Tips to Avoid Accidents and Injury: A Personal Story

My daughter was severely injured in a vehicle accident around 18 months ago, breaking her knee. She was able to walk once again after around six months, but she was limited in her ability to bend her knee beyond 90 degrees, making other forms of exercise difficult. Her life was altered, and her back began to suffer significantly.

She was traveling 450 kilometers in a little Nissan Micra when the tragedy occurred, from the university to our house for the mid-year break. She swerved to avoid a large pothole, causing the vehicle to slip and crash into a tree at a speed of 100 km/h. Her face and torso were spared by the airbags, but her knee was broken.

Since then, there have been other things regarding driving that I wish I had explained to her. I wished I had emphasized the value of the simple things more because they could have prevented her from going through all the anguish and suffering she did as a young woman.

I'll thus include them in this piece. Perhaps it will stop some misery or save a life. So, I hope. So here they are in random order:

A little automobile behaves differently when you are driving it when it is laden with all of your belongings than when it is empty. It sulks. Therefore, avoid jerky movements and unexpected swerves. The automobile will continue to go straight ahead thanks to its weight. In certain situations, hitting the pothole, the animal, or the rock is often preferable than swerving.

Unless you are familiar with the route well, slow down before approaching a rise in the road that you cannot see over. As you cross the climb, pay close attention. Once you can see that the road is clear in front of you, you may begin to unwind once again.

Go to the service station when the vehicle is completely loaded and ask them to pump the tires a bit harder. It should be between 20 and 30 percent tougher. This will provide you better control when driving and is nevertheless advised by tire makers. Keep your average speed down as well; possibly reduce it by 10%. Stopping a large automobile takes much longer.

Keep your focus on the road at all times. Learn where all of your car's controls are so you can make adjustments without having to look. Since you have nothing better to do as you wait at traffic lights, you may practice this. Of course, you should never use your mobile phone while driving; doing so is considerably worse than driving while intoxicated since it reduces your awareness of your surroundings.

Avoid leaving anything unsecured about you in the vehicle, particularly big items and items like glass bottles. These become missiles in a collision. From the rear seat of the vehicle, a glass bottle with a little plant inside almost missed my daughter's head while making a clean hole in the windshield.

After you learn to drive, practice entering and exiting skids on a skid pan to gain a feel for your automobile. If there isn't a skid pan close by, attempt to locate a large, level patch of loose gravel and practice sideways driving there. Make sure you have LOTS and LOTS of space to safely stop if you get into a skid and lose control. Build your confidence gradually as you begin. Knowing what to do in a skid makes all the difference when you find yourself in one unintentionally.

Before opting to purchase a little car, examine the safety crash movies on YouTube to discover how the vehicle performed in actual accident testing. Some Chinese vehicles just collapse, crushing the unfortunate dummy inside!

During poor weather, go slowly. Go very gently if the surface is ice.

Regularly update your family and friends on where you are, or let one of them to follow you on your phone.

Hope this was helpful. I'm praying that my daughter will regain her life since she just had a second procedure to rebuild her knee so that she can bend it correctly. She still has so much to do!

So go cautiously, slowly, and safely. May you have nice travels on all of them.

I hope you liked reading it!