The heat is on. School is out. The nights are shorter, and the days are longer. It is time to hit the road and live the summer life. For some of us, that means vacations and visits to faraway places (or at least to a nearby lake). We tend to think of winter as a season full of roadside dangers, and it is. But summer also is a season full of roadside dangers, and we must be mindful of those dangers when we’re out on the road.

Staying safe while out and about

Depending on when and where you’re traveling this summer, you may face different dangers. Here are 10common roadside dangers and distractions to watch out for:

• Heavy rain and poor weather, which can limit visibility
• Intense sun glare
• Tire blowouts – either yours or another vehicle’s
• Overheating and dehydration, especially if your car doesn’t have a working air conditioner, and you’re stuck in breezeless bumper-to-bumper traffic
• Roadwork and construction zones
• Increased numbers of adolescent drivers who are out of school and generally less experienced than adult drivers
• Vacationers who may be on unfamiliar routes
• Increased numbers of bicyclists and motorcyclists who may have been itching to ride for months
• Animals who may be darting into the roadways
• Children who are playing outside and may not be attentive to their surroundings

What can we do in order to ensure safe driving?

In order to ensure safe driving, we must use our common sense. First, we should not drive while we are sleepy; we must remain alert and attentive in order to avoid other drivers, pedestrians, children, animals, and so forth. Second, we should:

• Refrain from texting, tweeting, etc. while driving;
• Remember to fasten our seat belts;
• Exercise extra caution while driving on weekends and during early evening hours, as National Highway Traffic Safety Administration research “suggests that Saturdays are the deadliest day of the week” and that more auto accidents happen in the 6:00pm-7:00pm hour than any of the other 23 hours;
• And drive carefully during rainstorms as wet roads are just as perilous as icy roads.

Third, we should have our cars checked routinely, especially before long road treks, in order to prevent tire blowouts, overheating, and other mechanical problems. Fourth, we should have bottled water in our cars in order to avoid dehydration. Fifth, we should keep equipment like flashlights and jumper cables in our cars; we never know what is going to happen.

Enjoy the summer days and ride into the sunset – or into the sunrise if you prefer. But if you are in an auto accident and you are injured as a result, you may have grounds for a legal claim. For more information, contact the Knoxville auto accident attorneys at Banks & Jones. You can call us at 865-546-2141. We are proud to serve the people of Knoxville and the surrounding areas.