While driving your Ford vehicle is often as fun as it is convenient, there are certain drivers who will aggressively speed and otherwise endanger pedestrians and fellow drivers alike. They may haplessly merge into another lane when they aren't paying attention, or follow too close behind you, or even make surprise turns without signaling.
Aggressive drivers are known risks, and often regardless of what they drive. And while you can't directly control the actions of others on the road, updating your own defensive driving skills can help prevent the dangers caused by other people's poor driving. Let’s take a closer look at some of the skills and secrets that make good drivers a benefit to everyone.
Keep Focused
Driving any vehicle should be a thoughtful task, and there’s plenty of things to consider when you're on the road, like the condition of the road itself, your speed and position relative to traffic signs and other drivers, obeying traffic laws, staying aware of the cars around you, regularly checking your mirrors — there’s a lot more that could be added, but all of the above are critical to safe driving.
Things like talking on our phone or eating behind the wheel can make a driver less able to identify real problems and properly react to them before they happen. And the advice isn’t just useful to young and new drivers. People who have been driving for a while can feel overconfident in their experience and let their driving skills fall by the wayside. It’s crucial that anyone getting behind the wheel stay focused to prepare themselves for potential dangers and avoiding obstacles.
Keep your speed lower
The speed limits you see on the road almost always apply to ideal driving conditions and not exceptions due to weather, road conditions, and other common factors. As a skilled driver, it's your responsibility to make certain that your speed sensibly matches conditions so that everyone stays safe. Additionally, higher speeds make staying in control of your vehicle that much more difficult in case things do go wrong and you have to adapt. To keep up control of your vehicle, be sure to watch your speed and go slower if roads look bad, there’s an accident, or the weather looks choppy.
Practice the 3- to 4-second rule
Due to the greatest chance of a collision being in front of you while you’re driving, use the 3- to 4-second rule to help maintain a safe following distance and offer the needed time for you to brake to a stop when necessary. But this rule only applies in normal traffic with good weather conditions. In bad weather, try to increase your following distance with an additional second for every condition you can observe, including rain, fog, driving at night, or when driving behind an imposing truck or more vulnerable motorcycle.
Maintain Alertness
Staying alert means you’re not too tired to operate a vehicle and aren’t under the influence of any substances or medications. This sort of alertness helps you react rapidly to potential issues — like when a driver ahead of you hits the brakes hard at the last second. Alcohol and drugs (including prescription and over-the-counter medications) absolutely affect a driver's reaction time and ability to use good judgment. Driving while exhausted has the same dangerous effect and is one of the leading causes of wrecks on the road today, so be sure to get enough sleep before taking a trip!
At Brian Hoskins Ford, we take safety on the road as seriously as possible. Our expert technicians and staff work around the clock to ensure every available vehicle in our inventory is the safest they can be, and that also goes for all the Fords we regularly service for our customers in Coatesville, PA. For more information about our Ford vehicles with world-class safety ratings, contact us online, by phone, or stop by the dealership in person today!