When a client calls to report an auto claim, a lot of times I hear “but it happened so fast”, as if accidents should take more time, or the accident should have been better thought through or accidents shouldn’t result in messes or injury because they were just……..accidents and they happened so fast.
Accidents always happen just that quick, everything happens just that fast and there are no take backs. None. The car is totaled, just that quick. The leg is broken, just that quick. The life is taken, just that quick.
We talk about defensive driving, car safety and drivers education, then get behind the wheel and forget 60% of what we know and learned. Speed up for the yellow, stay in the fast lane and NEVER use you blinker.
56% of the accidents that are called in are preventable. Prevent defined: to be in readiness for, to act ahead of. There are so many accidents we can prevent:
* Stay focused. You need to be aware of what’s going on around you, but watch the vehicle directly in front of you. You can only go as fast as he is. Don’t stop watching just because he starts to move. He could change his mind, stop and you don’t.
- Unless you know why, don’t go around or pass a vehicle ahead of you that has stopped for no apparent reason. They might have stopped for a mother pushing a stroller or an oldster in a wheelchair.
- Keep your tires inflated to manufacture specifications. An underinflated tire will move sluggishly and be slow to respond.
- Keep your windows clean and clear of debris. It’s hard to react quickly to something you are trying to see from behind a curtain of stickers.
- Make sure you keep maneuvering room between you and the vehicle ahead of you. If you’re stopped behind him at a light and he stalls or goes dead, you want room to go around. Stop far enough behind to see his back tires meeting the road (see the tires hit the tar). This will give you the room you need not be part of the problem.
Be there and aware when you are driving. Act ahead of and always in readiness.