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HomeSeven Thumb Rules for Safe and Happy Driving

Seven Thumb Rules for Safe and Happy Driving

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1. Do not speed 

The first of good driving is not to speed. In fact, given the size of Bahrain why one should be in a tearing hurry to get anywhere is incomprehensible. On two-lane roads the maximum speed should not be more than 80kmph and on four-lane roads 100kmph, preferably less. Speeding can not only result in an accident, it can also lead to a vehicle going out of control with disastrous consequences. If it is raining or the road is wet or slippery it is best to reduce speed to 50–-60kmph.

2. Do not jump red light

While speeding itself can sometimes result in a driver unwittingly jumping the red light, on realizing it was too late or risky to stop, one should never ever think of crossing the red light also for one’s own safety. As you are jumping the red light from another lane someone quite legitimately be coming at some speed since his signal would then be green. And you can imagine the consequences of a crash.

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3. Do not use phone

The coming of mobile phones has added a new dimension to road disasters. A phone takes away most of one’s attention off the road. While a driver is looking at  the road his mind is somewhere else. This lack of coordination between the eye and the mind has led to many accidents and deaths. If you get a phone call while driving just ignore it, park properly at the first opportunity , and call back. If you have to make a call you must follow the same procedure. Only diehard fools would try and send an sms while driving.

4. Do not enter yellow box

When you enter a yellow box while the vehicles ahead are already clogging the square you are doing a disservice to the drivers in the other lanes. By the time you have cleared the yellow box, maybe those in the other lanes have already unsuccessfully tried to move on even when they had the green signal—because you kept them held up.

5. Wear seat belt

Those who love their lives and care for their families learn to wear the seat belt from the moment they start to learn driving. Not wearing the seat belt means if there is a forceful crash as a result of an accident the driver’s head will hit the windscreen with full force shattering not only the screen but the driver’s skull as well. The damage to the brain means he may die on the spot or go into a coma and live in a vegetative state.

6. Put children in back seat

Children up the age of 12 must not be allowed to sit in the front seat. Their place is in the back seat with the child-lock on. Very small children should be accommodated in a proper-size baby seat. And they should be discouraged from leaning out of the vehicle or putting their hands out.

7. Never enter barred lanes

For the sake of a short cut, one often finds drivers entering or coming out of lanes when they should not be doing so. There are reasons why some lanes are one-way. You can either only enter them or only exit out of them. Quite often they are too narrow to accommodate two vehicles side by side so if you make a wrong entry you may be confronted with an oncoming driver and block his passage and he would be right to compel you to drive in reverse all the way.

The worst  and an unpardonable and dangerous action is to take a U turn where none is allowed. Taking that forbidden turn means you are putting not only your life at risk but also that of the oncoming driver who may be approaching in speed in the sordid belief that the lane is clear.

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