Florida Car Accident Lawyer Blog
Driving is the most dangerous thing most of us do every day. Unfortunately, car collisions in North Miami cause many fatalities and serious injuries each year. While you cannot impact how other drivers behave, you can reduce your risk of injuries and collisions by the actions you take.
Here are ten things you can start doing today to stay safer when you get into your car:
- Brush Up on Your Skills
If it has been a while since you got your license, investing in a few private lessons with an instructor makes sense. The neighborhoods where you drive have likely changed and may have gotten busier over the last several years, so brushing up on your skills makes sense.
A fun way to work on your skills is to take a racing class, which helps you better control a vehicle at different speeds. If you have never taken defensive driving classes, you can try some of those, or even learn to drive in winter conditions, which is useful if you travel outside of Florida in the winter.
- Check Out Your Car Manual
It doesn’t make for exciting reading, but your car manual can help you reduce any distracting features, like a too-bright windshield. Pay special attention to any information about how to adjust your vehicle to your size. Slightly adjusting your seat, wheel, and other car components helps you stay more comfortable behind the car and can help you control your vehicle better.
- Add a First Aid Kit
You can buy a first aid kit for your car or assemble one together. Be sure to include a blanket, change of clothes, reflective pylons or markers, water, and basic medical supplies. If you ever find yourself stranded after a collision, having the basics can help you treat minor injuries and stay safe until help arrives.
- Work to Reduce Glare
Glare from the Florida sunshine can cause headaches and affect your visibility. Always keep sunglasses in your car and adjust your visors for maximum coverage. If you have a digital dashboard, learn to lower the lights at night so the glare doesn’t shine on your windshield.
- Get in the No-Device Habit
With digital dashboards that hook up to your mobile devices and Bluetooth, it’s easier than ever before to use devices in the car. Even hands-free devices, however, are a distraction and put you at risk because they take your mind off driving. Make it a habit to stop using all mobile devices or any distracting devices when you drive.
- Start Putting All Loose Objects in the Trunk
If you are ever in an automobile collision, anything loose in your car can become a projectile and can be thrown around the interior of your car with great force. Even a laptop case or a tablet can cause a serious head injury when it gets thrown around.
Get into the habit of putting any loose items, such as purchases or electronics, in the trunk. If there is something you need to place in the car, like a kennel, do your best to secure it so it won’t move around. This reduces your risk of injury and also distraction.
- Wear Your Seatbelt
The best way to avoid injury in the event of a car crash in North Miami costs nothing and takes just seconds. Simply buckling your seatbelt can dramatically reduce your risk of internal injuries, head injuries, and other serious injuries by keeping you in place during a crash.
- Start Exercising
What does exercise have to do with preventing injury? According to research, quite a bit. If you are exercising and in good physical health, in a car accident you have a better chance of avoiding some injury.
For example, if you do weight-bearing exercises, you can strengthen your bones, reducing your risk of a fracture. Exercises that strengthen your muscles, tendons, and ligaments can help reduce your risk of soft tissue injury, and exercise overall can mean your mind is sharper and your sleep is better, reducing your risk of a crash.
Maintaining your fitness cannot eliminate all causes of accidents and even very fit drivers and passengers can sustain serious injury. However, since exercise has many benefits—including reducing your risk of injury—why not add it to your routine?
- Learn to Drive Defensively
Defensive driving means you are thinking a few moves ahead. This helps you maintain focus on driving and reduce distraction. Defensive driving can also help you avoid collisions or reduce their seriousness by giving you a few seconds to try to get out of the way.
- Take a Pledge to Only Drive When It’s Safe to Do So
Make a pledge with friends and family to only drive when you are sober, awake, distraction-free, and physically fit to do so.
If you have been in a car collision in South Florida, contact Flaxman Law Group at 1-866-352-9626 (1-866-FLAXMAN) for a free accident consultation with a North Miami car accident attorney.