The 101 days from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day are the deadliest days on the road, with more fatal crashes than at any other time of the year, according to the AAA.
Reasons include the extra miles Americans drive ? an extra 10.5 million miles per month ? and added distractions,including children as passengers.
Consider these ideas from Jeffrey Boone, Ed Kriston and Troy Green, all of the Towson office of AAA Mid-Atlantic, headquartered in Wilmington, Del., to keep your car on the straight and narrow:
» Give driving your full attention. When children are in the car it?s easy to be distracted. Drivers should turn off cell phones, forego snacks, and face the road to minimize distractions.
» Use restraints. While safety belt use is at an all-time high and child safety seats have dramatically reduced child deaths, still up to 75 percent of child safety seats are still improperly installed. And the 20 percent of drivers who don?t buckle up are at much higher risk of not properly buckling up their children.
» Avoid distractions. More than 1.5 million police-reported crashes involved some kind of driver distraction. More than 7 million drivers involved in a crash attributed it to distractions, and 292,000 cited talking on a cell phone, according to an AAA report. The survey found that most drivers admit to engaging in one more activity while driving, including eating (59 percent), talking on a cell phone (37 percent) and even reading (14 percent). Other common distractions are talking to passengers (81 percent), changing radio stations or CDs (66 percent) or dealing with children in the back seat (24 percent).
» Properly maintain your car. As highlighted in previous columns, tires are especially vulnerable to stress, because long trips, heavy loads, higher temperatures and higher speeds put additional stress on tires. Check tire pressure at least once a week. Look at the tire placard, which is usually on the driver?s side door jam, to determine the recommended air pressure of a tire. The owner?s manual will also list the information.
» Follow basic rules of the road. Of course speeding creates danger, but so does overly slow driving. If you drive slowly, move to the right. Also, work to maintain highway speed. Driving slowly, especially in the left lanes, is discourteous and dangerous. Police can ticket for such behavior for reckless endangerment.
