Five common sense tips to avoid accidents

One of our jobs at Bermuda Motors is to provide you with the vehicle of your dreams. 

The one you’ve saved up for and plan to drive for a long time. With that, we also want to make sure you maintain your vehicle properly so that it does stand the test of time. 

The quickest way to shorten the life of your vehicle is to damage it in an accident. 

There are so many crashes on the roads of Bermuda that it’s hard to sit back and ignore a major problem in that people have forgotten the basics of driving safely. It’s easy to do. 

We’re all busy and rushed, and new technology has a way of distracting us from doing the only thing we should be doing when we’re driving, which is being cautious and aware of everything around us. 

So, let’s go back to the basics and make a conscious effort to protect ourselves and the vehicles we’ve worked so hard to afford.

• The most basic adjustment you can make is to slow down. The speed limit in Bermuda is 35 kilometres per hour with 25 kilometres in St. George’s. Those numbers weren’t just pulled out of thin air. The speed limit is set for both safety and efficiency reasons and, ultimately to reduce the number of road traffic casualties from collisions. 

In addition, speed limits attempt to reduce the environmental impact of road traffic, such as vehicle noise, vibration and emissions, which you have to admit is an important consideration on an island as beautiful as Bermuda. So be patient when you drive and make sure everyone in the vehicle wears their seat belt. This is the most important safety feature of any vehicle.

• Secondly, you need to pay attention while you’re driving. That means no talking on the phone and no texting. 

It isn’t just cell phones that cause distractions, however, eating, applying makeup, fiddling with electronic devices or interacting with passengers also diverts a driver’s attention in potentially deadly ways. 

For instance, if you need to discipline your children, don’t do it while you are driving. Teach your children that safe driving is important and that while mommy and daddy are behind the wheel, the kids must behave. 

• Use your turn signals. Now that you know what you’re doing, make sure other drivers know what you’re doing too. Use your indicators. 

The tiny amount of effort it takes to flip on your indicator is worth it considering it could save your life. Make sure you test your indicators and your break lights regularly so that they are always in working order.

• Don’t drink and drive. Alcohol causes a number of impairments that lead to vehicle accidents. 

Even at low blood-alcohol levels, intoxication reduces reaction time and coordination and lowers inhibitions, which can cause drivers to make foolish choices. 

At higher levels, alcohol causes blurred or double vision and even loss of consciousness. Drunk driving isn’t just a terrible idea — it’s a crime. The mild inconvenience of taking a taxi home is nothing compared to the disastrous consequences of driving drunk.

• Give some distance. Another problem is the tendency to follow too closely. 

You need to keep a safe distance from the vehicle in front of you so you have enough time to react if someone suddenly stops, which happens a lot in Bermuda.  In fact, keep an eye on drivers around you at all times because sometimes it doesn’t matter how safely you drive. You could be driving the speed limit and obeying all traffic rules and someone else can crash into you. 

For more information on vehicle maintenance, contact Krishna King at Bermuda Motors: 292-0893 or [email protected]. Website: www.bermudamotors.bm.