If you become a licensed driver, then you will be out there on the road with millions of other individuals. You don’t know much about the drivers on either side of you. You never know anything about their personal lives.
However, you do know at least a little something about them through their driving behaviors. For instance, if someone does something unsafe while behind the wheel, you can form an opinion about them.
For every 1,000 miles you drive, you have one in 366 car crash odds. That means, if you drive for most of your life, the chances become pretty good that you’ll get in at least one crash, if not more than one. You may even get in multiple crashes if you drive for several decades.
You might even die in a car crash. It’s not a pleasant thought, but it does happen sometimes. You want to do all you can to make sure you don’t endanger anyone’s life while driving. With that in mind, let’s talk about car crash deaths and what responsible drivers should know about them.
First, you should know that certain types of car crashes produce more deaths than other kinds. Consider something like a fender bender. You might tap the bumper of the car ahead of you if you’re not paying close attention or you misjudge the distance.
If that happens, you likely won’t kill anyone, especially if you’re not going very fast. You might give the driver ahead of you whiplash. That’s not ideal, but they should recover from it fairly quickly.
However, if you T-bone another car, that can kill someone much easier. If you hit their car in the middle of an intersection because you ran a red light, that can kill them.
If you hit their car from the left-hand side, you might impact the part of the vehicle right where the driver’s sitting. If you hit their vehicle on the right-hand side, you may kill their passenger, particularly if you built up some speed before impact.
Rollover collisions also kill a lot of people, so you should try to avoid causing those as well. If you cause a rollover collision, that probably means you hit a car going at a high rate of speed. Maybe you were on the highway when you hit the other vehicle, and it rolled off an embankment.
Head-to-head car wrecks kill a lot of people as well. If you cause one, you’re endangering yourself just as much as the other driver and their passengers.
If you know the scenarios that cause these types of accidents, then you will know how best to avoid them. Obviously, you want to avoid any car wreck, but these three kinds in particular often prove fatal.
If you drive drunk, that also makes it much more likely you will kill someone. Some people become a lot more cautious if they drink and drive. Others become more reckless.
The reality is, though, that if you drink to the point where you’re over the legal limit, and then you drive, you won’t have the same reflexes that you normally would. You will also probably make more reckless decisions than you would if you were sober.
You might miss stop signs or one-way signs if you’re drunk. In short, if you consume alcohol, it’s best that you don’t drive, even if you think you’re under the legal limit. Either call for an Uber or have a sober buddy drive you home instead.
You should also realize as a driver that speed kills. If you’re on the highway, and you cause an accident, there’s a much higher chance that you will kill yourself or someone else.
Think of it in this way. If you hit a car going twenty miles per hour, then you might do some serious damage. If you hit it going sixty miles per hour, there’s a much higher chance of devastating injuries or deaths.
That’s why, if you take the highway, and you’re traveling at a higher rate of speed, you need to pay attention. Slowing down and obeying the speed limit on the highway, even if it gets to you to your destination a little slower, is always responsible driver behavior.
You can also kill someone in your car if you let something distract you. That means you might kill someone if you hit their vehicle, but you also need to think about pedestrians, cyclists, and even pets if you’re driving through a neighborhood with dogs and cats about.
Many things can distract you while you’re driving, from a fast-food burger to a funny billboard that catches your eye. However, in many cases, smartphones distract drivers in the modern era.
If you try to send a text while driving or answer the phone if someone calls, that’s a recipe for disaster. If you take your eyes off the road for just a split second, that’s sometimes all it takes.
Put your phone in your pocket and keep it there if you’re driving. If you need to turn it off, then do that. That decision can save a life.
You should know as a responsible driver that cars and bad weather don’t mix. If you know there’s a rainstorm heading your way, it’s best not to drive. The visibility gets bad, and the roads get slick as well.
If you absolutely must drive in dangerous weather, then slow down. If you’re driving the speed limit during a major weather event, or even below it, you have more reaction time.
If you know the driving situations that cause the most deaths, then you can usually avoid them. By modifying your behavior on the road, you can save your life or someone else’s.
