Safety Tips

Road

Before you head out, whether it's to the grocery store or on a long road trip, take a moment to read these safety tips.

Check your tires

Without proper maintenance, your tires could fail and cause you to lose control of your vehicle. Proper tire maintenance is not only critical to the safe operation of your vehicle, but will also improve fuel economy, extend tire life, provide better vehicle handling, help prevent avoidable breakdowns and collisions, and reduce exhaust emissions that contribute to environmental, health and climate change problems.

Check your tires once a month, especially before you head out on a long trip.
Make sure your tires are inflated to the correct levels and do not exceed the load limit of your vehicle. This information can usually be found on the inside of the driver's door.
Inspect your tires regularly for uneven tread wear, cuts, cracks, bulges and foreign objects and rotate tires on a regular basis.

Sharing the road with large trucks and commercial vehicles

There are more commercial vehicles on Pakistan's roads now than ever before. These vehicles can be up to 40 times heavier than an average car and take more than twice the distance to stop. To prevent collisions with these vehicles, remember:

Avoid cutting in front of trucks or braking suddenly in front of them.
When you are in the driver's blind spot, move through quickly and never pass on the right, where the blind spot is even larger. If you can't see the driver's face in their side mirror, they can't see you.
When passing a truck, ensure you can do it safely, signal, then pass promptly. Be prepared to encounter splash and spray on wet roads.

Cell phones and other distractions

Pay attention-don't engage in distracting activities while driving. Cell phones and other devices such as electronic navigation systems are emerging as factors in road collisions.

Do not use a phone while driving.
Turn the phone off before you start driving. Let callers leave a message.
If there are passengers in the vehicle, let one of them take or make the call.
If you're expecting an important call, let someone else drive.

Core safety tips

Wear your seatbelt. Almost 40 per cent of all vehicle occupants killed in 2002 were not wearing a seatbelt. So whether you're a driver or passenger, buckle up.
When work correctly, seatbelts save lives. Lap belts should be kept low and snug over the hips, while shoulder belts should always be worn across the chest.
Airbags save lives. Because they deploy very quickly, you should sit at least 25 centimeters away from the air bag compartment and wear your seat belt.
Don't drink and drive. Alcohol is a significant contributing factor in road fatalities. Almost two out of every five drivers killed have been drinking.
Slow down. Excessive speed is a contributing factor in 20 per cent of occupant fatalities.
Each year, 25 per cent of deaths and 40 per cent of serious injuries from vehicle collisions occur at intersections. Be careful, even when you have the right of way.
Remember to watch out for motor bikes and bicycles and be courteous to these road users.
The safest place for kids under 12 is in the back seat. Have kids travel in the back seat, especially when there is an airbag for the passenger seat.
About 70 per cent of automobile injuries to children can be prevented by using the correct car or booster seat for their height and weight.

Sustainability

Driving at lower speeds can also help save you money. For example, driving 100 kilometres per hour on the highway instead of 120 kilometres per hour uses 20 per cent less fuel.
Remove your roof rack when it's not being used. These racks, whether empty or full, increase aerodynamic drag and fuel consumption.
10 seconds of idling uses more fuel than if you stop and restart your engine. So turn off your engine when you stop to save money and help protect the environment.

Tire Safety

Proper tire maintenance is not only critical to the safe operation of your vehicle, but will also improve fuel economy, extend tire life, provide better vehicle handling, help prevent avoidable breakdowns and collisions, and reduce exhaust emissions that contribute to environmental, health and climate change problems.

Proper Tire Inflation

The tire inflation pressure for your vehicle is very important in providing you with safe driving and a fuel efficient vehicle. The key to correct tire pressure is to know the correct pressure for your vehicle. The best place to find this inflation pressure is on the vehicle placard.

Simple Tire Maintenance

Tires are often the most neglected parts of a vehicle. And yet, they are among the most important and easily cared for. By adopting these few simple tire maintenance practices, you can increase your vehicle's fuel efficiency, reduce harmful emissions, save money and make your vehicle safer.

Measure your tire pressure monthly using a good quality tire gauge. A visual inspection is not sufficient to detect under or over-inflation problems.
Have your tires aligned annually.
Tires should be balanced approximately every 20 000 km, or when drivers feel a vibration.
Rotate your tires regularly.
Monitor tread wear and replace tires when your tire tread is worn out.
Conduct a visual check for embedded stones, glass and other foreign objects that could work their way into the tire and cause a leak.

Alignment

Proper alignment is an important part of tire maintenance. Poor alignment will cause your tires to wear unevenly and you may experience handling problems, such as "pulling" or vibration. Poor alignment will also increase your fuel consumption. Common practice is to have your alignment checked annually, or every 25,000 km.

Balancing

Wheels need to be balanced. If they are out of balance, you may feel a pounding or shaking through the steering wheel or your seat. This pounding could shorten the life of suspension components, lead to uneven tire wear (bald spots) and increase fuel consumption.

Rotation

Regular rotation will minimize wear and prolong the life of your tires. Rotation will also reduce the risk of sudden tire failure.

