Nashville is known by many as Music City. But Nashville is home to more than just music. 

Whether you are looking for music, food, car shows, or entertainment, Nashville has something for you. 

One thing that could ruin your time in Nashville, however, is being involved in a car accident. And it isn’t entirely implausible that this could happen to you. 

According to the Tennessee Department of Safety & Homeland Security, there were more than 200,000 car accidents in the State of Tennessee in 2019. Nearly 33,000 of these accidents occurred in Davidson County alone, the county in which Nashville is located. 

In fact, of all the counties in the entire state, Davidson ranked #1 for overall crash rank and injury crash rank.

Unfortunately, not all accidents are preventable. Some are caused by careless actions made by other drivers that you may not be able to avoid. 

However, you can take control of your actions. Here are the 6 actions you can take to avoid an accident in Nashville, Tennessee. 

1. Obey All Relevant Traffic Laws

Be sure to obey traffic regulations such as speed limits and posted signs. Further, check that everyone in your vehicle is wearing their seatbelt properly. You should also make sure your vehicle is properly registered and that you have active car insurance in the event you are involved in an accident.

According to tn.gov, these are the top ten traffic safety laws for Tennessee visitors to know: 

• Texting While Driving Law (TCA 55-8-199); 
• Move Over Law (TCA 55-8-132); 
• Seat Belt Law (TCA 55-9-603); 
• Speeding in Construction Zones Law (TCA 55-8-153); 
• Handgun Carry Permit Law (TCA 39-17-1351); 
• Tennessee’s DUI Law (TCA 55-10-401); 
• Maximum Length of Recreational Vehicle Combination Law (TCA 55-7-201); 
• Child Restraint Devices Law (TCA 55-9-602); 
• Motorcycle Helmet Law (TCA 55-9-302); and 
• Open Container Law (TCA 55-10-416). 

Whether you’re a permanent resident or just visiting, make sure you follow the rules of the road while driving in Nashville. Doing so can save your life and the lives of others. 

2. Limit Distracted Driving

Make sure you keep your eyes on the road, rather than any items inside your car. 

Be aware of your surroundings, especially when traveling through areas with high pedestrian traffic. Even though texting and driving is one of the most prevalent examples, below are some other common examples of distracted driving:

• Talking on the phone;
• Eating, drinking, or smoking;
• Applying make-up;
• Getting “lost in thought” or daydreaming;
• Using a navigation system;
• Reaching for something in the dashboard or backseat; 
• Changing the radio; and 
• Interacting with other passengers in the vehicle. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that 400,000 people were injured in car crashes in 2018 due to distracted driving. What’s worse, 2,841 people died as a result of distracted driving accidents. 

Don’t become a statistic—limit distractions while driving on Nashville roads. Anything that isn’t essential to your drive can wait. 

3. Perform Regular Car Maintenance

Ensure that your vehicle is properly maintained before getting on the road. Check that your tires are aired up adequately, that your lights are functioning properly, and that you have enough gas to make your trip. 

You should also have routine maintenance performed on your vehicle to detect and prevent more serious issues. For proper vehicle maintenance, make sure to regularly check the following: 

• Oil and coolant levels; 
• Air filter; 
• Tire pressure and tread depth; 
• Headlights, turn signals, brakes, and parking lights; 
• Oil and filter; and
• Tire rotations.

By keeping your car in tip top shape, you can reduce the likelihood of involvement in an unexpected car accident on Nashville roads. 

4. Drive Cautiously in Bad Weather Conditions

In fact, if you can avoid it, don’t drive in bad weather conditions at all. 

If Nashville is experiencing a snowstorm or a thunderstorm, it is important that you drive with extreme caution. Keeping a safe distance between your vehicle and other vehicles and driving slowly can help you avoid car accidents. 

It is a good idea to be aware of potential changes in weather conditions when traveling to Nashville, so you are prepared in the event of weather changes. Definitely don’t drive in poor weather conditions if it’s not absolutely necessary.

5. Be Aware of Blind Spots

Failure to see objects in your blind spots can lead to a lot of issues. Know where your blind spots are and take extra precautions to make sure you’re not missing anything. 

