There is more to safe driving than obeying the law

Press, 25 February 1988, Page 9

There is more to safe driving than obeying the law

“Bodywork”

by ] %

PORTER SHIMER

If you obey the speed limit, always use your turn signal and never drive when you are drunk, you probably consider yourself a safe driver.

But do you ever take your eyes off the road to fiddle with your car radio or tape deck? Or do you sometimes drive with a hot cup of coffee, or take a few seconds to check your hair or makeup in the rearview mirror?

If so, you could be as much of a road hazard as the drunk, reports Body Bulletin. “There is more to safe driving than obeying the law; there is common sense,” Fred Ranck of the National Safety Council told Body Bulletin. “Anything that takes attention from the road is a serious detriment to safe driving.”

Frank Kane! of the Department of Traffic Safety agrees. “There may not be traffic laws against things that compromise driving attentiveness, but there are laws of physics. A car travelling at 100 km/h travels 28m in a second — plenty of distance for a lot to happen if someone has diverted his attention from the road.”

Especially dangerous is disciplining children while driving, Ranck and Kanel agreed. Mr Ranck told the tragic tale of one mother who drove off a bridge while attempting to restore peace. “If you find yourself having to discipline children, by all means pull off the road first,” Ranck said. Body Bulletin cited the following activities as having strong potential for seriously compromising driving safety. If you are guilty of any, you could be considerably less than the safe driver you think you are. While driving, do youever:

© Check out your hair or makeup in the rearview mirror?

® Take your eyes irom the road while fiddling with a tape deck or radio? ® Eat or drink beverages? Hot beverages are the worst. © Smoke cigarettes or a pipe? © Discipline children? © Operate a car telephone? © Attempt to follow written directions on a road map? © Listen to music through earphones? (Safe driving requires that the driver be able to hear as well as see). ® Attempt to kill a bee or other insect? (Pull over if you find your car has been invaded.) © Adjust a seatbelt, be it a child’s or your own? (The time to buckle-up is before you get rolling.) Score: 0: Congratulations. You are a safe driver. 0-3: Make changes; you are taking unnecessary risks. 4-6: Make drastic changes; you are taking major risks. More than 6: May you rest in peace. You are an accident about to happen. Copyright — Universal Press Syndicate.