With more than 250 million vehicles on the road in the USA alone, there is a ton of traffic. Most people will drive at least once a day. With only arbitrary lines and lights keeping us in the right lanes and letting us know where to go, it is largely up to the skills and knowledge of drivers to keep everything safe and efficient.
Unfortunately, it is common for people to overestimate their driving skills. In reality, a large portion of us are pretty bad drivers. With that in mind, this article is going to look at a few different tips to become a better driver.
Scan Ahead and Be More Aware
When many people drive, they simply look at the car in front of them and drive based on what that person does. However, this means people often don’t have any idea what is taking place further down the road. Instead of starting right in front of you, you should try looking about 10-12 seconds down the road.
This will help give you more time to see and prepare for potential roadblocks or accidents. In addition to looking ahead, you need to be more situationally aware of things that are happening around you. You need to know how much space you have around your car, how other cars are behaving, and what’s taking place in your blind spots.
Brush up on Skills and Knowledge
For many of us, we haven’t really honed our driving skills since we took our introductory drivers tests when we were a teenager. This means most of us have likely forgotten important rules of the road. As a result, we should be sure to frequently brush up on our knowledge and practice important skills from time to time.
This can be done a few different ways. Retake a 2021 permit test. You could potentially take a driver training course or just use a helpful online resource to help you learn and then go driving and apply what you have learned. If you are interested in using an online resource to brush up on your skills, be sure to check out this link: The Ultimate Guide for Drivers! DMV & More | DrivingGuide.com
Keep Your Mirrors Adjusted
Your side and rear-view mirrors are the most important aspects of your vehicle in keeping you safe. While most people will position their side mirrors so they can see the edge of their car, that isn’t really necessary as your rear-view should have that covered. Instead, these side mirrors should be used to illuminate as many of your blind spots as possible.
While completely eliminating blind spots just isn’t possible, you can greatly reduce them by positioning your side and rear-view mirrors correctly. Of course, in addition to positioning them well, you should also be sure to use them and check them frequently.
Remove or Minimize Distractions
With the advancements in technology and the fact that almost everyone has a cell phone in their pocket, distracted driving is on the rise. While these technologies help us in so many ways, they are also one of the leading causes of car accidents. In fact, experts believe that cell phone usage while driving leads to over 1.5 million crashes every year.
These types of accidents are nearly 100% preventable and part of being a good driver is reducing these distractions. You should keep your phone tucked away, keep your eyes on the road, and your hands on the steering wheel at all times.
Hopefully the tips included in this article can help you become a better driver and keep yourself (and the other drivers around you) safe.
