As we celebrate the new year, many people make resolutions to help improve their habits or live a healthier lifestyle. These resolutions can range from vowing to no longer procrastinate to eating more fruits and vegetables. One New Year’s Resolution, which we should all get behind is vowing to practice safe driving when on the roadways. By ensuring that we all practice safe driving we can make the roadways safer not only for ourselves, but others as well.

One way we can practice safe driving is by ensuring that we travel no faster than the posted speed limit or faster than what is safe for the weather conditions. When we travel over the speed limit or at a speed too high for the weather conditions, we increase our chances of being involved in an accident. The higher the speed that someone is traveling, the longer the distance that is needed to come to a stop. Slower speeds are also necessary during weather conditions such as snow, ice or rain. These conditions make the roadways more difficult to navigate and more difficult to stop. A slower speed is beneficial in making it easier to navigate the road conditions.

Another safe driving practice we can adopt in the new year is to eliminate distracted driving practices. One of the main causes of distracted driving are cellphones. Whether it be texting, using other applications or calling, cellphones divert your attention from the roadway and your surroundings making it more likely that you will be involved in an automobile accident. Another cause of distracted driving is eating while driving. It is not uncommon for someone to eat while driving, but what many do not realize is that it is dangerous because it takes your attention away from the roadway. Because of this activities such as eating and using your cellphone while driving should be eliminated.

By adopting safe driving practices and eliminating distracted ones from our driving habits in 2018, we can make the roadways safer for everyone. Together we can make the roadways safer in 2018.