hat has a passenger-side air bag. They should be buckled up in the back seat. Recent transportation studies show that small children may be injured by the air bags even in low-impact collisions (It’s safer not to drive with friends and kids in the car when you’re learning to drive. They can be distracting.).
- Don’t drive while distracted, including talking on the car phone, putting on make-up, combing your hair, or eating while driving. People who talk on car phones while driving are four times more likely to have an accident. If you need to make a call, pull off the road to a safe spot and park.
- Don’t fiddle with the radio while you are driving. It’s better to wait until you can pull over and stop because even taking your focus off the road, even for a few seconds, can lead to an accident.
- Use good quality tires and make sure they are inflated to the right pressure (check your owner’s manual for what is right for your tires and car). Many recommend radial tires, and in some states, radials are ok to use in snow emergency conditions. Check your state to see what the requirements are for driving in snow.
- Maintain your car. Bald tires, a slipping transmission, or a hesitant engine could lead to accidents.
- Use headlights during daylight driving, especially on long stretches of desert highway and rural roads to make you more visible to oncoming drivers.
- Watch out for potholes, especially after bad weather.
- Be on the lookout for motorcycles, bikes, and pedestrians.
- When driving to a new place, get complete directions before you go. Figure out what exits you need to take beforehand so there's no surprises.
Driving Around School
- Get to school five to ten minutes early and leave five minutes late to avoid the mad dash into and out of the parking lots. Many accidents happen when people are in a rush.
- If your school lot has perpendicular spaces (not angle parking), park in a space you can pull straight out of instead of having to back out. Backing out in crowed lots is tricky.
- Watch for people getting on and off school buses – and don’t run into the school buses, either.
- Go slow.
- Don’t leave valuables like wallets, shoes, leather jackets or sports equipment in your cars where they can be seen. They invite break-ins.
- Always stop for school buses with flashing red lights. The flashing lights mean that students are either getting on or off the bus - and may be crossing the street. Their safety depends on cars obeying this law.
Driving Around Town
- Avoid making left hand turns across busy intersections that don’t have turn signals. It takes a while to learn how to gauge the oncoming traffic. Better to go down a block or two until you come to a light, or plan a route that doesn’t need this turn.
- Don’t make assumptions about what other drivers are going to do. The only thing you can assume about another driver with a turn signal on is that he has a turn signal on. He might not be turning at all and forgot to turn it off the last time he used it or has changed his mind.
- When there’s an obstruction in your lane, wait for oncoming traffic to clear before you pull around. Just because someone’s blocking your lane doesn’t mean you have the right of way in the next or oncoming lane.
- Watch out for aggressive drivers and try to stay out of their way. They are the cause of a lot of accidents – especially on the beltways.
- To avoid fender benders, watch out for anything that is connected to the U.S. Mail or city services – they make frequent stops.
- Don’t do anything that will cause another car’s driver to slam on the brakes such as pulling out in front of him or swerving into his lane.
Driving in the Country
- Watch out for deer and other animals, large and small. If you see a deer approaching, slow down and flash your lights repeatedly. Often, the deer will run away.
- Also, if you see one deer, watch out for others close by – they often travel in pairs or groups.
- Watch out for pigs, chickens, cows, possums, and skunks, too.
- When driving in the desert, watch out for animals like burros, wild horses, mule 