STATE FARM:
STEERING TEENS TO SAFETY
6
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2016 |
Sponsored Newspapers In Education Content
Be prepared:
Driving at night
Teens are far more likely
to be in serious crashes at
night. At night you have less
time to see and react to road
signs, upcoming curves, a car
swerving into your lane or a kid
crossing the street. That’s why
you have to slow down and be
more cautious. As you become
more experienced, you will
learn to recognize and avoid
hazards more quickly. The major
difference between day and night driving is the accident rate. When you consider
that 90 percent of a driver’s reaction depends on vision, and vision is limited at
night, it is no surprise that the night driving accident rate is roughly three times
that of daylight driving.
The cause of the decreased vision varies. At night, the driver’s normally wide field of
vision is narrowed to the field of view illuminated by your headlights, the headlights
of other vehicles, and fixed road lights. Depth perception, color recognition and
peripheral vision may be compromised after sundown.
One of the most dangerous aspects of night driving is one that we can do little
to control: blinding glare from oncoming headlights. When your eyes are hit by a
bright beam of light from an oncoming car, you may be distracted. Drivers can be
affected by the oncoming glare of headlights as far as 3,000 feet away. If you feel
you won’t be able to see after a car approaching you has passed, slow down and
try not to look directly at those headlights. Looking at the right side of the road may
be effective.
Online tools for success
Road Trips
Road Trips is a four-part
learning tool you can use with
family members to build your
driving skills. Parents receive
tip sheets on critical driving
skills in addition to three-minute
tutorials on how to teach
these skills. Parents also can
track and log required parent-
supervised driving hours, skills
learned, and rate the driving
performance of their teens.
“Learn. Plan. Practice. Log” starts your driving practice in a parking lot and
gradually advances you to more challenging environments including major
highways.
•
Learn
the basics of driving in a tutorial you can review with your parents.
Start from the very basics of adjusting the mirrors, seat and seatbelt to set
yourself up for success.
•
Plan
where you will practice driving and the goals you would like to achieve.
•
Practice
skills such as backing up and stopping and starting by completing
and reviewing tutorials. Then put your practice to the test on the road.
•
Log
your practice and review tips online. You can continue to review and
update your plan as your skills progress.
Road Aware
Road Aware provides teens with a safe platform to develop and hone their hazard
perception skills as drivers, without exposing them to crashes. Road Aware
encourages deep processing by asking teens to visualize where hidden risks are
located, rather than simply showing them the risk. This engagement increases the
likelihood that these lessons will be transferred to long-term memory and practiced
on the road. Road Aware simulates common driving hazards such as pedestrians
and sudden brake lights.
Driver Feedback
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, three of the riskiest
driving behaviors are hard acceleration, hard deceleration and hard swerves. The
Driver Feedback iPhone app measures these three risky behaviors while you’re
driving and gives feedback. Among other features, Driver Feedback gives you a
score, compares trips, and sends results over email SMS.
As you have learned, Graduated Driver Licensing
(GDL) laws are a proven strategy to prevent teen driver
crashes and deaths. They work by keeping new teen
drivers out of high-
risk driving situations,
such as driving at
night, to give them
the needed time
to develop skills in
lower-risk situations,
such as driving
during the day. Under
Washington State’s
GDL law, you cannot
drive between 1 a.m.
and 5 a.m. for
the first 12
months unless
you are with a
licensed driver
age 25 or older.
Sources: Vehicle Dynamics
Institute, securitydriver.
com, Washington State
Dept. of Licensing
