Information to help you protect your family, cars, home and future
This month, we talked about avoiding common driving practices that are very dangerous. Here’s a list to all 10 parts plus the supplemental article.
Part 2: Avoid Texting While Driving
Part 3: Driving with your Knees
Part 4: Driving with Something or Someone in your Lap
Part 5: Driving with Headphones
Part 6: Changing Clothes or Applying Makeup
Part 7: Grabbing Something Out of Reach
Supplemental: Driving, Teens, and Learning Disabilities — Something You Need to Know
It’s common for drivers to get upset. Many times a person is distraught in some way before they even enter their car – a disappointment occurred, an argument happened, a trauma was experienced. Road rage is not just getting upset at another driver. All a motorist needs to do is be in a negative mindset.
Driving with a negative mindset is dangerous. It causes mental distraction affecting one’s ability to concentrate. Getting angry at another driver (regardless of who’s fault it is) may cause a person to drive more aggressively. It’s an accident waiting to happen.
If you find yourself in a negative mindset, get calm and collected as soon as possible – preferably before starting your drive. Don’t put anyone’s life in danger, including life of your passengers, because you are having a bad day. It’s not always easy, but it’s worth it.
Choose to drive safely. If you find your ire increasing, do what it takes to settle things down for the sake of yourself, those who may be riding with you and for those who are in the other vehicles around you.
Has your teen started driving yet? Every good parent is concerned when their teen starts driving.
Teaching any child to drive can be a quite an encounter. When a teen has a learning disability, it can increase the challenge. For example, consider that distraction is the leading cause of crashes among all drivers. Cell phones ringing. Interesting happenstance on the side of the road. Taking your eyes off the road for just 2 seconds doubles the chance of either being in or near a crash.
For a teen with ADHD, staying focused on the road may be especially hard. Impulsivity issues increase the risk of an accident. In some cases, a teen with ADHD may be more likely to speed. Depending on your teen’s unique combination of challenges, they may be up to four times more likely to be in a crash. (Thankfully, ADHD medications may significantly reduce the risk.)
Other challenges can include visual and spatial issues that can affect perception of left and right, judging distances or even reading a map. Executive functioning issues affect your teen’s ability to quickly make decisions to deal with driving circumstances such as a missed exit or a road detour. Teens with dyspraxia can have a hard time coordinating body movements and hand-eye coordination.
Having the right insurance for your teen driver is very important. Contact us and one of our agents will be glad to help you find the best insurance for you.