Follow the advice of our road safety expert, a crash test dummy who regularly experiences the crashes we hope you never have, nor will
| Think Always Use A Child Seat | |
|---|---|
| A crash at just 8 km/h can kill an unrestrained child. | |
| Never travel with a child on your lap or your arms- in a crash your child’s weight effectively increases by up to 20 times, making it impossible to hold. | |
| Never place a rear-facing seat on a front passenger seat equipped with an airbag. | |
| Child seat save lives. | |
| Use a suitable restraint for the size and weight of your child. | |
| 90% of injuries could be avoided if child restraints are used correctly follow fitting instructions carefully. | |
| Think Always Use Your Seat Belt | |
|---|---|
| Without a seat belt you will hit the windscreen, dashboard and steering wheel in a crash. | |
| Unrestrained car occupants place themselves at severe risk of death in a crash. | |
| Unrestrained rear seat passengers are three times as likely to suffer death or serious injury as belted passengers. | |
| Seat belt saves lives. Always ensure your passengers are belted up. | |
| A seat belt improves your chance of surviving a crash by up to 60%. | |
| Buckle up for every trip, however short. | |
| Think. Adjust Your Head Restraint | |
|---|---|
| Whiplash injuries are the most common type of injury to car occupants. | |
| Whiplash injuries can be very painful and sometimes result in symptoms lasting years after a crash. | |
| Even mild symptoms, headaches,nuscle stiffness and dizziness, can last for months. | |
| To help prevent whiplash injuries you should always adjust your head restraint when you get into the car. | |
| To be effective, a head restraint must be as close to the back of your head as possible and top of the restraint should be level with the top of the head or at least no lower than eye level. | |
| Different makes and models of car offer varying levels of head restraint protection. | |
| Think. Check Your Tyre Condition | |
|---|---|
| Worn tyres cause reduced performance. It takes longer to brake on a wet road surface when tyres are worn, and there is more risk of skidding. | |
| Under-inflated tyres reduce your control of the vehicle, increase braking distance and wear out your types more rapidly. | |
| Over-inflated types reduce grip, reduce stability in braking and lead to poor handling. | |
| You should inspect your types at least once a month. The correct pressure information can usually be found the edge of the driver’s side door. | |
| Check your types for signs of damage or cracks, even a small tear should be checked by a tyre technician. | |
| All types have tread wear indicators. These indicators appear in the main grooves when the tread has worn down to 1.6mm, showing the tyre needs to be replaced. | |
| Think, Never Drink And Drive | |
|---|---|
| Drinking and driving kills. | |
| Do not drink if you plan to drive. | |
| Never get into a vehicle with a driver who has been drinking. | |
| Alcohol leads to slower reaction times, difficulty in gauging speed and distance, drowsiness and loss concentration. | |
| Late night drinkers may still be over the limit the fill owing morning. | |
| Think. Never Drive Under the Influence of Drugs | |
|---|---|
| Driving under the influence of drugs kill. | |
| Many medicinal drugs cause drowsiness or other side effects. Always read the medicinal advice on the bottle or packet, or consult your doctor, before driving. | |
| Other side effects from medicinal drugs include loss of concentration, slower reaction time, difficult in gauging distance and speed. | |
| Anesthetic form day surgery can also affect driving. Always arrange to be collected from hospital. | |
| Drugs such as cannabis heroin, ecstasy and cocaine also seriously affect driving. | |
| Think Never Use a Hand Held Mobile Phone While Driving | |
|---|---|
| Talking on a mobile phone while driving is dangerous. | |
| Using a mobile phone while driving can affect your ability to gauge distances, keep lane discipline and keep to an appropriate speed. | |
| If possible, switch off your mobile phone while driving. | |
| Only use a hands-free mobile phone if you must redeive calls while driving. Keep conversations short, never argue, and pull over and stop the car if possible. | |
| Never compose or read text messages when driving. | |
| Think. Watch Your Speed | |
|---|---|
| Excessive speed is a major course of road crashes. Do not exceed the legal speed limit. | |
| Adjust your speed to suit the road, traffic and weather conditions. | |
| Driving too close to the car in front, even below the speed limit, is dangerous. | |
| Always drive at a speed that will allow you to stop well within the distance you can see to be clear. | |
| Reduce your speed when sharing the road with pedestrians and cyclists, particularly children, and motorcyclists. | |