First, you should always adjust your mirrors for optimal viewing from the driver’s seat before heading out onto the road. But don’t get too comfortable. 

Remember that no matter how well adjusted your mirrors are, they do not show you everything. Sometimes drivers get into car accidents because they rely too much on their mirrors. Even as blind spot detection technology continues to advance, it is never fool-proof.

Always make sure to look behind you before you switch lanes to ensure there is no one in your blind spot. Also be aware of times that you are in another vehicle’s blind spot. 

Doing so can go a long way to preventing an unnecessary car accident. 

6. Use Caution When Driving at Night

You may be excited to experience Nashville’s nightlife. But that doesn’t mean you should forego safety. 

Although traffic is typically lighter at night, there are still dangers lurking on the roadways. Drunk driving is especially rampant at nighttime, and there is a higher potential for drunk drivers to be on the road at night. Additionally, there is a lower level of visibility when it’s dark out which can make it harder to see pedestrians, cyclists, or obstacles in the road. As a result, the chances of being involved in a serious accident, such as one where someone suffered a brain injury, are higher at night. Thus, it is even more crucial to be aware of your surroundings while driving in Nashville at night.

Failure to take any of these actions above can lead to an accident and serious repercussions. Some of the most common injuries in Nashville car wrecks [1] include: 

• Back, spine, and neck injuries;
• Broken bones and fractures; 
• Scarring;
• Soft-tissue injuries; 
• Head and brain injuries; and 
• Internal injuries. 

You can’t always avoid a car accident, but take the actions that you can to reduce the likelihood of an accident in Nashville. Doing so can help you protect yourself and others. 

Resources

[1] https://florastuart.com/nashville-car-accident-lawyer/

2020 might have been the strangest year in the history of Formula 1, but it’s also been a record-breaking year for British driver Lewis Hamilton. As races have gone by and he’s picked up win after win, he’s left shattered records in his wake. He’s claimed more pole positions than any other Formula 1 driver in history. He’s won more races than any other Formula 1 driver in history. Now, with the Turkish Grand Prix complete and with Hamilton having claimed an astonishing win from a sixth-place start on the grid, he’s finally equaled the legendary German driver Michael Schumacher by claiming his seventh world championship. As he’s level with Schumacher on world championships and ahead of him in every other statistic that might be used to define success, is it time to recognize Hamilton as the greatest in the seventy-year history of the sport? 

This is a contentious question, and there’s no easy answer that will please everybody. To some, Michael Schumacher will always be the best, no matter what Hamilton goes on to achieve. To others, the honor ought to go to Argentinian Juan Manuel Fangio, who dominated Formula 1 during the 1950s, or Ayrton Senna, the Brazilian driver who tragically lost his life during a race in 1994 after winning the world championship three times in the previous six seasons. Frenchman Alain Prost ought to be in the conversation too, as should Hamilton’s great rival Sebastian Vettel. All of them deserve respect, but should any of them realistically be viewed as superior to Hamilton? 

Hamilton has his critics, and always will. Many are quick to point out that the Mercedes Hamilton drives is superior to every other car on the track, and that the car does half the work for him. That’s not necessarily fair. Formula 1 doesn’t work like the “F1 racing” game that you’ll find on online slots websites, where results occur randomly, and symbols retain their value in all circumstances. There’s no human element when it comes to playtech casino – you just press the ‘spin’ button and wait for an outcome that you have no control over. No online slots player is any better at a game than any other because skill isn’t involved. If all things were equal, Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas would be every bit as successful as Hamilton. He isn’t, because Hamilton gets so much more out of the car. The sensational race in Turkey highlighted that perhaps more than any other in history, as a struggling Bottas finished fourteenth. 

As we look at Hamilton’s rivals for the title of ‘greatest ever,’ the first contender we can rule out is Sebastian Vettel. Vettel won all four of his world championships driving for Red Bull during a time when Hamilton was still a rookie, and the Red Bull was a vastly superior car. Vettel moved to Ferrari in a big-money deal that was designed to help the Italian team end their long wait for a world champion, but he never won the title again. He and Hamilton have been racing head to head for years now, and Hamilton has come out on top every time. Even the German knows his place in the pecking order; he was the first to congratulate the Brit at the end of the race in Turkey. 