Front tires work harder than rear tires as they must bear the scrubbing action of steering as well as rolling wear. You can prolong the life of your tires by rotating them. Full size spares should be part of the rotation pattern. Rotate your tires according to the vehicle manufacturer's recommendation, found in the owner's manual. Or, talk to your tire professional to find out how - and how often - the tires on your vehicle should be rotated. Common practice is to rotate tires approximately every 10,000 km.

Tread

Tires are designed to grip the road, allowing your vehicle to start, stop and go around corners safely in any weather. The treads that accomplishes this wear out over time, but drivers can take precautionary steps to prolong the life of their tires.

Properly maintaining your tires will increase their life. It is extremely important to check your tire treads for signs of wear. Proper treads allow for normal handling of your vehicle and help prevent skidding and hydroplaning. Tires are manufactured with a "wear bar" that tells you when there is less than 1.6 mm (2/32 inch) of tread depth remaining - when you see this wear bar, the tire must be replaced. You could also try the penny test: place a penny in the tire's groove with the Queen's crown facing down. If you can see the top of the Queen's crown, the tire needs replacing.

Damage

It is important to perform regular visual inspections of your tires for signs of damage and excessive wear. Look for embedded objects, such as rocks, nails or glass. Catching problems early can save you money and prevent a sudden tire failure.

Storage

When not in use, tires should be stored upright in an indoor location, out of direct sunlight or exposure to strong artificial light, heat, ozone (electrical motors) and hydrocarbons. If tires are stored on their rims, the pressure should be reduced to approximately 15 psi to avoid cracking or deformation.

Your Tires – Safety & Environment

Tires generally perform so reliably that people take them for granted. But to do their job right, tires need regular maintenance.

Safety

Tires are your only contact with the pavement. Under or over-inflated tires will cause handling problems. Your tires may not accelerate, brake or steer properly. Other safety devices such as Antilock Braking Systems (ABS), Traction Control Systems (TCS) and stability control systems may not function correctly with tires that are not properly inflated.

Climate Change and the Environment

Tire inflation impacts climate change and the environment. Every litre of fuel consumed by a vehicle results in 2.4 kg of carbon dioxide being released into the environment. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. Proper tire inflation helps increase fuel efficiency thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Improper tire maintenance practices collectively cost Canadians approximately $500 million a year and cause 1.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide to be released into the atmosphere.

In addition to increased fuel consumption, improper tire maintenance also shortens the life of your tires. Replacing your tires more often means that more tires go to landfills or recycling and more energy is then used to produce new tires or to recycle them. Again, this has an impact on climate change, the environment and our health. Canadians dispose of 28 million used tires every year, many of which end up in landfills.

By adopting a few simple tire maintenance steps into your monthly routine, you can help reduce vehicle fuel consumption and the release of harmful emissions, as well as reduce the number of tires that end up in landfills or at the tire recycling plants.

Cell Phones & Driving

Alhaj Group recommends against using cell phones while driving. It is distracting and increases the risk of collision. Your primary concern is the safe operation of the vehicle.

To avoid collisions arising from the use of cell phones:

Turn the phone off before you start driving. Let callers leave a message.
If there are passengers in the vehicle, let one of them take or make the call. If you're expecting an important call, let someone else drive.
If you have to make or receive a call, look for a safe opportunity to pull over and park.

If for some reason you have no alternative but to use a cellular phone while driving, here are some tips:

Use only a speakerphone or a hands-free phone. Make sure you put on the hands-free accessories before you start driving. But be aware: hands-free is not risk-free.
If you must use a hand-held phone, place it where it will be readily accessible. Trying to retrieve a phone from a briefcase, handbag or pocket can be especially dangerous.
Don't answer the phone until you have checked that it is safe to do so.
Use speed dial options. If you know you will need to call an unprogrammed number, dial the number before starting off and send the call at your convenience.
Driving and talking on a phone at the same time is difficult. Don't make it worse by trying to read or take notes. Do pull over and stop.
Keep calls short and factual. Emotional or thought-provoking conversations are distracting. Recent research suggests that decisions made while driving and talking on a cell phone are not always good decisions.
It's good etiquette to ask a caller to hold until you can park, or to say you'll return the call as soon as it's safe to do so.
Stay in the right-hand lane, where driving may be less demanding.
When reporting an emergency situation from a cell phone, pull over and ensure you are not in the flow of traffic. If you must keep driving, remember your primary concern is to avoid causing another emergency.

Heavy Vehicles – Safety Tips

Heavy vehicles have different safety requirements to other vehicles. There are special road rules that apply to both drivers of heavy vehicles, and drivers of other vehicles who encounter heavy vehicles.

‘Do Not Overtake Turning Vehicle’ sign

Vehicles displaying the Do Not Overtake Turning Vehicle sign require more space to turn left or right, and the law allows them to use the road differently to other road users.

When turning

If a heavy vehicle has a Do Not Overtake Turning Vehicle sign, its driver is allowed to use either or both lanes if necessary to turn left or right, if it is safe to do and the truck is within 50m of the intersection.

