10+ Driving Safety Tips
I have 20+ years in the Transportation & Distribution Field. That includes managing fleets and being behind the wheel of tractor-trailers, doubles, and straight job commercial vehicles too. To be honest, when I’m on the road, I’m not afraid of the truckers because they usually have years of experience and training behind the wheel. I’m more fearful of holiday or weekend travelers that aren’t used to the long hours on the road. They’re the ones that usually cause havoc on the highways.
Being in the business for so many years, I’ve learned to never say “I’ve seen it all.” I remember this one time (not at band camp)…a driver called me saying a turkey flew through his windshield! Feathers, glass, and blood were all over his cab. Luckily he was ok. I’ve watched a set of doubles flip over on the Jersey Turnpike and then crush the passenger front side of a caravan full of kids. Keli and I being the 1st two on the scene where she took the kids to safety on one side of the turnpike and I continued to pry doors open on the minivan with others.
The key to safe driving is to limit driver distraction as much as possible.
The following are a few pre-trip and driving safety tips. If this helps ONE person, then my mission accomplished.
Pre-trip:
⦁ Bring your vehicle into your local mechanic and have him perform a full inspection. I usually do this a few days before, not at the last minute. This will give you time to fix any possible issues the mechanic finds.
⦁ Get a pre-trip inspection. If you have AAA, they’ll do it for FREE.
⦁ Items to pack for the car: fix a flat (for emergencies), 4 – way star lug wrench (so much easier to turn than what is included by most vehicle manufacturers), cigarette lighter powered air pump for tires, jack (we wanted to bring a heavy-duty jack, but it was weighed too much) and road flares and/or safety triangles (this helps others see you if your vehicle is disabled).
⦁ Tie-down any bikes, cargo carriers, etc. and regularly check them. Our cargo roof carrier recommends checking the attachment knobs every 600 miles or so.
Driving Safety:
⦁ Stop texting while driving
⦁ Preset all destinations in your GPS before leaving on your trip. Some areas don’t have GPS signal, so start the GPS BEFORE you leave Point A (it usually continues after you drop cell service).
⦁ Check your mirrors. This may be the biggest challenge for new RV owners. You’ll need to rely only on your side mirrors because the rearview mirror will be blocked. You should be checking those mirrors every 5 seconds. I was just behind an RV that had his side awning arm break off. He was driving for miles with it protruding from his vehicle. I had to pull up to him and signal to pull over for him to notice.
⦁ Following distance -Stay at least 4 seconds behind the car in front of you. If there’s bad weather- add 1 second, if nighttime- add another second
⦁ Insurance companies’ statistics show having headlights on during the day reduces collisions by 10-12% by making yourself more visible. Most cars have DRL (daytime running lights) for the front of the vehicle, but that doesn’t activate the taillights in some vehicles, which is just as important.
⦁ Try not to stay next to a tractor-trailer while driving. They have lots of moving parts (5 axels,18 wheels, mudflaps, wind deflectors, etc.). You do not want to be next to one of those tires if they pop, or lose their treads, or lose control of their vehicle.
⦁ Keep your vehicle as clean as possible. I know someone who had a coke can roll under his brake pedal which caused a wreck. Plus, if you get pulled over by the cops, its e better sell, if your vehicle is presentable!
Other tips:
⦁ Don’t always listen to the GPS for speed limit – especially going through a construction zone. I saw one time where my GPS said I was in a 65 mph zone and the posted speed limit was actually 40 mph.
⦁ I don’t let the gas tank drop below ¼ tank. You never know when a gas station may be closed in a small town or you just get lost. We’ve driven through parts of the Midwest where the nearest open gas station was over 100 miles away.
⦁ Be mindful of parking garage heights. We narrowly avoided a situation where the garage entering height car/chain had a 7’8″ posted height. However, the actual height was about a footless. We almost had a convertible!!!
Having a toddler has its own challenges while driving. We will talk about those in another post. 😉