Defensive Driving Fed Fleet 2011 Emily Gartland - GSA Fleet National Safety Program

1. Defensive Driving Fed Fleet 2011 Emily Gartland - GSA Fleet National Safety Program July 2011

2. Why Are We Here?

3. Defensive Driving 1. Before You Drive 2. What’s Out on the Road 3. You Behind the Wheel Today’s Goal:

4. Let’s Get Personal • How would the most important people in your life be affected?

5. It’s All About Choices Statistically… You will be involved in a collision every twelve years. Five collisions in your lifetime These statistics are not just numbers…

6. The Facts • 6,420,000 crashes per year in the US • $230 Billiondollars • Companies pays $740 for every employee each year • $41 Billion in the US

7. GSA Fleet Safety Stats • Accidents FY08: 7,814 FY09: 7,950 FY10: 7,881 • Incidents FY08: 16,252 FY09: 16,172 FY10: 16,749 • Average accidents per million miles: • FY08: 3 FY09: 4 FY10: 4 • Fatalities

8. GSA Fleet Accidents By Type Fiscal Year 2010

9. Accident Costs GSA Fleet Vehicles Fiscal Year 2010

10. What Is Defensive Driving? • Proactive attitude • Anticipating rather than reacting • Taking responsibility for yourself and other drivers

11. How Does It Benefit Me? • Saves your life and others’ lives • Prevents injuries • Saves time (tickets and collisions take time!) • Saves money (vehicle repair, fines, insurance rate increases, attorney fees, time off work, car rental)

12. Defensive Drivers Don’t Make Excuses • Everyone else was speeding.. • The driver slammed on the brakes and made me hit the car ahead.. • The road was slippery.. • I didn’t see the STOP sign.. • The traffic light turned yellow as I was going through the intersection.. • I maintained a safe speed • I kept a safe following distance • I slowed down to accommodate • I stayed aware of my surroundings • I know yellow means slow

13. Defensive Drivers Avoid Taking Risks • Is getting what I want or where I’m going so important that I am willing to risk my life … or other people’s lives? • Am I willing to be involved in a collision or get a ticket just to get to work on time, get ahead of someone else, or have some fun?

14. Quick Quiz • Statistically, how many times will you be involved in a crash in your lifetime? • What is a benefit of being a defensive driver?

15. Defensive Driving..Before You Drive

16. Recognize the Hazard: Vehicle Condition

18. Make It a Habit!

19. The Importance of Mirrors • 51,000 Lane Change/Merge collisions annually - 800 fatal • Blind spots are a major factor that can contribute to Lane Change/Merge collisions

20. The Importance of Well-Adjusted Mirrors • Rearview: • Immediately behind your vehicle • As far down the road behind as possible • Left Mirror: • Lean to the left until your head touches the side window. • Adjust the mirror until the side of the vehicle disappears • Right Mirror: • Lean as far to the right as you did to the left

21. The Safety Belt

22. The Laws of Physics Do Not Discriminate • If a vehicle is traveling at 55 mph, how fast will the unbelted occupants still be going at the moment of impact? Still at 55 mph …and following, the occupants will slam into the steering wheel, windshield, dashboard, seat, or other interior surfaces. • Approximately how many of the occupants killed annually in passenger vehicle collisions are unrestrained? About 54 percent

23. Safety belts

24. Quick Quiz • How often should you check your oil, washer fluid and tire pressure? • What 3 stages of a crash is the seat belt protecting you from?

25. Defensive Driving..What’s On the Road

26. What’s Out There is Beyond Your Control • Light • Weather • Road • Traffic mix

27. Recognize the Hazard: Light Conditions • Sunglasses in car • Clean windows and windshield- in and out! • Sun visor • Increase following distance • Slow down

28. Recognize the Hazard: Weather • Rain, fog, dust, snow, and sleet reduce: • Visibility • Vehicle traction • Steering control

29. Be Prepared • Clear all windows and your windshield of snow, ice, and condensation or moisture • Be sure to use the defogging and defrosting settings on the heating/cooling system

30. Use low-beam headlights to see and to be seen- even in foggy conditions • High beams reflect the light directly back into our eyes, impairing vision

31. Skidding & Sliding • 1. Foot off accelerator • 2. Keep foot off the brake • 3. Turn steering wheel to direct vehicle front • 4. Slowly “squeeze” the brake pedal

32. Recognize The Hazard: Road Conditions • Potholes • No shoulder, or gravel shoulder • Construction zones • Winding, curving, narrow, hilly

33. Defensive Drivers Will: • Slow down • Increase following distance • Alert and in control Expect the unexpected

34. Recognize the Hazard: Traffic Mix • • Emergency Vehicles • • Larger Vehicles (Trucks) • • School Buses • • Trains • • Slow-Moving Vehicles • • Pedestrians • • Bicyclists • • Motorcycles • • Animals • • You and Your Vehicle

35. Traffic Mix: Ambulances In a year: • 79 emergency vehicles involved in fatal crashes • 86 people killed When you hear a siren: • Cover the brake • When safe, move to your right

36. Traffic Mix: Larger Vehicles • Blind “No Zone” • Require more space to turn • Take longer to stop

37. Defensive Driving: Pedestrian Traffic • Don’t predict the unpredictable • Yield to pedestrians in crosswalks • Never wave pedestrians across the street • Slow down!

38. Motorcycles Are: • More exposed • Less protected • May have limited side vision • Please: cooperate, use safe following distances Motorcyclists' risk of a fatal crash is 35 times greater than a passenger car

39. Quick Quiz • What are the two steps you should always take when you hear a siren approaching? • When should you wave pedestrians to “go ahead” across the street?

40. Defensive Driving..You Behind the Wheel

41. Most Common Unsafe Driving Behaviors • Speeding • Violating right-of-way • Turning improperly • Following too closely • Distracted Driving

42. Check Yourself- Your Conditions Behind the Wheel • Fatigue • Aggression • Distraction

43. Fatigued Driving • Can’t focus or keep your eyes open • Can’t stop yawning • Drift out of the lane or hit a rumble strip • Keep jerking your vehicle back into the lane It only takes a second of nodding off to change your life forever.

44. Aggressive Driving • Reflect. • Ask yourself: “Why am I getting angry? Is there really anything I can safely do to change the situation?” • 2. Reframe. • Think about the situation. “What can I do that will help me maintain control?” • 3. Refocus. • Think about something else, not the situation(s) that are causing you stress.

45. Imagine Driving like This: • If all the people in the cars around you were your loved ones, how would that change the way you drive? • Everyone in the cars around you is somebody’s loved one- let’s look out for each other.

46. Distracted Driving • Look off the road for 2 out of any 6 seconds, and you are 2Xs more likely to have a collision than an alert driver

47. How Often Do You: • Reach for an object in the front or back seat? • Turn around in your seat? • Check your hair or touch up makeup in the mirror?

49. Current State Texting Bans

50. Quick Quiz • You are twice as likely to crash with your eyes off the road for how many seconds? • How many states have banned texting and driving?