Sometimes we just need a reminder

There is a great Hannah Moore quote, "The world does not require so much to be informed as reminded."  

This is so true when it comes to the skill of driving.  Driving is something we do daily, yet we take the act of driving for granted.  I know personally I think about ten other things while I am driving other than the actual act of driving.   Sure, I am checking the rear view and side view mirrors, I am maintaining an appropriate space cushion, but a lot of the time I am not thinking about driving, I am thinking about something completely different.  

I am listening to the radio, I am talking to my daughter in the back seat, I am thinking about the day ahead or behind, what I am going to do in the upcoming week.   Literally, I am thinking about everything other than what I am actually doing, which is driving.   I would venture a guess I am not the only one... we all take driving for granted and forget the task of what we are doing. 

Which is why DefensiveDriving.com's courses are great for providing a reminder about what we are doing.   For fleet driver training, for point reduction of if you specifically need a Florida State traffic school, DefensiveDriving.com's courses provide subtle reminders of the following:

Traveling at 60 MPH, you need 303 FEET to come to a complete stop...

A mature driving attitude is necessary, if you are angry or sad, your attitude impacts your ability to drive.

Distracted driving is just as dangerous as driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.   Put the phone down.

These simple reminders need to be reiterated, so even if you do not need to take for point reduction or ticket dismissal, take it for the simple reminder and qualify for a discount on auto insurance, do it more to be reminded vs. informed.   A friendly reminder below.

Drive Friendly,

Three a day - it's a number!

Three people today, three people tomorrow, three on Friday. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, three workers are killed every day, more than a thousand each year, while driving, riding in or working around motor vehicles in traffic.

Three people a day! Does your company have in place a comprehensive workplace driver safety policy?

Every employee you have drives, whether to and from work or while on the job. There are a lot of employees who drive and who are not truck drivers. Think about all of the sales people, the delivery driver, the VP on the road or the sales support staff renting a vehicle, they are all employees who drive, they are all at risk and if you do not have some form of corporate driver training, with a comprehensive workplace driver safety policy, you are at risk of potentially losing an employee or your company.

What if one of your employees is driving distracted while talking on his cell phone closing the next big sale for you and he is one of those three a day?

A small financial investment in http://www.businessdriversafety.com/ as driver safety training for your employees could be maximized in improved driver safety amongst your employees who drive for business and for all of your corporate driver training needs.

Think about it... how do you drive the right number with your staff? Contact http://www.defensivedriving.com/ today to find out how we can help or call 888 545 5422!

The American Driver's lack of confidence

Allstate Insurance recently conducted an interesting survey of American drivers and what they thought about their ability as drivers and those drivers around them.   Survey says, we are a little conceited when it comes to our driving!

American drivers in general believe their own driving habits, ability and driver safety behaviors are far better than the drivers around them they share the road with.   Of the drivers which were surveyed, 64% rated themselves as excellent or very good drivers.

But when they were asked to rate their friends or people their own age, the 64% was twice as high as the rating they would give these people. 

Surprises, 56% of the surveyed drivers have been involved in an accident...56%!   Of that group, only 28% believed they were at fault.   Just goes to show you, we all really think we are great drivers, but when it comes down to it... most of us have been involved in accidents, and of course, not my fault.   Really not that surprising in this day and age of individual responsibility.

The bottom line is, regardless of how good of a driver you think you are, the guy next to you jabbering away on his cell phone with one hand on the wheel thinks he is better. 

Take an online driver safety course from DefensiveDriving.com, we'll teach you techniques you have forgotten to avoid the professional driver next to you as he comes into your lane answering that all important text saying ... "HEY" from his buddy. 

Drive safe and remember, Got a Ticket? Just Click It!  with DefensiveDriving.com - take our defensive driving course to really be better than they think they are!

Daylight Savings and Deer Rut, what it means to drivers

Don't forget to set your clocks back... it's coming.  Sunday the 6th of November at 2:00 AM, we all set our clocks back one hour.  It's Daylight Savings Time!

Outside of the obvious frustration of trying to reset your car's clock, if your car does not do it for you,  there are some very real and distinct changes taking place around you.

