Community Chat

[GingerPeach]

- If you're in your car, never wave people across the intersection.  If you wave, they might not check on safety themselves and maybe walk into oncoming traffic (especially kids or perhaps someone who is just distracted).

To this day, I cannot stand when someone waves me across while they're safely in their car.  

- Stop far enough behind a car at an intersection so you can see the rear bumper of the car in front of you.  That way, in case of trouble, you can steer out of that lane easily.

What kind of stuff did your dad (or parents, or other significant people in your life) teach you?  Even if it's not about driving.  

[Lacey1]

" You can't go faster than the guy in front of you!"

[Preds]

Dad never taught me anything about driving because he didn't want his precious daughter driving. LOL  He even bought a 340 Duster when mom told him it time to teach me.  I taught myself how to drive in a friends car. 

[ValuSkr]

Good advice.  You also need to be careful when driving and waving other people by - it might be safe as far as you're concerned / from your direction but not as far as others are concerned / from other directions.  They could blindly follow your direction.

[onewhiteSparrow]

My Father taught me to drive a stick shift car first.  He said the automatic was too easy.  

Also before I got to drive he taught me how to change a tire on the car.  It was hard to turn  or move the lug nuts on the wheel round thingy.  

[GSPgirl]

Always look at the driver's head in front of you.  It can tell you a lot about what the driver may do next.  Lately I've seen a lot of them with their heads down texting and it's not just the young people.  

[deepwaterdotter]

Not from my Dad, but from a WI State Trooper:  Keep up with surrounding traffic speedwise and you'll be fine.  The only exception is with out-of-state drivers.  He said Highway Patrol tends to stop more out-of-state plates for speeding.   

[GingerPeach]

Forgot one, similar to Q2girl's post, and that is to note the wheels of a car that will be coming toward you.

For example, if you're at an intersection and the driver hasn't signaled (why they don't is a huge mystery in itself), then you can get an indication of what they're doing by how the wheels are turning.  This may not always be easy to do.

[Sister Golden Hair]

I was taught to always have your headlights on even in the day.

Back then, the lights didn't come on when you start the car.

Of course, here in Missouri you never know when an animal may jump out in the road. Deer will run right into the car. Even in the day I was taught to watch ahead on both sides of the road.

[hckynutjohn]

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Homegirl wrote:

- If you're in your car, never wave people across the intersection.  If you wave, they might not check on safety themselves and maybe walk into oncoming traffic (especially kids or perhaps someone who is just distracted).

To this day, I cannot stand when someone waves me across while they're safely in their car.  

- Stop far enough behind a car at an intersection so you can see the rear bumper of the car in front of you.  That way, in case of trouble, you can steer out of that lane easily.

What kind of stuff did your dad (or parents, or other significant people in your life) teach you?  Even if it's not about driving.  

Homegirl

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   My dad took off when I was 4 years old and my mother raised myself and my 3 older sisters by herself. My sister is the one that taught me to drive. My brother-in-law did show me some of the points of driving safely on 2 lane highways. Other than that? I pretty much learned by driving(and auto racing)and reading about cars in many books and magazines.

As far as "seeing the rear bumper"? That is fine, assuming nobody is driving a "stick shift vehicle". The distance suggested by the Defensive Driving Courses I attended(to lower my auto insurance, voluntary not because of violations), is this. The safest distance is when you can see "both rear tires of the car in front of you". This allows for someone(on an uphill grade, driving a stick shift, to roll back before moving forwards), thus no contact.

I learned to pay 100% attention on driving regardless of who is talking with you in the vehicle. Would not ride with drivers that had to look at me when talking with me. 1 time, and that was it. Anything that is a distraction(audio or visible gadgets) is a no-no for me.

Haven't driven since 1955 accident free by not following everything I know when it comes to driving safely. I think driving race cars also helps one to be able to understand and react to things that happen in front of you, even before others can see them.

Above all, one needs to drive DEFENSIVELY and put 100% of their attention and focus on driving the vehicle. Not on music/talking)even if it is via hands free, it ain't the talking that gets you, it's losing your focus on driving).

Too many now are distracted and I do not trust a single driver on the road but myself. I can control how I drive my vehicle, and so far my perceptions and reflexes are still pretty sharp, but not what the other drivers are doing.

Thanks for this posting, I am sure all of us will learn something by reading all those that posted on this thread.