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- Always wear your seat belt--and make sure all passengers are
buckle up, too.
- Adjust your car's headrest to a height behind your head--not
your neck--to minimize whiplash in case you're in an accident.
- Never try to fit more people in the car than you have
seatbelts for them to use.
- Obey the speed limits, Going too fast gives you less
time to stop or react. Excess speed is one of the main causes
of teenage accidents.
- Don't run red lights.
- Use turn signals to indicate your intention to turn or
to change lanes. Turn it on to give the cars behind you
enough time to react before you take the action. Also, make
sure the signals turns off after you've completed the action.
- When light turns green, make sure intersection clears
before you go.
- Don't drive like you own the road; drive like you own
the car.
- Make sure your windshield is clean. At sun rise and sun
set, light reflecting off your dirty windshield can momentarily
blind you from seeing what's going on.
- Don't blast the radio. You might miss hearing a siren
or a horn that could warn you of possible trouble.
- Make sure your garage door is completely open before
backing out of it. This was submitted by another teen who
learned this one from his dad's mistakes.
- Drive into your garage straight, not on an angle.
- Make sure your car has fuel in it. Don't ride around
with the gauge on empty--who knows where you might get stranded.
- Don't take drugs or drive if you've taken any. Don't
ride with anyone who has been using drugs. Even some over
the counter drugs can make you drowsy. Check label for warnings.
- Don't drive with small children or even small teenage
friends as passengers in a front seat that has a passenger-side
air bag. They should be buckled up in the back seat. Recent
transportation studies show that small children may be injured
by the air bags even in low impact collisions. (Actually,
it's safer not to drive with friends and kids in the car
when you're learning to drive. They can be distracting.)
- Don't talk on the car phone, put on make-up, comb your
hair, or eat while driving. People who talk on car phones
while driving are four times more likely to have an accident.
If you need to make a call, pull off the road to a safe
spot and park.
- Don't fiddle with the radio while you are driving. It's
better to wait until you can pull over and stop because
even taking your focus off the road for a few seconds could
lead to an accident.
- Use good quality tires and make sure they are inflated
to the right pressure (check your owners manual for what
is right for your tires and car).
- Maintain your car. Bald tires, a slipping transmission,
or a hesitant engine could lead to accidents.
- Use headlights during daylight driving, especially on
long stretches of desert highway and rural roads to make
you more visible to oncoming drivers.
- Watch out for potholes, especially after bad weather
- Be on the lookout for motorcycles, bikes, and pedestrians
- When driving to a new place, get complete directions
before you go. Figure out what exits you need to take before
hand.
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