Alain Prost is another who was great but not the greatest. He’s also another driver who struggled at Ferrari. Prost won three of his world championships driving for McLaren during the 1980s, then spent two barren years at Ferrari before leaving for Williams, where he immediately won his fourth. He was undoubtedly an incredible driver, but his career was defined not by his four world championships but his long rivalry with Ayrton Senna. The two men pushed each other to greater heights in their fierce personal contest, and neither might have been quite so successful if the other weren’t there to motivate them. Prost acknowledged this after Senna’s death in 1994, saying that his rival had played such a significant role in his life that he felt that part of him died that day, too. 

Ayrton Senna’s legacy is difficult to judge. He was 34 at the time of his death – younger than Hamilton is now – and might have gone on to win more world championships. That being said, he hadn’t won the world championship since 1991 and had admitted that he lost some of his love for motorsport after Alain Prost retired in 1993. Senna’s legacy in Formula 1 is huge, and there are many who feel he was the best of all time. A poll of F1 drivers in 2009 gave him that unofficial accolade, but Hamilton only had one world championship back then as opposed to the seven he has today. Ask the question on the grid again today, and you might find that you’ll get a different answer. Senna is a hero in Brazil and a legend of the sport, but the sentimentality that surrounds his tragic death sometimes persuades people that he was better than he really was. 

Michael Schumacher was as close to the perfect driver as anybody thought it was possible to be before Hamilton came along. The peerless German dominated the sport for the first few years of the 21^st century, winning five consecutive world championships to go with the two he won in the mid-1990s. Cool under pressure, and imbued with a ruthless streak that saw him ram his rival Damon Hill off the road to secure the world championship in 1994, Schumacher tore up the record books during his dominance of the sport. Many assumed that his records would stand forever, but they reckoned without the emergence of Hamilton, who won his first world championship a mere three years after Schumacher won his last. Schumacher’s Ferrari was every bit as dominant as Hamilton’s Mercedes is today, so the argument about being assisted by the car they drove can be applied to both of them. 

We won’t argue for or against Juan Manuel Fangio because motorsport is, in almost every conceivable way, far more complicated and advanced than it was during the 1950s. The cars are faster and more complicated to drive, and the tracks are more demanding. Fangio was the undisputed king of his era, but trying to compare him to the drivers of the 1990s and beyond is comparing apples to oranges. That leaves Hamilton standing alone, marked as the greatest of all time by his victories and achievements. Knowing Hamilton’s ambition, though, is tied with Schumacher won’t be enough for him. He won’t rest until he secures an eight world championship and stands alone at the top of the mountain. 

The windshield of your car does as much when it comes to visual navigation as your vehicle’s engine does when it comes to getting you around when you’re driving out. No wonder car racing events, like the NASCAR Xfinity Series, place so much importance on the integrity of the participating vehicles’ windshields. That being said, the windshield needs to be free of defects, trustworthy, and sturdy.

The problem is that big red flags of compromised windshields tend to be ignored by many truck and car owners. That’s primarily because they worry about the hassle and cost associated with fixing or replacing the auto glass. Ignoring such a problem, however, will only cost you more, later on, not to mention the danger it poses to you and your passengers.

Are you unsure if you’re already overdue for auto glass replacement?  Here are easy-to-detect signs that tell you it’s time you think about windshield replacement or repair:

1. White Haze Around The Edges

A thin plastic layer known as PVB or polyvinyl butyral is commonly used to treat windshields. It prevents the glass in cars from shattering when a high-impact collision occurs. You need to maintain such a crucial safety feature. One sign that the PVB material is starting to come off is the haze that surrounds the edges of the auto glass. It’s important to call a professional auto glass repair and replacement company, like Discount Auto Glass PDX, to fix the problem when haze happens.

