I have a confession to make. I’m learning how to drive. This is hard for me to admit because when I read the threads on this board about driving, I find that many of the common complaints are at those who drive too slow, and I fear I may be one of the offending motorists.
I do my best to drive the limit, I stay in the left lanes in I’m not going as fast as most of the drivers, and even though I’m sometimes a little shakey, I think I do a good job at keeping myself and everyone else safe. I never do anything reckless, and I’m prudent. But I’m still worried that perhaps this isn’t enough. All too often when I’m out in the country on a one lane road (especially when it’s twisty) I’ll end up with someone tight on my tail, even when I’m driving the limit.
So my question to you Dopers is: what are the important things to do while out there driving? How can I best follow the rules, keep everyone safe, and not piss people off by going too slow?
[sub]I have a feeling that I’m going to get a lot of contridictory adivce, and that I’ll be more confused than ever, but oh well. [/sub]
Screw them. If you’re driving the speed limit, never let yourself be forced to go faster. Not by your passengers, not by a$$holes tail-gating you. It is simply not worth the danger. Your OP asks “how to avoid pissing off other drivers?”; I say, first ask “what is the safest way to drive?” Sure, consider the feelings of other drivers, but be concerned with safety first and foremost. And if you’re doing the limit, screw the feelings of any driver who has a problem with this.
If someone persists in following close behind you in the country, there is couple of options:
(1) Ignore them. This is a hard thing to do especially if you’re concerned for the physical integrity of the read-end of your car (plus it is made additionally difficult at night time by the glare of headlights filling your rear-vision), but some times it’s the only thing you can do.
Alternatively, if possible…
(2) Let them pass you. It’s not clear in your OP whether in your country you drive on the left or right side of the road, but if you find yourself driving below the speed of your fellow road-users, stick in the slow lane. Hopefully they will pass you.
If there’s only one lane but you can pull over, do just that and they’ll be off your ass just as easily. Sure it’s unfair that you have to pander to the impatience of some lackwit, but think ‘safety first’. It doesn’t cost you anything to let them pass you, only a few seconds of your time. Swallow your pride and anger and just let 'em go.
(3) Get angry. Lightly tap your brakes every now and then so that your brake lights come on. Sometimes you can frighten tail-gaters off. Give them the finger through your rear-vision mirror for good measure. Curse them loudly and often.
I must admit that these days I exercise this final option far too much. Of course, the first and second are the correct things to do and I can only urge you to stick to them. Think calm thoughts.
This is “another” area of life where practice and experience make things go much better. Drive, drive, and drive some more. Try to drive safely and carefully. If your driving safely and carefully pissess other drivers off, too bad, they’ll get over it. Don’t worry too much about what others think, as long as you are building driving habits that are legal and safe.
Good luck!
I have a feeling you’re going to get a lot of really specific advice in this thread, based on stuff that other drivers have done to piss people off.
However, I will share the best piece of driving advice that I ever got. My grandfather told me this one day. I had just told him about a near-accident I was in: Another car was tailgating me and I got tired of it, so I pulled off onto the soft shoulder to let him pass. Except it had been snowing recently, so my car started to skid, and I smashed into the guardrail, which was the only thing that stopped me from hurtling down a steep embankment.
My grandfather said, “Don’t ever let someone else drive your car.”
Meaning, drive safely and within your limits. Don’t let the fact that someone behind you is tailgating you force you to go faster. Don’t let the guy revving his engine beside you at the red light force you to stomp on the gas when it turns green. Don’t let someone else force you to change lanes when it is unsafe or you don’t feel comfortable doing so. In a nutshell, don’t let someone else drive your car. If someone is tailgating you, that’s their problem, not your problem. It’s nerve-wracking, yes, but if they want to get around you, they can wait until it is safe to pass. Don’t let someone else’s poor driving skills cause you to make equally poor driving decisions.
ahh if thier gonna get pissed about something stupid let em. However, it’s your responsibility (IMHO of course) to learn to drive safely. Sounds like you’re on a good road. Of course you are going to feel shakey for a while, that will pass. Sadly not much after that, driving skills cease to get better.
