by California Casualty | Auto Insurance Info |
When daylight savings ends and our days become shorter, motorists will find themselves driving more often at dusk and in the dark.
As we turn our clocks back, it’s important to keep in mind that night driving is more dangerous than daytime driving – mostly due to reduced visibility and difficulty judging speed and distance. In fact, according to the National Safety Council, while we do only one-quarter of our driving at night, it’s when 50 percent of traffic fatalities occur.
Here are five ways you can stay safer on the roads at night.
1. Be Headlight Savvy
Proper headlight usage and maintenance will go a long way toward safe night driving. Remember the general rule of turning headlines on before sunset, and keeping them on for an hour after sunrise, which will help other drivers see you. Also:
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- Aim headlights correctly (ask your dealer or mechanic/repair shop to double-check them next time you’re in).
- Make sure they’re clean.
- Regularly test your high beams, low beams, running lights, turn signals, and brake lights.
- On rural roads or other dark areas, use high beams. Dim them when you’re within 500 feet of an oncoming vehicle.
2. Slow Down and Give Room
Due to reduced visibility, drivers at night often need more time to both see other cars, pedestrians, and obstacles, and also to react safely. Give yourself the advantage by slowing down a bit and also giving yourself some extra room on the road.
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- Increase your following distance from other vehicles.
- Allow more time for your journey.
- Be a(n extra) defensive driver, as others may be intoxicated or driving erratically.
- Watch out for pedestrians and wildlife. For the latter – collisions with deer are most common at dusk or at night, usually October through January (see our 30-second video on what to do if you hit a deer).
3. Give Your Car’s Interior a Once-Over
A little extra attention inside your vehicle can greatly affect how you see and react to things outside your car.
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- Clean the windshield – inside and out – removing all streaks, smudges, and fogginess.
- Clean the other windows as well to reduce glare and condensation.
- Use your car’s defroster or heater to prevent your windshield from fogging up.
- Dim your dashboard lights so controls are still visible but not distracting.
- Use visors to shield the glare of outdoor street lighting.
- Avoid using cabin lights as much as possible when driving at night.
4. Stay Alert
Two big risks on nighttime roads are drunk driving and drowsy driving. Always remember and stay alert for other drivers who may be impaired due to alcohol, fatigue, or distraction. For yourself, never drive intoxicated and use the tips below to keep yourself alert.
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- Take breaks if you need to – get out and do jumping jacks, shake out your limbs, stretch, take some deep breaths.
- If you’re on a long trip, try these things to stay awake: coffee or caffeinated drinks, windows rolled down for fresh air, talking, or singing to yourself.
5. Be Kind to Your Eyes
You can take steps, both in the moment while night driving, and in the longer term to take care of your eyes so they can take care of you on the road.
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- Make sure you get your eyes checked regularly, which will alert you to any vision changes. If you wear prescription lenses, you may need a different prescription at night.
- Make sure your glasses are anti-reflective.
- Never wear dark or tinted lenses for night driving.
- To protect your eyes from drying out, aim your car’s vents away from your eyes.
- Keep your eyes moist by blinking regularly, especially if you wear contact lenses.
- Don’t look directly at oncoming headlights; instead, look at the road marker to your right until the car passes.
Finally, avoid two-lane highways at night if possible, as they’re especially dangerous. This and the other tips above will help you stay stress-free and safer during nighttime driving.
This article is furnished by California Casualty. We specialize in providing auto and home insurance to educators, law enforcement officers, firefighters, and nurses. Get a quote at 1.866.704.8614 or www.calcas.com.
by California Casualty | Auto Insurance Info, Safety |
Teen drivers are the most accident-prone of all drivers because of one major factor: inexperience. In fact, their first 6-12 months of solo driving is the most dangerous stretch of their lifetime as a licensed driver.
Because they’ve logged far fewer hours compared to other drivers, they are less able to predict – and properly respond to – hazards, sudden changes in traffic and erratic behaviors by other drivers. They also typically haven’t made a habit of defensive driving techniques, leaving them vulnerable to making wrong decisions in the moment.
If you have a young driver (or soon-to-be licensed driver) in the house, as a parent, your years of driving experience are an invaluable asset. Here are some ways you can leverage that knowledge and expertise to help boost your teen’s safe driving know-how.
