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Safety
Ten tips for preventing teen accidents.
1)Develop the right attitude about driving.
Many teen auto accidents are a result of
attitude and maturity. Make a commitment
to yourself to practice a responsible attitude
about driving. You’re controlling over 3,000
pounds of fast-moving metal, and you owe it
to yourself, your passengers and other drivers
to drive responsibly.
2)Get as much supervised practice driving
as possible.
Your parents should take an active role in
your practice driving. Make a firm schedule
with them and stick to it. And keep it up until
you take your test to get a license.
3)ALWAYS wear your safety belt.
Get into the habit of wearing your safety belt
whenever you drive or ride – no exceptions.
4)Underage drinking and drug use is illegal.
Even if you’ve consumed only one drink or
smoked one joint, there is a chemical effect
on your brain that can impair judgment and
reaction time. Driving under the influence of
alcohol, marijuana or other illegal drugs can
cost you your license – or your life. Visit www.
Freevibe.com for more facts on drug use.
5)Limit your passengers.
Your risk of a fatal crash increases with every
additional passenger. When you’re a new
driver, it’s best to limit your number of passengers.
6)Limit your night driving.
Your risk of a fatal crash is three times higher
at night than in the day for every mile driven.
It is better to avoid nighttime driving until
you’re comfortable driving during the day.
7)Keep it slow and safe for starters.
Fast-moving, high volumes of traffic can make
you feel uncomfortable, so avoid them until
you can get enough supervised driving experience.
Then you can gradually introduce more
difficult driving situations, like highway driving,
merging off ramps and driving in cities.
8)Train for poor weather conditions.
Even when you begin to feel confident driving
on dry pavement, it’s best to avoid driving in
bad weather conditions unsupervised. Keep
it simple at first, and get as much supervised
practice driving in poor weather as you can
before trying it on your own.
9)Cell phones are for emergency use only
on the road.
One of the worst habits anyone can get into
is talking on a cell phone while driving. Keep
a cell phone with you in the car for emergency
situations only. If you have to use a cell
phone, pull safely over to the side of the road.
10)Drive a safe vehicle.
If you are thinking of getting your own car,
look for one with high safety ratings. Avoid
small cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles.
Check out federal statistics and consumer
report literature to help to evaluate the safety
rating of a car or truck. The Insurance Institute
for Highway Safety (the people who do
crash tests) offers valuable vehicle safety
test results and advisories. Just go to
www.highwaysafety.org.