Some things you can do to be a better driver. (This might be some of that specific information…)
Learn to scan the road don’t just look at one point in front of you. Always try to look 12 seconds in front of your car, you should know where every obsticle is within that 12 second window. Look close, scan out, glance right, glance left. check gauges, check mirrors every third time. Keep your eyes busy.
That little lever on the left side of your steering wheel is used often and early. Not to early though. You should have your signal on when your 10mph slower than cruising speed. At the latest if you hit your brakes for a manuver you should turn on your signal. The earlist would allow 2 or 3 flashes prior to slowing down.
Don’t tailgate, if you find yourself close to another car without choice, look through thier windshield, and around thier vehicle if possible. Attempting to maintain that 12 second look ahead thing. This means when approaching a cloverleaf, you get an idea where everyone is going.
Learn to merge with traffic when entering an Interstate. (Providing your in a state without stop signs) Do your very best not to stop on the ramp, you should be within 10mph of road speed prior to merging, if at all possible. As you come down the ramp, check traffic, pick a spot and go for it. If there is traffic ahead of you, watch them, and glance at the highway to pick your spot.
If your going the speed limit on a country road and someone is on your tail, don’t sweat it. If your going to be on the road for a while, start looking for a place to pull off to let them go. Don’t slow down, don’t focus on thier car. Don’t tap your brakes
Check your mirrors often. Once every 10 seconds or more. Use all your mirrors. Adjust your mirrors to reduce your blind spot, on most cars there is a blind spot on both sides. The right mirror generally removes the blind spot. You can adjust your left mirror to get rid of that one too. It takes some getting used to, but works well.
Listen to your car, the road, the wind. It sings you a song, get to know the what the song says.
Use only one foot for the gas and brake. When slowing down don’t push the pedel down a bit to turn on your brake lights, then further to engage them. If you’re drifting you don’t need brake lights.
Welcome to the mobile world! Can you tell I don’t like people who put on lipstick, read, or are otherwise distracted while driving? They have no clue what power thier car has sitting in it at highway speeds. I don’t get angry with other drivers anymore, I just shake my head and let em go or pass them.
Be careful,
be alert,
be aware,
Dan
I like MsWhatsit’s grandfather, that’s good life advice
Drive predictably and follow the conventions. Even most idiot drivers know them, and you will be safer by following them.
Aside from you own driving, the most important trick is to learn to identify erractic drivers before they become dangerous to you. Look around, keep an eye any any vehicles behaving in way that don’t make sense. Keep away from them if you can. Slow down if you must to let them get some distance between you.
If you sense some danger, think about your options. Is there a shoulder? Oncoming traffic? CAN you hit the brakes, do a quick lane change? In emergency maneuvering, you have to not only avoid the hazard, you have to pick a route that won’t plow you into someone or something else. Take a second to think before you turn the wheel.
I agree w/ MsWhatsit’s grandfather–wonderful advice!. Drive your own car. It’s responsibility and power aplenty.
If you’re driving the limit and aware of surrounding traffic and road conditions, you’re well ahead of the game of far too many jerks and dolts unfortunately sharing driving space with you.
A book I read years ago, “Dinosaur Brain” (?), aimed at business practices, also applied eerily well to much of common life. People get rushed, get ego-blinded and the primitive lizard part of their brains take control. It’s especially easy when encapsulated in cars: self-contained, anonymous guided missiles that blank out the people driving them. Unfortunately, fellow drivers/travellers aren’t people, they’re obstacles or annoyances or challenges.
That’s wrong, profoundly stupid and potentially lethal. It’s also irresponsible. The tools–cars–all too often outstrip or delude the people operating them. Tools are often…used badly.
The best you can do is keep your own vehicle under your control. Applied paranoia, aka defensive driving, is just common sense. If you’re in the proper lane, observing posted limits and road conditions and people are still tail-gating, weaving, etc.–let 'em pass. Drive your own car. If they’re careless, arrogant, etc. you can’t influence what they’ll do and don’t wanna be near anyway.
IMO courtesy, responsibility and damned basic common sense are in far too short supply when driving. The glitz and glam of the tools themselves have far outstripped the actual skill and responsiblity of the operaters. People who scoff at posted road warnings and regard other drivers as nuisances are idiots. Drive your own car and let them flow on past without challenge. (And support the cops who try to rein them down before tragedies “happen”.)
