It’s that time of year again; time to make our New Year’s Resolutions! While of course the standard things come to mind, lose weight, quit smoking…. What about considering something important to your health, and that of the motoring public? What about safe driving as a New Year’s resolution! Everyone has bad habits that increase the risk of having a collision, myself included. These bad habits may increase the risk of injuries, not only to you, but to other motorists as well. No-one wants to hurt anyone, so improving your driving habits is important. As professional Drivers, continually improving your driving skill is not only important; it is an essential part of the job. No different than any other position, it takes a conscious effort to continually grow and hone the skills required to perform not only efficiently, but safely as well. Something that should always be on the Professionals mind include, how can I reduce my risk of being involved in a collision (minor or major)? It might be slow down and leave more space, observe mirrors more frequent to better plan traffic placement, get out and look prior to backing…
In order to be successful with New Year’s resolutions, a few things must happen. First, be honest with yourself. If you can’t be honest about your current driving habits, then you won’t be able to make any changes. Once you have decided what you are going to change, write it down and place it on your visor. For example, I am not going to follow too close in traffic, because I do not want to rear-end someone. Now comes the most important part, be self-disciplined. If you find yourself falling into the rut and doing the thing you said you were going to change, tell yourself to stop and re-adjust properly. At the end of the day, take out that note you wrote yourself and do a self-assessment, how did I do today?
Here is to a safe 2015! Together we can make things safer, one step at a time.

Steve Newton
Director of Safety