10 habits of highly ineffective drivers

Sympatico.ca Autos is counselling drivers to cure themselves of 10 bad habits that frequently lead to vehicle collisions.

These bad habits are as follows:

• Holding the wheel incorrectly. For example, the wheel should not be held with the wrist draped over the top. Holding the wheel at the 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock positions is actually better than the traditional 10 and 2 positions, the online post states. This allows the driver to fully turn the wheel from one direction to another without having to take his or her hands off the wheel. So-called ‘hooking the wheel’ – that is, turning the wheel while holding the top of the wheel underhanded – is another bad habit. Should a collision deploying the airbag occur, this could break the wrist.
• Failing to look both ways at intersections. Drivers can miss pedestrians if they focus too intently on viewing oncoming traffic.
• Driving with impaired vision. Drivers must take the time to clear all of the snow from the car’s windshields, and change wiper blades when they no longer clean the windshield correctly.
• Improperly adjusted mirrors.
• Talking or texting.
• Crowding crosswalks at intersections. This makes tight turns for vehicles difficult, if not impossible. Also, this habit pushes pedestrians into a live traffic lane.
• Driving in the wrong lane. If driving more slowly than traffic around you, your car should not be operating in the middle or left-hand passing lanes.
• Driving in a manner unsuited to road conditions.
• Sitting incorrectly. An example would be passengers who sit in the front with their feet up on the dash. Think of what the 200 km/h force of an airbag might do.
• Not using turn signals.