Automotive Addicts

In an extra-ordinary set of statistics that highlight the importance of UK breakdown cover, figures have revealed that there is currently a 6% yearly increase in the amount of accidents caused by collisions with Deer.

In a survey obtained by the Telegraph Motoring show, it was revealed that an average of between 15 to 20 people die each year from these incidents, and that a further 1,100 are seriously injured. Furthermore, the total number of accidents is around 74,000, with the vast majority of animals left dead at the roadside.

Mr Peter Watson, Director of the Deer Initiative, noted that it is possible for the deer population of the UK to increase by approximately 30 percent per year. With the traffic levels constantly rising, it is hardly surprising that the number of collisions is increasing.

The increase in incidents has led to an inevitable rise in insurance claims, with one insurer noting that deer collisions were responsible for 11,000 vehicles suffering significant damage, totaling an astonishing £14 million in damage costs.

Last year, the DI was granted £30,000 to create an awareness campaign regarding deer on the roads, but as this number will soon be cut by £10,000, it really does emphasise the need for full UK breakdown cover.

Jochen Lanbein, and independent wildlife consultant has stated that deer on the roads is a ‘much bigger problem than motorists realize. They think it’s the kind of thing that happens once in a blue moon but ask 10 people and at least one will have had a narrow escape or hit a deer.’ Mr Lanbein concluded that the problem ‘will only get bigger and bigger.’

Protect yourself and your vehicle by making sure you are covered for such events. Take out a UK breakdown cover policy to make sure you’re not left stranded after an accident.

Dirt bike carriers can be really helpful for the people who carry things from one place to another. If you are looking for a sturdy and economic motorcycle carrier then you can take a look at the aluminum motorcycle carrier for sure. These carriers look great and these are really sturdy. Before installing the carrier you need to understand why you actually need the motorcycle carrier. You need to know the proper weight of your bike first. It is important to maintain a balance and that is why you need to know the weight of your bike. Then it will be easier for you to decide how much weight can be perfect for the carrier. You can find different types of carrier with different types of capacity. It is not only about the carrier but also about the bike. That is why you must check the weight of the bike and carrier both. You obviously do not want to face any accidents on road. That is why you must take the required precaution. In the following article we are going to take a look at dirt bike carriers and aluminum carriers. If you want to know more about it then you can surely go through the article once. You will enjoy reading it.

The aluminum bike carriers are reasonable and that is the biggest USP for sure. If you are carrying one motorcycle then there will be more than enough space. If you compare the aluminum carrier with other types of carriers then you will understand that aluminum carrier is big and spacious than other types of dirt bike carriers. That is the reason behind its popularity. Some people wonder why they need to buy aluminum when they can buy other things. It is a wrong concept that aluminum is less sturdy than other material. Aluminum is equally sturdy, reliable and long lasting like the other bike carries. Some of the carriers have wheel choke in it and some of the carriers do not have that. It is for the security of your bike so that the balance can be maintained when you are going downward mainly. This is something better to be installed. While buying you just need to find carriers with wheel choke. Some people do not opt for the wheel choke because the other one sharing the drive with you do not always feel comfortable. Now it is your choice whether you opt for aluminum bike carrier or something else. If you opt for aluminum bike carriers then it will be an economical and lucrative deal for sure.

The aluminum carriers are a bit different than the traditional trailers and that is why they are safer. It is really easy to install the aluminum carriers. That is why people now are opting for aluminum carriers. They have understood that aluminum carriers are surely lucrative for the people who transport single motorcycle. This is comfortable, economic and lighter in weight. You can now buy any of the carriers but before that you must keep these things in mind.

All of us are basically in the same agreement that providing our precious properties with insurance is the most important thing that we should undertake after accomplishing the purchase of such properties. However, a number of people think that insurance is not quite important because insurance is meant to protect their property from any disaster. But if no disaster ever occurs in their vicinity, they will eventually conclude that insurance is a wasteful expenditure. To certain extent, their thought is quite erroneous because by thinking so, they have determined that disasters are predictable events whereas the truth is that most of disasters may come without any warning and are actually completely unpredictable events. When such disaster finally occurs and the damage compensation that they have to pay is very huge, they will start to realize their erroneous thought and are regretful of their ignorance to the importance of insurance.

