Driver Safety Checklist At Mountain | Don’t You Dare To Avoid This
Every time you imagine driving to the mountains, your heart may fill up with extreme joy and happiness. The thought of traveling to the mountains gives you the inner peace, overwhelms your heart, and enters you in the lap of nature. Nature has its way of showing its beauty. The dwelling light of the sun, the cold breeze, the peace, the rhythm of air floating in our ears sounds astonishing. Every year there are thousands of people who plan to drive to the mountains.
Although the view is extremely beautiful, are you aware of the accidents that take place? It’s quite easy to drive on the flat roads but if it comes to driving on the hilly or steep mountains then this is the cause of concern. But no worries guys, because in this article we have provided you the complete facts that one should know before leaving for the hilly areas.
So let us understand the in-depth knowledge and discover what they are?
Know Some Stats First
It does not matter how good a driver one is, your negligence can put many in trouble. Every year there are 1.7 million accidents in the world that are the way too harmful and it just happens because of the carelessness of the drivers. Some of them are saved while some enter the mouth of death. The stats and graphs here show the death and major accident rates while traveling to the mountains.
The data is collected based on various surveys and information from various sources.
Road Accidents
According to the census, it has been discovered that many road accidents happen when teenagers drive.
The teenagers between age 16-20 lead to major accidents and also if the aged- old people drive the car they can also put their lives in danger.
32.8% of students use mobile phones while driving. 56% of teenagers pick up the calls while driving. 34% of death ratios are because of the youth drive when they are drunk.
As per the census, 8-10 teenagers die every day due to car accidents.
Mountains Accidents
There are thousands of people who travel to the mountains. It has been noticed that majorly the causes of the accident are:
- Drink and Drive.
- Carefulness.
- Not following the rules.
- Speed.
According to the survey
There are thousands of people who travel to the mountains every year. Amongst them, many meet with various car accidents.
The death ratios are continuously increasing in the USA. This is because of restless driving.
As compared to 2018, 2019 has many accidents.
The major cause of accidents is speed. Most of them consider that this is an empty road without realizing that it can bring them into a great danger zone.
Every year we heard that many lose their lives in this journey.
Action Plan Before the Journey
Before you begin your journey there are some special facts that you should know. Now, as you have planned to reach the mountains there are some necessary amenities that you should plan before going there. Let us have a look over it and understand them.
1. A complete Study of the Place
Before starting your journey, you must look out for every possible aspect of the mountains. Is it favorable to visit there or not? How much time will it consume to take you there? Which is the best time to visit? You should cover every single detail of the place before leaving.
For example, if you are going to that place for the first time then you should know where you can stay and what kind of weather the place holds. Because moving to a different place without having any clue can be dangerous. Therefore, it is vital to know about the place well and if it is suitable then be prepared.
2. Know the Climatic Condition
Most of us know that there is a favorable period to visit the mountains because the atmospheric condition keeps on changing. The cold breeze can freeze you. Therefore, look for every aspect carefully. Do not think that nothing will happen let us just try it, because you never know your one wrong decision can change your entire life.
So, if you guys have planned to visit the mountains then find out the best time or season for you. If the season is good to visit at that particular time then visit it.
3. Check Out the Public Review
Public reviews are the real truth. If you want to know how good the place is, you must check for public reviews. Before leaving we must always check for the public reviews about the region or the place. Because this will suggest many things you can try there or maybe it can suggest what are the essentials that you should come up with? So, have a look over them.
4. Understand the Nature of the Place
You might have noticed that whenever we switch to a different place there is a possibility that the weather does not suit our body. You may get ill or any other problem might affect you. It is, therefore, suggested that understand nature before nature affects you. So, before you leave to make sure you just go through all these details and take proper medications if you are one such person.
Necessary Thing | Must Carry Essentials
You should come up with the least baggage yet effective one. If you will pack the garbage things with you then it might get difficult to handle it. So let us see which things one should take with him.
1. First Aid Kit
The very first thing that must have space in your bag is the First Aid kit because you never know where you will need it. So do carry it with you.
2. A Map
Although we have Google maps sometimes Google Maps also puts us in trouble so keep a small map to know where is what? This can save you.
3. Checkup Before Leaving
Make sure that you visit Dr. for a normal check-up, are you even fit to go to the mountains? Some people are highly allergic to mountains or heights so for them I am saying do consider before leaving to the mountains. Also, ask them for some essential medications that you should carry while traveling.
4. Inform Your Family and Friends About the Departure
Whenever you are leaving, do inform your family members that you are going for the journey. So, in case if you are in any trouble they can come to you and fix it. Therefore, do inform the trust-worthy fellow.
Responsibility of The Driver
1. Alert
The very first thing, the driver needs to be very alert this time. His negligence can put many lives in danger. So, make sure that the driver should not be involved in looking for beautiful scenes while driving. Many times it’s been observed that drivers get attracted to the beautiful scenery that they just miss out on the control of their vehicle which may result in major or minor accidents.
