Driving Our Car While Fighting To Stay Awake

While on a trip, or even close to home, we all want to keep driving for as long as possible. Yet nobody, in their right mind, wants to be a threat to ourselves (or others) because we're too sleepy to operate our motor vehicle. Self-awareness of our sleepiness is always the key to driving safely!

In a report dated just last year 2004, the National Safety Council wrote that traffic death rates are 3 times greater at night - - than during the day!

This report also stated, "Driving at night is more of a challenge than most people think and it's much more dangerous".

So, you may ask, "What is it that makes night driving so dangerous"?

The NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL'S answer to that one is as follows, "DEALING WITH THE DARKNESS IS AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK. 90% of a driver's reaction depends upon vision and that is severely limited at night. Depth perception, color recognition plus peripheral vision are compromised after sundown" .

PLUS: Another huge factor, as stated by the NSC (which adds to even more danger when you're night driving) is fatigue. Day or night drowsiness will always make one's driving more difficult because it dulls concentration and it surely slows reaction time.

IN ORDER TO PROPERLY HANDLE THE ABOVE FACTORS

THE FOLLOWING IS RECOMMENDED

#1. You must observe night driving safety as soon as the sun goes down. Twilight is one of the most difficult times to drive because your eyes are constantly changing to the growing darkness.

#2. YES, it's a "Time Consuming Headache" - - HOWEVER: You should prepare your car for night driving. Clean headlights, tail lights, signal lights and windows (inside and out) at least once a week and even more often if necessary. You must do this - - especially if you're on a long trip!

#3. Your headlights must be properly aimed. Headlights can blind other drivers and they also reduce your ability to see the road.

#4. If you have any doubt at all you should turn your headlights on. Under normal circumstances lights will most likely not help you see in early twilight but they'll always make it easier for other drivers to see you. Being seen as is important as seeing.

#5. Reduce your speed and increase your following distances. It's much more difficult to judge other vehicle's speeds and distances at night.

#6. When following another motor vehicle (be it a car, truck or whatever) you must keep your headlights on low beam so as not to blind the driver ahead of you.

#7. If an oncoming vehicle doesn't click from high to low, you can avoid the glare by watching the right edge of the road and using it as a steering guide.

#8. Make frequent stops for light snacks and exercise. If you're too tired to drive, stop and get some rest.

#9. If you have car trouble, pull off the road as far as possible. If you have what are identified as "Reflecting Triangles" you should warn approaching traffic by setting them up near your vehicle and about 300 feet behind it.

PLUS: Whether you have reflecting triangles or not you should: A: Turn on your flashers plus your dome light. B: Get your body off the roadway. C: Remove both yourself and your passengers away from the area.

In 2004 NHTSA (The U.S. National Highway Traffic Association Administration) estimates that approximately 100,000 police-reported crashes involved drowsiness and fatigue as a principal casual factor. In their report they stated, "About one million crashes per year were thought to be produced by Drowsy Drivers".

In a poll NHTSA ran in 1999, 62% of all adults surveyed reported driving a car (or some other vehicle the previous year = in 1998) while feeling "Drowsy", 27% said that they had, at some time, dozed off while driving. 23% of them reported they knew individuals who had experience a fall-asleep crash.

This report also said, "People tend to fall asleep more on high-speed, long, boring, rural highways". And that "The New York Police estimated that 30% of all fatal crashes, along the New York Thruway, occurred because the driver fell asleep".

DISCLAIMER: The only purpose of this article, "DRIVING OUR CAR WHILE FIGHTING TO STAY AWAKE" is to help people understand the motor vehicle accident insurance claim process. Dan Baldyga makes no guarantee of any kind whatsoever; NOR does he purport in rendering any legal service; NOR to substitute for a lawyer, an insurance adjuster, claims consultant, or the like. Where such professional help is desired it is THE INDIVIDUALS RESPONSIBILITY to obtain said services.

Dan Baldyga's third and latest book AUTO ACCIDENT PERSONAL INJURY INSURANCE CLAIM (How To Evaluate And Settle Your Loss) can be found on the internet at http://www.caraccidentclaims.com or http://www.autoaccidentclaims.com. This book reveals "How To" successfully handle your motor vehicle accident claim so you won't be taken advantage of. It also goes into detail regarding BASE (The Baldyga Auto Accident Settlement Evaluation Formula). THE BASE FORMULA explains how to determine the value of the "Pain and Suffering" you endured - - because of your personal injury!

Copyright (c) 2005 By Daniel G. Baldyga. All Rights Reserved.

Dan Baldyga is a retired Insurance Claim man. He was an Adjuster, Supervisor and Claims Manager for 30 years and then spent another 5 as a Trial Counsel. He has written 3 highly succcessful "How To" Auotmobile Accident Books. He can be reached at "dbpaw@comcast.net".

Ontarios Driving regulations

Driver licensing in Ontario as a newcomer is a fairly straight forward exercise. You are required to apply for an Ontario driver's licence within 60 days of taking up residence in the province. After 60 days you must hold an Ontario driver's licence to be able to continue to drive - an International drivers licence will give you a maximum of 12 months though. You must always carry your driver's license with you.

