To take care of your car and help it last, don't crash it

Gordon Bunker | For The New Mexican

5/14/2008 - 5/15/08

By avoiding a crash, you accomplish two things: You steer clear of damage to you and your car, and damage to the person or car you just avoided. Visiting the body shop is not on my list of things to do. Same for the emergency room, funeral parlor or jail.

Be sober: It's simple. No ifs ands or buts on this one. Drunk driving is not macho, funny or whatever. It is stupid.

Drive the car when you're driving the car. Forget about the phone, the foam on your latte, makeup, kids fighting in the back, dusting the dashboard. Yes, I once saw a guy swerving down the road, in heavy traffic, running a feather duster over the dashboard, then holding it out the window to blow it off.

Tailgaiting is dangerous and bad mojo. My idea of a safe following distance is equivalent to six seconds' time. When the vehicle in front of you passes a landmark, like a road sign, start counting off the seconds. If you get to the same landmark in less than six seconds, you're too close.

See and be seen: Turn your lights on and make sure you have a clear view out.

S.I.P.D.E. This one's kept me alive and a motorcyclist at the same time.

Scan: Keep your eyes moving. This includes ahead, to the sides, both side mirrors and rearview; be aware of what's going on around you.

Identify potential hazards, oncoming traffic swerving around, kids and pets on narrow sidewalks, etc.

Predict which hazards might become a conflict.

Decide on a safe course of action. Sometimes it's to brake, sometimes accelerate; position yourself in the lane and always leave yourself an out.

Execute your move accordingly. Communicate with the horn, lights, hand gestures, etc.

Time: Keep your vision cast far down the road, about 15 seconds ahead. You'll be giving yourself a cushion of time and be a smoother driver.

Slow down, please, in congested areas especially. Zooming across parking lots diagonally amounts to an accident looking for a place to happen.

Caution: Intersections are top on the list of places for accidents to happen. Combine limited sight distance and traffic crossing paths from every which way, and this is a good place to S.I.P.D.E. to your heart's content and then proceed with caution.

Driving environment: Adjust the seat so as to be able to reach all the controls, adjust the mirrors, clear out any trash on the floor that might prevent you from operating the pedals, like the beer cans now that you've decided to stop drinking and driving. Ditto for anything impairing your outside view — junk, stickers, dirty glass.

Your car is a piece of safety equipment. Are the horn, lights, brakes, tires, windshield wipers/washers, seatbelts and airbags all working?

Your brain is a piece of safety equipment, too. Think about it, pun intended. Rested, calm and able to accomplish the task at hand are useful qualities when the task is piloting two tons of machinery moving at 110 feet per second (75 mph). The consequences of being tired, irate, impaired can be dire.

Courtesy helps: It's an imperfect world, and we all make mistakes. Be cool, be friendly, because we're all in this together.

E-mail Gordon Bunker at drive@sfnewmexican.com.