this is in town when I do this. If I’m on the open road(not freeway) I’ll do it a bit later, but still hit my signal before I brake
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Share the road. You don’t own it. If you see someone trying to merge, consider taking your foot off the accelerator to let them in.
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Stay off the phone. In fact, eliminate as many distractions as possible. Don’t eat, read, watch TV, or put on makeup while you drive. If you have a car full of kids, exercise some authority to quiet things down.
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Find a way to make driving fun. I believe some people drive like idiots because their cars are boring. When you don’t enjoy your commute, you just want to get it over with ASAP. If you can afford it, make your next vehicle something that is fun to drive. It doesn’t have to be a $50,000 sport car. It might be a used Miata, a Mini Cooper, or a classic, whatever floats your boat. For me it was a motorcycle. I feel sorry for people who commute in cages. When is the last time you enjoyed your commute so much that arrived at work with a smile on your face?
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Give up on CDs and get an MP3 player with a simple play, stop, FF, RW interface. Don’t get the fancy iPod with a screen and play lists. The idea is to find a way to play music where you don’t need to take your eyes off the road.
You really should read the book if you are going to discuss its merits. I haven’t read it yet, but it is on a list of books I would like to read. It isn’t really a statistical look at how we drive. It is more of a behavioral study.
Oh There’s so many…
. Stay out of the left lane unless you’re passing someone. ESPECIALLY IF YOU’RE DRIVING BELOW the speed limit.
. When trying to cross traffic…don’t pull out and block traffic until it’s clear. I so wish I had my 66 caddy for those idiots…I’d slam into them and then collect the insurance.
. I agree totally with using your signals…NOT just when your turn…but when you change lanes…or merge into traffic…
Here’s my biggest pet peeve:
When it’s raining / snowing / cloudy, turn your flippin’ motherloving headlights on.
Yes, you can see the road fine without them. The question is, can other motorists see YOU without them? Probably not…lights and wipers, they go together.
When it’s raining / snowing / cloudy, turn your flippin’ motherloving headlights on.
In some states that’s the law…most states it’s NOT. And personally I don’t see the need. If you have a hard time seeing cars during the day…turn in your drivers license.
Here’s a couple of things I have found that helps you get through traffic without popping a vein in your forehead.
Don’t look at your speedometer. Really, do your best to totally ignore it, cover it up if you have to. When you don’t know your exact speed, the traffic’s speed seems a lot more reasonable and you don’t get so mad because you can’t go the speed limit that you are “entitled to drive”.
Instead of thinking in “miles per hour” get into the habit of thinking “seconds per mile”. Sixty miles per hour is 60 seconds per mile and 70 miles per hour is 51.4 seconds per mile. OK, now you are stuck behind some “jerk” who’s only going 60 instead of 70 for a whole mile. To people who figure in seconds per mile, it is obvious that it will take an entire 8.6 seconds extra to cover that mile. Ask yourself if saving 8.6 seconds of your precious time is worth passing on the double yellow for. If that time is that important, why aren’t you running as fast as you can when you step out of your car and letting doors slam in peoples faces instead of holding the door open for them.
Finally, watch this funny video to put things into perspective.
I would say that if you know what your own horn sounds like, you are probably not a civil driver. Someone once borrowed my car and pointed out that the horn did not work. I thought about it and realized that I had no idea when it had failed, because I had not touched the horn button since I purchased the car 10 years earlier.
If you think about what YOU are doing and not worry about whether everyone else is an idiot, you will find that you have a lot less stress and you spend less time dealing with body shops. Instead of honking and cursing at the guy who pulls out in front of you, think about whether he could have possibly seen you coming, or did a parked car block his view, and just maybe you were coming around that curve a little too fast, so you just suddenly appeared after he had committed to pulling out.
Someone mentioned some countries being more civil than others. I travel a lot, and vote for Japan as the most civil. If you hear a horn honk there, you are probably near a US military base and the ‘honker’ is an American. Surprisingly, I would rate Mexico as being pretty good, but you cannot use the horn as an indicator in Mexico, as they view horn use a little differently than we do. They have surprisingly few accidents, considering their terrible traffic markings and controls.
I use my signals, but it does seem that as soon as some one sees you want over(because you have your signal on) they move up and close the gap,motivation for not letting them know your intentions.
