The most effective thing you can do to reduce your risk of being injured or killed in a traffic crash is to:
- Wear your seat belt. ✓
- Limit your driving to weekdays.
- Stay in the right lane on multilane highways.
- Limit your driving to hours between 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.
Answer: A. Wear your seat belt.
Wear your seat belt; the handbook says safety belts help keep you from being thrown from your car and in better control, which lowers your chance of being killed in a crash.
Why this is the answer
The handbook lists what safety belts do in a crash: they keep you from being thrown out, keep you from hitting the dashboard too hard, and help you stay in control. It also states that your chances of being killed are five times greater if you are thrown from your car. Among the choices given, that is the only action tied in the passages to reduced injury or death risk. The other choices are not described as crash-survival measures.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. Limit your driving to weekdays. — The passages do not say that limiting driving to weekdays reduces your risk of injury or death in a crash.
- C. Stay in the right lane on multilane highways. — The passages do not say that staying in the right lane on multilane highways is a crash-survival measure.
- D. Limit your driving to hours between 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. — The passages do not say that limiting driving to the late afternoon hours reduces your risk of injury or death.
Remember it
Buckle first: a belt keeps you inside the car and in control, which is the protection the handbook lists.
Official handbook: Texas Driver Handbook (DL-7), Chapter 13: Bicycle Laws and Safety , p. 64