit, going 65 will save less than a minute. Is this worth putting yourself and other motorists’ lives in danger?
Next, there’s a little invention that, according to NHTSA, saves America some 15,000 lives and more than $63 billion a year. This piece of ingenuity is called a seat belt, and it saves more lives than any other safety device in the vehicle. It takes practically no time or physical investment, and yet NHTSA estimates that if everyone took the half-second to put it on, it could potentially save 6,000 Americans a year. The investment is small, the reward huge and the choice simple: Will you buckle up?
The final bit of advice is simple: If you are not alert, don’t drive. No reason, whether it’s being tired as a result of staying out too late or studying into the wee hours, is good enough. If you are chemically impaired, either by alcohol or other drugs, don’t drive. Alcohol alone is involved in up to 40 percent of traffic fatalities, according to NHTSA. In every case, pulling over for a nap or arranging another ride home are better options than driving without your full wits.
Focus on these easy driving tips, and you will find yourself much less stressed going down the road. You will have fewer “close calls,” and hopefully those obscenities from the other drivers will begin to subside. You might need to think of a new way to get out of driving your friends around, though.
10-27-2005
