Archive for the ‘Defensive Driving Blog’ Category

DOWN IN THE DUMPS? A LITTLE CAR HUMOR WILL HELP!

It is amazing how many sites there are on the internet for car jokes. While I was perusing all they had to offer I thought a few of them might be worth sharing. Every now and then when I come across good ones I will post them here on our blog.

Today’s selection is as follows:

A traffic cop pulled alongside a speeding car on the motorway. Glancing into the car, he was astounded to see that the young lady, who was driving, was knitting.

Realizing that she was oblivious to his flashing lights and siren, the policeman wound down his window, turned on his loudspeaker and yelled, ‘PULL OVER!’

A man in a passing car leaned out of his window and yelled, “Hey, lady, have you forgotten how to stop?”

Julie out of her window and yelled back, “What makes you think these kids are all mine?”

The new metro cop pulled a speeder who was zipping down Maple Avenue.

“Can I see your license and registration, bub?”, the cop inquired.

“But officer,” the fellow started, “I can explain…”

“Shut yer trap, bub!” snapped the officer. “You’re going downtown and sit a while till the sarge gets back.”

“But, officer, I think you really should know…”

“And I said to shut yer trap! You’re going to jail!”

A few hours later the cop looked in on his prisoner and said,
“Lucky for you that the sarge is at his daughter’s wedding. He’ll be in a good mood when he gets back.”

Farmer Joe decided his injuries from the accident were serious enough to take the trucking company responsible for the accident to court. In court the trucking company’s fancy lawyer was questioning farmer Joe.
“Didn’t you say, at the scene of the accident, ‘I’m fine,’?” asked the lawyer. Farmer Joe responded, “Well, I’ll tell you what happened. I had just loaded my favorite mule Bessie into the…”
“I didn’t ask for any details,” the lawyer interrupted, “just answer the question. Did you not say, at the scene of the accident, ‘I’m fine’?”.
Farmer Joe said, “Well, I had just got Bessie into the trailer and I was driving down the road…”
The lawyer interrupted again and said, “Judge, I am trying to establish the fact that, at the scene of the accident, this man told the Highway Patrolman on the scene that he was fine. Now several weeks after the accident he is trying to sue my client. I believe he is a fraud. Please tell him to simply answer the question.”
By this time the Judge was fairly interested in Farmer Joe’s answer and said to the lawyer, “I’d like to hear what he has to say.”
Joe thanked the Judge and proceeded, “Well, as I was saying, I had just loaded Bessie into the trailer and was driving her down the highway when this huge semi-truck and trailer ran the stop sign and smacked my truck right in the side. I was thrown into one ditch and Bessie was thrown into the other. I was hurting real bad and didn’t want to move. However, I could hear ol’ Bessie moaning and groaning. I knew she was in terrible shape just by her groans. “Shortly after the accident, a Highway Patrolman came on the scene. He could hear Bessie moaning and groaning so he went over to her. After he looked at her, he took out his gun and shot her between the eyes.
“Then the Patrolman came across the road with his gun in his hand and looked at me. He said, ‘Your mule was in such bad shape I had to shoot her.’
“Then he said, ‘How are YOU feeling?’”

Remember that sometimes humor can be found in even the most serious of situations. And if you find yourself in need of defensive driving log on to WirelessDefensiveDriving.com.

STICKER SHOCK  – new law that will affect you

As of March 1, 2015, Texas will be going to a one sticker policy when it comes to your inspection and registration stickers. The inspection sticker will disappear because when you register your car from now on you will be required to have your inspection up to date.  When you get your auto inspected you will now receive a Vehicle Inspection Report (VIR) instead of a sticker. This will be required when you next register your car.

There is a great website set up by the state to explain this new program. Some of the highlights noted on the website are:

–        If the dates of your stickers don’t coincide you can take steps to get them in sync.  This may mean going beyond your 12 months cycle for inspection. So if you are up for registration in April, 2015, but your inspection is due in August, you will go ahead and get your sticker in April but not need to have your car inspected until April 2016. That is because the new sticker makes your inspection due date in April of every year.  Once these two are synced up it will be easy to remember.

–        Vehicle inspections should cost less because they will no longer be charging you the state’s portion of the inspection fee. It will cost more, though, to register your car because that fee will now be included in that cost.

–        There will be no changes to what is actually inspected. The same requirements as before are still in place.

To find out more information or ask a question, go to Twostepsonesticker.com.

And for all your defensive driving information always log in to WirelessDefensiveDriving.com.

Defensive Drivers don’t tailgate.

