It's easy to blame accidents on speed, distracted driving and bad drivers but the results are still showing an average of 500 accidents a month in Lakewood due to many cars on the roadways and an infrastructure that can not handle it. People could follow all the rules and still get hit at no fault of their own. Here's some points to avoid accidents by going defensive with your foot on the brakes.
1. When the light turns green wait 1-2 seconds before proceeding chances are there's another car flying through to catch the light as it turns red for them, this could prevent accidents and don't be intimidated from the car behind you who honks their horn aggressively.
2. Only make a right turn right onto a roadway with a higher speed limit if you have enough time to get on the roadway and catch up to the speed limit before the car behind you is about to hit you, This happens daily ppl turn right going slow into high speed traffic without calculating the speed of the oncoming car that "looks" like it is far away which causes accidents as cars can't slow down in time.
3. When making a left turn at a traffic light only do so with the green arrow otherwise do not attempt to go unless it is totally clear from the opposite direction. It is not worth waiting in the intersection trying to get the last minute turn by avoiding a car coming right at you. Wait patiently for the next cycle and go on the green arrow.
4. Don't make left turns onto county roads if you can do the same turn a block away with the help of a traffic light.
5. familiarize yourselves with the local roadways as turning lanes and lights keep on changing, making drivers confused and scared to drive in Lakewood.
6. Invest in a bluetooth or hands free system and dashboard phone holder you are spending half the day in the car might as well make it comfortable and safe.
7. Don't trust another cars indicator blinker until they actually make the turn. Happens often they blink right and turn left.
8. Lobby babysitters, playgroups, daycare centers and doctors to give a 15 minute courtesy for lateness due to traffic. Don't let the receptionists say "sorry you missed the appointment", be firm and tell them how long you sat in traffic if people know they don't have to rush and drive aggressively to pick up a child they will be more courteous on the road Remember there's always a later minyan in Satmar.
9. Develop a new perspective on driving. You have the power to change your approach to driving and can make your travels more pleasant. Your goal should be arriving safely at your destination. Allow more time to get to yeshiva, work, school, the store, etc. Play relaxing music or listen to something interesting. It's hard to do so but focus on being a tzelem elokim and not lose your cool over a minute action. You're running late for an appointment and hit a traffic jam. Or maybe someone cuts you off. Driving can be stressful, but feeling angry when behind the wheel could lead to aggressive driving, Honking when there's a red light won't help screaming out at the other driver, they won't hear you.
10. Say tehillim and Let your anger out at the ballot box
Well said - I always find most of my not at fault close calls isare when I too am in a rush... that being said lobbying the daycares to give extra some extra time is a bit strange - Maybe cut your day at work 15 min earlier I'm not sure why the morah has to be the one in the rush because she needs to stay an extra 15 min...
ReplyDeleteParents are already cutting the work day because of the traffic to make it in time for the babysitter. In a school there's one bus that picks up the whole class by a playgroup there's 15 parents commuting from all over it is only right to give them a courtesy as they fight traffic leaving work early.
Deletebabysitters don't owe you any courtesy. it's not "only right" to expect them to watch your kids longer than they agreed to and it's definitely wrong to put them on a guilt trip. a better idea might be to offer them more money to watch for longer if you can't get there on time.
DeleteMaybe let’s vote the bums that created this mess out of office for once and for all before they make things worse!
ReplyDelete"1. When the light turns green wait 1-2 seconds before proceeding chances are there's another car flying through to catch the light as it turns red for them, this could prevent accidents and don't be intimidated from the car behind you who honks their horn aggressively."
ReplyDeleteMany lights in NYC are programmed now with a delay until the next green appears, to reduce or eliminate such danger.
a better rule would be: don't go through the light after it turns red for you.
DeleteNy also has speed and red light cameras all over. It’s extremely annoying and hard to drive there but it is likely saving many lives.
ReplyDeleteVery important to always repeatably honk your horn and flash your lights whenever the guy in front of you is moving a bit too slow for you. L
ReplyDeleteMany accidents happen by the green arrow, make sure to look in all three directions especially when you have a green arrow.
ReplyDeletewhen someone is tailgating me very aggressively for a while and im going regular speed, sometimes I slow down, and put on my hazards, until he gets the message and backs off. it's senseless rude aggressive and dangerous to stay within a foot of another car. one time at night I had what looked like a truck tailgating me on route 9 by spruce going south, no flashing lights. and when I turned left into the gas station and it passed me, I saw it was a hatzolah ambulance!!. what excuse is there to tailgate ? what a chilul hashem that a hatzolah ambulance should drive like that ?
ReplyDeletei'm not sure what you mean by "regular speed" but it is also rude and dangerous to drive well below the speed limit when cars are behind you. at night, i often have cars in front of me going 30 on the 9 when there are no cars ahead of them. more often than not it's because they are busy with their cell phones.
Deletetailgating is way more dangerous and rude than driving slow. and it's also a fat ticket, more severe than speeding 20 miles over the speed limit. i think its 6 points. I'm shocked you are even comparing the 2.
Deleteand btw there is ALOT of tailgating going on in lakewood. amy times it's actually a form of road rage. it's a breakdown of normalcy. would you tailgate a person walking too slowly in the supermarket aisle? so then why do you think you can behave however you want on the road when in your car ?
why don't you try honking them to speed up instead of dangerously tailgating them ?
DeleteOr cut you off dangerously against traffic
DeleteI was tailgating you because you were driving dangerously slow and I wanted to save your life as well as others.
ReplyDeleteReally ??
DeleteOh, I thought you crashed into my bumper because you didn't like one of my bumper stickers, I didn't realize it was for my own good.
DeleteWhen someone is tailgating you the trick is to slam on your break just enough to make them short stop but you quickly accelerate so they don’t actually hit you. It works wonders.
ReplyDeleteWhen they are not looking at their phone. But if they are looking at their phone it works wonders in teaching them a lesson how driving in a rush can cause you to get to your destination extremely late.
DeleteNobody said tailgating is not dangerous, he simply said driving too slow is also dangerous. Not sure why “you are shocked that he is comparing the two” it was you that compared the two not him and nothing to be shocked about. I would actually argue that driving too slow is more dangerous than tailgating and ticket and points don’t prove what’s more dangerous in any way.
ReplyDeleteits so sad that you can think this way !
Deleteno. it's sad that you think you're way.
DeleteWhy is tailgating dangerous? If you know what you’re doing it’s not and if you don’t you shouldn’t be driving anyway. Driving slow is dangerous and you shouldn’t be on the road.
ReplyDeleteThe worst is the people who drive slow because they are on their phone. The stupidest thing is holding the phone in front of you rather than by your ear - the law says “NO HANDHELD PHONES” not,”NO PHONE NEXT TO YOUR EAR”. For crying out loud get some Speichel and buy a Bluetooth. They’re a lot cheaper than a ticket for being on a handheld phone.
Deleteso we have many people in our community who don't understand why tailgating is dangerous, they probably dont understand many other things about safe driving as well. they only think of themselves, with no regard for anyone else. of course we then have many accidents. shame on us !@!
Deleteso we have people in "our community" who don't understand why talking on their phones while driving -even with a hands-free device -is dangerous. they only think of themselves and don't care that they are slowing down traffic for everyone else. shame on them!
DeleteLook around most accidents are not caused by tailgating.
ReplyDeleteTailgating is a 5 point ticket in New Jersey. Same 5 points as passing a stopped school bus and reckless driving! Most of the ideas mentioned in the article are very good . Very important to have your own dual lens dash cam, strategically placed to not block the windshield ( near the visor or rearview mirror, which are not accused of blocking the windshield). The inside camera should be facing the driver. To protect the driver from false claims or charges of cell phone use.
ReplyDelete