Driving Tips for Parents in South Africa
Top Driving Tips for Parents in South Africa
We don’t know how you’re supposed to react to “Baby on Board” signs, but they do serve to explain ridiculous driving behaviour like sticking to the speed limit or keeping a safe following distance. We acknowledge that some of these tips are “rules of the road” and should go without saying, but they don’t. Here are our top driving tips for parents using South Africa’s roads
1. Buckle Up.
Despite the plethora of Arrive Alive adverts, many drivers still don’t wear seatbelts and don’t make it compulsory for all their passengers to do the same. In more than half of all fatal car accidents, the victims weren’t wearing seatbelts. This means buckling your child in too, especially if they fit into a car seat.
2. Stick to the Speed Limit.
It seems as though speed limits were set by parents, given how slow they are, but sticking to them can prevent an accident. Slower driving gives you more time to react and keeps the car under control, not to mention preventing traffic fines and improving your car’s fuel efficiency.
3. Drive Slower in Bad Weather.
This is not just for the visually impaired but for parents too. Whether it’s raining or fog is clouding your visibility, drive slower. Wet roads require more stopping distance (sometimes up to 10 times more stopping distance) than dry roads.
4. Don’t Tailgate.
It doesn’t make the guy in front of you drive any quicker, and it gives you less time to react should he brake suddenly. As a general rule, always allow a three-second stopping distance between you and the car in front of you. How do you measure this? It should take three seconds from the time the person in front of you passes a tree or pole, for you to pass the same pole or tree too.
5. Drive as if Your Mother is with You.
Imagine the voice that constantly criticizes you is sitting in the passenger seat. Chances are, you’ll drive safer, especially with her grandchild in the car.
If you need external motivation, perhaps fit your car with a driving monitor system. This will force you to drive safely. Compare insurance quotes to find an insurer who will give you a discount for driving safely. And lastly, don’t forget to make sure your car insurance is in order in case anything goes wrong AND that you’re not paying too much for your insurance, right here.
Insurance.co.za Content Team
We’re a specialist team of insurance and finance copywriters and content producers. The Insurance.co.za Content Team is a flexible and dynamic team. Hence we publish our content under the Insurance.co.za brand name rather than our personal names.
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