10 Bad driving habits that lead to car accidents
The term “car accident” implies that the damage and injury caused by a collision is unexpected, unintentional, and ultimately no one’s fault.
Some journalists, recognizing the need to hold drivers responsible for collisions, suggest that we need tostop using the term “accident”. While media typically seems to hold drunk or intoxicated drivers up to scrutiny, it’s just as important to talk about people who just aren’t sharing the road responsibly.
Many people pick up bad driving habits as they gain more experience driving. You may feel like you’re a good driver, and that you won’t ever cause a collision. However, if you find yourself doing any one or more of the following things while you’re behind the wheel you’re closer than you think to needing to file an auto insurance claim.
1. Using your phone
The biggest bad habit on the road is distracted driving. While it can include things like doing your makeup or trying to comb your hair, the biggest source of distraction is the phones most people bring with them constantly. Whether you’re talking, texting, trying to conquer one more level of Candy Crush, or even trying to search for directions, you shouldn’t be doing it while the car is on the road.
Control your urge to check your device by using a safe driving app like Texi. If you need use of your phone for music or GPS, use a dashboard or windshield mount so that you don’t have to take your hands and eyes from the task of driving if you need to quickly choose a new song or input a destination.
2. Speeding
Speed is one of the biggest factors in any collision. Even if you don’t end up in a wreck, if you are pulled over speeding can mean higher car insurance premiums.
Speed affects the difficulty you would have when reacting to an unexpected danger on the road. It also directly impacts the force of a collision should one occur. When you’re on the road always follow the speed limit – especially in areas with pedestrian foot traffic.
While on highways it’s common to go slightly above the speed limit. While this is technically illegal it’s actually safer to maintain a similar speed to the drivers around you. For that reason, highways are typically the easiest places to start speeding. You need to be extra careful on the highway. When traffic is moving well going fast isn’t very dangerous, but when traffic is busy or people simply aren’t careful that means car accidents can happen with even less warning than usual.
3. Forgetting to signal
It’s a huge pet peeve of mine when a car pulls up to an intersection without putting its signal on (or they signal late). I’m one of those people that likes to be reasonably informed about what those around me are about to do, whether we’re on the road or just walking through a crowded mall. Turn signals help people make decisions about what they’re going to do next. Signal your intentions well before you turn or change lanes to avoid surprising anyone around you on the road.
4. Tailgating
Also called “following too closely”, this is probably one of the main sources of car accidents when combined with other bad driving habits like speeding. It takes a certain distance to stop a car barreling down the road at 100 km/h. If you’re only a few feet away from the car ahead of you, chances are you’re not going to be able to kill your momentum fast enough to avoid hitting the guy in front of you.
Best practice is to stay at least 2 seconds behind other vehicles.
5. Road rage
When you’re emotional, you’re less likely to pay the same level of attention to your surroundings. Getting angry at drivers around you will almost surely lead to making poor decisions based on the desire to get the offending driver to “learn their lesson”. For example, if someone cuts you off (more on that in a sec) and you lay on your horn and start driving aggressively close to him, not only do you run the risk of rear-ending him, you also distract drivers around you.
6. Cutting other drivers off
If there’s a surefire way to get someone ticked off at you, merge in front of them unexpectedly. It’s a dangerous move because not only could you have hit them if you misjudged their speed, you’re also risking hit the car ahead of you if you’re squeezing between two vehicles. You hear about multi-car pileups on the news and it may seem like such a crazy, unlikely thing, but chances are those car accidents probably began with something as simple as a cut of.
7. Ignoring traffic signs
Those big red signs that say “STOP”, believe it or not, mean you should fully stop your vehicle for at least three seconds. It doesn’t mean you should only stop if it’s convenient. It doesn’t mean you should slow down to a crawl and speed up again if no one’s around.
Much like speed limits, many people tend to take traffic lights somewhat for granted after dealing with them for a while. It may seem tedious, but it’s important to obey traffic signs at all times because you never know if a pedestrian, other car, or even a cop will pop up unexpectedly.
8. Rushing for yellow traffic lights
I’ve seen someone run head on into the side of a turning vehicle simply because they didn’t want to slow down in front of a yellow/amber light. It’s a dangerous practice and a lot of people do it. Here’s the truth: you’re never in that much of a hurry that you should risk your life or the lives of others. If you have to speed up to get through an intersection, you shouldn’t. If you’re already going fast enough that you wouldn’t be able to stop without rolling into the intersection that’s the only time you shouldn’t slow down for a yellow light.
9. Driving under the influence
Alcohol and drugs both affect a person’s ability to use their brain as well as the rest of their body. While there is a safe amount that most people can tolerate before such substances impact their coordination or attentiveness, it’s smarter not to play around with your limit.
10. Eating
Eating while driving may be the simplest solution for people with busy schedules, but anything that requires you to use your hands or eyes for anything other than driving is inherently dangerous. Eat before you drive or after you reach your destination.