To start, the obvious, the days are shorter, the nights are longer.   We are more nervous at night as drivers and with good reason.   Our vision of what is in front of us is greatly reduced and so to is our reaction time.    According to a recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive commissioned by Sylvania, 90% of licensed drivers who drive after dark are worried about potential nighttime hazards.

One thing we do not commonly associate with Daylight Savings Time is the how it coincides with Deer rut.   Typically, November 1 through November 25 represents the peak primary breeding phase for deer.    Male deer are more aggressive and have increased range as they follow female deer.  There are more deer out, they are more active and the odds of a deer and vehicle incident are greatly increased.

Rut, shorter days, longer nights and the transition from fall to winter all indicate the need for a little extra diligence with respect to speed and ensuring your vehicles maintenance is update.  Your headlights are fairly important to assist with the navigation of the transition to Daylight Savings Time, the increased darkness and potential obstacles represent by deer in rut.

SYLVANIA offers some great suggestions with respect to your headlights:

"Check your headlights by parking on a level surface facing five feet from a building wall or your garage door, then turn on your headlights. If the circles of light are bright and white, they are in good, working condition. Yellow or dim lights should be replaced.

Change headlight bulbs in pairs. Because bulbs dim over time, the new one will likely be brighter than the old one, causing an uneven field of illumination. This can be distracting to both the driver and to oncoming traffic.

If the lenses on a vehicle's headlights are cloudy, consider a headlight restoration kit, which restores headlights to like-new condition and light output. The SYLVANIA kit includes a unique UV Block Clear Coat that protects headlights from further UV damage. After use, motorists should see a significant improvement as the product enables up to three times more light to shine on the road." 

These types of tips can help ensure you have the utmost illumination of obstacles in front of you.   The video below from DefensiveDriving.com also contains some highlights of why the longer, darker nights of daylight savings time are more dangerous, along with some tips as to what you can do as a driver to decrease the risks involved with driving at night.

Remember to set your clocks back this Sunday!

Trick or Treat?

Halloween is an exciting time for kids, my daughter cannot stop talking about it, her costume and she is genuinely excited. Most kids in my neighborhood are like that, especially the younger ones. It is a time to get dressed up, walk around and get CANDY!!!

Most adults I know are not as excited, the sugar aside, there are real concerns about this "over-hyped" holiday.

According to a Harris Interactive poll from 2010, 41% of adults feel this is a dangerous holiday. There is reason for that. Foreign objects in apples, tainted candy, dog attacks and any number of accidents involving our children. Halloween's past tricks give us reason to be concerned.

How do we make this holiday less scary? Here are so simple suggestions, which could help make the night less spooky for you the parent.

Flashlights, make sure your kids have them and they are being used as the kids go house to house. The flashlight helps others, especially other drivers, see your kids.   There are also a number of costumes which include lights.  All Hallows Eve is usually pretty dark, on average the Moon is full on Halloween once every 28 years.  In 2012 the Moon will be full two days before Halloween, so if you are going after dark, make sure you have some type of lights.

Reflective tape is typically is not part of the kids costume, but it is the best accessory. Small kids and dark costumes are a recipe for a ghoulish results.

Talk to your children about using the sidewalks whenever possible, if not possible to be as far to the left side of the street as possible, walking against traffic. Being able to see oncoming cars is important to the reaction.

Work one side of the street instead of going across the street, this way you minimize the running to and from houses and opposite traffic flow.

The mask is a great part of the costume, but it does not help the child's visibility. Try and limit the masks, but if they insist, you insist it is off while they are walking house to house - so they can see where they are going.

As a parent, walk with your child, there is no reason for any kids to be out and about by themselves on Halloween!

If you are driving on Halloween,you really have to pay extra special attention, children are twice as likely to be hurt in an accident involving a vehicle on Halloween versus any other night. With so many children out and about, it is critical as a driver you are really focused on your surroundings and driving.  No distracted driving, no cell phones and there is no reason to speed.

Finally, know where your older children are and who they are with, teens can get themselves in trouble on Halloween and for the most inexperienced drivers, it is definitely not good night for them to be out driving without adult supervision.

DefensiveDriving.com wishes you a scary safe Halloween!!!!

