Roads made safer by each of us.

The number one goal of the State Highway Administration has always been to maximize traveler safety. However, so much of reaching that goal depends on drivers themselves. While there are innumerable tips and ways to stay safe, it all comes down to these five:

1. Pay attention.
2. Buckle up.
3. Never drive impaired.
4. Obey the speed limit
5. Drive courteously.

You’ll find a list of 50 other ways to stay safe on the road, elsewhere on this website. But if you keep these top five in mind, you’ll stay safe in a wide variety of conditions. According to statistics, about 93 percent of highway crashes are due to driver error. That means your own safety is ultimately up to you!

If everyone were to follow the rules below as if their lives depended on them, there would be no need for safety messages like this one. However, until that time comes, here’s a look at some other ways to keep yourself safe on the road, in the form of one safety tip for each state in the nation.   

• Pay attention -- hang up and drive! Cell phone use, particularly “texting,” has been shown to dramatically increase your chances of a collision. So does flipping radio stations, holding conversations and searching for that item you dropped and just have to have right away.
  
  
• Drive defensively – don’t rely on what other drivers will do. Ever.
  
  
• Yield anyway – nobody ever yielded their way into a collision.
  
  
• Slow down – driving at a higher than reasonable speed gives you less reaction time and takes longer to slow down to avoid a collision.
  
  
• Don’t drive impaired – drinking, drugging or just plain being tired all count as being “impaired.”
  
  
• Wear that seat belt every time – it’s been called “the most significant safety device ever invented” with good reason!
  
  
• Buy and use other safety devices – the appropriate child safety seat can make a world of difference. And anti-lock braking systems are worth the extra expense.
  
  
• If you’re on a motorcycle, use your head – cover it with a helmet.
  
  
• Don’t run red lights – you could join the hundreds who are killed each year for that very reason.
  
  
• Drive precisely – really stop at that stop sign, stay to the right except when passing, stay between the lines… you know the drill.
  
  
• Chill out – imagine how much more time and expense a crash will involve than that minor delay you’re experiencing right now.
  
  
• Look down the road – don’t just focus on what’s right in front of you. Try to anticipate what’s happening ahead and be prepared to react quickly.
  
  
• Create space around your car and use the two-seconds rule – change lanes if a tailgater is too close, and give yourself at least two seconds to react to a driver in front of you.
  
  
• Drive to communicate – use your signals, headlights and even your horn (in a friendly way) to let others know you’re there; and avoid driving in others’ blind spots when you can.
  
  
• Know your blind spots and be sure to compensate for them.
  
  
• Always signal your intentions.
  
  
• Avoid distractions – another way of saying “pay attention.” Is it worth your life to find that dropped CD right now?
  
  
• Avoid backing up – if you must, visually clear the area before you put your vehicle into reverse. With today’s larger vehicles, more kids than ever are being killed by drivers who didn’t look first.
  
  
• Beware of intersections – one statistic shows that over 80 percent of all city collisions involving injury or death occur at intersections.
  
  
• Be predictable – surprises on the highway are never a good thing.
  
  
• Be an expressway pro – don’t stop unexpectedly, don’t back up and don’t hog the left lane.
  
  
• Know how to stop – don’t roll through that stop sign, and really be aware of that approaching vehicle.
  
  
• Know how to use your headlights – if you can’t stop within the distance that they cover, you’re driving too fast. And believe it or not, if visibility is so reduced that you need to pull over, then pull way over and turn your headlights and flashers OFF so other cars won’t plow into you.
  
  
• Slow down in rain or snow – by at least 1/3 in rain and by ½ in snow; and more if you suspect ice may be present.
  
  
• Maintain your tires – take care of them and they’ll take care of you. You’ll also avoid the expensive suspension problems that overinflated or underinflated tires can bring.
  
  
• Take care of your vehicle – have the brakes and fluid levels checked regularly.
  
  
• Maintain an even, measured pace – a “jackrabbit” driver changes lanes and speeds often. Don’t be one.
  
  
• Beware of hydroplaning – it can happen when it’s just rained (even lightly) or when the road is flooded (even imperceptibly).
  
  
• Know how to recover from a skid – don’t just steer into it. Avoid it in the first place.
  
  
• Prepare yourself to avoid head-on collisions – think ahead about the best action to take should the possibility confront you. Steer to the right as much as possible.
  
  
• Pass wisely – do you really need to get past that driver in front of you?
  
  
• Avoid the number one killer – the single vehicle collision. See rules 1 through 5.
  
  
• Never play chicken with a train – the occupants of over 3,000 vehicles lost that game last year.
  
  
• Allow others to pass – it’s courteous, safe, intelligent and gets their need for speed out of your life.
  
  
• Wear a helmet while biking – don’t be a bonehead.
  
  
• Share the road with bicyclists – it’s courteous, safe, intelligent, and it might be someone you know.
  
  
• Courtesy = safety – drive like you’ll be seeing your fellow drivers at the next rest stop. You might!
  
  
• Stay rested – taking a nap of even a few minutes when you feel drowsy or “hypnotized” can restore you to alertness even better than coffee.
  
  
• Slow down when approaching intersections – the average speed when approaching a controlled intersection is 52 MPH. Don’t trust anyone when it comes to intersections – “T-Bone” crashes are among the most deadly!
  
  
• If you’re turning right, look to the right – seems obvious, but our natural tendency is to look to the left only, to the chagrin of bicyclists and pedestrians crossing the street from the left.
  
  
• Assume that if a vehicle might be there, it will be there – plowing forward blindly without seeing all the possibilities can be deadly.
  
  
• Avoid “reverse traffic” lanes – in Washington, D.C. and other cities around the nation, these are middle lanes that reverse direction to handle more traffic going one way or the other during rush hour. Do you really want to be that much closer to oncoming traffic?
  
  
• Keep children safe in the center – the safest place for a child is in the center of the rear seat; or in the center of the middle row of seats when there are three rows.
  
  
• Choose your route for safety – mitigate the chances of having a crash in any and every way possible.
  
  
• Don’t “pump” ABS brakes – they’re designed to do it for you automatically!
  
  
• Remember that seat belts and air bags go together – they’re called “SRS” (Supplemental Restraint System) for a reason; they can’t keep you safe all by themselves.
  
  
• Beware of stopped vehicles at crosswalks – the drivers of those vehicles can often see pedestrians that you can’t. So don’t assume it’s okay to pass them.
  
  
• Secure loose objects – in a crash, everything that’s loose becomes a missile.
  
  
• Don’t ride in pick-up truck beds – in an accident, you'll be toast.
  
  
• Remember the five basics – pay attention all the time, buckle up every time, drive sober, don’t speed and please drive courteously.