Are You a Safe Driver?

This is National Drive Safely Work Week and the organizers want all of us to keep in mind that “getting there is everyone’s business.”  While I like the message, I think it should be front and center 365 days of the year, not seven. 

For those of you who drive to work (I’m lucky enough to work out of my home), I can’t imagine that you set out each and every day thinking you’re going to be involved in a motor vehicle crash.  But it can happen.  And tragically, 530 of the nearly 300,000 crashes that occurred on New Jersey’s roadways last year claimed the lives of 556 people -- some of whom were making their way either to or from work.

Making sure that you arrive safely at your place of employment or any destination for that matter should be your top priority.  After all, you’ve got people -- your  spouse, your children, your boyfriend or girlfriend -- counting on you to come  home.  Knowing that the vast majority of traffic crashes are preventable (research has the figure at 85-90%), each of us has a great deal of control over what happens on the road.  So how would you assess your driving?

When it comes to being “skilled,” two out of three respondents to a Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll released in June of this year rate themselves “above average,” meaning they’re better than most of the drivers on the road.  Men are much more likely than women to rates themselves as above average -- 76 versus 63 percent -- and just 24 percent of men, as compared to 37 percent of women, said they had anything other than above average skills.

But are skilled drivers safe drivers? Ah, now there’s the rub.  According to the FDU poll, some of the very same drivers who rate themselves as highly skilled are also more likely to get into crashes, receive tickets and engage in risky driving behaviors.  Drivers with long commutes (20 miles or more) meet all of these criteria, and are more likely to rate their skills highly, with 76 percent saying that they are indeed above average, ten points higher than drivers who have shorter commutes or who don’t drive to work at all. 

Interestingly, drivers under 30 (53 percent) are the least likely to say they’re highly skilled, a 6 percent drop from last year’s findings.  Why?:  The FDU pollsters suggest that since young drivers tend to have higher crash rates (novice drivers 16-20 years of age, for instance, are four times more likely to crash than any other age group on the road), perhaps they’re more aware of their short comings
behind the wheel.

Whatever the reason, I urge you to take an inventory of your driving behaviors.  While you may have two, three or more decades of driving experience under your belt, are you truly a safe driver?  Ask yourself the following:

Do you always buckle up every trip -- even when you’re riding as a passenger?

Do you text or make calls when you drive? (Hand-held or hands-free, research shows that the latter isn’t any safer.)

Do you speed?

Do you eat, put on make-up or shave while driving?  (This is just the tip of the iceberg.  You wouldn’t believe what people have been observed doing while operating a motor vehicle!)

Do you sometimes get behind the wheel when you’re tired or have had a few drinks?

Do you tailgate?

Do you get aggravated by drivers who slow you down?

Do you always keep your mind on the road?

I think you get where I’m going here.  If you want to improve your odds of getting home safely this week and the other 51 in a year, addressing unsafe behaviors is a must.  Or, as I like to say, you need to step up your game.  Driving takes skill, but it also takes an unwavering commitment to safety.  One quick glance at your smart phone, one drink before you hit the road, one trip where you failed to buckle up, one car length too close to the vehicle in front of you, could be fatal not just for you, but everyone around you.

When it comes to driving, we’re all in this together.  Driving isn’t something you do in the privacy of your car, but in a public setting where what you do or don’t do can dramatically impact the lives of lots of other people.  So starting today, let’s all get on the safety bandwagon.  Let’s focus on what’s really important when it comes to the business of driving -- safety.

Mark your calendars... Wednesday (Oct. 5) is Walk to School Day (so watch out for pedestrians), while October 10 is Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day (and there are plenty of other safety observances throughout the year).  Clearly, the safety advocates (me included) are trying to make a point here.