Texas Driver Safety and Training

Police officers and driving school instructors hear it all the time; "But I had the right-of-way!" In today's frenetic driving environment, drivers seem reluctant to give up the right-of-way, even when someone else is trying to take it. This attitude can result in instances of road rage and car crashes. The truth is, on America's roads, no one has the right-of-way.

It can be a hard concept to understand, especially since, when we were learning the rules of the road to get our driver's license, we had to learn who had the right-of-way in certain circumstances. Actually, state laws do not give any driver the right-of-way nor do police try to determine who had the right-of-way. The laws only state who should have given up the right-of-way to another driver.

No driver can take the right-of-way; they can only give up the right-of-way to another driver. When entering the interstate from an on-ramp, we were all taught that traffic on the main thoroughfare has the right-of-way. At a four-way stop, we all learned that the driver who arrived first has the right-of-way. What that actually means is that we should give the right-of-way to the traffic on the interstate or to the driver who arrived first at the intersection. The driver on the interstate can't "take the right-of-way" if the driver on the on-ramp doesn't want to give it to him. The driver at the four-way stop can't claim the right-of-way if the other driver tries to take it first.

Every state has a law that says a driver has the responsibility to do everything possible to avoid a collision. If a collision results because a driver insists on taking what they believe to be their legal right-of-way, in spite of the fact that the other driver is also trying to claim it, both drivers will be held equally responsible. Doing everything possible to avoid a collision means that the responsible driver will give up the right-of-way to another driver who insists on taking it.

Recognizing that the traffic on the interstate or the driver who arrived first at the stop sign has the right-of-way and giving it to them is the key to being a safe driver. Another key to safe driving is watching for aggressive drivers and staying out of their way; even if that means you have to delay your trip for a moment or so.

A driver who has to give up the right-of-way to an inconsiderate aggressive driver has every reason to be upset and angry but at least they won't have to deal with a car crash. Remember the concept of F.I.D.O; Forget It and Drive On.

Labels: aggressive driving, driver safety, Highway Safety, interstate, right-of-way, traffic safety

17-year-old Prerma Bhat got her driver’s license by being calm and cautious behind the wheel. It was around this time that her dad, Chandra Bhat, a transportation engineering professor at UT, decided to conduct a study on aggressive driving, and how the time of day, number of passengers and other factors relate to it.

Here's what the study found:

• Drivers are most aggressive during morning rush hour.


• Younger teenagers drive more aggressively than older teens.


• Young people are likely to drive aggressively until about age 20, when with other young people.


• Teens driving a pick up are more likely to drive aggressively.


• Not surprisingly, drinking and driving is the deadliest combo for teen drivers.


• Regardless of a driver's age, they are more at-risk for an accident driving with a single passenger as opposed to a group of passengers.

The last one is particularly surprising, as most would think otherwise. As it would turn out, most drivers feel the need to reciprocate or be responsive when there’s only a single passenger, in contrast with having more than one, where the passengers would be able to engage themselves in conversation, and leave the driver focused on the driving.

Bhat says the study might be able to help fine tune and add restrictions in Graduated Driver's Licensing programs and help give parents peace of mind.

With the information he's gathered, it may be time to introduce a Parent-Teen driving contract, if there’s a teen driver at home. Here is a link to a FREE driving contract to sample.

For the study, Bhat used data collected from about 7000 crashes in the U.S. from 2005 through 2007. The researchers were also allowed to listen to crash updates via scanners, receiving data at the same time as first responders.

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/ut-studies-aggressive-teen-driving


Learn more about the Facts Behind Teen Crashes

Labels: aggressive driving, aggressive teen driving, teen.