Jeez, I can’t believe the missing point in these posts:
COURTESY.
Courtesy means helping the other guy have a better (ok, maybe less shitty) experience in the commute. What goes around, comes around.
Always show a little consideration for other drivers. Yes, even if they’re jerks.
Some day, when you are having a bad afternoon, someone will do a favor for you, for no reason, in traffic, and it’ll feel nice. You can get started now by doing the same.
Miscellaneous:
Always make way and let someone into the flow. Keep an eye out for that poor schmoe wedged behind the delivery truck who wants to pull into traffic – give him a break, stop, wave 'em in. Sometimes they even wave back.
General:
Turn signals. Let me repeat that: Turn. Signals. Always use them. Give that poor joe behind you a clue to what you’re doing.
Lane usage, single lane highway:
(We’re assuming a country road here: ) When a driver obviously wants to pass you, and if it’s reasonably safe, go slower, hug the shoulder, make it easier for them to get past you. Give the guy a wave past you if he’s not clueing that you’re giving him a pass. Probably this won’t happen very often, but use it where appropriate.
Motorcycles will almost always want to pass you. The sane ones will hang out by your left taillight, looking patient. Clue in, hug the shoulder, wave 'em by.
Oh, you did notice that there’s five cars close behind you in the rearview on that windey road over route 49? And they’ve been patiently following you for like 5 miles? Hmmm, now would be a great time to pull over when you see a good spot.
Lane usage, multilane highway:
If someone is tailgating, move over. Yes, tailgating is rude. But it’s possible that you’re being rude as well; there’s at least one other lane your car can fit into, let’s see how it looks there. Yes, do it at your own pace, and be prepared for those wonderful folks whom you’ll make way for who will promptly sit there in your old lane not passing. Sorry, some folks either have no attention span or just like to tailgate. You will get a feel for who really wants the lane and who is just playing games.
Even better, why the heck are you in the fast lane, moving the same speed as that guy next to you in the right lane? Move right before you’re in the way.
Passing another car:
Don’t get right up thier trunk. They know you’re there or don’t care. There’s a reasonable distance that means, “I want to pass you”. There’s a distance somewhat shorter that says, “I’m a real prick”. Use some courtesy, dammit; you can’t push them out of the way, you can only cajole. If they’re clueless, take a chill pill and deal with it. And next time someone does it to you, get a clue and move right!
Count me among the taking it easy drivers. I love to drive and aggressive at times but know when to cool it too.
Also Keep your vehicle tuned and maintained, correct air pressure in tires. clean windshield - change the oil at recommended intervals etc. Keep a spare and other emergency stuff. Extra keys and always lock your doors and wear your seatbelt
Don’t ever, ever tailgate - use the “two second rule”.
Keep good lane discipline. Be in one lane, don’t straddle two, and when you change lanes, make it obvious what you’re doing by signalling, then change lane swiftly.
Be constantly aware of everything that’s happening behind you, and a long way in front of you.
Finally, I heartily endorse the courtesy issue. Let other drivers pull out. Let other drivers pull in front of you when there’s more than one lane. Stop for pedestrians trying to cross the road (when it’s safe to do so). In other words: don’t be a jerk.
My advice would be to drive your car! I’m on the road for about 100 mile a day. Many of the cars I see do not have drivers. There’s someone in the left seat, but they are just passengers. “Left-seat zombies”, I call them. These people seem to be oblivious to everthing around them. If you’re driving a car, drive the car. Don’t spend most of your time looking at your passenger. If you’re on a cell phone, drive the car first. I hate it when someone is in the left lane driving slower than everyone else and is chatting on the phone.
In short, pay attention. My flight instructor used to shout (we didn’t have headphones), “Look outside!” and “Fly the airplane!” Your job as a driver is to drive the car. If you can’t operate the vehicle and listen to the radio or talk to your passenger or talk on the cell phone at the same time, just drive and don’t do the other things. (BTW: when I say “you”, I’m not talking about you specifically; I’m talking about everybody.) There’s a saying in flying: Aviate, Navigate, Communicate. That is, first and foremost operate the vehicle. When your vehicle is under your complete control, then you can think about where you’re going. Save the talking for last. (This generally applies to pilots who find themselves in trouble, but it’s good general advice.)