Overtaking

You must not overtake a vehicle displaying a Do Not Overtake Turning Vehicle sign if it is signalling, and in the process of turning to that side, or you will crash into it.

Stopping distances

The Braking Distance is the distance traveled by the vehicle once the brakes have been applied. This distance is much greater for heavy vehicles, including buses, due to their additional weight. Take extra care when you enter a road or change lanes if you are moving in front of them.

Heavy loads

Many heavy vehicles travel by night. And at night it is more difficult to judge their speed and distance from you. When following a heavy vehicle that you intend to overtake, stay well back from the rear of the vehicle while waiting for a safe overtaking opportunity. This will allow you to see further along the road past the heavy vehicle without having to move significantly to the right. It also allows vehicles approaching from the opposite direction to see you earlier.

Slow moving vehicles

On country roads, you will often encounter slow-moving vehicles, such as tractors, and large agricultural machinery, such as combine harvesters. You may also encounter people on bicycles, who may be riding two abreast as it legal for them to do so.

Remember, especially when overtaking, cornering or driving over a crest of a hill, a slow vehicle may be on or entering the road in front of you.

Dangerous loads

Many trucks carry loads that could be dangerous either through fire, explosion, corrosion or radioactivity. Information about what is being carried is indicated on the vehicle’s emergency information panels.

Take extra care when overtaking a truck carrying a dangerous load.

Giving way to buses

Give way means remain stationary until it is safe to proceed, or slow down and, if necessary, stop to avoid a collision.

In a built-up area, you must give way to any bus displaying the give way sign if the bus is indicating to move out from the kerb. On a multi-lane road, this only applies to the left lane. However, if the left lane is a bike lane or is obstructed eg by a parked car, drivers in the lane next to the left lane must also give way.

Keeping clear of trams

It is important that drivers do not obstruct trams. Drivers must follow these rules when sharing the road with a tram:

You must not drive into the path of a tram.
If you must use a hand-held phone, place it where it will be readily accessible. Trying to retrieve a phone from a briefcase, handbag or pocket can be especially dangerous.If a tram approaches, you must not obstruct the tram and must move on as soon as you can safely do so (eg if there is a tram behind you, don’t try to turn right as you will obstruct the tram while waiting to turn).

Speed limits

Drivers of buses of more than 5 tonnes Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) and heavy vehicles of more than 12 tonnes GVM must not exceed 100km/h even if the general speed limit is higher. Road trains are limited to a maximum speed of 90 km/h. A longer or wider vehicle, may have a lower maximum speed-limit as a condition of its permit of travel.

Heavy Vehicles – Sharing Roads

The term heavy vehicles is generally applied to the trucks which transport goods all across Australia, but it also includes buses, trams and long vehicles. While they are concentrated on the main interstate routes, heavy vehicles such as livestock transporters, tankers, grain and delivery trucks will also be found on side roads delivering products that build our way of life.

Why do we need heavy vehicles? Transport plays an essential role in supporting the economy by enabling business to access raw materials, to move intermediate products between factories, and to transport goods to shops and homes. It expands the State’s economy by making it possible for South Australian businesses to export goods interstate and overseas. While big trucks might be a problem it does keep prices lower for all of us and ultimately means fewer trucks are on the road.

Heavy vehicles and crashes

Heavy Vehicles are involved in approximately 20% of vehicle crashes. However a high proportion of these crashes are the fault of a light vehicle driver rather than the driver of the heavy vehicle. On the other hand most people killed in these crashes are not occupants of the heavy vehicle. It is therefore in everyone’s interest to drive safely around heavy vehicles. There are a number of specific driving rules and safety tips that particularly apply to drivers sharing the roads with heavy or long vehicles, which includes vehicles towing caravans and trailers. These include:

distance required to pass when vehicles are travelling at 100 or 110km/h
longer braking distance required for heavy vehicles
long vehicles needing 2 lanes to be able to turn.

Long vehicles

A long vehicle is 7.5m or longer, including any overhanging load. It can be a car towing a caravan or trailer as well as most trucks. To make overtaking safer where the road has only one lane each way, the law states that long vehicles must keep at least 60m apart, except when overtaking. On a road-train route the minimum distance is 200m.

Drivers on country roads need to take extra care when overtaking long vehicles. A driver of a car travelling at 110 km/h on a two-way road will need about two kilometres of clear road ahead to safely overtake a 23 metre B-double vehicle that is travelling at 100 km/h. And any on-coming vehicle could also be travelling towards you at 110 km/h.

Allow yourself plenty of time to overtake long vehicles, especially in wet weather, and remember that trailers or caravans may sway from side to side.

Never overtake a long vehicle that is approaching a crossroad. It may be hiding another vehicle, which could be turning onto your road in front of it and you could find yourself in a high-speed head-on collision.

Remember that heavy vehicles need a lot more distance to stop than other vehicles, due to their extra weight. Keeping clear of heavy vehicles that are stopping will help prevent accidents.