Safe Driving Principles

You can’t control what other drivers do, but you can control your own driving. The four basic safe driving principles are:

• Don’t speed
• Stay alert and pay attention
• Don’t drive impaired
• Use seat belts and other safety systems such as air bags and ABS brakes.

These simple principles can save your life, the lives of your passengers, and the lives of others on the road.

Responsible behavior by individual drivers is extremely important, but it’s only one piece of the equation for reducing the number of automobile crashes. Auto accidents cause 94 percent of all transportation fatalities and 99 percent of all transportation injuries in the United States, yet only one percent of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s budget is allocated for traffic safety programs. The loss of lives and the incidence of life-threatening injuries, many of them preventable, present a serious, continuing public health crisis.

The Partnership for Safe Driving, a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing the number of auto accidents and crashes, advocates these policy changes:

• A federally mandated national speed governor setting that reflects the maximum safe driving speed on U.S. roads (Currently there is no limit to how fast cars can be made to go, so automakers are setting their speed governors at anywhere between 100 and 260 mph.)
• A nationwide ban on the use of hand-held and hands-free cellular telephones while driving, as well as computers, pagers, PDA’s, DVD players, and fax machines.
• A commitment on the part of local, state and federal governments to allocate the necessary resources and adopt the necessary technologies for strict enforcement of speed limits, red lights, and stop signs.
• Creation of a federally funded, year-round nationwide media campaign to discourage all forms of dangerous driving, including speeding, aggressive driving, distracted driving, drowsy driving, alcohol- and drug-impaired driving, age-impaired driving, operating a vehicle with faulty equipment, and unsafe towing practices.
• A federal law requiring all new vehicles to be equipped with Event Data Recorders, like the black boxes on planes that provide documentation of a motorist's speed when involved in a crash, rather than requiring police to guess at this critical piece of data.

Implementing these measures would substantially reduce the risk of crashes, and increase the driving safety for everyone on the road: drivers, passengers, pedestrians and cyclists.

Most pedestrian accidents occur in cities, at night, away from intersections. In nearly half of the vehicle crashes involving pedestrians, alcohol is a factor. In about a third of auto accidents involving pedestrians, it's the pedestrian who is legally intoxicated. As well, there are some additional measures that can be taken for pedestrians and cyclists:

• Pedestrians should always walk in designated areas such as sidewalks and crosswalks, and especially at night to be aware that drivers may have more difficulty seeing them.
• When pedestrians must walk on a shoulder, they should always walk on the left side, facing oncoming traffic.
• Bicyclists should also follow the rules of the road, riding on the right hand side and observing all traffic regulations.
• At night cyclists should have front and rear lights, and wear reflective clothing. Bicycle helmets are a significant safety measure, about 85-percent effective in mitigating head and brain injuries.
• Wearing a helmet is the single most effective means to reduce brain injuries and fatalities resulting from bicycle crashes.