Time to Change: 5 Bad Driving Habits You Should Stop

A muffler can lessen the noise of your internal combustion engine, but what use is it if you are abusing it by constantly speeding on the freeway? You might cause a nasty car accident or worse, a death!

But that’s not the only thing we drivers are fond of doing; we’ve listed down three other bad habits all drivers must stop doing.

Using Your Mobile Device

With new technology comes new responsibilities; however, drivers these days aren’t exactly following this.

More often than not, they answer a call or text on their mobile phone while driving on the road. Doing so can cause an accident on the road as you aren’t paying full attention on the road, only half.

The solution is simple: don’t use your phone. Whoever you are speaking to will understand why you aren’t answering their calls. If you must use your mobile device, park on the side of the street or invest in a Bluetooth headset.

Putting on Your Makeup

Ladies, admit it! Sometimes when you are running out of time, you attempt to put on your makeup as you are driving to work or to whatever appointment you need to get to.

With the traffic so horrible these days, surely you’ll have enough time to put on the perfect cat’s eye and ombre lip to match. Here’s the problem with this habit: you’re so engrossed with yourself, you don’t even notice the traffic moving. You don’t even hear the loud car honking of the irritated drivers behind you!

Don’t be a narcissist-stop applying your makeup on the road. Instead, leave the house extra early to give you enough time to layer on the colors before leaving home.

Not Using Your Seatbelt

Moms often say safety first, but are you listening to your mother?

Wearing a seatbelt can lengthen your life by a significant percentage as studies have proven that a seatbelt can reduce your car crash mortality rate by around 50%. In addition, we have a seatbelt law in the Philippines.

So let your mom have some peace of mind and wear that seatbelt; remember, no matter what age you are, you’ll always be her baby.

Beating the Red Light

When the traffic light turns yellow, it does not mean speed up and try to beat the red light, but slow down and get ready to stop.

Unfortunately, most Filipinos do put the pedal to the metal instead of slowing down. There’s a reason why the traffic light is there and beating the red light can cause horrible accidents which can result not only vehicular damage but deaths as well.

Be a good citizen and decelerate once you see that yellow light.

Speeding

Oh look, a wide vacant road with hardly any cars on it! What do you do? Why, see if you can reach the end of the highway in less than five minutes!

Some roads may look vacant but what if someone’s crossing the road at the far end and because you’re such a speed demon, you have no time to slow down and hit this person? Boom! A case of reckless impudence for you! And if a cop catches you speeding, there’s a nice hefty fine waiting to be paid (assuming he doesn’t cuff you).

Driving requires your full attention and focus. Be a good driver and quit these four habits before you cause a disaster.