Winter driving is very dangerous in parts of the world where they actually have winter. But it can be even more dangerous in places with occasional winter. When people aren’t expecting winter the car accidents can be a lot worse. Here’s a youtube video that illustrates just how dangerous it can be!
Derek Brown’s can help you learn to drive well in the winter. Then you can get a lot of practice driving in Calgary, so never have to live like these unfortunate souls.
Driving a truck is a lot of work but it can seem more free and fun than an office or other job. Here’s a video from youtube about how to drive a truck.
If this looks like something you might want to do for a career contact Derek Brown’s Driving Academy, a Calgary Truck Driving School.
We’re also proud to offer a PDIC (Professional Driver Improvement Course) both in-person and online. This course is geared towards professional truck drivers and offers invaluable lessons for how to maintain best practices as a professional truck driver.
And just for fun, here’s a funny video about driving a truck.
Most of us have heard the crunch, felt the jolt and had the sinking feeling after being in an accident. Car accidents can be terrible, life changing incidents. Even when they are not, they are still a shock to the system and a nuisance to deal with. What can you do to make your life easier after an accident?
1. First and foremost and under all circumstances, STOP after being in an accident. It is Canadian law and it is a very serious offense to drive away. Leaving the scene of an accident will only make the problem worse in the long run.
2. Call the police. It’s important to report accidents to the police if anyone in the accident sustains injuries or the damages are north of $1000. It’s important to be safe while doing this, so pull over to a safe location before calling the police or exiting the vehicle. Generally, if you aren’t sure whether to call the police or not, it’s best to call. Better safe than sorry.
3. Try to find a calm place. Car accidents aren’t fun and they can cause a lot of emotions. If no one has been injured, try to take a step back and realize it’s just stuff. Yes, very important stuff, but just stuff none the less. Keeping yourself in a good mental place will help you deal with the other driver and probably save you headaches in the long run.
4. Info Exchange. Be sure to exchange insurance information and all other applicable information to the accident down and exchange it with the police officer. If you have trouble exchanging information for whatever reason, wait for or call the police if you haven’t already.
5. Document the accident with pictures. This is important because it creates actual images of what happened rather than just witness accounts. I know this seems obvious, but it’s a very important part of the process.
6. Call your insurance company. The law says you must report it within a reasonable amount of time. Which, with most insurance companies is about a week. But you should probably call them right away if the accident is at all serious.
Thanks for reading! Derek Brown’s Driving Academy is Calgary’s premium driving school, if you are looking for a Calgary driving simulator Derek Brown’s is your place!
Michigan is trying a new approach to curbing drunk driving in the State. They are installing 400 talking urinal cakes around the State that will tell men not to drink and drive. The company that developed them is called Wizmark Industries and they are the “leaders in interactive urinal cake technology.” Impressive.
I’m not sure of how effective this new technology will be. First of all, there is very little evidence that urinal cake shaming works. None at all, in fact. Secondly, it’s message won’t be heard by an entire gender.
Here’s the article on it:
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/07/urinal-cake-takes-the-piss-out-of-drunk-driving/
Derek Brown’s Driving Academy is a leader in Calgary Driver’s Education, and a leader in Calgary Trucking Education. Thanks for reading!
Here’s a video gone viral of someone who could have benefitted big time with a beginner’s driving course and some in car lessons. Don’t wait. Don’t hesitate. Call Derek Brown’s Driving Academy today. Save yourself from accidents, higher insurance, and possibly the embarrassment of seeing yourself in an accident on youtube.
So you’re driving down the Deerfoot or other highway and another car is too close to your bumper. You look in your rearview mirror and the car is just staying there right behind you and even getting closer. The driver wants you to go faster or even better, get out of their way. Immediately you become uncomfortable and maybe a little angry. What do you do? I’ll tell you what my first instinct is, what I want to do. I want to roll down my window and yell at the person. Get off my bumper!! Or I want to slam on my brakes and give them a scare as a warning. As a rule, I never make rude gestures but if I did, I might want to give them the finger. Or I’d like to speed up and show them I’m a faster driver than they are.
These are all bad ideas. For one, your emotions are running high and when that happens you are not being a safe driver. And two, if you do give in and do any of these things, the other driver will also get angry and then they too will be unsafe.