2. The Glass Is Blocking Your View

There’s no such thing as a ‘tiny’ or ‘little’ discoloration, crack, or chip when it comes to auto glass. If you mistake a little chip in your windshield for another vehicle in your ‘blind spot,’ it may result in an over-correction that can lead to a total-loss wreck or, at least, a fender-bender. As you know, your ability to drive depends so much on your ability to come up with split-second decisions. 

Your vision can also be distorted by cracks, especially spiderweb-like impacts, in adverse weather conditions. If you put off auto glass replacement, then, your limited ability to see your surroundings in blizzards and storms could be further compromised.

3. Heavy Windshield Pitting

Over time, windshield pitting naturally occurs. Exposure to roadway chemical contaminants, extreme temperature changes, frequent driving in dusty or sandy roads, sleet, and rain are the different factors that cause windshield pitting.

The problem with heavy pitting is that it can increase the risk of drivers getting into accidents by greatly reducing their visibility and scattering reflected light. While you’re driving your car through a busy street, the glare that windshield pitting causes can blind you. Schedule a windshield replacement or repair soon, at auto glass replacement shop – Speers Auto Glass, if you think that you’re having a heavy windshield pitting problem.

If you live in California, for example, you can look up auto glass replacement in orange county and go from there. When it comes to the importance of driving safety, every second counts.

4. Missing Windshield Part

A surprising number of truck and car owners still try to ‘make do’ with quick fixes, such as tape and clear tarps, until they can finally decide to call a windshield replacement shop, even for this more obvious auto glass problem. What they don’t realize is that there’s more to a windshield than just keeping inclement weather and spiders out of their vehicles.

A windshield provides significant structural support to your vehicle’s frame. That means your car’s frame can end up sagging if you neglect to replace damaged or missing side windows and the windshield promptly. Prolonged sagging of the car’s frame can also potentially cause issues with glass alignment by the time you’ve decided to have it replaced.

5. Internal Glass Damage

Checking for damage inside the glass is essential if you own a relatively old vehicle. Try to feel any raised edges or cracks by running your fingers along your windshield from the inside. Generally, unlike external cracks, internal glass damage can’t be repaired. Getting your windshield or side windows replaced is the only way to address the issue.

6. Improperly Installed Windshield

It’s possible to have a car windshield that’s poorly installed. How does this happen?  Well, some car technicians neglect wearing gloves during installation. As a result, glass adhesive bonds with the car poorly.

Failure to use a primer and other proper bonding agents is another problem. Examine the molding and make sure it’s straight if you want to check whether or not your windshield was installed correctly. Visible adhesives and loose fittings can be signs of poor installation, although hard to detect.

7. The Wasn’t Kind

Winter can be rough on your vehicle, just like how it’s pretty hard to endure for humans. Cold weather can easily spell disaster for your car’s glass due to hail, salt, or heavy snow’s temperature pressures. Continued temperature fluctuations can only widen your side windows’ or windshield’s fissures and breaks. Your windshield can even be destroyed in extreme cases because of hot or cold temperature fluctuations. You don’t want to take any chance of these occurring while you’re driving down the road.

8. Inspection Renewal Is Fast Approaching

If there are large damages to your car’s windshield or side window glasses that may affect your view, such as sharp edges, cracks, or chips, your vehicle will fail during a safety inspection. That’s why it’s always smarter to replace your windshield prior to an inspection renewal rather than you hoping that the damage isn’t extensive enough for it to trigger a failure. Not only you can prevent delay, but also avoid additional fines and fees from expired stickers and failure by following this step.

9. Second Thoughts About The Quality Of A Previous Repair Or Replacement

Not all auto glass companies produce the same results, and vehicle owners sometimes find out about it the hard way. You might find that the previous shop you’ve paid for the repair or replacement of your car’s glass isn’t willing to really stand by their work if you notice installation problems, such as leaks and wind noise, after your new glass windows or windshield has ‘settled in.’ Find a dependable service provider to get the windshield you really deserve and can count on.

Conclusion

Knowing the abovementioned signs will help you in determining whether or not your vehicle is due for auto glass repair or replacement. To ensure your and your passengers’ safety, it’s crucial to have high-quality auto glass. It can save your life for sure!