When we are the best teacher

October 16 to the 22nd was National Teen Driver Safety week. A variety of events were held by a large number of organizations across the country with the primary focus on how we can improve driver safety for our most inexperienced drivers.

The National Teen Driver Safety week was established by Congress in 2007 to bring focus and awareness on the prevention of unnecessary teenage deaths on the road. Nearly 1,000,000 teens in the 11th grade, close to 20% of the total population of High School Juniors, indicated they had been in a motor vehicle accident last year, an alarming statistic given how disproportionate the numbers are to the rest of the driving population.

An area of focus is obviously distracted driving, in particular, texting while driving and the use of Graduated Licensing, to increase the age in which a young adult can obtain the driving privilege and do so without an adult present.

However, there is a critical element in any young drivers experience, the parents. What we do as adults, while our teens are preparing to learn to drive, while they are learning to drive and when they start driving, impact how our teens drive.

Some simple suggestions for being the best drivers ed teacher for your young driver:

1) Be the kind of driver you want your teen to be. The learn from us directly, so obey the speed limit, come to a complete stop, do not accelerate through yellow lights and most importantly, put the phone away. Your teenage learns from your mature driving behavior.

2) Practice driving with your teenager. More often than not, and if you talk with driver education professional instructors, they will tell you the teens they teach have never actually driven with their parents. Take time out of your busy day to spend time riding with your teen. Help them parallel park, educate them on proper maintenance and actually ride with them while they are preparing to take their driving test. The time you invest will be returned with the piece of mind knowing you taught your teen to drive.

3) Make it a habit to know who your teen is riding with and how many teens are in a vehicle. Teens learn a lot from their peers and if you do not know what they are driving like, you might not like the behaviors your teens learn from their peers. The more teens in a vehicle, the more apt they are to take risks and to be distracted, by their peers. Set boundaries related to the times your teen can be in a vehicle and the number of peers they are with.

4) Talk to your teens about the dangers associated with driving, watch the morbid videos, (Faces of Distracted Driving is a great site) and take an online driver safety course together. Be involved in learning together, you might learn something you forgot.

5) Make every week your teens drive, a teen driver safety week. Actively involve yourself in your teens driving experience.


These are just a few tips which hopefully will help your teen be safe and you be proud of the mature driver you have created.

Teen Driving: Homecoming Safety Tips

As school gears back up, student activities are on the rise, and there are increased numbers of teen drivers behind the wheel. According to the National Highway Safety Administration , traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers in America, so both teens and other drivers need be especially cautious on the roadways. Homecoming is one of those special fall events that will have inexperienced teen drivers out on the roads en masse, so we have some tips that will help increase safety for your young drivers during this high risk driving times.

Ride in Style: Consider getting a limo or town car to transport your teen and his friends to the homecoming dance. This will take the pressure off the driver and allow everyone in the group (parents included) to have a worry free night. Because this can be expensive, ask other parents to split the cost and make it more reasonable. 

Limit Passengers: If a teenage driver is behind the wheel, you should limit the other passengers to one. According to the Center for Disease Control, the presence of teen passengers increases the crash risk of unsupervised teen drivers, and the risk goes up with more passengers in the vehicle.

Plan a Route: Ensure your teen is comfortable with the route to all homecoming events. You can practice driving a day or so ahead so they feel comfortable with the navigation, especially if it located somewhere they have never been before. Driving Skills for Life recommends this high level of preparedness because passengers in the vehicle and excitement about the event can make it more difficult to focus on trying to follow a map or read road signs.  

Slow Down:  Encourage your teen driver to reduce their speeds while driving after dark as visibility can be greatly reduced during these times, and most events will be taking place in the evening and night hours.

Avoid Distractions: Setting a limit for passengers will help eliminate distractions during homecoming travel, but you need to set further guidelines for your teen driver to help create a safe driving environment. Encourage them to keep music at a reasonable volume, and pull over to the side of the road if they need to send a text message or take a call. 

Have a Plan B: Always make sure your student leaves the house with a fully charged cell phone so they can call you in the event that they do not feel comfortable driving themselves home from an event. You should also program a couple of local cab company numbers into their cell phones in the event that you cannot be reached for a pick-up.