It is hard to not drive under the influence of idiot.
Whats your best driving tip?
- Thread starter The motor guy
- Start date
1) The best defense is a good offense.
2) Just stay home.
2) Just stay home.
In winter conditions pretend an egg is between your hand on steering wheel also between foot and brake and accelerator pedal. You’ll do fine in short if you don’t make any sudden changes.
A million years ago I was taught in defensive driving class, on a 4-lane divided highway, to never drive in the left lane at night unless you can see tail lights in the left lane ahead of you. The reason had to do with drunk drivers on the wrong side of the highway without headlights on, wrongly thinking they were on the correct side and in the right lane.
Apologies if this is a re-post; I didn't read the entire thread.
Apologies if this is a re-post; I didn't read the entire thread.
1/ Drive to conditions, don't rely on todays technology to save your ass.
2/ I use a 1 second rule- take an extra second to wait and scan, it may save your ass2.
2/ I use a 1 second rule- take an extra second to wait and scan, it may save your ass2.
Don't let your family or friends drive after celebrating new year's eve.
1. Always assume the other drivers around you are idiots.
2. Drive like there's a child about to run into the street in front of you. (That's happened to me twice in my life.)
3. Get in the habit of waiting an extra half second at green lights to allow the red light runners to finish doing what they do. (See rule 1)
Edit: One more... leave 5 minutes early.
2. Drive like there's a child about to run into the street in front of you. (That's happened to me twice in my life.)
3. Get in the habit of waiting an extra half second at green lights to allow the red light runners to finish doing what they do. (See rule 1)
Edit: One more... leave 5 minutes early.
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And/or doesn't have a valid driver's license, which is the case with about 20% of the drivers on the road where I live, and of course these drivers won't have insurance. Most of these people are REALLY BAD drivers, which is the reason why they don't have a valid driver's license to begin with.
Don’t take what people do on the road personally.
I gotta disagree about driving 90 being safer. A car has double the kinetic energy at 90 than it does at 60, and speeding is implicated in about a third of all automobile fatalities. Risks of getting into a crash go way up the faster one drives, too, for multiple reasons including reduced reaction times and massively longer stopping distances.
My Dad, a professional OTR driver of 35+ years, reminds me to constantly check my (properly adjusted!) mirrors.
Spend 1 second looking in each mirror (driver side, rearview, passenger side, then back to rearview, then driver side and so on) every 10-15 seconds. This ensures you're always aware of who's around you.
Don't hang out alongside a truck's trailer tires; they're often retreads and can go BANG at any time. One of those can take out your windows and even penetrate door metal, to say nothing of running into one at speed. They can rip bumpers right off.
Hurry up and slow down, giving plenty of room.
Scan both sides of the road during prime deer season. I ended up taking one out the other night, despite my best efforts. It could've been much worse but it was a smaller one and it wasn't really standing up, so it hit right in the bumper and below.
Clean windshield (inside and out) makes for good visibility. Have good wipers and good lights.
Replace tires at 4/32 of tread left, especially heading into winter.
Spend 1 second looking in each mirror (driver side, rearview, passenger side, then back to rearview, then driver side and so on) every 10-15 seconds. This ensures you're always aware of who's around you.
Don't hang out alongside a truck's trailer tires; they're often retreads and can go BANG at any time. One of those can take out your windows and even penetrate door metal, to say nothing of running into one at speed. They can rip bumpers right off.
Hurry up and slow down, giving plenty of room.
Scan both sides of the road during prime deer season. I ended up taking one out the other night, despite my best efforts. It could've been much worse but it was a smaller one and it wasn't really standing up, so it hit right in the bumper and below.
Clean windshield (inside and out) makes for good visibility. Have good wipers and good lights.
Replace tires at 4/32 of tread left, especially heading into winter.
90 mph by myself is safer than being in a NASCAR style wreck if someone in the slower pack of vehicles makes a mistake. All it takes one idiot not paying attention to cause a big accident.
Trust me, cruising at 90 is very safe especially if traffic is very light.
Situational awareness is very important on the highway at any speeds.
Trust me, cruising at 90 is very safe especially if traffic is very light.
Situational awareness is very important on the highway at any speeds.
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Pin it to win it...
Okay, seriously, as a lifelong Motorcyclist, I am always aware of my surroundings, and am constantly looking for threats. Assume you are invisible, that every other driver will make the dumbest choice possible, and put your life in jeopardy.
Practice, practice, practice your car or bikes handling at the limit of cornering, stopping, etc. so that should you need maximum cornering or braking, you are familiar with how the vehicle reacts to it. And practice making those control inputs smooooothly. On the bikes I always have two fingers resting on the brake lever.
Back to my somewhat tongue-in-cheek first comment: There have been too many times to count where if I hadn't used the superior power-to-weight ratio of my Sportbikes, I would have been flattened by a distracted driver.
Lastly: Watch for motorcycles.
Okay, seriously, as a lifelong Motorcyclist, I am always aware of my surroundings, and am constantly looking for threats. Assume you are invisible, that every other driver will make the dumbest choice possible, and put your life in jeopardy.
Practice, practice, practice your car or bikes handling at the limit of cornering, stopping, etc. so that should you need maximum cornering or braking, you are familiar with how the vehicle reacts to it. And practice making those control inputs smooooothly. On the bikes I always have two fingers resting on the brake lever.
Back to my somewhat tongue-in-cheek first comment: There have been too many times to count where if I hadn't used the superior power-to-weight ratio of my Sportbikes, I would have been flattened by a distracted driver.
Lastly: Watch for motorcycles.
Never assume you've got the right-of-way, even if the law says you do. In other words, be ready for when they don't give you the right-of-way.
If a traffic light is out, be ready for people not stopping at all. Some won't. Some of the "won't"s will get annoyed that people are actually stopping correctly, as I got honked at once, passed, and then they had to avoid somebody who assumed they were going to stop (hence my first tip).
If a traffic light is out, be ready for people not stopping at all. Some won't. Some of the "won't"s will get annoyed that people are actually stopping correctly, as I got honked at once, passed, and then they had to avoid somebody who assumed they were going to stop (hence my first tip).
ls1mike
$50 Site Donor 2025
Go tow a large trailer for a distance. It will calm you down real quick.
No one looks out for you or understands the difference. It really helped
me pay more attention when I drive anything.
Patience is the answer.
No one looks out for you or understands the difference. It really helped
me pay more attention when I drive anything.
Patience is the answer.
Exactly; I constantly tell my HPDE students to look where you want the car to go- not at what you are hoping to avoid.
