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Being a victim of a car accident while you can’t even afford an affordable medical insurance policy Malaysia is not something you want if you are looking forward to a perfect day. Even if you survive without a scratch, there is still the need to not only file a police report within 24 hours after the accident, but you also have to sink a load of money if you want your vehicle repaired.
Not even the safest driver would be 100% spared from at least one car accident because some incompetent or drunk driver will crash them anyway. In other words, nobody is perfectly safe on the road.
Accidents are always prevented through your own, careful actions. Awareness is key.
Eyes on the road
This is something that needs to be stressed often. Eyes on the road, four-eyes. You cannot afford any distractions in your car. Never use your phone unless you are picking up a call, which in that case, you should at least connect its Bluetooth to your car radio’s if it also has one. Otherwise, use Bluetooth headphones too.
This is so you can still steer the wheel with two hands while talking loudly in your car, enough that the caller can hear you at the other hand. The same goes to listening to your music. Before you even drive, have a playlist ready to save the hassle of manually changing songs. Use your wheel’s or radio’s skip buttons if you have too, but keep your eyes forward.
Besides distractions, you must also be alerted of your front so you can see what may unfold on the road earlier. This will bring you to the second tip.
Play with your brakes
Don’t be tempted to flatten your accelerator to drive faster. With your situational awareness in hand, your foot must also be prepared to shift onto the brakes when you immediately see brake lights, traffic lights or road construction signs in front of you.
Know your stopping distance. Never immediately press it down, otherwise the car behind you may crash your boot. Slowly pump the brakes and stop at least several inches from the back of the car in your eyes. The same rules apply in a few other situations, such as when you are descending down the roads on a hilly area or you are proceeding in a traffic jam.
Drown yourself in caffeine
Driving while feeling sleepy is a big no-no. No matter how hard you try in keeping yourself awake, you will close your eyes and end up falling asleep for even a second until you wake up to find yourself playing bumper cars on the road. Driving at this state is voluntary suicide.
If you are starting to feel tired on the road, change your destination to the nearest rest area or petrol station. Park somewhere and have a short nap before you resume. Even if you can go on without a short nap, you must still get yourself a coffee beverage after that. Empty the can at the spot. Maybe buy one more for good measure.
You can also buy a few cans of coffee for your home so you can take one or two prior to your trip, and be mindful to drink up if you are tired after spending some time outside.
But do you know what is even better than cans of caffeine riddled liquids?
Getting enough sleep. This is your doctor speaking.
If you are especially planning to drive early in the morning to go to work or to beat some traffic on a holiday trip, hit the hay early. Prepare early in the day so you are able to get hours of beauty sleep.