6 Life-Saving Tips for Driving in New Jersey

Jan 17, 2019

Driving Tips in New Jersey | Clinton Honda It’s a dangerous world out there, especially on the New Jersey roadways. Our team at Clinton Honda put together a list of some of the best tips to keep you and the drivers and passengers around you safe and sound.

Stop Speeding

Here’s an easy one. Go the speed limit. It’s there for a reason: to keep speeders from injuring sensible people. Speeding lowers reaction time and can be very dangerous.

Wear Your Seat Belts

This seems like a no-brainer. In fact, it should be a no-brainer. The majority of people wear their seatbelts in the driver’s seat (not all do), but we’re thinking of the passengers as well.

The year before New Jersey amended seat belt laws to require passengers in the back seat to buckle up, 73 percent of back-seat passengers killed in traffic crashes in the state were unbelted.

For your sake, don’t be dumb. Buckle up.

The Elusive Turn Signal

There’s probably a lever on the left side of your steering wheel. That’s your turn signal, and it helps all the drivers around you. It also helps you avoid getting hit from behind. Use your turn signal to avoid collisions.

Check Your Headlights

This is a two-for-one tip. The first is to check your headlights often to make sure they’re still working. Cops often pull people over for driving with one headlight. Avoid the ticket by taking care of your ride.

Know what cops also pull you over for? Not having your lights on at all. We’re not sure if it’s forgetfulness or something else that makes people leave their lights off, but it’s a problem. Your headlights and taillights should be on a half-hour before sunset to a half-hour between sunrise (AKA when it’s dark). When you’re driving without headlights, you run a huge risk of someone not seeing you and causing a collision.

Allow Me To Merge

When you see drivers trying to merge into traffic, slow down and let them do so. The childish practice of speeding up to get ahead of the person trying to get in the line creates more traffic chaos and causes more collisions and is very childish as well. Be a good sport and let them in.

Stop Texting

Studies show that not looking at the road makes you run into stuff. We didn’t research that. But it’s the most obvious outcome, right? Looking down at your phone to text your friend about which sports bar he or she is at takes your attention away from making smart driving decisions. Don’t hurt someone because you’re checking to see how many likes your last selfie got.

The encompassing theme here is being smart and thorough about your driving. Pay attention, make sure everything’s running correctly, and follow basic safety procedures. Let’s all get there in one piece, without losing our minds about the bad drivers of the world.

Image via Nicholas A. Tonelli | Licensed by CC BY 2.0