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[/profileleft]The National Safety Council aspires to make all of us feel safer. The entity delves into several different dangerous issues that we all face in an effort to bring awareness to these risks. Throughout National Safety Month, we will highlight different ways for people to stay safe and minimize the chance that they will be harmed in different types of accidents. One of the most common dangers we all face involves driving and riding in vehicles. Today we’re going to lay out a few ideas to keep in mind so that you hopefully will not become someone who is harmed in a San Diego car accident.
Drive Attentively
Distracted driving has become more and more of a problem in recent years as more distractions have been introduced to drivers. It’s become such a prevalent issue that the federal government has its own Web site dedicated to this problem. According to that Web site, more than 3,100 people were killed and more than 430,000 people were injured in car accidents in the United States in 2014 due to distracted driving. Therefore, put away your cell phones and keep your eyes on the road when behind the wheel.
Don’t Cut Safety Corners
Many of us who are a bit older may remember the days when seatbelts were simply not part of our normal driving routine. On those occasions when we actually put them on, they felt very strange. Nowadays the opposite is true. Seatbelts save lives and minimize injuries. That’s simply a proven fact. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the CDC, published a fact on its Web site that states that seatbelts reduce serious injuries and deaths from car crashes by about half. Make sure you always wear your seatbelt.
Do Not Drive Under the Influence
This idea should be so obvious to anyone that it should hardly be worth mentioning, but unfortunately driving under the influence remains an enormous problem that puts everyone on the roads at that time in danger. [tweet_dis]According to Responsibility.org, more than 150,000 people were arrested on suspicion of DUI in California in 2014.[/tweet_dis] In addition, 882 people in the state were killed in crashes where alcohol was recorded as a factor. If you’ve either been consuming a substance that alters your mind or you plan on doing so that day, do not get behind the wheel.
Don’t Speed
We’ve all done it at one point or another – we’ve all decided that, for whatever reason, we needed to exceed the speed limit. It seems like such a harmless violation of the law at the time. Speeding is anything but harmless. [tweet_dis]According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, more than 9,000 people were killed in car accidents in 2014 in which speed was a factor in those crashes. [/tweet_dis] Trying to shave two or three minutes off of your drive is simply not worth the risk of being injured or worse in a San Diego car accident.
Don’t Drive Angry
We have all been cut off or put in a bad position on the road because of someone else’s mistake. Many of us have gotten behind the wheel after becoming angry at someone or something totally unrelated to the drive. This is not a good decision. Angry driving leads to aggressive driving, and according to AutoInsurance.org, aggressive driving leads to approximately 13,000 crashes every year in the United States. If you’re angry while behind the wheel, do what you need to do to calm down.
What To Do After a San Diego Car Accident
We hope that everyone will keep these suggestions in mind not only during National Safety Month, but throughout the year. If you or someone you love has been harmed in a crash, you need to contact the San Diego personal injury lawyers at Gomez Trial Attorneys to schedule a free initial consultation. You need to evaluate your legal rights as soon as possible.