The Learning Permit Phase: A Golden Opportunity
Many new teen drivers complete their learner’s permit training lacking important real-world driving skills. You can help your teen shore up that deficit by serving as co-pilot in a range of driving scenarios and situations during the permit phase. By exposing them to – and coaching them through – diverse experiences behind the wheel, you will help them become a confident, safe and independent driver.
Although you may feel more secure behind the wheel, here are some driving scenarios that teens need to experience.
1. Bad Weather
There’s a big difference between answering driver test questions about how to handle bad weather and how to actually do it in the moment. When possible, have your teen drive you during the following weather events.
- Snow
- Wind
- Heavy rain
- Sleet
2. Different Roads
Different roadways (and intersections) call for different driving skills and techniques. Ditto for traffic situations. Expose them to as many as you can, including:
- One-way roads
- Two-lane roads with high-speed limits
- Peak commute traffic
- Multi-lane highways and interstates
- Congested roads in urban centers
- Residential streets
3. Day, Night, and Everything in Between
Bright light at dawn and sunset, as well as low light at dusk, affects drivers’ visibility and also influence traffic patterns and behaviors. Practice driving with your teen at different times of day and night. Coach them on the adjustments they need to make in terms of following distance and defensive driving, as well as personal adjustments with visors, sunglasses, headlights, and more.
4. Switch up passengers
For a new driver, devoting their full attention to driving and the road is incredibly important. Knowing that your teen won’t be driving alone forever, why not invite another family member or friend along so your teen can start strengthening their “focus muscles”? Distractions are a major cause of accidents among teens, so the sooner they can begin successfully managing distractions while driving, the better.
5. Different cars
If your family has multiple cars, have your teen practice in each of them. Sedans drive much differently from SUVs, and stick shifts from automatics, etc. – all are good for them gaining familiarity with a variety of vehicles.
Teen Drivers’ Most Common Errors
In addition to exposing your young driver to a range of on-the-road experiences, be sure to also help them cultivate good driving habits. Here are the top errors that inexperienced drivers make – keep an eye out for them and coach your teen along the way.
- Lack of scanning – Inexperienced drivers typically detect hazards later than more experienced drivers and may be unsure how to react. Left turns are especially dangerous for them.
- Distractions – No matter whether they come from inside or outside the vehicle, distractions are a common reason for teen crashes.
- Speeding – This includes driving too fast for road conditions or weather as well as inadequate braking. This error commonly ends in rear-end events.
- Tailgating – Inexperienced teens haven’t yet gained a feel for safe cushion distances and can easily follow other vehicles too closely.
Teens need extra time and experience to master good driving skills. By accompanying them in a variety of driving settings and conditions – as well as lending your years of expertise – you’ll help them develop critical skills for more safely navigating our roadways. For more teen driver safety tips, click here.
This article is furnished by California Casualty. We specialize in providing auto and home insurance to educators, law enforcement officers, firefighters, and nurses. Get a quote at 1.866.704.8614 or www.calcas.com.
by California Casualty | Safety |
Bullies have always been around. But whereas bullying used to happen mostly on school campuses and in classrooms, it’s now followed students to their remote and virtual lives.
As children and teens go to classes online, and their main line of communication is via social media, it’s important to know that, as a parent, there are steps you can take to educate yourself and your child and better protect them.
What Is It?
Cyberbullying is the use of technology to intentionally humiliate, intimidate, embarrass, threaten, or harass another person. It can include online threats, aggressive messages, or posts of photos or videos meant to humiliate. Cyberbullies often share personal or private information about their targets (often called doxing), or post false, harmful, or negative information, all designed to cause embarrassment or intimidation. Some cyberbullying crosses the line into unlawful behavior.
Cyberspace: Where Anything Goes
The expansion of social interaction into the virtual space means that cyberbullying is:
- Persistent – The 24/7 nature of our virtual world means bullying can happen anytime and anywhere.
- Permanent – Once something is shared on the internet, it can be hard to delete. And even if it is removed, it can already have caused immense damage while live.
- Hard to detect – The online nature of cyberbullying makes it much harder for adults to detect than when it happens in person.
- Anonymous – Victims of cyberbullies might not even know who is targeting them, adding anxiety, mistrust, and confusion to an already hurtful interchange. And as anyone familiar with trolls knows, anonymity often breeds an extra layer of viciousness.