As mentioned above, insurance is meant to provide your properties with financial protection to prevent you from great loss when the insured properties are severely wrecked by certain accidents. Although insurance coverage has to be bought, its price is actually quite inexpensive if it is compared with the amount of financial compensation that you have to pay to repair the damaged properties. Providing your life, health, house, car, and other precious properties with trusted insurance is then highly recommended.

Among all of your properties, your car is probably the most susceptible property to any damages because of its mobility. While other properties are stationed so their damage susceptibility is fairly low, your car that you drive everywhere, including several dangerous terrains, is highly vulnerable to any losses and damages from any incidents such as traffic crash and car theft. Providing your car with cheap auto insurance is recommended if you want to have it protected by reliable insurance policy which can still be affordably purchased.

Just knowing how to drive a car is not enough. Knowing proper driving etiquettes and following them is also essential. Though, we perceive ourselves as great drivers, everybody has been guilty of mistakes intentionally or unintentionally.

Here are some of the mistakes which are most common on Indian roads:

1. Thinking of Pedestrians as Pest: Every driver thinks that pedestrians should be banished from roads. They forget that pedestrians just want to cross the road and they have right of way at the zebra crossing. A slight delay won’t make you late for any appointment. Acknowledge their rights and give them their space & time to cross the road with respect.

2. Driving like a Sloth: Driving slow is recommended since it allows you to be in control of your vehicle and gives you ample time maneuver yourself to safety in case of any accident. But if your car is moving at a slower pace then the traffic flow then it may cause mishaps. Follow the speed limits for a particular road. Driving slow can held up the traffic and makes other drivers attempt undertaking and unsafe maneuvers.

3. Tailgating: Tailgating is one of the most irritating mistakes. Driving bumper to bumper won’t make you reach your destination any soon. Tailgating is plain stupid and dangerous.

4. Double Parking: It’s understandable that you love your car but every car needs just that amount of space and in no way can double parking can be justified. Parking space in cities is anyway a huge fight nowadays and occupying extra space is just very rude.

5. Driving with High Beams on: High beam is one persistent habit of ill mannered drivers. There is a reason why it is banned and attracts traffic fine. High beam can make approaching traffic blind and can cause accidents. High beams should be used rarely only on dark and unlit roads. City roads are mostly well lit, so high beams are not necessary. Be chivalrous and adopt safe driving for others as well as yourself.

6. Honking at Traffic Signals: As much as errant drivers would like to believe but honking incessantly at traffic signals won’t make traffic move. This is not F1 racing where vehicles have to bolt off immediately from the starting grids. Take it easy and relax. Don’t create panic situations for other drivers.

7. Not using Indicators: Many drivers are guilty of not using turn indicators. Indicators serve a very important purpose by indicating to traffic which way you intend to turn. This is so basic yet many people simple refuse to use it at their own peril.

8. Drinking & Driving: This is by far the most dangerous and stupidest of mistakes. Driving under influence of alcohol is one of the major causes of accidents all over the world. If you have to drink then avoid driving and take taxi instead. No need to take chance with your and others lives.

Actually you do not have to fear riding a motorcycle on busy four lane or two lane highway. Even if we all know highways and interstate intersections are consistent danger zones.

If you are a motorcyclist you need to master avoidance maneuver skills in order to survive on a busy two lane or four lane highway. For your ride to continue smoothly and safely you should be able to properly execute three to six tasks in the next five seconds or so to avoid accidents. But to be able to respond to emergency situations you have to learn to anticipate whatever threats that are likely to arise.

It is not only necessary that you can predict what is going to happen as much as anticipate what could happen. You need to have your bag of avoidance maneuver skills handy when the situation calls for it. To have the ability to anticipate takes training,imagination and experience.

