Pre-driving checks
A safe driver can avoid distractions and focus on the many physical and mental tasks that safe driving requires. Any activity that distracts you as a driver will reduce your safe driving performance and increase risks.
Below you will find a comprehensive list of checks and adjustments to make when you are preparing to drive.
Routine checks and adjustments
A safe driver regularly performs vehicle checks and adjustments before starting a trip. This prevents them becoming distracted and trying to complete these tasks while driving.
Perform the following tasks systematically before you start each trip to minimise risk and increase your personal comfort.
Check and clean windscreen
Check the cleanliness of the windscreen before you drive. A dirty windscreen is a significant risk to safe driving. The safest time to clean it is before you start a trip.
Check doors
Check that the vehicle’s doors and boot lid are closed securely. Many vehicles now have dash-mounted warning lights, which warn you if doors aren’t closed properly. If in doubt, physically check all the doors and the boot. Also locate the fuel-filler cap.
Locate controls
If you’re driving a vehicle for the first time, become familiar with the vehicle’s controls before starting your trip. This includes the seat adjuster, indicators, headlight switch, windscreen wiper controls, fuel-filler release and parking brake.
Check parking brake
Locate and learn to use the parking brake, particularly in an unfamiliar vehicle. Different vehicles have different types of parking brakes, including hand brakes, foot brakes and electric switches.
Adjust external mirrors
Always adjust your mirrors before starting your trip, not during. Adjust the external mirrors until you can see as much of the roadway beside the vehicle as possible, and only a very small amount of the side of the vehicle.
After adjusting your mirrors correctly, you should have a good field of vision to the side and rear with only minimal movement of your head.
External mirrors have limited fields of view and don’t give you a complete 180-degree view to the rear. So you will still have ‘blind spots’ to the side of the vehicle. Always turn your head to check for blind spots, particularly when changing lanes and merging.
Adjust internal mirror
Adjust the internal mirror so you can see as little of the vehicle interior as possible and as much of the rear window as possible. This will maximise the view of the road behind you.
When you drive at night, find and practise using the rear-view mirror’s anti-glare switch if your car has one. This small switch or tab, fitted to many new vehicles, reduces annoying and dangerous glare from the headlights of following vehicles.
Some new vehicles also have internal rear-vision mirrors, which automatically reduce glare.
Adjust air conditioning, climate control and sound system
Set up or adjust the vehicle’s temperature and entertainment system before starting your trip. If you intend to access music or playlists through your phone, set up the phone link to the vehicle before you drive off.
Check transmission shift mechanism
Make sure you’re familiar with the transmission gear-shifter before your trip. Many automatic transmissions now have an ‘overdrive’ or ‘sport’ mode. Using the overdrive mode during highway driving increases performance and reduces fuel use. If you select the sport mode, always shift the transmission manually or you could damage the engine.
Stow and restrain items safely
In a car accident, you could survive the crash only to be seriously injured or killed by an unrestrained object in your vehicle. Properly restrain items in your vehicle so they don’t move under any driving conditions, including emergency braking and crashes.
Potentially lethal objects include luggage, mobile phones, laptop computers, glass bottles, briefcases, hard cover books, umbrellas and fire extinguishers. Avoid placing loose objects such as keys, coins and mobile phones on the dashboard or centre console because they can distract you if they move around while you’re driving.
Check for sunglasses and driving glasses
Ensure that you have the correct eyewear before you start to drive. Searching for glasses while driving is a major distraction and risk.
Adjust mobile phone
It’s illegal to use a handheld phone while you’re driving. QFleet does not support the use of any type of mobile phone while a vehicle is being driven.
If you have a hands-free phone, program the phone to ‘do not disturb’ before you drive.
Set up navigation system
Navigation systems are useful driving aids but can be distracting if not used sensibly. A system with good verbal directions will minimise your need to look at the screen.
Set up and program the navigation system before the trip starts. Once you’re driving, assign navigation tasks to a passenger or stop in a safe place to change trip details. The same applies to using a street directory.
Check fuel type
Diesel-fuelled vehicles are now common in fleets. This means there is an increasing risk of drivers refuelling vehicles with the wrong fuel. Always check which type of fuel your vehicle requires and know how to refuel correctly.
Seat safety
Adjust the seat and adopt a good driving posture
A properly adjusted seat and good driving posture will enhance your vision, comfort and safety. You must also be seated correctly relative to the vehicle’s safety equipment, such as airbags and sophisticated seatbelt systems.
When you’re seated correctly, you will:
- have better vision and vehicle control
- be more alert and suffer less from driving fatigue
- be better protected by the vehicle’s safety equipment in a crash.
Many vehicles have steering wheels that you can adjust for height, tilt and reach (closeness). When you adjust the steering wheel, make sure you:
- are in a comfortable driving position
- don’t have the steering wheel too close
- can clearly see the instruments, particularly the speedometer.
Adjust the head restraint
Head restraints reduce the rearward motion of the head in a rear-end crash and reduce the risk of occupants sustaining whiplash neck injuries.
To prevent whiplash, position the headrest at least as high as the head’s centre of gravity (eye level or higher). Also ensure that it almost touches the back of the head or the gap behind the head is as small as possible. You might need to adjust the seat-back angle to move the headrest closer to the back of the head.
You should perform several checks if your vehicle has fully adjustable seats. Make sure to:
- raise the seat as high as is comfortable for improved vision
- move the seat forward so you can fully depress the clutch and accelerator pedals comfortably
- tilt the seat cushion to support your thighs along the length of the cushion
- adjust the back rest so it continuously supports the length of your back and is in contact up to shoulder height
- adjust the lumbar support to ensure even pressure along the length of the back rest.
Seatbelt safety
Seatbelts are one of the most effective safety improvements in a motor vehicle. Wearing and adjusting a seatbelt incorrectly will give you less protection in a crash and increased neck, chest or abdominal injuries.
You should perform several checks to optimise a seatbelt’s effectiveness, such as:
- make sure the belts are flat and not twisted
- check that the lap belt fits snugly and passes over the pelvis and hips, not across the stomach
- for a pregnant woman, position the lap belt over the thighs, across the pelvis and under the unborn child
- pass the shoulder belt over the chest and shoulder bone, and ensure it doesn’t touch the neck or face – also use the belt-height adjuster, where fitted, to ensure that the belt applies firm pressure over the shoulder, and there is no gap between the belt and the front of the shoulder.