Car accidents happen everyday, and while some are unavoidable, many are preventable.

Most accidents are minor fender benders in which no one sustained any injuries and that is the good news.

With most accidents there is some kind of vehicle damage and that costs time and money to repair.

That is the bad news, and if your like me, you don't have extra time and don't want to spend any extra cash on your car if it's not necessary.

So how can you prevent a car accident? The answer is very simple, use common sense and obey the rules of the road.

Here are a few tips to help you avoid accidents and injury:

1. Don't Speed

When your driving you should be aware that your car is a powerful machine. It can kill and damage. So when you are driving use common sense and follow the speed laws. If your going to fast you cannot control your car. You can't stop as quickly as you may need to. In our daily activities, be it work, school or sports practice, we all seem to be in a big hurry. Slow down on the roads. Drive the posted speed limit. The police don't come up with those speed limits off the tops of their heads, they have reasons for them.

2. Learn to Drive Defensively

In just about every town, or county, there is a defensive driving course you can take to teach you how to drive defensively. People are the cause of most car accidents, so you have to learn how to prevent being involved in one. Driver negligence is the number one cause of car accidents. Learn how to pay attention to the rules of the road, to the road itself and to the other drivers on the road.

When your driving a car those three things are what your attention should on. Not on your coffee, or you car stereo. Certainly not on your cell phone or even worse, your blackberry. Pay attention to the road and where you are going. Just looking down to glance at the radio dial in your car can cause an accident. It only takes a few seconds.

Cell phones probably cause most of the accidents today when the driver has been negligent. Everyday you see people on their cell phones jabbering away while cutting other cars off while driving along oblivious to the fact that anything other than their conversation is going on. Now that is dangerous. Here is someone who is driving a two ton vehicle and they are in an animated conversation. Great! Even with a headset having a conversation while your driving can be dangerous. You are not using all your senses to pay attention to what is going on around you.

Don't put makeup on while driving. Now that just seems like common sense to me. I always imaging the line from the movie The Christmas Story. Little Ralphie is always told he is going to shoot his eye out if he gets a BB gun. I picture the women who is putting on eye liner and having a collision at the same time. Her eye could get poked out, blinded, and for what? Common sense is not as common as we would like to believe.

3. Wear Your Seat Belt

Not only is wearing your seat belt the law, it is just good, plain common sense. It is a safety belt, it can keep you safe. It can keep you in the car, which is always a good thing. How many times have we read a bout fatal accidents only to find out the person or persons in the car were not wearing their seat belts.

4. Drinking And Driving

Here is another no brainer. Don't drive if you have been drinking. If your not going to think about how your judgement is impaired after only a couple drinks, then how about the fines and possible loss of license privileges you could lose. Much worse, think about having to live knowing that while you were out driving after a couple drinks you caused a car accident and someone died.

5. Keep Your Car Maintained

Is your car in good shape? Do you take it for regular servicing or take care of it yourself on a regular basis?
Many accidents occur due to a neglected vehicle. If your brakes have been squeaking, listen to what they are telling you. A car that has squeaky brakes, or bald tires, it is an accident waiting to happen.

6. Night Driving

It may seem a lot safer to drive at night, but it really isn't. Your field of vision is smaller at night so you cannot see your surroundings as well as you can in the daytime, if at all. The glare from other headlights can be blinding as well. You need to pay far more attention at night while driving than in the day. If you find that you get headaches after driving at night, it may be time for an eye exam.

These tips are all just common sense. You already know them, but if your like most people, you cannot believe that you can't control your car while doing anyone of these simple little everyday things. They seem like such simple actions, but they can cause or prevent an accident. It just depends on whether or not you, as the driver of the car, follow the rules of the road.