How to Avoid a Car Accident

Car accidents are responsible for one death every 13 minutes in this country. National statistics show that in 2005, the U.S. reported over 6,420,000 automobile accidents. Those are staggering numbers for auto collisions. If that number could be reduced by 1/3 or even 1/10, many lives could be spared and grief avoided. With a few common sense tips and practical advice, anyone can take precautions to avoid a car accident.

Step 1 : Plot your driving before you set out to go anywhere. Determine the best route to get to your destination. This will avoid the possibility of having to rush and drive too fast.

Step 2 : Leave your home or office in ample time to allow for driving safely. Usually when you wait too late to leave somewhere, you feel pressured to make up for that time by driving too fast or taking too many chances in your driving.

Step 3 : Stay alert while you are on the road driving. Limit or eliminate the use of cell phones, perhaps to be used only in cases of emergencies. If you must use your cell phone to make a call, pull over to the side of the road or off the road to do so. Complete your call before you resume your driving. Also eliminate any extra activities like makeup application, reading the newspaper or even drinking beverages.

Step 4 : Listen to the radio to get updates on where accidents have occurred on the road. Take this information into account when planning and adjusting your driving course.

Step 5 : Keep your hands on the wheel at all times. Many accidents occur when a person reaches down to get something, or reaches behind them to get something. This is very dangerous. Letting go of the wheel for any reason can cause you to lose control of the vehicle.

Step 6 : Observe the speed limit. The speed limit doesn't exist for people to actually go up to it. It serves as a reminder of what to not go over. As with anything, limits must be avoided, so it is with driving. By contrast, just as you should not go over the speed limit, be cautious to not go too slow. Either one of these 2 extremes is a potential situation for collisions.

Step 7 : Rotate the tires on your vehicle as frequently as your car's manual suggests. This allows even wear and tear on the tires so as to reduce the possibility of a tire blow-out.
It is extremely dangerous to chat on your cell phone while driving. Accidents can happen quickly, often not allowing you sufficient response time.

How to Escape From a Burning Car

A burning car is a death trap. Smoke accumulates quickly within the sealed doors and windows and rising heat and the fire itself make a time bomb out of the gas tank. Escape from a burning car is a difficult but doable challenge that requires fast thinking and even faster acting. Follows these steps to understand how to escape from a car on fire.

Step 1 : Stay as calm as you can. The worst possible thing that you can do is panic. Panic will cause you to waste precious seconds and make mistakes that could end up being tragic. It's important for you to focus on one thing, and one thing alone: getting out.

Step 2 : Unlock the doors and windows. Do whatever you can to accomplish this critical step. Even if you cannot open the door yourself, unlocking the doors will give bystanders or rescuers a good shot of getting you out of the burning vehicle quickly.

Step 3 : Get your seat belt off. This must be done quickly so the heat of the fire does not fuse the metal of the buckle to its anchor. If the metal is too hot to touch, use a piece of cloth to cover your hand so that you can release the buckle. If the buckle won't release, push the shoulder strap over your head and try lifting your legs out from underneath the waist strap.

Step 4 : Kick out a window. If you cannot get the door open, the next best thing is to kick out a window. Getting a window open will allow smoke to exit the car and will also give you an escape route. Use both feet against a side window, if possible, to shatter and then pop the window out of the frame.

How to Select a GPS Car Navigation System

Have you ever settled behind the wheel of your car wondering whether you really know how to get to your destination? Fear no more. GPS (Global Positioning System) car navigation systems can show and even tell you how to get to any destination. These products use the GPS, which relies on a host of satellites to determine where you are.

Step One
Decide how often you intend to use the system. Inexpensive systems simply plug in to your car's cigarette lighter and are small enough to store in your glove compartment, but they're not as user-friendly.

Step Two
Consider the layout of your car. Some systems come with a monitor that displays a map. The monitor is commonly installed on the dashboard or on a pedestal extending from the dashboard. In some cars, such an installation may block air vents or make it somewhat uncomfortable for a passenger to enter or exit the vehicle or sit in the passenger seat.

