My niece has reached driving age, and honestly, it’s so exciting. Weirdly, perhaps the most surprising part is that she’s into it; a lot of today’s teens don’t really care about driving and don’t really want to get good at it, either. Thankfully, both her dad and her aunt (me) are car fanatics. This means the poor kid is bombarded with advice.
I feel like I have four favorite tips that I like to give to new drivers, regardless of age.
My first, and perhaps my favorite bit of advice, is to look farther than your vehicle’s hood. It sounds silly, but a lot of folks don’t really look ahead and only look at what’s going on directly in front of their bumper. This is risky because conditions can change ahead of your vehicle, and you want to be aware of your surroundings so you can react to them. An overloaded truck that might spill an end table onto the highway, a bicyclist who might swerve unexpectedly, an Altima that might suddenly Altima … the sooner you spot these things, the more time you have to anticipate what might happen, and the more prepared you’ll be to react.
With that in mind, I think it’s also important to have an escape plan. By this, I mean you should scan your surroundings for hazards and places to go if conditions go downhill. Is there sufficient room to change lanes? Is the shoulder safe to enter if needed? A good driver is always ready to X when Y happens, if it happens.
My last two pieces of advice are tied together. I’ve noticed some self-taught drivers develop bad habits, primarily inconsistent speed (instead of holding, say, 50mph, they accelerate to 50, let off the gas and drift down to 40mph, then surge back to 50, and repeat) and braking with their left foot. The latter makes it easy to accidentally confuse the pedals and cause an accident, and the former wastes fuel and may give passengers seasickness.
[Ed note: I once had a ride home in a Town Car from a driver who was not only unable to maintain speed as Mercedes describes, but he couldn’t hold a line, either; he constantly drifted out of lane and corrected, and on/off ramps were navigated by tugging the wheel to direct the car away from the outside barrier, letting the car get close to it again, and re-tugging. Instead of maintaining a constant radius, an off-ramp might be twenty straight-line facets, with the Town Car wallowing like a rowboat the entire time. I have never been so nauseous in my life. – Pete]
Admittedly, my lovely wife pumped her gas pedal a lot when I met her. I remembered myself feeling sick and not knowing why. Then, I saw that the engine revs were constantly going up and down – the car had a CVT – and then looked at the gas pedal. Then, we watched a marathon of Canada’s Worst Driver (an episode is embedded above), and, amazingly, it made a night-and-day difference. Honestly, if you’ve never seen Canada’s Worst Driver before, I highly recommend it. The show is great edu-tainment.
Those are just the pieces of advice at the top of my head. How about you? What would you teach a new driver?
Top graphic image: DepositPhotos.com
I’ll be teaching one new driver in less than two months and another in about 2 years.
Tip 1- Stay cool. You are going to encounter drivers with aggressive or annoying habits. Don’t let them distract you, and never try to retaliate. Remember that you may never even see this person again and that you can’t know who has a gun.
Tip 2- Put the phone down. Humans really aren’t great at multitasking. Don’t get into the habit of letting something that can wait until after you stop become a distraction while you drive.
Tip 3- Ride the coast-er. Coasting to a stop when you can is better for your fuel mileage and your brakes. It also gives the distracted driver behind you more time to react sp they hopefully don’t rear-end you.
In addition to what everyone else has said, I’d add:
If you’re the first car in a line at a red light, and it goes green, wait a second before proceeding: where I live, it’s quite likely that someone will run the light on the cross street, and they’ll be going extra-fast when they do it because they will be trying to beat the very last photon to come from the green light in their direction.
On the freeway, watch not just the car in front of you, but also the car in front of that one.
In modern cars with thick A-pillars, move your head a little to make double-sure there aren’t any pedestrians in the blind spot when you start moving after pausing at a stop sign.
Remember that your driving licence is a privilege, not a right.
And understand that your driving licence is freedom, independence, flexibility.
With a driving licence (and a car) you can go exactly where you want, exactly when you want, and with whoever you want (or alone, if you want)
And with your licence comes rules. Break those rules and you may (and should) lose it. Then you’ll be back to taking the bus.
Drive for yourself, and for others.
Example if you think that car nosing out from the upcoming side street may pull out in front of you, then assume he will and plan accordingly.
Slow down,be patient,and keep your distance.
I’ll add another: Don’t drive with less than half a tank of gas, especially for road trips and or in the snow. Sometimes the gas station you were planning on going to is out of commission for some reason, or in the snow there’s a non zero chance you will get stuck and need to have enough gas to run the heat all night.
In such a situation make sure to dig out around your tailpipe so you don’t die of Carbon Monoxide poisoning. I’d also keep some bottles of water, snacks, and tons of quality blankets in the trunk. A winter sleeping bag for each passenger can also do the trick.
