pp000830

True,
Andy

Jay777

I'll add a few:

1) Don't hang around in the other guy's blindspot.
2) Don't park next to tall vehicles in parking lots or behind them on the street.

clib

Drive like youre on a motorcycle - we (old ones at least!) tend to be the most defensive driver

dont drive in parking lots

if you cant avoid parking lots, never backup in one

Cemoto

Congrats! I've been with you all that time too.

One of the things I learned long ago was to leave plenty of space in front of me, drive/ride always with the headlights on and pay strict attention to ANYTHING that moves as it is a potential threat.

.

911mhawk

Didn't read them all yet, but watching driver's hands and front tires save my *** regularly on a bicycle.

Twilightblue28A

And in addition, the longer you drive accident free or without a claim, the greater the probability you will encounter an accident or claim.
Insurer's rates are based on risks, and again, probabilities.
Theory of probability.

IXLR8

Now you know why we have such low speed limits in North America. Too many people doing everything behind the wheel...except driving.

TexasJake

Exactly. One of my pets peeves is ppl who’ll roll up to a stop,...and keep slowing rolling, so you’re not quite sure if ARE going to stop. I do find that looking at the front wheel to notice rotation is much quicker than looking at the body of the car to see motion.

All great reminders in this thread!

fsa

Yes TexasJake, agree, but...
Looking at other drivers' heads and hands has become often nigh impossible with the onslaught of heavily tinted-almost blackened windows, side windows in particular; illegal, but not enforced.

pp000830

I was thinking about you when I realized that statistically, your average chance of getting in an accident is exactly the same each time one takes their car out for a trip with the first trip or their 100th. Also, certain driver behaviors not only help with not causing an accident but some also result in accident avoidance for potential accidents caused by others. For me, this suggests that a vigilant driver who maintains situational awareness and has enough experience to make sudden changes to avoid an accident second nature can reduce their chances of getting in an accident on each trip by several orders of magnitude. Just reducing this risk by a couple of zeros, orders of magnitude, would reduce one's incident rate for accidents by decades. Someone who manages to lower their risk by three orders of magnitude potentially extends their accident-free status for the entire service life of their vehicle. This may be why driver age is a key factor of the risk accidents. and why accident history varies widely between drivers.
Andy

Twilightblue28A

Are you suggesting that an operator of an automobile driving ten (10) individual trips is less likely to have an accident than an operator driving one (1) trip, exactly the same mileage?

Jay777

I think Andy might have been referring to the other part of your statement:
...... the longer you drive accident free or without a claim, the greater the probability you will encounter an accident or claim.
Which is like saying the more heads I flip in a row, the more likely the next one will be tails, which of course is false.

pp000830

No the risk on each individual trip is on average the same.
Andy

pp000830

Yes,
And I am also saying driver behavior has a dramatic influence on the statistics versus just flipping the coin (trips taken)

bobboinski

This thread really hits home for me. I drove for a living. I am a retired Teamster. I always worked in construction, moving heavy equipment up to 60 tons and 15 feet wide. Often with Highway Patrol escorts. The current driving environment is such that I avoid freeways whenever possible and spend my time on the back roads of Northern California. Around here people merging on the freeway think THEY have the right of way. They don't use their mirrors, and I don't think they have a clue about the rules of the road. The Highway Patrol officers I know admit that things are a mess but they are simply outnumbered. If you think things are bad in a 993 try it at a gross weight of 175,000 pounds and 100 feet long. We need tougher licensing procedures......