Right-of-Way (Continued)

The failure to obey laws governing right-of-way is the second most common traffic violation among US drivers.  Each year, right-of-way violations are responsible for over 6,000 deaths and another 500,000 injuries.

Nearly 90% of all drivers involved in accidents claim that they had the right-of-way. Obviously, they can't all be right.  The right-of-way is a slender thread to hang the lives of your family on.

Whenever you are faced with choices while driving, there is an element of risk.  Be sure to always weigh these risks carefully before following any specific course of action.  Remember that your actions can create dangerous situations just as easily as the actions of other drivers moving into your path.   Any poor decision you make can easily lead to a collision.  It is your challenge as a safe driver to minimize the number of dangerous situations to which you expose yourself, thereby minimizing risk.

A key skill for minimizing risks is the ability to accurately judge what are known as "time/space gaps".

Time/space gap problems can develop whenever you enter a street with traffic. They can arise every time you pull away from a curb, change lanes, merge, or turn at an intersection. You can reduce time/space gap problems by communicating with other drivers in order to influence their behavior.  Before you make any changes in your path of travel, let other drivers know what you plan to do by:

	Using your directional signals (your turn signals)
	Waiting after signaling to be sure that other drivers understand what you intend to do
	Using your horn in dangerous situations

Warning other drivers of your intentions will allow them to identify any conflicts with their intentions, thereby reducing the chances of a collision.

By obeying the traffic laws that regulate lane changing, you will enable other drivers to anticipate where you plan to go, because you will have clearly communicated your intentions to them. For example, when you signal your intention to pass well in advance, the car you are intending to pass will be able to move to the right and give you more room to maneuver.

Be particularly sure that you make other drivers aware of your presence in hazardous or emergency situations. You can increase other drivers' awareness of danger by driving with your headlights on during the daylight hours, or by using your car’s emergency flashers.  These warning signals can reduce the chance of trouble arising from other drivers' unawareness of a dangerous situation. 

Using these methods to ensure that other drivers are aware of your intentions will not only reduce the number of hazardous situations to which you are exposed.  It can even provide a cushion for your occasional errors in judgment.  But keeping other drivers adequately informed can never substitute for proper control of your vehicle's speed and position.

Speed and Position

Any potential collision event that develops in front of your car may only require you to make minor changes in your speed and position to safely avoid it.   With practice, these minor changes in speed and position will become routine. 

	Practice visually scanning the road at least 12 seconds in front of your vehicle.  Effective mastery of this visual search technique is an essential part of managing your response time.
	Learn to anticipate dangerous events, so that your speed and the position of your vehicle will permit you to respond.  The sooner you are aware that you are on a dangerous course, the sooner you can respond.
	Increase the time you have to respond to a hazard by keeping as much distance as possible between your car and all hazards, including other vehicles, pedestrians, animals and stationary objects.
	When driving near parked cars, keep a reasonable distance between your car and the parked car and slow down slightly.  This will give you extra time to adjust your speed and position should any of the parked cars suddenly pull out, or should someone open a door.
	Make speed and position adjustments as early and as gradually as possible.  Overreacting to hazards causes nearly as many accidents as hazards themselves.

In most cases slight adjustments in your car's speed and position are better than major adjustments of one or the other.

Vocabulary Words

Some traffic safety vocabulary: