When driving in extraordinarily wet situations, decelerate and switch in your headlights. “I’ve a bit of saying that goes, ‘in case your wipers are going, your headlights are glowing,'” says Hector Carias, an officer with the California Freeway Patrol.
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Klaus Kremmerz for NPR
When you’ve got a driver’s license, it is best to know the essential guidelines of the highway. Buckle your seat belt. Use your flip sign. Cease on the purple mild.
However there could also be situations on the highway that you simply really feel much less ready for. What must you do in case your automotive begins to skid on ice? If somebody is being aggressive towards you on the freeway? In case your automotive falls right into a physique of water?
Hector Carias, an officer with the California Freeway Patrol, explains what to do in these emergency conditions. The secret is to remain vigilant, he says. “Driving ought to take 100% of your focus, 100% of the time. Being defensive behind the automobile can solely carry optimistic outcomes.”
Motorcar crashes are a number one explanation for demise in the USA, killing greater than 120 folks on a regular basis, in response to 2022 knowledge from the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention.
However they’re preventable. Carias, who works out of CHP’s Central Division workplace in Fresno, Calif., shares his high highway security do’s and don’ts.
1. DON’T velocity. It might make it tougher to keep away from potential hazards on the highway, and it might make automotive crashes extra extreme, Carias says. If somebody is tailgating you, “transfer over one lane and allow them to cross. There is not any motive so that you can velocity up.”
2. DO name 911 if you happen to’re being threatened by one other driver. “If somebody is brandishing a firearm or a automotive has been following you, contact 911,” Carias says. Do not interact. Officers will ship assist. If they cannot get to your location on the freeway, “Do not cease. Our dispatch will keep on the telephone with you and offer you instructions to a chosen location, the place an officer will attempt to meet you.”
3. DON’T slam the brakes you probably have engine bother on the freeway. In case your automotive stalls or runs out of fuel on the highway, put your hazard lights on immediately and launch the accelerator, Carias says. “Attempt to veer to the proper shoulder of the freeway and are available to a secure cease,” then name roadside help or 911.
Sitting within the passenger’s seat might be safer than sitting within the driver’s seat if you happen to’re parked on the proper shoulder of the highway awaiting assist. And keep in mind to buckle up.
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4. DO hop into the passenger seat whereas ready for assist in the proper shoulder lane. It may be safer than sitting within the driver’s seat. You wish to place your self as distant from site visitors as attainable. And buckle up, Carias says.
5. DO get as distant out of your automotive as attainable if you happen to see smoke or flames popping out of the engine. Within the occasion of a automotive hearth, pull over, flip off the engine and transfer your self at the least 100 toes away from the burning automobile, in response to the U.S. Hearth Administration. Do not attempt to battle the fireplace.
6. DO decelerate in excessive wet situations. “Give your self extra time to be reactive” to highway hazards, Carias says. And switch in your headlights. Rain could make it arduous to see the highway and for different drivers to see you. “I’ve a bit of saying that goes, ‘in case your wipers are going, your headlights are glowing.'”
7. DON’T speed up or slam the brakes if you happen to’re skidding on ice. “As soon as you’ve got already began sliding, you are form of going alongside for the trip,” Carias says. Cautiously flip your wheel within the course you need the automotive to go, and straighten the wheel as you are feeling the automotive straighten out, in response to AAA.
8. DON’T flip in your excessive beams in heavy fog. “Fog is actually water molecules. Shining vivid mild at these molecules is simply going to mirror that mild again to you and make it tougher to see,” Carias says. As an alternative, flip in your headlights and fog lamps you probably have them.
The second your automotive falls right into a physique of water, unbuckle your seatbelt and roll down the home windows. Do not open the door.
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Klaus Kremmerz for NPR
9. DO unbuckle your seatbelt and begin to roll down the home windows the second your automotive falls right into a physique of water. “Do not attempt to open the door,” Carias says. As soon as a automobile is extra totally submerged, the stress from the water towards the home windows and doorways could make it troublesome to open them.
Escape by means of the open window and exit to security. If you cannot roll down the window, “do your greatest to shatter the window utilizing your elbow or no matter you possibly can,” Carias says. For peace of thoughts, buy a window punch to maintain in your automotive.
10. DO maintain emergency provides in your automotive. That features a first support equipment, water, jumper cables, a flashlight and blankets, Carias says. AAA additionally recommends protecting a primary set of instruments and highway flares or reflectors.
This episode was produced by Margaret Cirino. The digital story was edited by Meghan Keane. The visible editor is Beck Harlan. We might love to listen to from you. Depart us a voicemail at 202-216-9823, or e-mail us at LifeKit@npr.org.
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