In the United States, road crash accidents are a fact of life. Each year the number of road crash deaths exceed 37,000 while another 2.35 million are disabled or injured. In the state of North Carolina, there were 267,494 vehicle crashes in just 2016 alone. These resulted in 1,441 deaths, and 130,137 injuries.
These are the kinds of stats that make you want to look up North Carolina car insurance quotes even if it isn’t required by law to have car insurance with minimum limits for bodily injury liability and property damage liability.
Of course, prevention is critical so you need to do everything in your power to avoid such calamities. Sometimes accidents are unavoidable (and totally not your fault) but at least you try to minimize the risk. Here are some other ways you can help reduce the chances of getting into a vehicle road crash:
- Maintain your car diligently. Check the oil regularly, make sure your tires are correctly inflated, and do confirm that your brakes work.
- Get lessons. Yes, you may be proud of your current driving abilities, but it doesn’t hurt to learn new skills that help keep you safer on the road. In fact, you can discuss this matter with your insurance company. They can recommend a teaching facility and when you’re done with the course the insurance carrier can reduce your premiums.
- Be aware of how your car drives. This may not be a problem when you’ve been driving the same car for the last few years. But it’s a different matter altogether if you have a new car or you borrowed a friend’s car.
- Be very careful when you’re pulling into a busy intersection. Look twice in both directions before you continue on when making a right turn, and be aware of your blind spots. If the light is green, be alert before you continue, In fact, count of three seconds before you enter the intersection so you can avoid people trying to beat the red light.
- Use the center lane. The center lane on multilane roads is your safest option, as this gives you the best escape routes should you need to change lane or go into the shoulder. The fast lane on the left is actually where most highway accidents happen. In addition, highway patrollers are more aware of the cars on the fast lane.
- Sit at a good distance from your steering wheel. You should be close enough to the steering wheel that you can stretch your arms out and rest your wrist in the top of the steering wheel, while your back is firmly resting on the backrest.
- Look out for children. This is especially important if you’re in a residential neighborhood. Kids can pop out of nowhere running from parked cars and on speeding bikes. That’s why you need to really slow down in these places.
- Be very careful about other drivers. Just because another driver is a woman doesn’t mean that she’s liable to do something crazy while driving. But you need to be careful if you see a car drifting in the lane or constantly swerving on the road. Be cautious when you’re near cars that are marked for student drivers. Even cars with dirty windows should keep you alert, as that may also mean that the driver doesn’t care about other people since they don’t care about their own car.
- Keep at least one hand on the wheel. Better yet, always try to keep 2 hands on the wheel in the 9 and 3 o’clock position.
- Eliminate distractions. Don’t fiddle with your smartphone, and don’t even think about watching a movie while driving!