Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Safe Driving Tips to Avoid Automobile Accidents during Summer

In the U.S., summer season usually begins the day after Memorial Day and ends the day before the autumn equinox, or September 21 to be exact.

During the summer season, children are usually out of school. Oftentimes, summer is the best time to spend vacation with the family or friends.

However, as you go on a long road trip for a vacation during summer, there are lots of distractions that may come along. Long road distractions include traffic snarls, road construction, detours and hand held devices, road impediments, loud noise, and the like.

Despite the different road mishaps that accompany summer road trips, there are a lot of safe driving tips to help you avoid automobile accidents, such as:

•    Avoid stress. Surprisingly, one of the best ways to stay alert while driving is to avoid fatigue. For one, you should avoid skipping meals, particularly breakfast, during a long-road trip. Also, try to have some warm-up and stretching before and during travel.

•    Have a co-driver. It is also best if you will have someone to share the driving task to avoid being over-fatigued.

•    Set some safety rules with your co-driver before switching on the ignition key. Such rules should keep you off from different kinds of driving distractions like using hand-held devices, talking with the passengers, eating, drinking, and using other electronic gadgets or devices.

•    Always wear your seat belt. In an automobile accident, victims that were thrown out of the vehicle were those who did not wear seat belts.  Wearing seat belt is the best defense against any traffic collision.

•    Do not drink and drive. Each day, in every 45 minutes, at least one person dies in a drunk-driving related accident. Therefore, you should establish self-discipline, avoid drinking liquor before you drive, or if you can’t avoid drinking, have someone to replace you from driving.

On the other hand, distracted driving is the most common cause of automobile accidents. In fact, about 80 percent of traffic collisions and 65 percent of near-crashes involve some form of distraction while driving.

Consequently, a Los Angeles automobile accident attorney reminded motorists that negligence is the most causative factor of personal injury and automobile accidents. Oftentimes, unexpected incidents and collisions occur for no obvious reason. Therefore, drivers are encouraged to obey proper precautionary measures to avoid traffic misfortune for an enjoyable summer trip.