Ontario operates a Graduated Licensing Program, this is a program designed to allow new drivers more time to gain experience and skills at driving. The two step process takes a minimum of 20 months before new drivers obtain their full drivers privileges.

Depending on Where You Are From and how much driving experience you have, you may or may not have to take a knowledge and road test. If you are from a country or province that Ontario has an exchange agreement with, you must pass a vision test and show acceptable proof of your previous license status and driving experience. To exchange an out of province license you will need to contact a Drivers Examination Centre. Don't forget you will need to present your out of country/province driver's license verifying previous driving experience or written confirmation about your previous driving experience from the licensing authorities and there are Fees applicable to the licensing process.

There are 12 different Classes of license in Ontario. Unless you intend to drive a heavy goods vehicle or large passenger vehicles, then you only need to concentrate on classes G & M. Class G is for cars, with G1 & G2 being the applicable levels of the Graduated Licensing Program and Class M is for Motorcycles, again with M1 & M2 for the Graduated Licensing Program.

Vehicle Licensing

All motor vehicles in Ontario must be licensed, insured and maintained, before they are allowed on the road.

To register the vehicle you must buy a vehicle permit and plates and pay an annual vehicle validation fee. The renewal date is based on your birth date; therefore, this will always be the same every year. A renewal form will be mailed to you and you can renew your registration at any Driver & Vehicle Licensing Issuing Office.

If you take your own vehicle to Ontario you have 30 days to register it. If you are looking for a replacement vehicle read the following guide to Buying a Vehicle that provides great information that could save you time, money and trouble!

Another vital service that is available if you are looking to buy a preowned vehicle is to have the vehicle history checked. Several companies can offer this service - more details can be found at the main website linked below in the authors box. For a small fee they will provide a full report on any previous accidents, odometer level, the correct owner/registrant and if there are any other claims against the vehicle ownership. No one needs their vehicle to be repossessed because it has finance against it or find out it has been previously written off!

Vehicle Insurance

It is illegal to operate an uninsured vehicle as all motor vehicles in Ontario must be insured with a minimum $200,000 third party liability insurance policy. You will not be able to register your vehicle without proof of your valid insurance. In Ontario, private companies provide Auto Insurance coverage for all drivers. The main website provides exceptional information on Auto Insurance in Canada and each Province's individual system.

When driving any vehicle you must always carry the pink liability insurance card for that vehicle. Failure to produce it if asked by the police can lead to a fine of up to $400.00. Make sure you get an up to date no claims certificate from your current insurance company before leaving. Some companies may not recognize your previous history depending upon your nationality and the insurance company you were with before but make sure you bring them anyway. Always photocopy all your original driving documents in the case you have to surrender them - that way you will have the copy for future reference should you ever need to prove your previous history or return to your home nation.

Dave Lympany emigrated to Canada with his family in 2003 and has developed http://www.onestopimmigration-canada.com - the free information resource for Canada and Canadian Immigration. With over 150 pages of great content, the site is continually expanding and regularly updated and is an excellent resource for Immigration, Relocation, Research and Travel.

Corporate Greed Driving India Farmers to Suicide by the Thousands

The promise is the same everywhere. Buy our patented seeds at twice the price of others, buy our chemical fertilizers and pesticides and you will prosper like the government subsidized American farmers. These corporate parasites know how to sell in any language. The cost of the promised prosperity which seldom occurs without government subsidy and requires annual borrowing, as with American farming, is more than a poor farmer can afford. But corporate greed convinces him to gamble his future and his life on false corporate hope.

Working hand in glove with the corporate scum are the local money lenders, sometimes taking 5% interest per month and sometimes the entire harvest if drought or floods do not beat Mr. Moneybags to the harvest. India could not have chosen a worse model to modernize its agriculture than American corporate farming, which has already destroyed more value than it has produced, excluding corporate profits of course, because corporate balance sheets are all that matter in this world. Raped lands and environments be damned.

People and the people in government especially, easily lose sight of the fundamental importance of agriculture to the total national economy. A nation which does not feed its people is forever dependent upon the good will of people who cannot be trusted. Even the rich nations have boarded this leaky boat and they will pay dearly for so doing and are already paying dearly, in terms of food quality, environmental damage and disease.

If a nation is to have healthy people, requiring a minimum of medical attention, it must have health producing food, not the plastic the corporations peddle in the name of high yields and damage resistance. To have health building food, grow in rich organic soil 100% chemical free. In the story I read, a 31 year old farmer borrowed $9 for a bottle of pesticide which he drank to kill himelf. So the manufacturer made five dollars to create a widow and two small fatherless children. Congratulations on your keen business acumen, corporate parasite. Win - lose marketing at its finest.

