Think about it.
It’s raining, a light drizzle upon your car. The windscreen wipers are on. You get a text from your wife and another. She’s asking why you aren’t replying. The notification keeps beeping and there’s one thousand and one things on your mind right now, not to mention the fact that you’re late for work. Another beep, another text. You’re pushing the speed limit to make up for lost time, but the notifications keep going off and sounding around the interior of the car. You grimace, you’re desperately trying to concentrate on the road, but you’re already distracted, and you know it. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. The rain comes on a little harder, and your visibility is getting impaired, so why are you still pushing the speed limit? Momentum takes your car forward and your foot, for whatever reason, is still on the gas. You look down; it’s time to silence the phone. Thanks to the distraction, the rain, and your speed, you won’t notice the car pulling out across your path, and when you plow into it, honestly there’s no telling if you’ll make it out ok.
In the story above, there are three major reasons why the accident happened. What are they?
Speeding. Weather conditions. Distractions. If you’ve got all three, you’re really tempting fate and that happens more often than you know. It’s too easy to speed, you can forget about the rain and what harm is a quick text? Well, you don’t know. Bringing the unknown into your driving brings up the chances of a crash. The more the unknown features, the more auto collisions will happen.
Speeding is something that should never happen, limits exist for a reason and if you push these limits, you’re increasing your chances of a bad crash. Accidents that happen at high speeds never end well. Stick to the limit and don’t push your luck.
As for the weather, there’s no way you can stop it raining! But you can take precautions and add caution to your driving. Take it easy if it is raining.
Distractions? Well, that’s up to you. What’s more important, your safety or getting back to the group banter on Whatsapp? I mean, you won’t be able to reply at all if you’re involved in an accident. Maybe it’s worth putting the phone on silent for the duration of your journey. After all, what’s it worth to you? Distractions don’t just include the phone – loud music, conversations, and external situations can cause a distraction. The key here is to limit the distractions in front of you. If something is taking your attention off of the road, put an end to it.
Road accidents happen. That part is unavoidable. What you can do is drive safely and carefully to prevent yourself becoming the cause of them. Road safety is of the utmost importance, and it’s up to you, as a driver, to ensure that you are not adding to the dangers of driving on the road. There are already enough out there for drivers to worry about. Protect your car, others and yourself.