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SAFETY BELTS
For safety reasons you should always wear seat belts if your vehicle is equipped them. You must wear both your lap and shoulder belt if the vehicle is equipped with both even if the vehicle is equipped with air bags. The safety belt must be in good working order and must be worn by you and your passengers while the car is moving.
Safety belts can reduce injuries and deaths. Many studies and actual crash tests have proven this. Crash tests have also reinforced the proper way for pregnant women to wear lap and shoulder belts. Wear the lap belt as low as possible under the abdomen and the shoulder strap between the breasts and to the side of the abdomen's bulge.
If you wear only a lap belt when driving, your chances of living through an accident are twice as good as those of someone who isn't. If you wear a lap and shoulder belt, your chances are three to four times better.
WARNING: The use of seat belts reduces the chance of being thrown from your vehicle in case of an accident. If you don't install and use a shoulder harness with the lap belt, serious or fatal injuries may happen in some crashes. Lap-only belts increase the chance of spinal column and abdominal injuries-especially in children. Shoulder harnesses may be available for your vehicle, if it is not already equipped with them.
Myths About Seat Belts
About one person in three is injured or killed in a traffic accident. Have you heard some of these stories about seat belts before? - "Safety belts can trap you inside a car". It actually takes less than a second to take off a safety belt. This scare tactic often describes a car that caught fire or sank in deep water. A safety belt may keep you from being "knocked out". Your chance to escape is better if you are conscious
- "Safety belts are good on long trips, but I don't need them if I'm driving around town". Half of all traffic deaths happen within short distance of home. Don't take chances with your life or the lives of your passengers. Buckle up every time you drive
- "Some people are thrown clear in a crash and walk away with hardly a scratch". Your chances of surviving an accident are five times as good if you stay inside the car. A safety belt can keep you from being thrown into the path of another car
- "I'm only going to the store. My little brother or sister doesn't need a child's car seat, anyway. It's too much hassle". Car accidents are the No. 1 preventable cause of death for children. Buckle them up in an approved safety seat. It's worth it! At 45 kmph this is like hitting the ground from the top of a three-story building
If you were struck from the side, the impact could push you back and forth across the seat. Belts and straps keep you in a better position to control the car.
MERGING, PASSING, AND ENTERING TRAFFIC
Whenever you enter traffic, signal and be sure you have enough room to enter safely. You have to share space with traffic already on the road and must know how much space you need to: - Merge with traffic
- Cross or enter traffic
- Pass other cars
Space To Merge
Enter the freeway at or near the speed of traffic. (Remember that the maximum speed allowed is 65 mph on most freeways.) Do not stop before merging with freeway traffic unless absolutely necessary. Freeway traffic has the right of way. Stay with the traffic flow.
Any time you merge with other traffic, you need a gap of four seconds. That will give both you and the car behind you a two-second following distance. You need a four-second gap whenever you change lanes, enter a freeway from an entrance lane, or merge with another road. - Don't try to squeeze into a gap that is too small. Leave yourself a big enough space cushion
- Watch for vehicles around you. Use your mirrors and turn signals. Turn your head to look quickly to the side before changing lanes. Leave three seconds of space between you and the vehicle ahead. Make sure you can stop safely if you must
- If you have to cross several lanes, take them one at a time. Filter through traffic slowly. If you stop to wait until all lanes are clear, you will tie up traffic and may cause an accident
| DO NOT HONK JUST BECAUSE THE THRU TRAFFIC IS HEAVY. WAIT FOR YOUR TURN AS THE THRU TRAFFIC HAS RIGHT-OF-WAY |
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Space To Cross Or Enter
Whenever you cross or enter traffic from a full stop, you will need a large enough gap (from cars approaching in either direction) to get moving from a full stop or to get up to the speed of other vehicles. You need a gap that is: - About half a kilometer on city streets
- About 1 KM on the highway
When you cross through traffic, you need enough room to get all the way across. Stopping halfway across is only safe when there is a center divider large enough to hold your car.
If you are crossing lanes or turning, make sure there are no cars or people blocking the path ahead or the path to the side. You don't want to be caught in an intersection with traffic coming at you.
Even if you have the green light, don't start across if there are cars blocking your way. It is against the law to enter an intersection unless there is space to get completely across it. You are a nuisance if you block other traffic.
Don't turn just because an approaching car has a turn signal on. The driver may plan to turn just beyond you. The signal may have been left on from an earlier turn. This is particularly true of motorcycles. Their signal lights don't always turn off by themselves. Wait until the other driver actually starts to turn before you continue.
Space To Pass
Avoid passing other vehicles, including motorcycles and bicycles, on two-lane roads. It is dangerous. Every time you pass, you increase your chances of having an accident. Ask yourself if the risk is worth the few minutes you will gain. Remember, whenever you pass another vehicle on a two-lane road you must enter a lane that belongs to oncoming cars.
At highway speeds of 50 to 55 kmph, you need about 8 to 12 second gap in oncoming traffic to pass safely. You must judge whether or not you have enough room to pass whenever you approach: - An oncoming car
- A hill or a curve
- An intersection
- A road obstruction
Be patient when passing a bicyclist. Slow down and pass only when it is safe. Do not squeeze the bicyclist off the road.
Oncoming Vehicles
At 60 kmph, you will travel over 700 feet in 10 to 12 seconds. So will an oncoming vehicle. That means you need over 1400 feet (or about 1 KM) to pass safely. It is hard to judge the speed of oncoming vehicles 1 KM away. They don't seem to be coming as fast as they really are. A vehicle that is far enough away generally appears to be standing still. In fact, if you can really see it moving closer to you, it is probably too close for you to start to pass.
Hills Or Curves
To pass safely, you must be able to see at least 1 KM. Any time your view is blocked by a hill or a curve, you should assume that there is an oncoming car just out of sight. This means you should only pass if a hill or curve ahead is more than 1 KM away.
You MUST NOT drive on the right side of a roadway when coming to a curve or the top of a hill where you can't see far enough ahead to be sure it is safe to pass.
Lane Restrictions
Before you pass, look ahead for road conditions and traffic that may cause other cars to move over into your lane. You might lose your space for passing because of: - People near the road or bicyclists on the road
- A narrow bridge
- A patch of ice, broken pavement, or something on the road
Space To Return
Always signal before passing: Don't pull out to pass unless you know you have enough space to return. Before you return to the driving lane, be sure you aren't dangerously close to the car you have passed. One way to do this is to look for the car in the rear view mirror. When you can see both headlights, you have enough room to return to the driving lane. Don't count on having enough time to pass several cars at once. Don't count on other drivers making room for you.
On A One Lane Mountain Road
When two vehicles meet on a steep road where neither can pass, the vehicle facing downhill must back up until the vehicle going uphill can pass as the driver going downhill has the greater amount of control when backing.
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