Good driving begins with good health. Before you get behind the wheel of one of our New England rental cars, make sure you’re physically capable of handling the stresses associated with operating a motor vehicle. The following are three important health factors to keep in mind before reserving your next rental.
Vision Health
Declining vision can have a serious impact on your driving abilities. Your response to signals, signs and changing traffic conditions will become slower, ultimately increasing your risk of being involved in a crash.
Warning Signs of Declining Vision
If you experience the following symptoms when driving one of our New England rental cars, you could be suffering from vision loss:
- You experience difficulties reading highway or street signs.
- You have trouble distinguishing lane lines and other pavement markings; curbs and medians; other vehicles and pedestrians. This is especially prevalent at dusk and dawn.
- Oncoming headlights cause you discomfort.
How to Improve Your Visibility
There are a few things that you can do to improve your visibility in one of our New England rental cars. First, keep your windshield and headlights clean. Sit high enough in your seat so that you can see the road clearly in front of your vehicle. If sun glare is bothering your eyes, toss on some sunglasses. Finally, if you lose or break your glasses, don’t rely on an old prescription or go without them.
Physical Fitness
Diminished strength and flexibility can impede your ability to control one of our New England car rentals safely. If you experience any of the follow symptoms, it may be best to leave the driving to someone else:
- You have trouble looking over your shoulder when changing lanes.
- Moving your foot from the gas to the break causes you pain.
- You are unable to raise your arms above your shoulders.
- You feel pain in your knees, legs or ankles.
The best way to handle these pains is to see your doctor. He or she may be able to recommend some exercises or stretches to help relieve your pain. If you’re suffering from temporary discomfort (a stiff neck, for example), try and eliminate your driver’s side blind spot by re-aiming your mirrors.
Cognition and Reaction Times
Drivers are often required to react quickly to safety threats. This becomes more difficult the older we become. Think your reaction time is impeding your driving abilities? Here are some warning signs to watch for:
- You feel overwhelmed by traffic signs, signals and other vehicles on the road.
- You have difficulty judging gaps in traffic. This makes it difficult to maneuver one of our New England car rentals in and out of traffic.
- You often get lost or disoriented.
- You aren’t confident that you can handle heavy traffic or high speeds.
The following are some tips that senior drivers can follow in order to improve their cognition on the road.
- Plan your route. Invest in a GPS system to help you avoid distractions.
- Drive during the day and avoid periods of rush hour traffic.
- Leave plenty of distance between you and the car in front of you. This will give you more time to react to sticky situations.
Aging is never easy. Luckily, there are a few things that you can do to improve your driving abilities even as your health begins to decline. If you’re a senior traveler, don’t forget to check out this article that outlines the Best Car Rentals for Seniors.
Tags: New England rental cars