Big huge emotions like anger toward another driver are DANGEROUS. Lives are at stakes when you are being unsafe behind the wheel. Your life and other people’s lives. Innocent lives. And guess what? No temporary satisfaction like speeding up, slamming on the brakes, giving the finger is EVER worth it.
Much, much better is to take a deep breath and change lanes and get out of their way. Let them speed and be in a hurry for their own funeral if they want. Your life and other innocent lives are not worth losing over such trivialities.
Want to be a safer, better driver? Sign up for a course at our Calgary driving school. We have all types of Drivers Education Courses.
In the United States in 2008, 9% of drivers admitted to driving while over the legal limit in the past month. Drunk driving is still very common. That’s a very high number. Why is it so high? I think there are a variety of reasons.
The first reason is that I think people aren’t prepared to sacrifice a good time in favor of safety. If there is no easy and cheap public transportation, taxi, or other transportation service, people will drive rather than go through an inconvenient and lengthy process of getting a ride after a night at the bar. In a lot of cities, public transportation feels dangerous at night. Walking at night is dangerous in a lot of places as well, especially for women. I think having a cheap, reliable and safe public transportation system will help any city combat drunk driving.
Another problem is people misunderstand the affects of alcohol on their system. They feel that since they have a tolerance, they can drive just as well drunk as sober. This is not the case. Reaction times are still decreased, making accidents easier and driving more dangerous. Education is needed in this area to help people understand why driving while intoxicated is not OK.
A certain segment of the population will always drink and drive, because they feel entitled to it. So there may be a point where the number cannot be lowered any further. But I think that number can go down a great deal from 9%.
Here is the source for the story: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-04-28-DUI_N.htm
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Thanks for reading!
Trucking can be dangerous. Especially if you are trucking in extraordinary circumstances or with hazardous goods. We found an interesting article on the most dangerous trucking jobs and thought it would be good to share: http://truckgps.org/5-most-dangerous-truck-driver-jobs/
The article talks about ice road truckers, which I think a lot of us will be familiar with because of the television show on the History Channel about it. But there’s also truckers who take on the La Paz to Coroico Highway in Bolivia which claims 300 people a year. Here’s a short video:
The article also talks about truckers taking oversized loads, like houses! I can’t imagine how difficult and annoying of a trip that would be for the driver.
Take care of all your Calgary Trucking School and Professional Driver Improvement Course (PDIC) needs at Derek Brown’s Academy of Driving!
For a lot of drivers, it is not intuitive why speeding is dangerous. They feel that they can be just as safe driving above the posted speed limit signs. Unfortunately, the statistics say otherwise.
Transport Canada published a report in June 2008 with detailed information about why speeding is dangerous. Two of the most sobering statistics from the report are:
In 2002-2004, more than 700 people were killed and more than 3,500 were seriously injured annually in speed-related crashes.
Speeding is a factor in about 25% of deaths from vehicle crashes.
Transport Canada reasons that speed limits are the limits for a reason, to go faster on those roads is unsafe. They go onto say drivers focus too much on the thrill of speeding and ignore the risks. I think it’s important to remember that there are plenty of ways to get your thrills in this world, from roller coasters to skydiving that don’t involve as much risk to yourself or others. Even if the thrill involves more risk to you, you aren’t risking the lives of innocents.
The report continues on to say that speeding accounts for about the same number of deaths as drunk driving. So keep that in mind next time you feel the need for speed.
That’s all for this blog. I might go over some more stuff from this report in a later blog. Thanks for reading!
Learn how to get where you’re going with Derek Brown’s Academy of Driving, a Calgary Driving school
MSN Canada has made a list of the ten worst cities to drive in. The list is as follows
10. Manila, Philipines
9. Toronto, Canada
8. Seoul, South Korea
7. Orlando, Florida
6. Beijing, China
5. Paris, France
4. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
3. Athens, Greece
2. Mumbai, India
1. Rome, Italy
I’ve only been to Paris out of all these cities, but I can tell you that driving would be too much for me there. It’s interesting to me how nonchalant people are about driving. It seems obvious to me how dangerous vehicles are. I guess it is not obvious to everyone.
Derek Brown’s Driving Academy, a Calgary Driving school, and a Calgary Trucking school, will help you remain safe on the road.
What do you think the worst city to drive in is? Reply in the comments!