Avoid Auto Accidents
These common-sense suggestions could significantly reduce your risk of having a collision.
Stay off the phone! Drivers who use cell phones—hand-held or hands-free—are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves, say the experts at the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHSTA). Cell phone use accounts for 2,600 vehicle fatalities and 300,000 collisions annually. Texting can be even more distracting; it is already banned in several states. The Massachusetts legislature is now considering a ban on texting while driving.
Turn Right to Avoid Left Turns - Crashes at intersections account for about one in four fatalities and almost half of all injuries, according to federal statistics. Making a left turn is particularly dangerous, requiring multiple quick decisions about right of way, the speed of oncoming vehicles, and other variables. Planning your route so you make only right turns is not only safer, it also saves fuel and protects the air we breathe. Since UPS instituted a no-left-turn policy for its drivers two years ago, the company has saved an estimated three million gallons of fuel, preventing approximately 332,000 tons of CO2 from polluting the atmosphere. Significantly fewer accidents have been reported as well.
Back into your Parking Spot - Parking lot accidents are the most common accidents we see at our agency. If your insurance company and/or the Division of Insurance Board of Appeals determines you to be more than 50 percent at fault, you will be assessed a surcharge on your policy. Fault can be determined by a citation from the police or, if the police were not present, determined by standardized situations in which you would be considered more than 50 percent at fault. A “Collision While in the Process of Backing Up” incident is considered one of these. So if you have an opportunity to safely back into a parking space, you will cut down on the chance of an at-fault accident when you leave.
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