 | Mike Johnson,
owner and instructor of Wichita Driving School, has been involved in driver education since 1991. Having taught and coached for 5 years in the public school system, he has been involved in private driver education since 1996. Wichita Driving School is licensed by the state of Kansas, and offers teen and adult driver education strongly emphasizing defensive driving. Mike holds a current Kansas Teaching Certificate and is certified by the National Safety Council. You can contact Mike at (316) 651-0848 or e-mail Wichitadriving@cs.com. Visit the website at: www.wichitadrivingschool.com |
Driving & Safety
2007-12-01 10:04:00
Safer driving skills is a must for all of us
How can I be a safer driver? What can I do to make my teen a safe driver and increase their overall safety?
Answer: The statistics are alarming. Every year in the U.S., an average of 43,000 people die in automobile collisions. This is an average of 117 deaths per day. In an average lifetime, 1 out of 247 people die in a crash. For healthy people under the age of 40, auto crashes are the leading cause of unintentional death. So your driving goal should consist of the following: Make a personal commitment to be a responsible, low risk, defensive driver each and every day of your life!
After fastening your seat belt, here are some other beneficial tips for all drivers of all ages:
1) Always drive with a fully engaged brain. In other words, don’t daydream or multi-task in the car. REMEMBER, CRASH RISKS INCREASE ON DAYS OF HIGH STRESS, SO CLEAR YOUR MIND BEFORE DRIVING.
2) Have a good space management on the road. Always have more following distance than less, drive single file rather than side-by-side, always leave yourself an out, and never overdrive your conditions.
3) Master the “art of momentum”. Cover the brake around corners, approaching intersections, and when parking and backing. This saves you valuable reaction time to slow down, stop or to avoid a collision.
4) Drive 1-5 mph under the speed limit. Many drivers drive 5mph or more over the speed limit! Slowing down allows you more time and space to avoid something that surprises you or enters your path.
5) Remember that “green only means go if the intersection is clear”. Look both ways before entering an intersection. The longer we go without a ticket or collision, the more we let our guard down. Don’t do it!
Your teen has turned 14 or 15 years of age, and driver education looms in the horizon. Remember in Kansas, teenagers under 18 are required to practice 50 hours with their family. After obtaining your teen’s IP at the DMV or via a Driver’s Ed course, make sure to practice with them in different types of roads, traffic and weather conditions. With driver education, you can choose between high school driver education or driver’s ed from a private driving school. Make sure the school you choose includes interstate, highway, downtown and defensive driving. After your teen obtains the RL or DL they can legally drive on their own!
But it may not be in your family’s best interest to immediately purchase them a car. Since beginning drivers are at much more risk the first few months, parents should consider giving their teen partial freedom for the first 1000 miles. Make the teen earn full freedom, before handing it to them. Consider forming a driving contract with your teen to outline driving expectations, and the consequences of a future ticket or collision. A parent may want to have their teen share a family vehicle, instead of immediately buying them a car. Recent studies show this type of arrangement tends to be safer. In other words, teen drivers take more chances or drive less defensive in their own ride, as compared to the family car.
Carefully monitor/limit who rides with your son or daughter, as the teen crash rate steadily increases with the amount of teen passengers in the car. It also makes sense to be very selective on who your son or daughter rides with. The teen crash rate also increases significantly after 9:00 pm. So carefully monitor/limit their night driving. Also discuss peer pressure issues involving driving, alcohol or other drugs. A teen’s brain is not fully developed yet, so remind them about the consequences of making poor decisions in life and behind-the-wheel. Experts say that a teen’s driving behavior changes when another teen gets into the car and that you would be shocked to see the driving environment in a typical teen car with teen passengers.
Every year, teens needlessly die from poor driving decisions or loss of mental control. Also remind your family that a fastened seat belt decreases the fatality rate by more than 50%. Unbuckled occupants which do survive can suffer paralysis or brain damage. Most of all, parents should model good driving habits and behaviors. In other words, practice what you preach!
