<p>These are the things my parents told me when I was learning to drive that have helped me avoid wrecks on several occasions. ESPECIALLY driving in LA county where traffic is bad and so many people don’t follow the rules.</p>
<ol>
<li>NEVER assume that another driver is going to do the “right” thing, follow the rules or observe right-of-way. ALWAYS assume they’re going to do the wrong thing.</li>
<li>When driving on the freeway or even on the street, don’t watch the cars; watch their tires. Tires are the first thing to turn if someone merges or turns unexpectedly, and it gives you a few extra seconds of warning.</li>
<li>If you’re going to hit something like a small animal, don’t swerve to save the animal–just hit it. Swerving means you risk losing control of your car and causing a larger accident. You and your safety are more important than the animal.</li>
<li>It’s better to get there late than to not get there at all.</li>
<li>Put down the cell phone. It can wait until you get there. If you absolutely must take a call or answer a text, pull over. Don’t endanger others because you don’t want to stop.</li>
<li>Don’t worry about other drivers getting mad at you or being irritated. Do what makes you comfortable; eg if you are not comfortable making that left turn but you know the driver behind you wants you to go, wait. You’ll probably never see that person again, and your gut instinct is usually right when you’re driving (you know if you have enough space).</li>
<li>Avoid driving around 2AM–when the bars close.</li>
<li>Your horn is not a toy or a way to express frustration; only use it if it can help prevent an accident.</li>
</ol>
<p>Look well ahead. Look to where you will be in 10-15 seconds.
Scan for trouble, and where trouble comes from. Look into intersections, between parked cars, inside and underneath vehicles for indications of something about to enter your driving area.
Watch for stale lights. If the Don’t Walk sign is on, the light is getting ready to change. Decide on where your point of no return is- that’s the spot where you can’t make a safe stop before the intersection. Then when you pass it, continue through at your speed- no more attracting the police racing through red lights.
Slow down early, and make the car behind you slow down. Use them as a shield. If there is going to be a rear ender, better them than you. And if you don’t have to stop at a light, don’t. Slow down but avoiding the stop will save fuel, your brakes and clutch. Of course, if the light is red and you’re at the line, you MUST stop.
Maintain space for an escape route. If you can’t control the space on the sides or back, leave extra space in front. In heavy traffic the collision may damage your car, but not likely kill you.
I used to be a professional instructor. If you have other questions, pm me.</p>
<p>I hear that argument frequently, but I have rarely had a problem doing this. Yes, cars will sometimes pull in front of you, but they are doing it to go faster than you, so they move up quickly and then you have that space in front of you again. I so frequently see cars driving fast, so close together. It is an invitation for a multicar accident. </p>
<p>There has been some good advice here. I’d add that you want to be sure you are looking way ahead of you when driving, not at the road or the car right in front of you. This goes along with watching out for the unexpected. You want to know what the car is doing a couple cars in front of you so you can react at the same time as the car in front of you, not after they they react.</p>
<p>Plan your route so that you minimize or avoid left turns into traffic and also have turn signals to help out (i.e. make a left turn where there is a left turn signal). I’m teaching DD1 (nearly 20 :)) to drive along with driver’s ed school and she’s an excellent learner (knock on wood).</p>
<p>If there is no advance turn lane for a left, just go up a block and make 3 right turns. Significantly safer and easier, especially in high risk or congested intersections.</p>
<p>Smith System is a company that provides safe driver training for businesses and government agencies. They recommend the 3-second rule for following distance-- when the car in front of you passes a fixed object, count off 3 seconds. If you have already passed the same fixed object, you’re too close.</p>
<p>They also say a large percentage of accidents occur when backing up. One thing they recommend is to back up only as far as you need (to complete a Y turn or whatever) and not any farther.</p>
<p>^ This is close to what I’ve been told by someone who has training and experience in this area. Three to four seconds. One thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three.</p>
<p>I agree. I ALWAYS leave multiple car lengths, and it’s not an issue. I feel like some people will make excuses to cover their bad habits until they really start believing they’re true.</p>
<p>I don’t know how it is in other states, but here if you get rear-ended and your car moves forward and hits the person in front of you, you still get a ticket. No thanks!</p>
<p>Wow! You guys are amazing, thanks so much for all the advice! I’ll comment more thoroughly once I have more time but thanks once again.
