What Safety Tips Should Every Young Driver Be Taught
Young drivers are more likely to be involved in a serious or fatal crash than older individuals. So if you’re a young driver and you want to practice safe driving, you may be wondering how you can drive more safely, and minimise your risk of being involved in an accident. In this blog, we’ll discuss a few important defensive driving safety tips that every young driver should know.
1. Obey The Speed Limit – But Don’t Drive Too Slowly
Driving at higher speeds can be very dangerous, and speeding is illegal and can result in serious penalties and demerit points for learner drivers. Going too fast also reduces your overall reaction time, and makes it harder to respond to dangerous on-road situations properly.
However, you should also avoid driving more than about 10 km/h under the speed limit. Safe driving is all about being predictable. Other road users expect you to drive at – or over – the speed limit.
So if you’re driving 15 or even 20 km/h under the speed limit, this is dangerous – it can lead other drivers to misjudge the situation and cause an accident that could otherwise have been avoided.
2. Always Wear Your Seat Belt
Seat belts must always be worn by drivers when their vehicle is moving or stationary, and breaking this law can lead to demerit points. Not wearing a seat belt also dramatically increases your risk of suffering serious injuries or being killed in a car accident.
The statistics don’t lie – according to the Centre for Accident Research & Road Safety, unrestrained drivers & passengers are 8x more likely to die in a crash compared to those who are wearing seat belts.
You need to wear your seat belt, and if you’re carrying any passengers, you must insist that they do, as well. There’s no excuse for not being properly restrained while driving your car in NSW – it’s for your safety, as well as those who you’re transporting in your vehicle.
3. Be Very Careful In Car Parks
Young drivers must be careful when they’re in a parking lot or car park. There are often pedestrians, cars and other motor vehicles, shopping carts, and lots of other obstacles in the area, and drivers and pedestrians alike may not always behave predictably.
To avoid collisions, young drivers must use their mirrors, check their blind spots, and always be very aware of their surroundings.
4. Get Experience Driving In Bad Weather Conditions
Young drivers and teen drivers often avoid driving when the weather is bad. But while this may keep them safer in the short term, it can actually make them less safe in the long term – because they won’t understand how to handle heavy rain, fog, and other bad road conditions and weather conditions.
Experienced drivers are safer drivers. Driving in bad weather conditions lets drivers get experience managing their speed, using headlights and wipers, making turns more slowly, and taking other steps to stay safe.
Young Drivers Can Boost Their Safe Driving Skills With LTrent Driving School
At LTrent Driving School, our Safer Drivers Course in NSW provides you with in-class instruction and practical driving coaching to educate you about safe and defensive driving techniques – and ensure you can drive more safely in the future.
Best of all, this course counts as 20 hours toward filling out your NSW learner’s log book. So don’t wait. Book your lessons today, and get the help you need to enhance your safety on the road.