When driving, it is always very important to remember that our safety before any other thing comes first. Every ride should always end up right if we do the right things. I know some people will say “I have been driving for as long for I can remember, so why worry about anything at all?” Many years of driving experience does not guarantee the safety of today as the challenges faced today in the streets or roads are different. Do not let that notion of experience lay you off. The road is so unpredictable and anything can happen at any time. So never you let that bravado of never being in an accident before blind your reasons for security. Whether you are as old as the car age in driving or just got your driver license, these car safety tips will help to reduce your risk of getting into an undesirable accident

Your seat belt should be buckled securely

This is the first and most important thing you should do when you get into the car, it should be automatic. Hundred of thousands of people have been saved when involved in a crash or accident because they had their seatbelt securely tightened otherwise should have been amongst in loving memory. A seat built will always keep a vehicles occupant inside the car during a collision, restrain the strongest parts of the body, spread out force from collision, protect the brain and spinal chord and help your body to slow down after any impact. This will greatly reduce your chances of injuries.

You can not get all this protection if you do not wear your seatbelt properly. Make sure you buckled up as you are supposed to by ensuring that the shoulder belt rests across your chest and shoulders. You should never buckle your seat belt across your neck. This could be very dangerous especially in a crash. At times just due to laziness or some craze I can’t tell I used to place my seat belt under my arms. This is quite crazy and should not be done. It will not help you in case of any crash or collision. The lap belt should fit well over the hips. If your seat belt can’t fit, you can always get a seatbelt extender. This would be surely enough and comfortable

Ensure that seats and boosters are well installed

Our children can not wear the same seatbelt as us. Children and babies always need special protection in the car to prevent fatalities or injuries in a car crash or collision. There are car seats for babies of all ages, so get one the age of your child and install in the car. You like me will not want a situation when our children will be projected out of the car in case of a collision. That will be very deathly. At times a lot of parents do neglect should I say ignore older children when it comes to this. Check out this tips for babies

• Babies under one year should always ride in a rear-facing car seat
• Children from one year to three years should remain rear-facing until the reach the top height or weight limit that is allowed by the car seat manufacture.
• Children between the ages of four years and seven years should be strapped into a forward-facing car seat with a harness until the outgrow it
• Children from seven and above who are have outgrown the harness can move up to a booster seat until they grow enough to use a seat belt. Do make sure they always use the back seat until they are older than twelve. Very important.

Car seat manufacturer’s manual are always a great resource and should be referred to for proper installation of seat or if you think you are not good at such stuffs, the local fire station will do it for you.

Texting or calling while driving is a taboo.

Never you text or call while driving. A call will be better if a loud speaker is used but texting while driving is a thing you should avoid with your might. It is very dangerous to be distracted by this very act of composing, sending or trying to read a text message while driving. The number of fatalities due to this act are too much and you should not be a victim. Imagine you are driving at 75 miles per hour at the same time texting on your mobile device, this is a simple logic of your breaking time, you need 0.54 seconds approximately to come to a stop but if you are impaired, you will require some extra 70 feet to come to a halt. Look at that distance and imagine the obstacle is within this limit. Your speed plus the proximity of the impact will surely be fatal. Taking on a cell phone is not better as well. So pull over and do that. A few minutes of caution will not kill you.

Beware of other vehicles, motorcyclists and bicyclists.

Always try to maintain speed and be alert every time you are behind the wheels. It is very important to be cautious because roads are not meant only for four or more wheels anyways. When going over hills or round bends or blind curves, maintain a steady and controllable speed. Always watch out for pedestrians. Even in remote and rural areas, there are also pedestrians and cyclist. Watch out. Some could be very arrogant if you toe their lines.

Focus while behind the wheel

Forget about the food, the make-up and those little distractions when you are behind the driving wheel. This will only increase your chances of getting into an accident. Multi-tasking is not and will never be encouraged while driving. Trying to set your music or eating distract a lot. You can actually do that before you kick-off.

Car check

Always check the condition of your car before you get into it. Check the amount of air in the tires, the level of fluid like the brake fluid, engine oil, steering wheel oil and all of that. Nobody knows. Something might have happened and in the middle of your drive your vehicle can break down. Nothing sucks like that. So always do a little technical check on your car before you embark especially on a long journey