Common Causes Of Road Accidents Amongst Young People & How To Avoid Them
The other day we published a post on how young sports car drivers can stay safe on the roads. We called out distracted driving as an important aspect of staying safe. A few people (parents of young drivers) emailed me to say we didn’t go far enough in talking about distracted driving and drink driving as major causes of road accidents and deaths. We agree and so here we are.
We all know that there is a dangerous aspect to driving. No matter what vehicle you drive, and how much you are on the roads, there is a dangerous element to it. This is just part of the nature of driving.
However, that is not to say that you can’t minimize your chances of being in a road accident. You absolutely can. Young drivers lack experience and have way too much confidence. There is nothing wrong with that. It is just important to understand that and to be aware of the statistics so you can think twice before making a bad decision.
Towards that end, it might help to know what the most common causes of road accidents are. With that in mind, we are going to look at the most common causes of road accidents now. We will also look at some key ways to make them less likely to happen. As long as you are doing that, you can know that you are much less likely to be involved in an accident on the roads. And that alone will make the experience of driving much more enjoyable for you in the long run. Let’s take a look now at the most common causes of road accidents and how to avoid them.
Distraction
It goes without saying that being distracted is hugely dangerous when you are driving a car. Cell phones, texting, Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook. They are pinging and alerting young drivers all day long. It is second nature to pick up your phone and look. Bad idea. Texting while driving is like drunk driving. It is that bad.
You can control the conditions inside your car. Put your phone on silent. Turn off notifications. Put your phone in the glove compartment. These are all practical steps to avoid the instant response which is to pick up the phone and look. There is no good reason to use your phone while driving and it is incredibly dangerous to do so.
Drink-Driving
We all know that driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs is hugely dangerous. However, it is surprising how easily you can find yourself doing it. All it takes is being slightly over the limit, and it can cause huge problems.
The recent advertisements here in the U.S say it perfectly – buzzed driving is drink driving. There is no difference.
The absolute best way to avoid this is quite obvious: don’t drink and drive. If you are going to drive, don’t even have one drink. If you’re going to drink, hail an UBER. The worse case if you drink and drive isn’t looking for a DUI lawyer when you get caught, it is the chance that you could kill somebody or yourself.
Speeding
As car guys most people are surprised when they hear us say “slow down”. Of course, we all know that it is dangerous to drive fast and even as car guys who love performance we still are very reasonable and driving within our limits on public roads.
Again is something which can be surprisingly easy to fall into, you’re driving along and some guy speeds up next to you. Next thing you know you step on the gas and in an instant you’re going just fast enough that stopping takes an extra 50ft. That’s a big difference when trying to avoid somebody in front of you or a person running out in front of your car. Physics is physics folks and the faster you go the longer it takes to slow down.
The best thing to bear in mind here is that you should always keep your speed down and relative to the road you are on. Pay attention to the conditions on the road and know the difference between 10mph over the speed limit on a big highway and 10mph over the speed limit in front of a school.
Too often, accidents occur because a driver was not paying attention to the actual situation on the road, was distracted by their phone or was a little too many beers deep and decided to drive. Don’t do it.
