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According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Independence Day weekend is one of the deadliest times of the year for DUI driving and for auto accidents in general. Hopefully, you kept yourself and family safe during Independence Day weekend. However, even though America’s 239th birthday has come and gone, road related dangers remain. Here are some tips to keep fresh in your mind as you drive this summer:
1. Avoid consuming alcohol or drugs when getting behind the wheel.
This should go without saying. When you party or drink, select a designated driver, take a cab or hire an Uber. Don’t take unnecessary risks. For instance, let’s say that you only have two cans of beer before hoping into your vehicle, and your blood alcohol concentration is “just” 0.05%. You would technically be under the legal limit, so you wouldn’t be arrested for DUI (probably!). But you might still be more prone towards getting into an accident than if you would if you drove sober. Given the diverse number of DUI drivers on the road, you want to do everything possible to stack up the safety odds in your favor.
2. Minimize ALL distractions, including chatting on the cell phone while you’re driving (even on a hands-free headset), driving while fatigued or angry, or driving while distracted by anything inside or outside of the car, including your own thoughts.
Give yourself a safety edge by being as mindful and alert as possible. Sometimes, just a millisecond of reaction time is the difference between a nasty crash and a near miss.
3. Reduce your time on the road as much as possible.
In general, the more time you spend behind the wheel, driving to and from destinations, the more your risk of a crash goes up. It’s simple statistics. The more miles you log, the more likely you are to get hurt or hurt someone else.
4. Hang out with a crowd that also has safe driving habits.
If you are partying with friends from college who like to “live life on the edge,” you may be subconsciously peer pressured by them to adopt dangerous habits, such as driving too fast, changing lanes a lot on the highway, and so forth. Don’t underestimate the power of this social pressure; try to hang out with people who share your safety values.
Our Washington D.C. auto accident attorneys would be happy to provide a free and thorough consultation about your recent accident and possible case. Call or email use today to explore your strategic options.
To explore this topic in greater detail, please check out this article: Quantifying the Dangers of Distracted Driving.