Step Three
Select a system that features multiple ways of getting to your destination. This can include by address, by intersection, by a personal address book or via a location selected directly from the map.

Step Four
Look for a system that gives you vocal as well as graphical directions. The systems that use a map and monitor include arrows that show you the direction of a turn and also indicate where your car is on the map in relation to the destination. Other systems use the head unit or radio to display the name of the street on which you are to make a turn or on which you are traveling. Both of these systems also give you verbal directions as you approach a turn.

Step Five
Select a system that includes point of interest data. Most GPS systems include locations of airports and other transportation services, ATMs and banks, restaurants, hotels and a host of other sites.

Step Six
Choose a system that offers updates of the point-of-interest data.

Step Seven
Consider installation time if you are working on a tight budget. Systems that rely on maps displayed on monitors are more complicated and take longer to install than other types of systems.

Tips & Warnings
Manufacturers of GPS car navigation systems warn that, if the product is installed by a consumer or an unauthorized dealer, the company will void the warranty.

Why Side Air Bags (Protect Children)?

A number of car manufacturers now offer side-mounted air bags as standard or optional safety equipment for front seat passengers. Side air bags protect drivers and front seat adult passengers in certain side-impact collisions. A much smaller number of manufacturers offer side-mounted air bags in the rear seat as standard or optional equipment. Take a moment to read your owner’s manual and identify where the side air bags are located in your vehicle. The following table briefly describes the different types of side air bag:

Roof-mounted systems	Curtains and head tubes come out from the roof line along the upper edge of the doors. These air bags come down along the window to protect your head and neck.
Door-mounted systems	Door-mounted air bags break out of the armrest or the door just above the armrest. When fully inflated these air bags are about the size of a plastic grocery bag filled with air. These air bags protect your chest.
Seat-mounted systems	Seat-mounted air bags come out through the side of the seat back cushion closest to the door. Some air bags will inflate to the size of a small cushion, while others can inflate to the size of a large pillow. The smaller air bags protect your chest, while the larger ones protect your chest and head.

How to Protect Children in Vehicles with Side Air Bags

Keeping Children Safe in Your Vehicle

Air bags save lives. However, children must be properly seated and restrained at all times. This fact sheet tells you about the four stages of child safety in vehicles equipped with side air bags. No matter what the age of your child, it is important to follow some basic guidelines when travelling with children in your vehicle.

Stay Out of Harm's Way

Don't wait until the last minute to get onto a highway exit ramp. You can be rear-ended when creeping along in the right lane as you try to cut into the line of exiting traffic.

• Solid roadway lines mean no passing is allowed. Passing here is unsafe and dangerous.
• Merge at the end of an on-ramp. Trying to cut in early from the middle of the on-ramp can surprise other drivers and cause an accident.
• Don't use a highway shoulder as a travel lane or to back up to a missed ramp.
• Buckle Up. Even with air bags, seat belts are needed to ensure your safety.
• Secure Your Child. Child safety seats are recommended from infancy until age 8.
• Don't Drink and Drive.

Q : Where on the steering wheel should your hands be when you’re driving?

A : Not at “4 o’clock and 8 o’clock.” The rationale behind “4-and-8” that many driver's-education classes advocate is that it keeps a driver’s hands out of the way of the steering column’s airbag, preventing injuries to hands and arms, and to the face. “That’s stupid,” says Smith. With hands low and elbows on their thighs, he says, drivers have little ability to control the car. Solution: Better to raise your chances of avoiding an incident altogether by having your hands in the tried-and-true “10-and-2” positioning, says Smith. Or, experts suggest dropping the hands slightly, to a “9-and-3” position, to keep them out of an airbag’s path. You’re also probably turning wrong. In this age of airbag-equipped cars, experts no longer recommend the hand-over-hand method of turning the steering wheel. Instead, use the “shuffle” method, which feeds the wheel through your hands and keeps them from crossing in front of the airbag.