2. Know Your No Zones
When you step into the hilly area, you will notice many signboards placed at very close distances mentioning the area that you should not enter. So do follow the signboards and do not invite a problem for yourself.
3. Do Not Drink and Drive
It is strictly prohibited not to drink while driving. Also when it comes to driving in the mountains you are not at all allowed to drink because this can put your life in danger. No consumption of heady or intoxicating material.
Precautions | Don’t You Dare To Avoid
1. Drive Safely
As discussed above, the most important duty and the one who needs to be more responsible is the one who drives. The driver needs to be very careful while driving. When it comes to driving in the steep hills it becomes quite difficult to drive because you never know where the trouble is waiting for you. It is very essential to drive carefully.
2. Fix up Your Vehicle
Before leaving for the journey make sure that you have tightened up all the brakes and gears. Please do the servicing of the vehicles so that you may not face any problem when you leave. Do not think that after coming from the journey you will provide servicing to your vehicle.
3. Check Your Brakes
Make sure that your brakes are functioning well or not. If you are a little suspicious about its working then do take it to a mechanic and fix the issue. These brakes are going to help you in the sloped areas. So it’s necessary to check before leaving.
4. Keep First Aid with You
You never know where you will need first aid. So I suggest you carry a first aid kit with you.
5. Hire a Professional Driver to Take You There
If you think that you are a little worried about driving to the hills I will recommend you to hire a professional driver to take you there. Many drives take you a long way to the mountains and they are very aware of how to handle the vehicle.
6. Study About the Mountain
The driver must know about the mountains or the hilly area. So, make sure that you hire a professional driver, or if you are driving then make sure that you have the experience and you have revision completely about the mountain ranges.
7. No Alcohol
Do not even think to consume alcohol while driving in the mountains. Some years back there was a major accident because the driver was drunk and hit the car of the person driving ahead of him. Many died in this accident. So, keep a note of it.
DO’s and DON’Ts
Things we Can DO’s
1. Speed
Speed is always the first thing that needs to take care of. You should drive neither too fast nor too slow. You need to be very careful while driving. Do not race on such roads. Have control over speed. Also while going uphill it takes a lot of effort but while coming downhill make sure that you should control the speed limit.
2. Make Use of Gears More
Many times drivers just make a lot of use of brakes rather than gears. Due to which the brake gets heated up. So, it’s better suggested to use gears because this can save your brakes. But this does not at all mean that you will only use gears, not the brakes. The purpose of saying is the gears should be used more but when it is necessary to use brakes do use them accordingly.
3. Fill the Fuel Tank wherever you Find the Fuel Station
If you see a fuel station in between your journey so fill up your tank at that time only because you do not know where the next fuel station is? So, if you see any fuel station be quick and fill your tank up.
4. Avoid Using Mobile Phones
The driver needs to be very careful. He should make use of mobile phones. If it is very important the driver should ask the fellow person with him to help him. Or he can also park the car at the side of the road. But make sure that the road must be flat at that time, not sloppy.
5. Give Side if Somebody is in a Hurry
If somebody is in a hurry or troubling you then find the right place and give them his side. Otherwise, he may rush and can cause trouble for you as well as for him. So, do not stop anybody’s way.
6. Maintain a Distance of 5 Cars
You need to maintain a distance of 5 cars. This is because the roads are so mysterious that we don’t know what is hidden in every turn. Especially if you come down and somebody immediately applies a brake then you guys may hit each other. So keep in mind about it.
7. Make Sure Put the Vehicles in the Right Gears
Use the right gears at the right time. Do not confuse when to use brakes and gears. And focus your mind on the roads.
Things You Should Avoid
1. Don’t Accelerate your Vehicle Unnecessarily
When you are driving to a hilly area you should not accelerate your vehicle unnecessarily. Also if you are coming downhill then do not accelerate the speed because this mistake can take away your lives.
2. Do not Load your Engine by Using AC’s
Do not use AC’s more often because it will heat your engine and can damage your engine. So it better suggested not to use Ac’s while traveling to the mountains. When you are going against the gravity, the engine is already engaged and gets heated up so do not use AC’s
3. Not to Throw Water on Heated Breaks
Using brakes for longer and every time can heat them. In this case, do not throw water on the brakes because this can reshape them and will create even more problems. Instead of throwing water, park your car aside and let them cool down naturally.
4. Not to Race with the Fellow Person
If you think that racing in such places will be the coolest thing then it is the foulest thing to do. So do not race with anybody in such places
Final Verdict
So if you guys are planning to drive to the mountains then all the tips mentioned above are for you. The beautiful scenes of the mountains will take your hearts away. Do take note of the above necessary detail that I have shared with you. Also, take note that you should follow the complete guidelines that are explained to you.
Traveling to the mountains is the coolest thing to try. So, guys there you go. Do follow the above guidelines and travel to the heights. This was all about the article. I hope the article has provided you the right knowledge in the right direction. I hope you have a wonderful ride.