Before you dismiss this email because you’re already a safe driver, please take two minutes to watch and ensure that you’re taking the steps needed to protect you, your passengers, and your vehicle. And please consider sharing this crucial information with other drivers in your life, especially newer drivers who may not know these steps.
I want to highlight and expand on a few key points. First, we cannot overstate the importance of putting away the phone! Did you know that 21% of teen drivers involved in fatal accidents were distracted by their phones? This is literally a matter of life and death. In 2018, approximately 2,800 people in this country died in crashes that involved a distracted driver, and an estimated additional 400,000 people were injured. These are completely avoidable accidents… if we’ll simply put away our phones.
To help, OnRamp has partnered with Safe2Save, an excellent cellphone app that prevents you from texting while driving, and earns you rewards at local businesses for every mile driven with the app engaged! This is an easy, free, and rewarding way to keep yourself and your fellow drivers safe. Please download Safe2Save wherever you get your apps and enter the promotional code “OnRamp” for 800 free points.
Second, I want to expand on what Emily says in the video about driving “defensively.” I tend to enjoy driving small cars that handle well. The challenge is that my car would actually fit completely underneath many of the pickup trucks that cruise our highways! It’s tiny! And if one of them didn’t see me and hit my car at highway speed, the laws of physics say I’m a dead man (mass usually wins in accidents). So, I have adopted a simple rule whenever I drive: assume EVERYONE WILL HIT YOU! I really do assume other drivers are distracted or my car is just too small for them to notice. As a result, I have not had an accident in many years (knock-on-wood!). I leave room all around my vehicle, keep two hands on the wheel, avoid distraction, and always make sure I know where to go if someone swerves in my lane. I know that sounds paranoid, but it’s a small price to pay to avoid the pain, injury, and death of a bad accident!
Finally, let me share a bit more about driving “gently.” Did you know that most of the wear and tear on your vehicle’s engine and transmission occurs within the first few minutes of use each day? These complex machines were designed to operate best once they are fully warmed up (not that different than how I feel every morning as a 45-year-old man getting out of bed… gotta warm up those joints!). When cold, the oil that’s the lifeblood of these machines runs thick and slow and doesn’t lubricate as effectively. That’s why, in my own vehicles, I never let the engine rev above about 3500RPM until it’s fully warmed up according to the temperature gauge. So don’t push your vehicle for at least the first few minutes of driving. And even after that, remember that hard acceleration and hard breaking always increase wear. Yes, they can be fun from time to time, but there is ALWAYS a cost to pushing your car hard. So if you want to reduce future repair bills and get more miles out of your vehicle, don’t be a Lightning McQueen (fun fact: racecar engines like his have to be rebuilt every season if not every race)!