- Can spread to a large audience – Attacks can reach a very large audience in a short period of time, making it difficult to contain the spread.
Where Does It Occur?
Cyberbullying can happen wherever there is online social interaction. The most common places are:
- Social media such as Facebook, Tik Tok, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram
- Direct messaging, instant messaging, and online chatting on various platforms
- Text messaging on mobile devices, online apps, or tablets
- Email
- Online gaming communities
- Online chat rooms, message boards, and other forums
What You Can Do
As a parent, you have tools at your disposal to help protect your child.
- Talk about it. Have the cyberbullying conversation early – communication is key in detecting and addressing it. Kids may be reluctant to talk but making sure they know you’re available and ready to help may allay their fears. Make sure to help them set expectations, know what to look for, and be alert to red flags.
- Set rules. Just as you protect them in the physical world, make sure you’re establishing guidelines and boundaries in the virtual world. Stress the importance of privacy protection, password security, and discernment of who to friend or not. Set hours that technology can be used and when it should be turned off.
- Set parental controls – Set up parental access for your kids’ cell phones, social networking sites, text history, etc. As your child gets older, re-evaluate the rules and restrictions. Keep communication open and provide guidance in helping them become a critical thinker.
- Stay involved – Check in regularly. Even if your child is not being bullied themselves, they may well be a witness to it. It’s important to stay engaged, not just for teachable moments but for the possible need to bring bullying behavior to teachers’ or school administrators’ attention.
- Documentation – If you suspect your child is being bullied, document the evidence. Record details, including: saving URLs where bullying occurred; printing emails, posts, or webpages; taking screenshots of bullying, and saving texts or messages.
Victim, Witness, or Bully?
Cyberbullying affects not only the bully and their victim, but also witnesses. Here’s some final advice to help your kid no matter where they are in the dynamic.
- If your child is being bullied – In addition to the tips above, remember to offer a safe and supportive space for them to share their feelings and experience. Let them know that it is not their fault, they are not alone, and bullying is never okay. Work with their teacher and school administrators and ask about the school’s bullying prevention policy and protocol.
- If your child has witnessed bullying – Let them know they can make a difference by: not engaging in bullying behavior (no matter how “minor” it seems), reporting it, and reaching out to and supporting the victims. Remind them they can trust parents, teachers, school counselors, and other adults, and should reach out to them right away.
- If your child is being a bully – First, remember that bullying is a behavior, and behaviors can be changed. You’ll need to talk with them, ask about their feelings, and explore reasons for their behavior. You may wish to involve a school counselor or a children’s therapist. Discuss expectations and consequences, and practice positive feedback and patience as your child works on their behavior.
While the virtual world offers kids new, meaningful ways to interact and opportunities to learn, share, and grow, it also, unfortunately, provides fertile ground for bullying. By keeping lines of communication open with your child and setting guidelines and expectations, you can help protect them. If you’re a teacher, check out these tips for preventing bullying in the classroom – many of which can be applied virtually.
This article is furnished by California Casualty, providing auto and home insurance to educators, law enforcement officers, firefighters, and nurses. Get a quote at 1.866.704.8614 or www.calcas.com.
by California Casualty | News |
Each Memorial Day, we honor the service and sacrifice of all the brave men and women who have laid down their lives, and put them at risk, for our freedom.
Many Americans celebrate Memorial Day by hosting large parties with friends and family, while others choose to attend memorial celebrations and parades. This year; however, may look a little different.
Here’s how you can observe Memorial Day while staying away from the crowds:
Observe a Moment of Silence – Plan a time for you and your family on Monday to pause for a few minutes to honor those fallen and reflect on your gratitude for the sacrifices made by those heroes and their families.
Make a Donation to a Military or Veteran Charity Fund – If you would like to make a difference this Memorial Day, donating to a charity is one of the best ways you can help our military veterans and their families. There are all kinds of charities out there, so find one with a mission that you would like to support and give what you can, or donate straight on the VA’s website.
Visit a VA Cemetery – VA cemeteries will be open to the public throughout the weekend for friends and family members to visit and place flags and flowers on graves; however, the ceremonies, like the Wreath Laying Ceremony will not be. Most ceremonies will be streamed online this year. You can watch live by searching for the cemetery on social media on Memorial Day or visiting this link.