Tailgating is very simply being too close to the tailgate of the car in front of you.  That is actually the definition of tailgating. I don’t think many of us refer to the back of our car or door to the trunk as a tailgate but that is exactly the origin of the word. In the mid-1800s it referred to the hinged door at the back of a wagon that could be unlatched and swing down. On trucks it is easy to see the comparison because they have such a door that swings down to open. But in cars that are not trucks it does not make sense to call the rear of a car the tailgate. Nevertheless this is what we call the act of following too close.

Now that you have learned the term, do you know how far you should be from the car in front of you so that you won’t be considered “tailgating”? In daylight, good weather with dry roads we refer to the safest distance in Texas as the “two second rule”. Others states, such as California, use a three second rule and you can use three seconds also. You determine this by picking a fixed object on the road (a sign, a tree, a bridge, etc.) and when the rear bumper of the car in front of you passes it you start counting, one one thousand, two one thousand, and then the front bumper of your car should be just passing the same object.  If your car reaches the object before you count to two one thousand in this way then you are following too close. Once you get in the habit of knowing how far to lag behind, it will become habit and you won’t find yourself following so close any longer.

If weather conditions are poor or it is night time or the traffic is very heavy you should think in “defensive driving mode” and double that time and make it 4 seconds. In those conditions it can often be much more difficult to stop so you are giving yourself more of a buffer between you and the car in front.  Remember, if you rear end the car in front of you it is always your fault because it is up to you not to follow too closely and be prepared to stop quickly if the car in front slams on their brakes.

If someone is tailgating behind you and it is making you nervous then carefully move to the next lane when it is safe to do so and let them pass by. You cannot control the fact that other people tailgate but you can move yourself out of the situation.

For all the information you could ever use to help you drive safely, check out WirelessDefensiveDriving.com.

Driving habits for our New Year’s Resolutions.

Suzanne Kane from iSeeCars came up with 10 driving habits that we should all try to drop as part of our New Year’s Resolutions. We can all stand to be better drivers in the New Year so take a look at these tips:

Don’t be fooling with the electronic devices

This is a no brainer. Almost a quarter of all car crashes these days are blamed on cell phone use. If you can embrace only one resolution this year, it should be this one.

Use the turn signal

Simple, but so often overlooked. People are not mind readers so stop assuming they are and start signaling. You will be amazed at how quickly it becomes a habit.

Get some distance between you and the car in front of you

Tailgating is a very bad and dangerous habit and should be on your “Not to do” list. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tells us that rear end collisions account for about 23% of all wrecks which result in about 2,000 deaths a year. So put patience on your “To do” list and back off.

Distractions – who needs them?

There are so many things that can distract you while you drive. Most are pretty obvious – eating, talking on the phone, looking up directions, trying to find something in your purse, dealing with children in the back seat, etc etc etc. You know when something you are doing is a distraction and needs to stop. So listen to yourself and be a safer driver.

Give your tires the attention they need

Such a simple thing but most drivers rarely do this – check the tire pressure. If done regularly this can prevent a blowout and possibly a terrible accident. Tire gauges are cheap and you can go to your local DMV site and get instructions on how to do it properly.

Buckle up or get out!

Be definite with anyone riding in your car that seatbelts are a requirement and not an option.  Seatbelts save lives yet there are still a lot of folks out there who just don’t like them. This is one to stick to and a rule to pass along to your children.

No matter what you do in the New Year, make a resolution to be safe. And if a traffic ticket comes your way be sure to log in to WirelessDefensiveDriving.com.

Put your knowledge to the test!

Believe it or not most people feel that they are pretty good drivers. It is not something that people are very good at self-assessing. When looking at this subject online it is amazing how many sites are willing to rate your driving skills for you. Some of the sites are fairly legitimate (http://goo.gl/ExNiZ3) and some are just silly (http://goo.gl/cAl4K3). This last one has the category of “Good enough to get away from a group of zombies” as a realistic assessment of your skills.

But what they most have in common are a set of good, common sense questions to help you determine if your skills are up to snuff or maybe, just maybe, you might need a little refresher course (WirelessDefensiveDriving.com of course!). Questions about how you stick to the speed limit, whether you check your mirrors, use your turn signals and how you grip the steering wheel.  All very objective, which is why most of us come out looking better than we probably should.

There is one thread in most of the listings for rating your skills: Most people admit that others might not see them as quite as good as they see themselves. Comments such as “I would give myself an 8 but my wife or friends would probably say 4 or 5” abound. There are numerous chat rooms that concur with this idea that we may be just over inflating our own abilities a smidge. Like I said, all very objective.

