Driving Tips to Keep Your Family Safe

Vehicle safety starts long before you put the key in the ignition. Use these links to help keep yourself and your passengers safe before, during and after your drive.

Before You Start the Car
  • Buckle Up: The most important tip to keep your family safe while driving is to always use safety belts and proper child restraints. Children are safer when placed in the rear seat in the appropriate infant, child, booster seat, or safety belt—appropriate for size and age. Never place a rear-facing infant restraint in the front seat of a vehicle equipped with an active air bag.
  • Adjust your seat properly: Sitting upright enables your body to feel and sense what the vehicle is telling you.
  • Scan the entire environment: During normal driving conditions.
  • Both Hands on the Wheel: Always drive with both hands on the wheel. The best place for your hands are the nine and three o'clock positions, which helps provide greater control when steering.
  • Lights on, Please: With your safety in mind, all new GM vehicles come equipped with daytime running lamps. To help with safe driving, turn on your lights in rainy or snowy weather to make sure that your headlamps, taillamps and other exterior lamps are on. Even if your visibility is good, other drivers will have a better view of your vehicle.
  • Let it Snow: Although snow is pretty to look at, don't let snow stay piled up on your car or truck. Peaks of snow on the roof increase drag and decrease gas mileage. And snow covering your vehicle's windows—including the side and rear glass—can obstruct your view of other drivers. Also don't forget to brush the snow from your car or truck's headlamps and taillamps to help you to see and be seen.

While You're Driving
  • Be smooth: Keep your steering, acceleration and braking to keep the vehicle balanced.
  • Watch driving on curves: Drive at a reasonable speed, which may mean you need to drive slower than the posted speed limit. Driving at a high speed around curves could cause you to lose control.
  • Trail the brakes: This means to ease off the brake pedal slowly as you turn into a corner. It keeps the weight on your front steering tires, creating more traction for the turn.
  • Elevate your vision: Things come at you fast when you look only at the vehicle in front of you. Look 10 to 15 vehicles ahead and you'll find that everything comes at you more predictably.
  • Turn your wheels with the skid: Taking this action may help you to regain control of your vehicle. If you have a skid situation, ease off the throttle to transfer weight back onto the front steering tires.
  • Quick Maneuvering: If you need to veer suddenly to avoid hitting an object in your vehicle's path, before turning, make sure you look in the direction you're headed to make sure the path is clear.
  • Cell Phones and Driving
  • The National Safety Council model estimates 21 percent of crashes or 1.1 million crashes in 2010 involve talking on handheld and hands-free cell phones.
  • The model estimates an additional 3 percent or more crashes or a minimum of 160,000 of crashes in 2010 involved text messaging.
  • Thus a total of a minimum of 24% of crashes involved drivers talking and texting on cell phones.
  • Enjoy driving your vehicle
  • Don't overstep your limits of the road conditions.