I don’t know if I’ll be able to have formal lessons though. Should I really look into that?</p>
<p>I think people need to understand there are vast differences in driving depending on where you live. It is common in the southeast, for example, to stop on entrance ramps to highways and that is unacceptable behavior - without a signal telling you to stop - elsewhere. The OP is posting from Connecticut, so I assume that means most driving is in the northeast. Try driving on the Mass Pike or 91 South into New Haven or on 95 through Bridgeport. It is very different from 75 through Ohio. The average speeds on the Mass Pike once you hit 495 going toward Boston can be 75 to 80 mph. Same for 93 or 95 toward NH. The Maine Turnpike, which thank heaven they expanded to 3 lanes in each direction, will be nearly bumper to bumper on many days, particularly summer and fall. If I’m driving on the Lodge Freeway in Detroit, I can usually leave plenty of room except maybe at rush hour or for a few short stretches. If I’m driving on 128 going toward Dedham, I’m lucky to have space for my car and people will be shifting in and out of my lane as they merge in from the left, exit on the left, merge from the right, exit on the right, etc. </p>
<p>I live in Boston. The 20 year old who learned to drive was taught you stop at railroad tracks. No one does that in MA. I’ve never seen a school bus do it here, though ours used to stop at them in Michigan (and maybe now?). She was crossing Beacon Street with a green light and began to stop at the T tracks, which is absolutely wrong and could cause an accident. I nearly jumped out the window. Sometimes what you’re taught doesn’t work or doesn’t apply.</p>
<p>The amount of personal space you have around you in your car varies tremendously by location. If you drive on the Cross Bronx, you feel like you’re in a slot car set. If you’re on 275 south through St. Petersburg, you may well notice every interaction because you have so much space the rest of the time, except maybe on a causeway. </p>
<p>So sure, leave space. If you can. If that’s the way the road works. Try driving on the Merritt Parkway at speed.</p>
<p>School busses always stop at RR tracks in Andover and Tewksbury, MA.</p>
<p>I lived in the South and don’t recall people stopping at the entrance ramps (though I am sure it happened every now and then). Maybe on Route 1 in Saugus, MA or the Merritt Parkway.</p>
<p>You can’t drive 75 in bumper-to-bumper traffic. </p>
<p>I used to drive I-95 and I-93 north of Boston every day. When I could drive 75-80, traffic conditions allowed it, but that wasn’t often.</p>
<p>I regularly drive from Andover, MA to Philadelphia and use all of those roads. Can’t go speed on Merritt during rush hour though I use I-95 through New Haven and Bridgeport because I find them to be quicker. Cross Bronx, you can do 50…on Sunday morning. Speaking of Merritt, one of those accidents I avoided was on the Merritt because I had that extra car length and the car in front me me had no brake lights and we weren’t doing the speed limit.</p>
<p>What it comes down to is this. I don’t drive based on what how others drive. I drive for my safety. I also drive to get where I am going as fast as I can by which I mean leaving Andover at 6:30 on a Monday morning and getting to Philadelphia by noon.</p>
<p>Turns are where I have the biggest problem right now - I slow down too much and then don’t know when to straighten out the steering wheel, if that makes sense. I feel like I have to suddenly turn it to make the wheel straight but of course, this just turns the car too suddenly. Guess I need way more practice! haha
Also, I always feel nervous that I’m too close to the other cars/curb to the passenger side. I don’t know yet how to gauge distance from that side; other times when I feel fine, my mom will tell me that I’m too close.</p>
<p>Munequita - Good idea! I should practice turns in parking lots since I get nervous easily anyways. This will be good practice and will make me way more confident whenever I drive/turn on the road. </p>
<p>ucb - I like that rule - no surprises. </p>
<p>sylvan - haha! I think I’ll definitely be a more conservative driver, although I do hate feeling like I’m inconveniencing or annoying the driver behind me by driving too slow. Oh well, better safe than sorry. </p>
<p>younghoss - I haven’t driven in bad weather yet, thank God but of course, this will change. I really need to learn how to work the lights/windshields and other things in a car. I’m really lost and oblivious, it’s pathetic lol. </p>
<p>kathiep, No, I haven’t had any formal classes or instruction. My aunt last year took me out to drive twice, my sister once, I drove in California twice (one time on the highway…don’t ask…lol) and now my mom is taking me out to practice. And I still suck! haha even after all this time on the road. It’s mostly nerves, I think. And the idea I instilled in my head in like 8th grade that I was gonna be the worst driver ever since I didn’t know how to drive a go-cart or ATV properly. Again, don’t ask. </p>