But lo and behold, just as I was becoming convinced that there was no realistic way to judge one’s driving, I discover: There’s an App for That! Actually I found 2! On the Google Play page I found the Rate My Driving app for Android then saw another called Motor Mate by Confused.com. Both function in about the same way by monitoring driving behavior using  GPS data. The app knows where you are driving and records how you react to road types, situations and driving environments. It does this by looking at how you brake, your speed, taking corners, slowing and speeding up, etc.

One app claims to be able to give you a clear picture of your driving ability after you have driven 250 miles. They say by driving 250 miles the score is an accurate reflection of your ability across a variety of road types, times, environments and situations. At least one of these apps is sponsored by an insurance company.

Whether you go online to take a survey or use an app on your phone it is always a good idea to refresh your driving skills by taking a defensive driving course. It can also often reduce your insurance premiums. Check with your insurer then log into WirelessDefensiveDriving.com.

This weekend 36 million people will get on the road. The weather is finally good, winter is over, and we are all looking to get out of Dodge for some fun. You can already smell the grill and hear the laughing. Taking the family on the road for a couple of days of fun is one of our most beloved things to do.

Road trips are one activity we enjoy doing together. No, we are not always laughing and cheerful, we do travel with teens after all, but at the end of the day, we do have a good time.

This weekend, while on the road, we will talk about Memorial Day, what it means to give up things for the greater goods and something bigger than any of us. Of course paying attention is only possible between answering to a tweet, vine, post or whatever else is critical and needs to be addressed right-at-this-moment. We will talk about our parents, our family, friends and their sacrifices at home and around the world.

Strapped next to each other in a moving car, will not necessarily make us a captivated audience, but surely a captive one. (Tip: Always have the child-lock engaged on the rear doors).

We will try not to be in a hurry to get there. I am the one that needs most help in with that. Thankfully plenty of people in the car will make sure we’ll pull over for jerky, sweet tea, frequent bathroom stops and of course Dairy Queen.

We will plan a time to arrive at destination, but we will never actually make it on time. Getting there eventually is a much better plan than not getting there at all.

Aggressive driving, sleepy driving, drunk driving, distracted driving have no place in a car full of people barreling down the road at the speed limit (ok, maybe a couple of miles over the limits). All you have to do is drive. Really, just drive, as in, ONLY drive. There is enough going on in the car and on the road around you to keep you busy. You don’t need to be a killjoy or a downer, but remind your passengers, with whatever threats necessary, that you are trying to just drive.

Be nice, have fun and paraphrasing Dylan, take care of making good memories for you cannot relive them.

David @ WDD

HOW OLD IS TOO OLD TO BE A SAFE DRIVER?

When it comes to driving safely is there a point when a person is too old? This is a question posed across the country every time an elderly person accidentally hits the gas instead of the brake and injures a number of people. Not too long ago this happened to a man in California who is 100 years old, with a valid driver’s license, no record of violations, who claims his brakes failed when he hit a group of nine children. There were injuries, but fortunately not severe. California has been taking a closer look at their laws on this subject after this and numerous other incidents.

Wrong Pedals. When A Driver Is Too Old To Be A Defensive Driver?

In Texas renewing your license is pretty easy and often can be done electronically with the regular renewal being every 6 years. But electronic renewal is not an option in Texas for people 79 or over and when you reach 85 you must renew your license every 2 years. This is no doubt to make certain you still meet the standards because of physical or mental infirmities. If there is any doubt of an older persons ability Texas may require applicants to undergo physical or mental exams or re-take the standard licensing tests for vision, as well as the written and road tests. A medical review board of health care professionals may also be called into this decision.

The DMV can decide to renew a license after this review or refuse to do so.  It can also restrict, suspend or revoke a license. Sometimes it is as simple as prohibiting night driving or restricting how far an older person can drive. Typically motorists age 70 and older drive less frequently than other age groups, but, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, they contribute more to the rate of accident fatalities. The death rate per mile traveled for drivers over 85 is 4 times that of the 30-59 age group. According to the NHTSA, senior drivers have trouble judging distances and speed causing a number of accidents.

A driver’s license represents a person’s independence and relinquishing it can be a traumatic experience. As our population ages, we will continue to address this issue. Right now 1 in 8 drivers are considered elderly but more than 1 in 5 will be 65 or older within the next 15 years.

Whether older or younger, a great way to refresh oneself on the rules of the road in Texas is to sign up at WirelessDefensiveDriving.com.