It’s autumn again! People have different reactions to this time of the year. Some receive it gladly, being fascinated by the beauty of the falling leaves, while others have the opposite reaction. Some of the people who are not so enthusiastic about this season have their reasons. Maybe one of them is the fact that the roads would be slippery most of the time due to unexpected rain showers. Poor visibility is also a problem during this time of the year, since fog could just descend any time. Next to winter, autumn driving is the most challenging things for a car owner.

Drivers need to be reminded of some of the things they need to do in order to stay safe on the road this autumn.

Here are some tips from the Association of British Drivers.

• When driving at sunset or sunrise dazzle can be a problem. Ensure that you keep your windscreen clean and free from smears which will be enhanced by low sun. If driving into the sun be aware that drivers behind may be dazzled and may not see you if you stop (see previous tips for avoiding being ‘rear ended’). If the sun is low behind you, be aware that oncoming drivers may be dazzled.
• In conditions of poor visibility use dipped headlights. This is not so that you can see but so that other road users can see you. If most around you have their lights on, the chances are that you should too. You may be able to see other vehicles but the motorcyclist with a rain soaked visor, the pedestrian with poor eyesight or the driver with misted up windows may mistake you for a gap in the traffic with obvious consequences.
• Only use rear foglights in extreme conditions (a good guideline is when the vehicles in front become difficult to see) and always remember to switch them off when conditions improve. Front foglights (lights mounted below the bumper are usually foglights) should only be used in thick fog.
• Your vehicle will take much longer to stop on a wet surface, particularly one covered with wet leaves. Adjust your speed and leave a longer following distance so that you are always able to stop in the distance seen to be clear. Find out whether your car has ABS brakes. It will make a difference to how you will need to use them in an emergency stop. Consider taking skid pan training to help you understand how your car will behave if you lose adhesion. There are many venues throughout the country.
• Watch out for children walking and cycling to and from school. Many schools unfortunately insist upon dark coloured clothing which can make them difficult to spot
• Ensure your tyres, brakes, wipers, heater and demisters are in excellent order

I hope you find these tips helpful! Have a safe drive always!

Photo Credit: yimq

Like life, the changing season is also an endless cycle. Right now, autumn is already just around the corner. Drivers must prepare for this upcoming season. Some of you might ask, what are the dangers of driving this fall? Well, some of you might think it’s mundane, but you have to watch out for falling autumn leaves because they’ve been cited as one of the driving hazards.

Pools of water and mud on the road are the most common things that a lot of drivers are wary of. Only very few are aware of the risk that piles of leaves pose. According to the Car Care Council, “Drivers should be aware that wet leaves on the road surface can make stopping difficult, and piles of leaves can obscure potholes, curbs and street marking.” This factor can pose real danger to drivers and their passengers, so once again they are reminded to check their car’s overall condition. Tires, brakes, and wipers are just some of the most important vehicle parts that have to be checked before venturing out this autumn.

Photo Credit: Carjunky

According to U.S. statistics, the Highway Patrol issued just about 17,076 tickets to car owners due to child car seat violations. There are many reasons why this is so, but one of the most dominant according is the fact that parents or guardians don’t seem to know how to properly install or use child car seats! State law requires that children must be placed in the back seat securely in a child restraint until they are at least 6 years old and 60 pounds. Some parents and guardian fail to do this, so to help out and lessen the chances of child injuries, coalitions are holding several events to educate parents on how they can ensure their children’s safety when on the road. This is being done in connection with the celebration of child Passenger Safety Week on September 12-18.

Parents will surely benefit from the Seat Check that’s going to be given on Saturday Sept 12. This event will be held in General Motors dealerships, hospitals, malls, fire stations, and police departments. Certified child passenger safety technicians will give hands-on instructions on the proper installation of child safety seats.

The U.S Transportation is in partnership with Safe Kids Buckle Up in making this program a successful one, especially in making a difference in child safety. “Safe Kids Buckle Up is the child passenger safety program of Safe Kids USA in partnership with General Motors. The program holds child safety seat checkups and other vehicle safety events throughout the year. Since 1997, Safe Kids Buckle Up has inspected more than 1.1 million car seats; held approximately 57,000 car seat checkup events around the country; donated more than 400,000 car seats to families in need and educated more than 20 million parents and
caregivers.” 

