Cars are sturdier and safer than ever, but U.S. road fatality rates have been climbing over the past several years. In 2016, 42,000 Americans died on the roads, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which is a 6 percent increase over 2014 and a 14 percent increase over 2014. That's the biggest two-year increase since 1964.
Safety authorities attribute this troubling rise to reckless driver behavior, specifically speeding, the use of alcohol, failure to buckle up, and the increased use of smartphones and mobile apps while driving. Obviously, you need to avoid these behaviors in your own driving. But you'll also need to take additional steps to keep you and your loved ones safe on the road. Here are 7 safety tips to do so:
- Maintain enough space around you. 40 percent of car crashes involve rear-end collisions, according to the NY DMV. To avoid following the car too closely ahead of you, adhere to the "three-second rule." This safety tip holds that you should give the vehicle ahead of you at least three seconds of headway, irrespective of the speed at which you're traveling. In poor road conditions, increase it to four or more seconds of headway. Modern cars, including many new Cadillac vehicles, make keeping a space cushion around your car much easier with features, such as Adaptive Cruise Control, Following Distance Indicator, and Lane Keep Assist/Departure Warning. Cadillac's new 2018 CT6 goes even further; on restricted access highways, it will automatically maintain a safe space buffer around your car using its semi-autonomous Super Cruise hands-free driving system.
- Put your mobile device away. 10 percent of fatal car crashes and 15 percent of crashes involving an injury are attributable to one or more drivers being distracted prior to an accident. Smartphone usage, via voice or text, appears to be the big culprit here-7 percent of drivers use them while driving, according to the National Safety Council. While keeping one's cell phone on and accessible while driving is often justified because one must "be available in an emergency," even a cursory glance at the device will take your eyes from the road, and, at 65 MPH, this glance translates into many dozen of yards of travel. Take this safety tip from NASCAR expert driver Brad Keselowski: "Keep distractions to a minimum when driving. And don't even think about texting or glancing at smartphone apps."
- Keep your eyes moving. Scanning is a defensive safe driving technique that involves periodically cycling your visual focus from the road ahead to one's rear view/side mirrors, dashboard, and then back to the road ahead. Its purpose is to continually build awareness of the total traffic scene to allow drivers to better anticipate unexpected events in order to evade them. Cadillac's Rear Camera Mirror - available in the CT6 and XT5 crossover - makes scanning easier and more effective than ever.
- Keep your lights on. Numerous studies have shown that keeping one's headlights-or if available, daylight running lights-illuminated during daylight hours reduces the chance of crashes by up to 10 percent. With today's generation of cars offering energy-efficient LED DLRs (Daylight Running Lights), the impact on fuel consumption will be minimal.
- Remember: Green doesn't actually mean "go." Distracted/impaired drivers are especially dangerous when approaching intersections. If you've paused at an intersection, never proceed immediately after the light turns green. Slowly pull out far enough to scan the roadway you're crossing, first left, then right. Only then proceed through the intersection. This safety tip will ensure that a distracted, speeding, red light-running driver doesn't barrel into your vehicle's driver or passenger side.
- Respect your body. We're a hard-driving, work-loving culture where it's routine for some to brag about how little sleep they get each night. But sleep deficits are both damaging to your health and potentially fatal on the roads. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 21 percent of fatal crashes involve driver drowsiness, and drivers who had slept less than 4 hours in the 24 hours prior to the accident had 11.5 times the crash rate of drivers who'd slept for 7 hours or more. As a safety tip, if you're drowsy, under slept, or fatigued, you don't belong behind the wheel.
- Take a Defensive Driving Course. Whether you've just gotten your license, or are logging your millionth mile on the road, you can benefit from taking a Defensive Driving Course. Doing so can also lower your insurance rates by 10 percent for the next three years. The NY DMV has a list of approved in-class or online courses that will provide an excellent refresher on what's required to safely navigate New York's busy roads.
The latest generation of Cadillacs offer some of the most advanced safety features in the automotive world. If you're interested in test-driving one, please visit us at Sarant Cadillac in Farmingdale. Call us at 877-212-1682 or use our website's online contact form.Â
