Vehicle accidents and repairs are not uncommon. It is one reason why car owners contemplate purchasing motor insurance. A cheap car insurance policy may offer minimum benefits like damage to other people’s cars or property and legal liabilities (up to a specific limit). However, the car warranty coverage can cover all the above benefits, including a vehicle’s damage or loss due to accidents, malicious acts, harsh weather, fire, theft/attempted theft, and more.
With car insurance online services most insurers provide, car owners can quickly request quotes across insurers and compare them. Purchasing, managing, and canceling a vehicle insurance policy is now hassle-free. It can be done in a few clicks anytime, anywhere, provided the person wanting to buy, update, or cancel a policy has a reliable system and internet connection.
A lot of drivers in general have road rage. People who love speed often tend to drive fast. Below are a few tips to drive safely and avoid accidents.
- Follow at a proper distance (2 second rule), more at highway speeds and in bad weather. You’re not wasting space here, you need enough room to react in case the car in front of you stops suddenly. Keep a safety margin on all sides, avoid being boxed in, don’t drive in blind spots, position yourself so you can see the most road ahead.
- Scan the road ahead of you (10-15 seconds ahead) instead of staring in one place. Look for hazards and prepare by lane positioning and changing speed or gear.
- Drive predictably and smoothly. Don’t make impulsive moves. Impulse is when you forget to check your blind spots or forget that your car can’t actually turn that fast.
- Check your mirrors occasionally to maintain observational awareness, peripheral vision works too.
- Use your turn signals, signal at least 3 seconds beforehand
- Don’t assume intentions. If someone waves you by double check to make sure there isn’t a blocked lane. If someone signals a right turn, don’t immediately jump in front of them. They might change their mind.
- Avoid “lazy steering” with one hand all the time. It can make you more tired too since you aren’t balanced.
- Drive at a safe speed, flow of traffic usually works in urban areas.
- Don’t rage at people. Avoid honking since that pisses people off easily.
- Turn your headlights on whenever it’s cloudy, rainy, nighttime or 1 hour before sunset. Headlights help others see you especially when there’s glare.
- Avoid unnecessary lane changes. Turn into the lane you want to be in next. In heavy traffic, don’t change lanes every minute. Choose a reasonably fast lane and stay there
- Don’t change lanes right before an intersection, you might lose 1 second to react to a yellow light, or when other hazards are around
- Check blind spots, but not when the space you’re entering is “protected” i.e. dedicated left turn lane, new lane opening up
- Double check all stop signs you get to to make sure it’s not actually a 2 way (where cross traffic doesn’t stop)
- Make complicated maneuvers slowly like parking in tight spots. If you tap a curb at 2mph there’s going to a lot less damage than at 5 or 10 mph.
- Don’t make blind turns. If you really can’t see past a left turn area or there’s too much cross traffic, make extra right or U turns. Even swapping a side street left for a main street or traffic light left can help.
- It’s safer to make a left turn from a 2 lane road onto a 1 lane than the other way around and side collisions are much more dangerous than other types.
- Wait for all lanes to clear when turning at a stop sign or red light, or at least the nearest 2. Someone might change lanes into you.
- Keep your wheels straight when waiting for left turns. If someone rear ends you you won’t be pushed into oncoming traffic.
- When turning left at a yield on green intersection, wait until you’re sure approaching traffic has stopped before turning. It’s fine if you need to wait until the light turns red, you’re not breaking any laws.
- Use high beams at night when traffic isn’t near. If you’re going 55 mph with low beams and no street lights you can barely see 2 seconds, which is not enough.
- Pass on 2 lane roads only when you have enough room, and avoid in general. Your closing speed can easily reach 120 mph on these roads and you need 12-15 seconds of room. If approaching cars aren’t far away enough to appear almost still, it’s probably too close. Use proper technique – downshift beforehand.
- Freeway drivers avoid changing lanes when the speed differential is large. Wait until their speeds match better, and leave a large gap in front of you so you can accelerate more beforehand (and have a cushion in case you suddenly need to break again).
- When being tailgated, increase following distance slightly (by 1 second) but don’t try to “punish” them. Move over to let them pass if you can.
- Understand other vehicle behavior: Buses stop near intersections, taxis drive erratically and aggressively, garbage trucks stop constantly, etc.
Your insurer may provide emergency cover up to a specific limit to make your vehicle drivable to a safe zone post an accident. However, all vehicle repairs must be first authorized by your insurer if you wish to raise a claim. Note that benefits come with having a car warranty coverage. It is so far known to be the best motor insurance policy because of the broad range of benefits it includes.