Okay, so now you’re driving along and you are paying complete attention to your car and surroundings. You’re checking your mirrors (all of them) ever several seconds and keeping enough space between you and the other cars. But you still might piss someone off – for example, the guy behind you who wants to go 90 mph.
If someone wants to get by, let them by as soon as you can. Nobody appointed you pacecar. By letting people pass, you no longer have to worry about them being too close to you and making you nervous. They don’t get mad at you for “driving too slow”. It’s much easier on everyone.
I’ve just scanned this thread, but I see that squeegee mentioned courtesy. Good advice. If all drivers were courteous there would be fewer crashes (I don’t call them “accidents”) and people wouldn’t stress out so much.
That reminds me of SMOG – Signal, Mirror, Over-the shoulder, Go. (Always look before you move – the mirrors aren’t good enough. That’s why your head’s on a swivel.)
When I change lanes, I look in the mirror (which I’ve been doing all along, so I pretty much know where everyone is), look over my shoulder, signal, look again, then go. But MOSG doesn’t sound as good as SMOG.
Paste a “Student Driver” sticker on you trunk. It might help calm done some of the hotheads. Otherwise, just keep doing what you are doing, and don’t let hotheads force you into driving outside of your comfort envelope.
When I was breaking in the engine on my then-new Jeep Cherokee, I taped a sign on the rear widow that said “NEW ENGINE. 55 MPH MAX.” I stayed in the right-most lane as much as I could, but there are places on the 405 where the right two or three lanes will take you off of your course. In those cases I stayed in the lane farthest to the right that would allow me to keep going where I was going so that I wouldn’t have to cut across lanes of traffic later, and hoped people would see the sign and understand.
Wow! You guys are a huge help. I knew I could count on dopers for good, reasonable help. Thanks!
I know that there are a lot of people out there who don’t know what the heck they’re doing. (Like the woman driving down the road at about 10 mph, right blinker on, oblvious to the world. Or the person cruising down the turn lane without any indication that they were gonna turn) My dad’s taught me from the very beginning to be defensive and paranoid, and I think it’s really paid off.
MsWhatsit, that’s real good advice. But, I’ve been pondering it, and it’s hard to apply it to student drivers. My dad is an excellent teacher, but he’s just that – a teacher. I’m the student, so I spend a lot of the time in the car driving according to him. I think that’s just the way it goes, though. Once I’ve got the skills to get my linsence and drive on my own, I can really take those words to heart.
Keep it up, guys! I know I’m not the only one out there who is learning to drive, and your advice is real helpful.
Allow me to throw out another useful attitude for driving.
As much as possible, drive as if you and your car are invisible. That’s right, no one sees you, no one will make adjustments for you, and they will plow right into you unless you keep out of their way. This is an especially useful approach to pulling into traffic from a cross street, parking lot, etc. Do not expect anyone to hit the brakes or change lanes for you. Do not expect pedestrians to yield. You can’t do this very well in high volume traffic, but you CAN in light traffic.
And if you have cruise control, use it as much as possible. DO NOT be one of those people who, when I move left to pass them, speed up, and leave me hanging off their left rear bumper, usually while someone ELSE is coming up on MY butt.
Jeez, I’m being inspired to create new traffic threads, keep an eye out.
A-number one for me – I move left to pass someone (my car would be on cruise control, my speed constant), they speed up, I add a couple more mph, so do they, I end up hangin in or near their left rear blindspot. Sometimes I have to slow down and move right to let someone else past ME. Then the cycle repeats, unless I get tired enough to blow by them, or drop down a couple of mph to pull away, which I am loath to do.
Mods, I meant to post the reply, “Most annoying habits of (other) drivers”, as a whole new thread, rather than a hijack of this one. I thought it was another useful approach to the question addressed in this one. Can you change this?
[/sub]
area of life where practice and experience make things go much better. Drive, drive, and drive some more. Try to drive safely and carefully. If your driving safely and carefully pissess other drivers off, too bad, they’ll get over it. Don’t worry too much about what others think, as long as you are building driving habits that are legal and safe.