Anticipating and preparing for threats that are likely to happen on the road are just as important as to have a plan on how to exit or escape in dicey situations. A skilled motorcyclist must also have a well-prepared strategies like swerving to move away from potential conflicts,panic stops, slow down,accelerate or line up on an escape route.

A big percentage of the threats a motorcycle rider encounters come from ahead of him not behind. So a lot of your riding time is well spent on scanning what is ahead of you not only the immediate vicinity like the car in front of you but you must scan well ahead like a block away. That is how to anticipate potential hazards on the road, to teach yourself to always scan what is way ahead of you and always have the frame of mind to stay alert.

There are two kinds of potential threats, the predictable ans the not so predictable ones. Predictable ones are when you are about to run out of gas so you will switch to reserve to avoid slowing or you will pull over and change the tinted to clear face shields when the sun sets or slowing down to adjust your line to avoid a slippery patch. These are examples of predictable threats.

Road threats that are not easy to predict like a deer jumps put of the roadside bush, a car suddenly changes lanes into your area without using his turn signals. a driver juggling a cellphone, coffee and applying make-up freaks out and makes an abrupt left turn.

It is very important to sharpen your threat awareness so that when appropriate responses are called for, it will be more ingrained and automatic like learning not to quickly rush into an intersection when the light turns green because the drivers are late for work at eight on a Monday morning.

To hone your threat and potential conflict awareness it is a good idea to play the what-if game and be ready to come up with an exit or escape plan. What if there is something coming up behind this large vehicle in front of me? What if the SUV in front of me panic stops or swerves? What if the van ahead throws a retread? What if some of the junk on the back of this truck falls off?

A curve, building or trees may block your view and impedes your vision both for you and cross traffic. It requires a fertile imagination to anticipate any potential threats.

Urban traffic is a consistent danger zones particularly major intersections. You can not control other drivers from getting distracted answering their cell phones or getting drunk. You just have to defensively be conspicuous,stay alert and use your headlight and high beam or honk your horn if you have to.

If you are overtaking a car, minimize your time next to it. Do not stay long on their blind spot and give the car a wide berth on the far side of your lane, accelerate hard (signal first) and as you pass, open up a gap by continuing to accelerate after you are ahead of the car you are passing and continue to do so if you have vehicles behind tailing you to open up even more gap before pulling into the left side of the left lane. This is applicable on two-lane roads or with more than one lane going your way.

Passing mistakes could be mild fender-benders but it could be fatal if the other one vehicle involved is a motorcycle. So general rules apply, avoid blind spots, be visible,accelerate hard and ride wide to give a buffer as you pass.

Swerving, hard braking or panic stops are some major evasive skills you have to master that you can appropriately execute when a threat arises.

Hard braking/panic stops ideally are performed in your normal riding position. Engagement spans,lever angles even the number of fingers on the rotating bar should be properly positioned to effectively improve control and reaction time by split seconds.

Swerving actually are just two-linked turns. Although because of its dynamic nature, a swerve is more complicated than just two-linked turns.Another option to swerving is surmounting the object or road obstacle like a pothole,branches of trees etc.

Couriers are usually regarded as “high risk” for motor insurers. Van drivers statistically have a higher accident rate than private vehicles, their exposure on the roads is far greater than that of a private motor car, therefore dramatically increasing the chances of a road traffic incident. The vehicles are more often than not owned by a company or fleet and drivers are less likely to worry about the damage they may cause to the vehicle.

Courier van drivers, also referred to as the ‘White van man’ are notoriously known for being involved in road traffic accidents. Couriers can be up against tight pick up and delivery time slots, and some are even incentivized on the amount of collections and deliveries they make. This can encourage the drivers to race around town and hence are prone to more incidents. Insurers take this into consideration when quoting this type of risk and the premiums quoted are a reflection of the claim statistics. Continue reading ‘Courier van drivers posing an insurance concern’ »