<p>I don’t know if I’ll be able to afford one-on-one formal driving instruction, that’s the thing. One hour lessons are $70 each. Do you think I really need this?</p>
<p>Marian - I’ve had a bit of practice and still am not a very confident driver. Like I stated in my last post, I don’t know if the private lessons is going to happen. It would be nice but I don’t know if it’d be worth it at this point. </p>
<p>Puzzled - I agree about parking. I am actually quite good at pulling into a parking space (I thought it would be harder since my older sister never is able to stay between the lines and she’s a very good driver) but would never risk hitting another car or whatever just to be closer to the store. I would get too paranoid just thinking about it! lol </p>
<p>And yes, I try not to get too close to the car in front of me. One thing I am not good at (yet!) is knowing when to begin to brake when approaching a stop sign or red light, whether or not there is a car in front of me. I feel like I’m braking too fast so I slow down then I end up being too close to the car in front or past the stop sign. :sigh: </p>
<p>Ema - that makes me feel so much better. I always feel like I’m never going to get the hang of driving. My sister was out driving on the street in three days! And it’s taken me over a year to get to this point - granted, I haven’t driven this whole year but still.</p>
<p>blue - good tip about knowing when you’re too close to the truck, never thought of that </p>
<p>ellem - I would love to do the road trip thing! I just don’t think any of my friends or family would trust me to drive just yet, lol. I have driven on the highway once in California and it was pick up truck but I found it waaaaay easier to drive there than on the street. Of course, I couldn’t seem to stay in my lane but that’s another story…</p>
<p>Lerg - I need to work on not being pressured by other drivers. I can be a people-pleaser of sorts; I just want people to like me, even if they’re strangers on the road. :rolleyes: I haven’t heard of the car length behind per 10 mph either. I’ve always heard it to be three car lengths but what do I know. Thanks for your safety tips! </p>
<p>suzy - Oy. I haven’t even thought of that. Very useful skill, have to get my father on that.</p>
<p>Whenever have to use your windshield wipers for rain, make sure you turn on your headlights too for safety…make sure you turn headlights off when you park so your car battery doesn’t die.</p>
<p>When you have to back up in reverse, turn your head around to see where you’re going, put your right arm up on seat if you have to when you twist to look backward…don’t use the rearview mirror.</p>
<p>HisGrace - so far, I’ve been assuming that the other drivers WERE going to do the right thing just because I’m so green and unexperienced! lol, of course I know they always won’t. My dad also told me - sometimes it doesn’t matter how good of a driver YOU are, you gotta watch out for all the other drivers because there are some crazy people out there. Tru dat. And never heard about looking at their tires - that sounds better than just looking at their cars :)</p>
<p>Jack - wow, a professional instructor! You must be an awesome driver (well, duh). Thanks for your tips. That’s one of my problems as of now - I slow down or stop when I don’t have to and when I do have to slow down or stop, I don’t start to until after I should have. (wow, does that sentence make sense?) </p>
<p>sho - My mom says that to me too - Just look ahead and you’ll be fine. Be aware of your surroundings but worry about what’s in front of you. If you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing, you should be fine. </p>
<p>Turbo - left turns are bad? Good luck to you and your DD!</p>
<p>ILoveLA - (who doesn’t love LA? ) Backing up - another thing I suck at. I have to be extra careful with that. And three second rule - I’ve heard that one too. Thanks for the tip about the ball - not something I would have thought about. </p>
<p>lizard - I have yet to have to do the looking back thing but I have seen my parents do it a million times. I think the hardest thing for me is having to remember to turn off my headlights as I am a very oblivious and forgetful person. :rolleyes:
You guys are awesome :D</p>
<p>And yes, I live in Southern CT. I go to school two hours north of where I live. I’ll mostly be driving in Southern Fairfield County, CT and Westchester County, NY (I’m from New Rochelle and have a lot of family that still live there.)</p>
) Backing up - another thing I suck at. I have to be extra careful with that. And three second rule - I’ve heard that one too. Thanks for the tip about the ball - not something I would have thought about. </p>