Source: Reuters

Texting and driving. These two terms don’t go well together. You just have to choose which one to do at a particular time. Some people just don’t have the wisdom to do so that is why they end up in unfortunate accidents. The sad thing about this is that they usually take other people, cautious drivers and innocent bystanders with them to the grave. Warnings about the dangers of texting while driving have been given many times already, yet motorists, young and adult, don’t seem to hear. So, to raise awareness among all motorists, a very graphic film about what’s going to happen if a person texts while driving was produced by Peter Watkins-Hughes. It is hoped that this video would be shown all over the UK to make more and more people, especially teens and new drivers, aware how dangerous it is when a person texts while driving.

Want to see just how graphic this film is? Click here.

Source: BBC

Had a rough night? Be careful when you drive then. Lack of sleep is one of the factors that make a person fall asleep at the wheel. In America alone, a big percentage of the driving population experience sleep problems that make them prone to falling sleep while driving. It doesn’t take that much imagination to know which way this scenario is going to end up. A lot of people found their death because of a person falling asleep at the wheel. You question now might be, how can this incident be avoided? Experts and even drivers who have encountered similar situations have a few recommendations for you and me.

1. Get a good night’s sleep each night. (Sleep experts recommend at least eight hours of sleep a night in order to function properly, yet a full third of American adults sleep six hours or less nightly during the work week.)
2. Learn to recognize and pay attention to the warning signs of fatigue. Take a break if you experience wandering or disconnected thoughts, yawn repeatedly, have difficulty focusing or keeping your eyes open, or find yourself missing traffic signs or tailgating other drivers.
3. Don’t count on tricks like turning up the radio or opening the window for fresh air to keep you awake—these things will help for only a short while.
4. If you’re planning on driving a long distance, drive during the time of the day when you are normally awake.
5. Also, if possible, have someone accompany you and talk with that person while driving. It’s a good idea for your passenger to stay awake, too, so that he or she can let you know if you are showing signs of sleepiness.
6. On longer trips, schedule a break (in a safe area) every two hours or every 100 miles and stop sooner if you show any signs of sleepiness

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There are many things that must be taken into consideration when one is intending to purchase a car. Some primarily consider the performance while others, especially the family oriented ones take into consideration the car’s safety features above all. If you are a first time buyer, and are not sure what to look for in a vehicle, be sure to do some research before you do the actual purchase. If your primary concern in buying a vehicle is safety, then it’s time for you to find out the most important safety features that a car must have.

The developments in technology have made it possible for various car makers to install gadgets to make cars safer than before. Some of these safety features that a car must come with are the following:
• Rollover Prevention/Mitigation
As what the name implies, this new technology is a feature that senses when the car is about to rollover, although it rarely happens. Exceptional circumstance like swerving sharply along a curve is usually the cause of rollovers. This technology automatically applies the brakes and controls the throttle to prevent rollover.
• Adaptive Cruise Control/Collision Mitigation
Aside from maintaining the constant speed, cruise control device is now also capable of adjusting the brakes and throttle to maintain a safe distance between your car and the preceding one. In time of possible collision, it automatically takes control of your car, activating the brakes and tightening the seatbelts. Once the situation is back normal, the cruise control ceases adjusts the car’s speed to the way it was before.
• Tire Pressure Monitoring
The sensors at the wheels give a warning if the air pressure in the wheels is too low or already unsafe to drive on. The warning can be an audible sound or a light in the instrument panel.
• Blind-Spot Detection/Side Assist/Collision Warning
This technology is intended to warn you if there are obstructions like cars or objects in your blind spot when driving or parking. This short-range detection system responds when you put on your turn signal and detects something in the way. The warning may be a sound alarm, a flash of light in the mirror, or vibration in the seat or steering wheel.
• Lane-Departure Warning
This technology gives a warning if it detects that you are drifting from your lane. It detects your vehicle’s approximate distance to other vehicles, alerting you if there is impending danger. The warning can be a sound alarm, or vibration in the seat or steering wheel.
• Rear-Parking Sensors/Camera
Backing up accident is one of the causes of death in children and animals. With a rear sensor or camera, chances of this accident become lesser. The device sends a beeping signal or flashing light to alert the driver that there is something at the rear of the vehicle.
• Occupant-Sensitive/Dual-Stage Airbags
The airbags’ deployment is dependent on the occupant in the seat. This innovation has sensors that consider the weight, size, seal belt usage, seating position, presence of a child, and vehicle speed.
• Emergency Brake Asisst
Emergency brake assist must not be mistaken for an antilock braking system or electronic brakeforce distribution. This detects if the driver applies emergency brake and it gives additional brake pressure to shorten the stopping distance.
• Adaptive Headlights
Adaptive headlights enable the driver to see farther down the road. An image is produced through a cockpit display, illuminating the objects that are hard to see.