Also having half a tank of gas when you want to fill up allows you to skip sketchy gas stations when on road trips and or in areas new to you. You’d be surprised how many bad situations you can avoid by avoiding sketchy places.
I’ll add a few more:
#1. never drive if under the influence ( call your dad. Really. he’ll pick you up or pay for the Uber, no questions asked and won’t tell mom! At least not the first time)
Be patient! Chill out and wait instead of doing something stupid like trying to do a bad pass or pull out on someone.
Use your eyes not just your mirrors
and/cameras. turn your head and look before lane changing and backing out.
This is one I so heinously obliterated back in the ’80s. “Road Sodas” after work, on the way to the bars, on the way home from the bars. It was terrible, and a lot of people were doing it, especially when a bar beer was 3 or 4 bucks (plus tip) and a six-pack from a liquor store was $1.25.
I read recently that the entire alcohol industry is down due to people just not drinking as much. Maybe this isn’t the worst thing that could happen.
Learn to set your mirrors, and then use them! Don’t completely rely on the backup camera.
If someone is waiting to pull out into the road that you’re on, watch the front wheel of the other car: it’s easier to determine whether that person is stopped, is rolling forward slowly, or has actually started to pull out.
Never let the fuel tank be less than 25% full.
Replace your wiper blades *before* they fail.
Use the non-freezing / low-temperature version of windshield washer fluid during the cold months. Use the better bug+sap washer stuff during warmer months. The basic blue water generally isn’t super helpful.
+1 assume everyone else is an idiot.
+1 leave yourself an out / be aware of everything surrounding you as you drive.
I’ll add another.
Check twice for motorbikes before you pull out onto the road.
And of course, avoid the classic blunder; Never get involved in a land war in Asia.
Or South America.
Mindset is paramount. Embrace discomfort. You control your destiny You are stronger than you think. You are unstoppable. Make everyone else suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.
Say it with me…
“BIG! ALTIMA! ENEEEEERRRRGGGGYYYYY!”
My advice to the woman in the article lead photo is to move her seat up or the steering wheel back. Arms straight out like that means she doesn’t have good control of the wheel.
The classic piece of advice I would give to a new driver is to always be able to see the back wheels of the vehicle in front of you – if you can’t, you’re too close. (This is obviously not for driving at speed, but more city driving.
“Assume everybody between the sidewalks is an idiot.”
It was a simple one-liner that emphasizes paying attention.
Someone near the edge of the road looking to cross? They might not wait for the walk sign. The person in the lane next to you? They might change lanes without checking their mirrors. Maybe they’ll run a red light, maybe they’ll get distracted by their phone, maybe they’ll check their GPS too late right before the turn. Don’t just assume everybody will do the smart/safe thing. Keep an eye on your surroundings. Do this and you can avoid or at least anticipate a lot of unsafe moments.
Glad I’m not the only one. By the time I clicked post, this was the third of a total of six comments with essentially the same advice! Watch out for those morons!
Assume every other driver is ignorant, arrogant, clueless, selfish, and distracted.
When driving in slippery conditions remember the Rule of 3
You do 3 things when Driving
Accelerating
Braking
And Turning
The Rule of 3 is you’re only allowed to do one at a time when driving in slippery conditions.
So no accelerating while turning, and no braking while turning. There are obvious exceptions of course like when you’re turning from a stop light or stop sign, but whenever possible you follow the rule of 3 in slippery and or wet conditions.
Also in generally it helps to not be in a rush, being in a rush has killed a lot of people.
Edit: Also I’d highly recommend she take one of those teen driving courses they host at race tracks, my dad did the same for me when I was a teen and I got a lot more confidence in my driving ability and a much better understanding of my car.
Also if you can’t afford quality tires you can’t afford a car.
Well done! I never thought of it this way, but it’s exactly what I do.
Most people who drive in slippery conditions often enough learn it inherently, I was lucky enough that my dad knew how to explain it to me in an easy way to understand. It still took a bit of learning on my part, but that simple explanation did most of the legwork for me.
I was going to say the driving course at the track, whether for teens (which tend to include more vehicle knowledge/maintenance info) or otherwise. Getting to feel what it’s like to brake at the limit, break traction, and so on has served me very, very well after being gifted one of these courses when I was 17.
Glad to hear I’m not the only one here who took one of these courses as a teen!
Calm down. And let it go.
No one wins when someone gets upset and makes it personal.
I tell all my Nieces and Nephews who are learning to drive the same thing: Just assume other drivers are about to do something incredibly stupid at any given time.
Do not use your phone.Learn your way around without navigation.Take defensive driving course(s).Know the limits and capabilities of your vehicle.ALWAYS adjust your driving to weather conditions/situations.Humility, you are not as good of a driver as you think you are.Situational awareness!!!!!!!!