Tips for Safe Driving During the Holiday Season

We're all in a hurry at the holidays. But speeding is not the answer, and it most certainly is not safe driving. Speeding-related deaths kill approximately 13,500 Americans each year, according to the Governor's Highway Safety Association. And thousands more drivers, passengers and pedestrians are injured by speeding.
Here are five reasons you should not speed…

Save lives - Slowing down increases the likelihood you and your passengers will survive a crash. Each 1 percent decrease in travel speed reduces injury crashes by about 2%, serious injury crashes by about 3% and fatal crashes by about 4%.

Save money - Speeding reduces fuel efficiency, causing you to buy gas more often. The Department of Energy estimates that, as a rule of thumb, you can assume that each 5 mph above 60 mph you drive is like paying an additional $0.20 per gallon for gas.

Save the environment - According to Ford Motor Company, driving a vehicle at 65 mph consumes about 15% more fuel than driving the same vehicle at 55 mph. More fuel consumed means more CO2 released into the atmosphere.

Save yourself a ticket - Highway safety agencies and law enforcement crack down on speeders, especially during holidays. Obey the sign or pay the fine!

Save your license - A speeding ticket could lead to points on your driving record. Too many points and you could lose your license and your insurance premiums could go up.

Safe drives are great drives.

Drive Safely this Fourth of July Holiday

The July Fourth holiday weekend is one of the most popular family getaways, a great time to drive to the beach, lake or a friend's backyard barbecue. It's also one of the most deadly times of the year on our roads.

An insurance industry analysis of data for the ten years from 1995-2005 shows that the day July 4th is actually the single most deadly day of the year, while July 2nd and 3rd are not far behind. Since the July 4, 2008 falls on a Friday, law enforcement officials are especially concerned that this year's Independence Day holiday could be a very deadly one.

To combat this, the Governors Highway Safety Association is funding extra enforcement efforts focusing on such safety issues as seat belt use, speeding, drunk driving, and an activity not enough drivers think is dangerous -- driving with one hand while holding a cellphone in the other. Talking while holding a cellphone is dangerous enough, but it is simply incoprehensible anybody is idiotic enough to take their eyes off the road long enough to either to dial or text message. But they do. And those people are beyond dumb. They are flat out dangerous.

Five states have laws prohibiting driving while talking on a handheld cellphone -- California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Washington, plus the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands. The rules in California and Washington go into effect on July first, in time for the deadly driving days around the Fourth of July.

Four states ban text messaging while driving -- Alaska, Minnesota, New Jersey and Washington, and other states have introduced similar legislation.

Great drives are safe drives. This Fourth of July weekend, slow down -- you'll save gas and you'll drive more in control. Don't drink and drive. Don't text and drive. Don't dial and drive.