Photo credit: jonfeinstein. Click image to visit photographer.

A quick look at today’s papers will give you at least one report of a car accident in which a family of four or five were tragically killed. Often, these accidents are no fault of theirs — an overtaking vehicle, a drunk driver, even a cat caught in your headlights on a highway can make you panic and lose control. But while these driving hazards are beyond your control, you can at least do your best to make sure the environment within your own car is as safe as can be… especially for your children. Making sure everyone wears their seatbelts besides, curious toddlers and quarrelsome tweens can make you lose your concentration when driving… and I don’t think we need tell you how dangerous that can be.

Lock the windows

An annoying habit that many children have is fiddling with power windows. They wind them down, throw rubbish out of it (another story altogether!), then wind them up again. Then they do the same thing again. And again. It can be very irritating to a driver, so do lock your power windows. If your car does not have a power window lock, or if it uses manual windows, then take your car to a workshop to get them to fix it — either by installing a power window lock switch, or by removing the handles from the manual windows in the backseat. You can always put them back on later.

Lock the doors

It’s every parent’s worse nightmare: your child opening the car door whilst you’re in motion. And, yes, it can happen. All modern cars feature a child-proof door lock which prevents people from opening the door from the inside. But how many of us actually use it? Refer to your car’s user manual to find out how to operate this feature, or ask your friendly neighbourhood mechanic (although your husband ought to be able to figure it out himself). And while you’re at it, see if your car’s seat-belts have child-proof mechanisms which prevent their squirming out of them. If they don’t, ask a good car accessories shop for a gadget that makes regular seat belts fiddle-resistant.

Shut the kids up

Two kids having a shouting match in the backseat whilst you’re inching your way through shopping mall traffic is not what any parent had in mind when they decided to have children. Your already frayed nerves are slowly pushed into danger zone, you begin to lose patience on the road, and then…. Crash! You could a) yell at your child to shut up or no ice-cream; b) ignore it (which is very difficult); or, c) play silent games. One game like this is Stare (who can look into the other person’s eyes longest without blinking. Rules? No talking!). Another good game is Count the Cars (silently count how many green cars you see on the road). Always have the radio on in the background so that it does not seem too quiet in the car, and if they really must talk, play the all-time favourite game: I Spy. Start the game when you begin your journey, and end at your destination (or when they fall asleep, whichever happens first).

Don’t let them get bored

Children turn naughty when they’re bored, and nothing is quite as boring as sitting around a backseat all day… and an hour or two does seem like a day to them. As long as they are sufficiently entertained, they are generally quite happy to leave you alone. So, try and keep all manner of distractions in the car ready for use — toys, drawing paper and crayons, GameBoys, books on riddles and puzzles… anything that you can use to keep them occupied. For long journeys, try not to stop when your child is asleep. Instead, make your stops when the kids are awake, as these are invaluable opportunities for them to burn their energy.

What is a safe car?

Sedan? 4-wheel drive? MPV? Buying a car is a complex affair, but apart from what they tell you in the brochures, these are some other considerations.

• Sedans have a very low centre of gravity, and are therefore less likely to turn turtle on you if you need to make a sudden swerve. However, the doors and seats are also much lower to the ground, around the same level as all other vehicles’ bumpers. In a side-collision, passengers are far more likely to get hurt. If you drive a vehicle with exceptional safety standards (think Volvos), then this impact is very effectively dispersed to other parts of the car. Side airbags will also help protect passengers.

• 4-wheel drives have a much higher centre of gravity and are therefore less stable in sudden swerve situations. However, they have become much safer in recent years, especially with SUVs like Ford’s new Escape 2.3L VICS which features the Control Trac II 4WD System. This cool addition automatically proportions torque (even when in motion) in order to decrease the likelihood of slipping, especially on wet and slippery surfaces. Other safety features like Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) with Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD) have made driving 4-wheel-drives safer, too.

• MPVs (or Multi-Purpose Vehicles) have become very popular in the last decade because they offer so much space to families. However, when all this space is filled up, the additional weight can make avoiding a collision a tricky affair. The vehicle is less predictable with a full load, and, because it’s taller, it is also harder to control in sudden swerves. But again, modern additions like ABS make them safer than they were before.

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We are always going to say it’s the other driver’s fault, of course. But before you do, consider these questions:

Was I going too fast on a slippery surface?

Wet roads have more than just water between your tyres on their surface. There is oil and grease, too, which floats to the surface after a hot spell, reducing your car’s traction and contact with the road. Studies say that going over 30km/h on a wet surface means you have semi-contact with the actual road itself; go over 50km/h, and you’re only in contact with the water molecules on the surface, believe it or not. Not many people realize how dangerous wet roads really are until its too late.

