In case you haven’t been paying attention on your daily drives to and from work, or anytime you drive on public roads, here’s a newsflash for you: there are a lot of terrible drivers out there. If this comes as a surprise to you, you’re probably one of them, so please continue reading.
Most online driving tips recommend practice, even including enrolling in a professional driving school. But if you had time for that you wouldn't need to cut it front of me as a result of not seeing the enormous blinking orange arrow that you have been driving towards for the past 10 minutes, so we've restricted our tips to things people can do starting now.
So even if you fancy yourself a good driver, you can always be better, and besides, we just like complaining about people who can’t drive. That’s definitely a habit we’re eager to break, however, so in the name of the public good, we present five easy tips to help you drive like a little less of a dick.
5. Shut up and drive.
No words ever spoken over the phone have ever been so important they can't wait till you're not in the car.
You’ve probably heard about the dangers of texting – or doing anything with your cell phone -- while driving, and you may even be one of the responsible ones who stows their phone in the glove compartment. But that doesn’t mean you aren’t distracted. Despite the fact that it’s legal just about everywhere, being on the phone via your car’s Bluetooth is exactly as distracting as holding your phone in your hand, so if you want to do a better job of keeping your car on the road, we suggest you keep your mouth shut as much as you can. Even conversations with passengers can be terribly distracting, and don’t even get us started on kids.
4. Be prepared for the worst.
Which one is going to do something crazy?
The secret to sensible defensive driving is to never assume things will go smoothly. Being aware of your surroundings is only half the battle; you need to assume that everyone on the road with you could, at any time, do something asinine and life-threatening. That car in the lane to your right? Assume it’s going to change into your lane with no signal and put on the brakes. The car behind you? It’s following too close to be able to stop in time if, God forbid, you need to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting something in front of you. By anticipating the stupidity of others, you can literally steer clear of falling victim to it.
3. Keep your distance.
This information is very important. You should learn it.
Because way down deep we’re still dumb primates, we like to travel in packs. This makes sense when you’re blazing a trail through virgin rainforest, but when you’re inside a box made of a couple tons of metal that possesses the unique ability to transform into a coffin in a microsecond, it’s best to give everyone else on the road as wide a berth as possible. That way if anyone does something asinine, like changing lanes without signaling or driving slow in the passing lane, they can be easily gotten around.
2. Look up.
If you can see that the red car has its brake lights on, you can expect to need to use yours soon.
When you drive, do you look at the car in front of you? You shouldn’t. You should be looking as far down the road as possible, especially on the freeway. Don’t worry, your peripheral vision will be there in case the guy in front of you hits his brakes, or if someone in the next lane starts to drift into yours, not realizing it’s already occupied by you. But if you can see brake lights going on five, ten, twenty cars ahead, you are guaranteed to not be surprised when it comes your turn to slow down. You should also be constantly scanning for street signs, as well as checking your side- and rear-view mirrors regularly, and the sooner you’re able to anticipate trouble, the more time you’ll have to do what it takes to stay out of it.
1. State your intentions.
Despite its wickedly deceptive name, the turn signal (or turn indicator) is used to "signal" (or "indicate") that your car is about to turn.
Some people call them turn signals. Others call them turn indicators. Most people apparently have no word to describe their car’s single most effective safety feature, judging by how rarely they use it.
The first electronic blinking turn indicator was made available on 1938 Buicks (sold as a “Flash-Way Directional Signal”), and the first self-cancelling signal with a control on the steering wheel (featuring the same basic mechanism in use today) appeared in 1940. That means we’ve had nearly 75 years to learn to push a very simple lever every time before – and that’s the key word: before – we make a turn, change lanes, or are preparing to enter a parking space. You should use your turn signal when driving out of your driveway – because otherwise you’re not doing it all the time, and you need to do it all-the-time.
I may be able to tell many things about you from a quick glance at your car – that you’re politically naïve, that you have horrendous taste in music, or that you have several emaciated children and a couple of pets – but I can not read your mind, and neither can anyone else. So if you don’t want me to plow into the back of your car because I didn’t immediately realize that you had cut me off because you had to make a turn the second you were in my lane, and if you don’t want me to flip you off every time you force me to come to a complete stop for no apparent reason because you need milk and the store is right here, then I suggest you learn to use the single simplest mechanical device ever invented. It may one day save your life and it will definitely help lower my blood pressure.
No comments:
Post a Comment