Law enforcement offers tips for safe holiday driving

CASS COUNTY—With highway travel expect­ed to pick up within the next few weeks, local law enforcement officials say that the best way to avoid a collision is to take a pro­active approach.

Sylvia Jennings, Se­nior Trooper with the Texas Highway Patrol, said the first step is sim­ply obeying posted speed limits and be mindful of special circumstances which might require low­er speed. “Slow down in construction zones, in inclement weather and in heavy traffic,” she said.

Cass County Sheriff Dept. Chief Roy Barker said the number one key is “be attentive.” “Be es­pecially attentive to your speed, children in the ve­hicle and your phone. Any of these can create a bad situation,” he said.

Barker said that the best plan is to drive defensive­ly and pay attention to ve­hicles around you.

“If you are going some­place leave early. Don’t leave late because that is when you speed and be­come less attentive. Al­ways plan your trip.”

“When traveling long distances, don’t allow your vehicle to get close to empty. If you get caught up in bad weath­er and are at a standstill for a long period of time, you will need to depend on the fuel in your vehi­cle to keep it running for warmth,” Jennings said. “Also pack a couple of blankets, candles, batter­ies for a flash light, and water and snacks. It’s im­portant to make sure your vehicle is in good running condition to make the trip. “

Barker remind motor­ists to watch out for white­tail deer and feral hogs on the side of the road. “You never know when they are going to run back into the woods or across the road.”

Jennings also reminded motorists of the “Move Over Law.” The Tex­as Transportation Code 545.157 requires drivers nearing stopped emer­gency vehicles-with lights activated -to either slow down or change lanes.

The law states a driv­er must either vacate the lane closest to the stopped emergency vehicle if the road has multiple lanes traveling in the same di­rection or slow down 20 miles per hour below the speed limit. (If the speed limit is below 25 mph the driver must slow down to  5 mph.)

Emergency vehicles in­clude police, emergency medical service and fire vehicles.

It has been suggested that texting and driving is as dangerous, if not more so than drinking and driving.

Car and Driver Mag­azine performed an ex­periment to document just how dangerous tex­ting and driving can be, in comparison with the widely known risky activ­ity of drunk driving.

During the experiment, cars were rigged with a red light to alert drivers when to brake. The mag­azine tested how long it would take to hit the brakes when sober, when legally impaired at a BAC level of .08, when reading an e-mail and when send­ing a text. Sober, focused drivers took an average of 0.54 seconds to brake.

For legally drunk driv­ers four feet needed to be added. An additional 36 feet was necessary for reading \ an e-mail, while an additional 70 feet was needed for sending a text.