Visit the Veterans Legacy Memorial (VLM) Online – The VA, alongside the National Cemetery Association, has launched the VLM website to memorialize the 3.7 million Veterans interred in VA cemeteries to a digital memorial space by providing a VLM profile page for each Veteran. Families and friends can search for their veterans and create online memorials.
Take a Virtual Museum Tour – Many veteran and war museums offer virtual tours and online galleries. A few to check out on Monday include, Kansas City’s National WWI Museum, New Orleans’ National WWII Museum, Chicago’s Pritzker Military Museum & Library, Virginia’s Cold War Museum, Washington D.C.’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Watch PBS’s National Memorial Day Concert – The concert will be held on the eve of Memorial Day, Monday the 24th, at 8 p.m. EST. In previous years, the concert has been held on the U.S. Capitol’s West Lawn, but this year it will be a series of performances, stories, and special messages.
Show Your Support on Social Media – If you have friends or family that are in the military, dedicate a social media post for them to thank them for their service. If you don’t, but would still like to show your support, you share our Memorial Day graphic straight from our Facebook page.
Happy Memorial Day to all of our veterans and their families. Thank you for your service.
This article is furnished by California Casualty, providing auto and home insurance to educators, law enforcement officers, firefighters, and nurses. Get a quote at 1.866.704.8614 or www.calcas.com.
by California Casualty | Educators |
About the author
Alan Haskvitz has taught for 45 years and has credentials in special education, gifted education school administration, and all core subjects. He has been inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame and was chosen by Reader’s Digest as a Hero in Education.
Discipline is probably the most difficult of all areas to deal with as it encompasses issues that may be related to a vast array of difficulties that can try the expertise of the most experienced parent and educator. Contributing factors may include personal problems, improve medication, self-esteem issues, and peer pressure.
Indeed, in my 45 years of teaching at every grade level and nearly every subject, I have had my fair share of problems all of which were unique in some regard, but needed to be dealt with in a manner that resolved the issues for all involved. With this in mind, I put together a variety of free resources that may be of value in being proactive and help to prevent a discipline problem. You can read it below:
Be Proactive
Essentially there are three main ways to deal with these issues starting with being proactive. First, let the students know behavior expectations early. From the start of the year be positive. Always look for ways to reinforce good behavior. Developing rapport with students is also essential. I used an information card that included the usual contact numbers and such items as favorite games, people, family pets, and other information that would enable me to get to know the students better. If students feel you are approachable it helps eliminate problems and also encourages them to confide in you of concerns that would otherwise be kept secret.
Consequences
Consequences are important, but they need to be appropriate and consistent, but always leave yourself room for accommodations depending on the circumstances. The ideal combination is to be firm and fair and calm.
Communicate
Perhaps the most important way to prevent behavior issues is to establish good communications with the student, parent, and administration. Keeping them informed of issues can help prevent an escalation that can take the joy out of teaching. I try to contact parents the first week of school and have a handout for Back to School Night that explains classroom expectations. As well, I document what I have done to keep the parties involved aware of the situation.
Expect the Unexpected/Teachable Moments
One day some students in my classes jumped out of their seats and ran to the back of the room. Some were screaming. Now, this could have been a planned event to challenge me, but from experience, I knew I had to remain calm. I walked over and saw a large spider had entered the room and caused the students’ reaction. I quickly handled the situation, but the students were unsettled. And so I turned it into a teachable moment by asking them to describe what they had seen and their actions. Some indicated a fear of spiders and were swept up in the reaction of the crowd. The appearance of the spider provided a teachable moment that even extended outside of the classroom. Most importantly it turned what could have been a behavior problem into a learning opportunity.
Here are a variety of sites that can provide ideas and resources to help you with discipline-related problems. They run the gamut from simple to complex, but each of them does provide insights from teachers, students, parents, and theorists.
Classroom and Site Discipline ideas and strategies
Methods and Practice of Discipline
Classroom Management Plan
Relational Discipline Strategies
Research sites
Special Education Related Behavior Sites
Sometimes a lesson plan might find some students are done early. This site has some ideas. I would also add that having the students create a newspaper of what happened that day in class is very good and it could be given to those that were absent. You can keep them to augment your lesson plans, too, and check to ensure learning.
Parent sites
This article is furnished by California Casualty, providing auto and home insurance to educators, law enforcement officers, firefighters, and nurses. Get a quote at 1.866.704.8614 or www.calcas.com.