Yesterday a person saw my signal and didn’t move up to close the gap,I gave him a “thank you” wave and got one in return,made my day.
Some people with high IQs make the worst drivers. Likewise, some of the safest drivers I have ever seen were not so bright.
The assumption you have made makes you look like an elitist snob. Perhaps that is a misconception. Would you like to elaborate on what you meant?
I find that too, but only in places where the people are not courteous. Where I live (Jacksonville, FL), people will slow down to let you in. However, whenever I go to Miami or Maryland, people will see my turn signal and speed up. Maryland drivers are the worst in the nation in my opinion, but in places where drivers have manners, things are different. Most southern drivers are well-mannered and courteous. It is a cultural thing.
Right on Whitey; Driving habits reflect a country’s CULTURE and tolerance for illegal behavior. In many coutries you can talk or bribe you way out of a ticket; those countries also don’t fare well in traffic fatalities due to illegal behavior.
However, buy the book and you will see for yourself how a country’s driving behavior developed.
All I can tell you that US driving behavior is not governed so much corruption as by arrogance and a sense entitlement.
In this case the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Common courtesy dictates that you should not become a rolling roadblock and hold up the majority of the folks who are traveling at the prevailing speed. Likewise if the prevailing speed was 55 MPH an you have a few people driving 75 MPH the same idea applies. Since again the people driving 75 MPH would likely be weaving in and out of 55 MPH traffic, and is dangerous as well.
The problems with the sloths who drive substantially slower than the prevailing traffic is that, they tend to do so in the left or middle lanes. 99% of the time they refuse to change lanes. At any rate traveling well below the speed that everyone else is traveling is dangerous. I stand by my original statement.
I used to ride a motorcycle. The loud exhaust was a defense mechanism against the people who don’t look where they are going. I was almost run down countless times because of people merging into me, usually without looking or signaling. If you ever had to put your boot to the side of a car you would know what I mean.
I still disagree with you. Common courtesy dictates that you compy woth the speed of the traffic in front of you on that 2-lane road. I had just that experience this morning. One pick-up gtruck was going 35 MPH, then we came upon another at a traffic light, also going 35 MPH. The guy in front of me pulled out and passed them on a double yellow line. The passer was wrong, and did something very dangerous. I patiently waited for the end of the 2-lane stretch (~10 minutes) as did the traffic behind me. That is the responsible, adult response. If you can’t wait, leave earlier so that you have enough time to get to your destination. Your second response still smacks of the me-me-me first issue that Tom and Ray explicitly called un-civil driving. I suggest you reread their post. Again.
Dear Mike please provide alist of 5 states that do not require lights to be on in the rain. Every state I have lived in requires it. Some only state when visdibility is limited but that is exactly what rain does. As the correct poster stated above it allows others to see you. In a big rain storm a gray car is hard to pick out from gray pavement. My vision is fine read your hand book.
"All I can tell you that US driving behavior is not governed so much corruption as by arrogance and a sense entitlement
Sadly, I agree. Refer to the first response to this thread to see just that.
I agree with this. Visibility down to maybe 100 feet, if that, in fog. 3/4 of the people I met on the road did not have headlights on.
I had the adage “they’re not for you to see, they’re for others to see you” dug into my brain when I first learned to drive, so as soon as my car is started, I turn my headlights on, even when there’s not a cloud in the sky
I represent that remark! It was a somewhat tongue in cheek response, but I wanted to see what the major conclusions were based on. Guess I’ll have to read the book and get back to you! I know where I live we have Mexican standoffs at 4 way stops because everyone wants the other guy to go first!
I should have been more clear. I was referring to driving on a multi-lane highway. One should not pass when there is a double yellow line present.
As for the second suggestion. On the contrary, but not accelerating up to the prevailing speed as soon as possible, you are purposely causing headaches (granted not, earth-shattering hardship) by those who already have the right of way. IMHO that smacks of the me-me-me mentality more than waiting until the approaching vehicles have past you to pull onto the road. Of course there are times when you really can’t wait until traffic is such where you can pull out and accelerate at a leisurely pace and not cause others to take evasive action or slow down on your account. Those are the times you should make it a point to get to speeds as quickly and safely as possible.