Photo Credit: Pro-techsafetysigns

A bit about the seat belt has been discussed previously. Now, it’s time to get to know the seat belt. In this article you are going know what and how the seat belt functions for your safety. The types of seat belts are also going to be discussed.

The seat belt is designed with the car occupants’ safety in mind. It is a restraining system intended to:
1. Prevent ejection from the vehicle.
2. Load crash forces on the strongest parts of the body.
3. Spread crash forces over a wide area of the body.
4. Allow the body to slow down gradually.
5. Protect the head, neck, and spinal column.

Because of this restraining system, occupants, especially those at the front seats are prevented from being thrown over the windshield in the worst car crashes. However, there are exceptional circumstances wherein even the presence and use of seat belt cannot protect the occupants from serious injuries and even death, like if the vehicle is crushed to the core.

But, the importance of seat belts cannot be denied. Seat belts are designed in different ways to offer varying degrees of protection.

 Lap Belt - This is the earliest type of seta belt. It’s basically a 2-point belt with two anchorage points that goes over the thighs and hips. It does not hold down the upper body; the main benefit it offers is it prevents ejection of the occupants. This type is rarely used in cars nowadays.
 Sash Seat Belt – It is a belt the goes over the shoulder. Very rarely used nowadays because it is not efficient enough in keeping the occupant in place during accidents.
 Lap and Sash Seat Belt – This is the combination of the lap and sash but, they are made as separate parts.
 Three-point Seat Belt – It is similar to the previous type. The difference is that this one is made as a continuous design. This provides restraint for the upper chest and shoulders.
 Five-Point Harness – It is considered to be the safer type of belt. This is usually found in child safety seats as well as racing cars. It has a lap portion connected to a belt between the legs in addition to the two shoulder belts.
 Six-Point Harness – This is also used in race cars. Instead of just one belt between the legs, this type has two. It still has lap belts and shoulder belts.

To have maximum use of these belts, it’s important for these belts to be worn appropriately. No matter what kind of belt is used it would be useless if it’s not a correct fit.

Photo Credit: Co.Jackson

If you browse the internet you will see lots of news about people suffering serious bodily injuries and even death because of their failure to wear seat belts. According to statistics, failure to wear seat belt is one of the highest contributing factor to car accident fatalities. Although the United States has safety belt laws enforced in majority of its states, it still one of the countries that has the highest fatality rate. Those who die due to non-wearing of seat belt account for 63% of the total fatalities. If more Americans will buckle up, more than 5,500 deaths and 132,000 injuries can be prevented each year.

Modern seat belts are not difficult to put on so, it is a wonder why some people still fail to or simply don’t like to use them. People today are lucky because cars already have this safety feature in their car. Early vehicles have no such feature. It was only those produced from 1950’s onwards that have seat belts integrated in them. Cars in the 1960’s only have lap belts for the front passengers while the rear passengers have none.

What are some reasons why people don’t wear their seat belts? Here’s one interesting answer from answerbag.com, “Some people don’t like to be told what to do, especially by the government. It’s the same old story – cut off your nose to spite your face.” 
Another thing though is that maybe safety belt laws are not that strict. At present there are two types of safety belt laws: the primary and secondary. This is the scope of these laws according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA):

• A primary (standard) safety belt law allows law enforcement officers to stop a vehicle and issue a citation when the officer simply observes an unbelted driver or passenger. A secondary safety belt law means that a citation for not wearing a safety belt can only be written after the officer stops the vehicle or cites the offender for another infraction.

According to reports, the primary law is more effective. However, it is still not enough as the percentage of fatalities shows. Maybe stronger laws regarding this aspect are needed to ensure people buckle up for their own safety. It’s not only the person involved in the accident or his family that bear the cost of such incident. As a taxpayer, you have to pay higher taxes, health care, and insurance cost to help cover the needs of people who neglect their own safety.

Car owners like you have to be made aware of the importance of wearing even a simple device as a seat belt. There’s no harm in following the rules on road safety; in fact it can even save your life.

Photo Credit: Mindfulmom