Indian government must discourage all farming and switch to organic gardening to continuously enrich the soil upon which a combination of subsistence and high value cash crops are grown. Competing with government subsidized, environmentally destructive, disease producing corporate agriculture is like running a marathon on your hands and knees. You might finish the race but you will win no prize. We are talking about a sustainable foundaion for a national economy. It deserves more thought and planning than where to build the next chemical disaster.

To have rich and healthy soil as a foundation for prosperity it is essential to compost mineral rich plants and manures, green and vegetariabn animal wastes. The best source of mineral rich plants are seacoasts. The next best source is former cotton fields planted in alfalfla or a similarly deep root crop which mines the deep minerals in sub soil. A government which will subsidize small scale agriculture will make strict conditions. A gardener must produce twice the food his family requires, so a partial failure allows his family to eat. Crops sprayed with a mixture of kelp or seaweed and fish emulshion are drought resistant, insect resistant (few insects eat fish or kelp), disease resistant and yield more plant and fruit than anything corporate agriculture will ever have to offer.

Build raised gardens close to the house or shanty where it is natural to keep a close eye on them. Make them any length and four feet wide, waist high. Fill the bottom half with sand or stone, the top half or one third with topsoil and compost. Build with brick, block or stone which will not wash away with heavy rain. Use either a square foot method or third meter, in the case of a one meter wide bed. The idea is an easy reach from each side to the center of the bed. By growing food and high value cash crops in these raised beds, one has purchased one time flood insurance. Small pipes at the bottom of these beds allow the bed to drain by gravity. The soaked soil will drain. If the rain is severe or prolonged, spread inexpensive covers over a sturdy frame above the plants in the bed. In Winter or cold weather, clear plastic covers will heat the bed and prevent crop freeze overnight. The thermal mass of such elevated beds acts as a thermal flywheel, maintaing desired temperatures.

As each gardner is growing twice the table food required by his family or more, let the surplus be split. Half for fresh seed and half for the local market. The independence and security the regular production of surplus food engenders cannot be valued in currency. This is private, personal, life and health insurance. Cash crops should be both common and coveted medicinal herbs and spices. There will always be a free market for such. Wisely chosen herbs and spices may be dried and shipped around the globe at very high profits. Trends in rich countries will always tell you how to harvest the most cash from a square foot or third meter of crop.

Square Foot Gardening is now so highly developed, one can grow five times the crop volume with the same resources wasted in conventional farming and gardening. Any nation not using this method is wasting resources and labor. Harvest humanithy for record profits and growth, not chemicals and scarce resources. Outlaw the corporate confidence men and the local money lenders. Teach your rural populations sustainable agriculture and become the dominant economic power of the New Age. The wisdom to do so is among your people. When you end farming, you end farmer suicides.

Ed Howes sought and found, knocked and entered. Now he sees things differently. To see more of what he sees, please visit http://www.justanotherview.com or do an author search here at Ezine Articles.

The Army National Guard Defensive Driving Course

The Army National Guard Defensive Driving Course was designed to help bring down accident fatalities and injuries that are caused by preventable vehicle accidents every year. When you think of any type of service man or woman, you imagine a well-trained soldier who must be able to handle all types of military equipment to perform their military duties. It is more than a little disturbing, then, to realize that more than half of all fatalities in the United States armed forces have been caused by automobile accidents. These are accidents that occurred from operating their own private vehicles!

Why Do Soldiers Need The Army National Guard Defensive Driving Course?

Although the statistics don't specify the ages of the soldiers involved in automobile fatalities, age may play a role. Many soldiers are young since they enroll for service straight out of high school. Teenagers are among the largest group of at-risk drivers for having fatal accidents. Most have had only the training required to get their license and don't have much driving experience. Since the majority of accidents happen within the first two years of a driver's experience, then it would seem that being a soldier at a young age would put you at more of a risk for accidents than it would for older drivers. Taking The Army National Guard Defensive Driving Course will teach drivers techniques for being aware of your surroundings, taking basic safety precautions, and what to avoid in order to keep them safer.

How Do Soldiers Take The Army National Guard Defensive Driving Course?

Soldiers can, and may be required to, take The Army National Guard Defensive Driving Course online. This offers two advantages. First, the soldier can complete the course at his or her own pace without interfering with his or her other duties. You don't have to leave base and go to a class at a specified time.

The Army National Guard Defensive Driving Course online can also be monitored by senior officers so they know that the soldier is progressing in the course. The system may be set up so that a report is sent directly to the senior officer when a lesson or the program is completed.

How Effective Is the Army National Guard Defensive Driving Course

Other programs have been put in place for the Army National Guard to help reduce accidents. Although there have been a reduced number of fatalities and injuries caused by automobile accidents since this program was implemented, it is impossible to say which programs were responsible for the decline. However, there are defensive driving courses that are taken by civilians and by employees of companies with company vehicles which show that accidents can be reduced by as much as thirty percent. It isn't unreasonable to assume that The Army National Guard Defensive Driving Course would produce a minimum of equal results.

How effective Is the Army National Guard Defensive Driving Course? We have more information and resources available for you on defensive driving.