Was I wearing my seatbelt? My passengers?

One can never stress the importance of seatbelts too much. Data gathered by Volvo says that wearing a seatbelt can decreas the risk of death and/or injury by 50 to 60-percent. You literally have a better chance of surviving a head-on collision.

Are my tyres road-worthy?

Tyre treads get worn sooner or later, but most of the time we don’t get any warning signs that it is time to change them until its too late. Goodyear recommends checking your tyres for tell-tale signs like sawtooth edges and irregular wear patterns regularly. A simple test is to place a mid-sized coin into the tread groove. If less than 1/10th of the coin is visible, then you need a new tyre.

Is my eyesight in good shape?

Unfortunately, not every driver wears his or her glasses all the time; and no optician can offer break-proof, loss-proof lenses. Now, if a haze = low visibility for drivers with perfect eyesight, then what does it mean for those of us who don’t? A driver’s vision should be no less than 20/20, either with or without eyesight aids. So, if you were supposed to be wearing glasses, were you?

Was I lax because I was so close to my destination?

Familiarity, it seems, breeds more than just contempt. Drivers are sometimes guilty of being lax at the wheel when they are nearing frequented destinations (home, office, sundry shop), because they are in an area they know well. They don’t notice such trivial things as stop signs and relax their concentration on the road. Unfortunately, you may have a new neighbour who is not so familiar with the roads around your destination.

Did I shift into neutral going down this hill?

An easy mistake to make: a downhill slope, nothing in front of you, why not give the engine a break and save some petrol, right? Wrong.

If your engine stalls on a downhill slope for any reason whatsoever (no petrol, faulty carburetor), you’re in big trouble. Your brakes will fail (they need the engine running to function properly), and what worse place for that to happen on a slope, eh?

Are all my vehicle’s lights working properly?

Another common mistake we make is to take the reliability of our vehicles for granted. We never look at our car on the road, and are often the last to know when a signal lamp is not working, or when the rear brake lights need replacing. Check your vehicle from the outside-in often… if only to make sure you are right about this every time.

Safety Extras

Photo credit: PhotoDu.de. Click on image to visit photographer.

Halogen lamp/spotlight

Great for driving at night along lonely coastal roads, these can really light up dark corners and increase visibility by at least fifty metres. “A pair of these could save you an embarrassing ditch-dive,” says Derek Wei of Brother’s accessories shop. Price: RM28-RM200 each.

Four-way sensors

Four-way sensors are placed at all four corners of your car, and work much like reverse sensors. Together with an cabin visual display, it gives you warning if you’re too near something (tree, wall, rock, another vehicle)… or if something is too near you. “The sensors have a sensitivity of about eight metres. The closer it gets to your vehicle, the more lights blink on your display,” says Derek. Price: RM128-RM298 a set.

Mirrors

Wide-angle rearview mirrors give you a better view of what’s happening behind your vehicle, and spot-mirrors (the kind you attach to your side-mirrors) give you a view of that evasive blind-spot whilst driving and/or overtaking. “Simple devices, but they are effective in avoiding collisions,” Derek says. Price: RM7.50-RM68.

Mobile jump starter/Air pump

These are essentially battery packs, which you keep in your boot and which could help in case of breakdown. Some models come with an air compressor, too, which can be used to keep flat tyres healthy until you reach a workshop. Price: RM38 (air pump); RM188 (battery power only); RM298 (both-in-one).

Some other accessories that Brother’s recommends putting in your boot for emergencies include a fire-extinguisher (RM38-RM68), a halogen lantern (RM58-RM88), a triangular hazard reflector (RM28) and an automobile toolkit (circa RM150).

Photo credit: Lars Trebign. Click image to visit photographer.

Bull bars

Not very pretty to look at, and more likely to appeal to men than women, these bars have proven reliable in keeping your bumper safe in traffic. “In a collision, the other guy’s car might be badly damaged but yours will be okay,” says Derek. Most vehicles (including sedans) can be fitted with them. Price: RM98-RM1,000 each.

ABS (Anti-Brake System)

In a panic-brake situation, most cars’ brakes tend to lock the wheel, disallowing any control over steering the car. ABS allows you some degree of steering control, as it prevents the wheel-lock. “This is a standard safety feature on many cars these days, but many vehicles below RM50,000 do not come fitted with ABS. You can get it installed, though,” says Derek. Price: RM680-RM1280 each.