Cut your risk while driving

According to Bureau of Labor Statistics, highway crashes accounted for 22 percent of the 6,112 job-related deaths in 1996. Construction workers accounted for 10 percent of those accidents.

There are many ways you can reduce your chances of getting injured – or killed – while traveling. The Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS) cites five ways to make your trip safer:

Buckle up.
National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) studies show seat and shoulder belts, when properly worn, cut the fatality risk to front-seat passengers by 45 percent and the risk for moderate to critical injuries by 50 percent.

If you drive a light truck, they cut the risk of a fatal injury by 60 percent and moderate to critical injury chances by 65 percent.

Still don’t believe in seatbelts? Consider these facts published by the University of Oklahoma Police Department:

• If you are thrown from a vehicle in an accident, you are 25 times more likely to be killed than if you stayed in the vehicle.

• Less than one percent of all injury-producing collisions involve fire or immersion; very unlikely when compared with getting thrown from the vehicle.

Courtesy counts.
Reports of road rage are all the rage, but in reality, true road rage is rare, says Michael Fumento, author of “Road Rage vs. Reality” in the August, 1998 edition of Atlantic Online. Instead, he says aggressive driving tendencies are on the rise. This includes middle-finger waving, weaving in and out of traffic and aggressively cutting another driver off.

The American Automobile Association suggests you keep your cool. It recommends:
• Stay out of the passing lane unless you are passing.
• Don’t tailgate.
• Signal when changing lanes.
• Keep your hands – especially your middle fingers – to yourself.
• Use the horn for emergencies only. Friendly “toots” are distracting and long blasts may let off steam for you, only to build up a head of steam in others.
• On multi-lane roads, use the left-hand lane to go straight, stay left so others making a right-hand turn can use the right-hand lane.
• Park responsibly. One space, one car. Worried about door dings? Park farther away and walk the distance.
• High beams are for vision, not revenge.
• If you are driving a slow-moving vehicle in a congested area, pull over so traffic can pass.

Stay at attention!
NETS says inattentive driving is a contributing factor in up to 90 percent of crashes.

Driving is a complicated task, requiring about 20 complex decisions every mile. For safety, NETS suggests you:

• Get rid of distractions such as paper or parts that slide around as well as emotional distractions, such as quarrels with others.

• Stop daydreaming. Driving is the most important task at hand.

• If you must use a cell phone, keep the call short and simple. Otherwise, pull over.

• Don’t let others get under your skin. Aggressive drivers should not bring out those qualities in you.

Give others the space they need.
As roads get more congested, the space between vehicles decreases. Many state departments of transportation suggest drivers use the Two Second Rule as a simple way to assure you have enough stopping distance.

Just pick a landmark down the road and as the vehicle in front of you passes it, count “one thousand one, one thousand two.” Some recommend a three-count.

If you pass the landmark before you reach the end of the count, you are following too closely. If road conditions are poor, increase to four or more seconds.

Keep your head clear.
Drugs and/or alcohol and driving don’t mix. Period.

Still, the NHTSA estimates that alcohol-related crashes account for about 16 percent of U.S. auto insurance payments.

But the costs are much greater. In 1998, the NHTSA reports that one million crashes involved a driver with blood alcohol content of .10 or greater.

In all, 12,530 were killed and 719,000 were injured. It also found that up to 22 percent of drivers involved with crashes used drugs, often in combination with alcohol.

Published in the July/August 2001 issue of Contractor Tools and Supplies magazine.

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