** BEWARE THE CABS!!! **
** BEWARE THE CABS!!! **
** BEWARE THE CABS!!! **
Don’t drive in NYC, especially Brooklyn. They take driver’s ed on 12 lane roads in NY.
Try to avoid Boston, very crowded.
DC has too many traffic circles (Rotaries to you N Englanders)
Out west they drive FAST.
Dallas is about the politest driving major city I’ve been in.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Forget defensive driving; it’s common sense to go for full fledged paranoia.
Always assume that the cars around you are driven by legally blind, sociopathic trogoldytes who can’t tell left from right, assume they have valid squatters rights for any lane they want–whether you’re occupying at the time or not–and lacking insurance, a valid license and any concept of stopping distances relative to mass and speed.
And it isn’t a bad idea either to assume that many of your fellow roadizens learned most of their driving technique from watching movies.
Veb
Do NOT pass me and then slow down. I don’t care if you pass. But if you pass me and slow down to the point where I’m runnin’ up on your ass, that’s where I’m gonna stay.
That accident is not that interesting, stop trying to see gore, and drive.
Be polite to people trying to merge onto and off of the highway, they just got off too, and they want to get home just as badly.
If the lane to the right slows down, that doesn’t mean you need to.
People that drive too slow piss me off, especially when
they’re in the fast lane. And those people that forget to
turn their turn signal off too annoy me. Oh wait, there’s
more: People that turn too sharp around blind corners pee
mee off. People that don’t understand the concept of the
right of way PMO. People that are too busy talking on the
phone to be aware of their surroundings PMO (BTW I balast
my horn at them while passing and sometimes give 'em da
finger). People which are transporting items which are NOT
secured properly PMO. People with large vechicles that
tailgate PMO bigtime. I could go on…and on… Where I
live, generally speaking, the drivers suck!
http://hometown.aol.com/doggiesnot
Guys - this is pretty funny and in line with some of the advice above…
Actually, I fly a helicopter at 500 feet AGL, which is more complex than driving a car. (e.g., you can let go of a steering wheel in a car – or airplane, for that matter – for several seconds. Don’t try that in a helicopter.) And it can get pretty crowded up there sometimes.
My first instructor taught me to keep my eyes out of the aircraft. I learned “situational awareness”, and I carry that over into my driving.
People need better driving instruction.
Oh yeah, and get the hell out of my way!
Here’s one no one has mentioned, and is something that is not often used, but is quite polite to other drivers:
Try to avoid being in the rightmost lane near entrances on freeways. If the road has 3+ lanes, avoid driving in the rightmost lane unless you plan on leaving the roadway soon. If the road has only 2 lanes, move into the passing lane until you are past the entrance. It is just courteous behavior for people coming onto the highway.
Also, you MUST use your blinker if you are planning to put your car in any position which will bring it into the path of another moving car. ALWAYS blinker, even on an empty street or freeway, because a) you may not see other cars, and its better to be safe than sorry and b) its a good habit to get into. To clarify situations where you MUST blinker:
Changing lanes on the freeway. Always blinker BEFORE attempting to move over. Blinker first to let others know what you intend to do. Changing lanes is not a god-given right. The order is always: Blinker first, THEN check if there is an opening, THEN make the change. If there is not an opening, turn off the blinker and try again later, don’t assume that a blinker gives you the right to move over. Also, don’t blinker after you have made your move. That’s even more irritating.
Turning onto a cross street. Even your driveway. Even if it is at the end of a dead-end road 40 miles from civilization. Only blinker when it is evident which street you will be turning onto, however. You want to give other drivers a clear idea of where and when you intend to turn. SO don’t blinker a half mile down the road, and don’t blinker in the middle of the intersection. A good rule of thumb is to blinker just before you plan to slow down to make the turn.
Parking. Whether parallel or perpendicular, always blinker to let others know that you intend to take a parking spot. Also, always blinker when you plan to leave a parking spot so as to let others know what you are planning on doing.
Understand that there are many sitiuations when stopping a car is NOT the proper course of action. Many people assume that when in doubt, stop, but this is a VERY dangerous mentality. You should NOT stop your vehicle in any of the following situations(most of this is a summary of what others have said, but it bears repeating):
If you approach an intersection where you have no stopsigns but the cross street does.
You have a green light.
You are on a traffic circle/rotary/roundabout. Always keep you car in motion in a traffic circle.
You are attempting to enter a freeway: Use the acceleration lane to get to the traveling speed of the freeway. The size of the opening you need in order to merge into moving traffic is inversely proportional to the speed you are moving. If you are stopped you will need a MUCH bigger space to merge than if you are moving 65 miles per hour. If people followed my suggestion at the top of the post, it would make merging even MORE easy.
“driver’s ed??? Don’t have that in California anymore.”
Handy, I don’t know what part of California you’re in, but in L.A. and Orange County, driver’s ed is still available as a class in high school. I’m not sure if that applies to every high school in the aforesaid counties, but I would imagine most.
In response to the OP…
Do not take your sweet ass time accelerating on freeway onramps. A couple of posters have already touched on this, but I just want to reiterate it. When you’re on the onramp accelerating, floor it! There’s nothing I hate more than being behind someone who is entering the freeway at 50 mph while the rest of the freeway is going 75 to 80.
To add to what’s been said about turn signals: use turn signals to show intention, not what you’re already doing. If you signal a turn you’re already making, you’ve signaled much too late. This applies to changing lanes as well; signal before the change, not just during it.
Right of way: learn it, love it. If you’re turning left, you yield the ROW to anyone turning right or going straight. If you arrive at a stop sign at a right angle to someone, you yield the ROW to the person to your right. And if you ARE the person to the right, take the right of way! People who have the right of way and don’t take it irritate me to no end.
I don’t think anyone has mentioned this, but it’s something I’ve noticed a lot lately.
Do not brake while making a turn. I’m not talking about just before you turn, I’m talking about braking in the middle of your turn, so it slows down all the other cars trying to go on that short left, or right turn arrow.
I realize that many old people are afraid of turning, and that’s why they brake. But, it really does slow down traffic when every car turning does not do so smoothly, and efficiently.
“If you’re turning left, you yield the ROW to anyone turning right or going straight”
Unless, of course, you’re making a left turn on a green arrow. If you yield in that situation, well, expect a lot of angst from the drivers behind you.