Driver’s ed in the United States is... less than ideal. Most of our drivers get around fine, sure, but the number of close calls out on the roads is definitely concerning. It seems our driver education system needs some revamping, and who better to add to the curriculum than you beautifully opinionated folks? Earlier in the week, I asked what you’d want added to American driver education, and you had a wealth of answers. Here are fifteen of the best.
Highway onramps are for accelerating up to highway speeds.
If you aren’t passing, stay out of the left lane. Practice some lane discipline.
It’s not the fast lane, it’s the passing lane. Please, instructors, start teaching it as such.
There are lots of things, mainly knowledge retention and application. Specifically, I have noticed a dangerous trend in my area concerning right of way etiquette: “Dangerous courtesy”
People will STOP to let you turn left in front of them. On more than one occasion, when I’m at a stop sign the car coming perpendicular to me has stopped to wave me out. This causes at least 2 people to not know WTF is going on. It’s courtesy
Years ago I witnessed this same thing in the Boston area. With no traffic signal in sight, people would come to a FULL STOP to let oncoming traffic turn left in front of them.
Predictable driving is safe driving. Going out of your way to help someone is nice, but it also puts you at higher risk for an accident — or, at least, screwing up traffic.
Zipper merging and really noticing the difference between added lane merging and merging. Learning they don’t have to stop and yield with added lane, just keep with traffic, learning the difference between these two signs.
This one’s for you, I-84 Westbound in Connecticut, where Route 7 joins in. That’s not even a merge, it’s just adding a lane. Why do you all slow down to a crawl? What’s the issue there?
Do not stop and THEN turn on your signal
Motorcycles exist look for them
New drivers lack skill. You are not as talented as an F1 driver with only 2 weeks behind the wheel.
Oddly, this is primarily taught in motorcycle safety courses. We, kind of by definition, already know about motorcycles. The cagers are the ones who need to learn.
1) Following at a safe distance. Too many people out there seem to severely overestimate their own reaction times. Following the car in front too closely is probably the most common mistake I see out on the roads; in fact, if you do leave the appropriate gap, you are likely to get honked at or some idiot will see it as an opportunity to “fill the gap”.
2) Not looking over their shoulder before merging/changing lanes. It happens often enough that I have to assume people aren’t learning to do it in drivers ed.
3) PUT THE GODDAMN PHONE DOWN! (I’m sure they learn that in drivers ed, but I guess people just need constant reminders).
As a corollary to that last slide, never be fully reliant on your mirrors. You still need to check over your shoulders.
That right foot braking isn’t the only way, and left foot braking is better in almost every way. Very few schools actually purposely teach left foot braking (Team O’Neil in New Hampshire does for example)
Distracted driving. Like do the demonstration on a controlled course where they have to perform a task while responding to a text or something and then watch a playback of it to see how they didn’t stay between the lines and things like that.
I’ll admit, I still haven’t gotten the hang of left-foot braking. I still think I’m better with my right, that I have more control with it, but that’s likely just due to practice.
TURN YOU LIGHTS ON!
Not the DRLs or Parking Lights, you need both headlights and TAILLIGHTS on when it’s dark, foggy, raining, snowing, anything that makes it hard to see. headlights help you see, but headlights and taillights help everyone else see you. It’s a freaking law in many states to have your lights on when it’s raining, yet people still driving around with nothing lit up.
So many people seem to just ignore their own lack of visibility at night, in the rain, or in other inclement conditions. It boggles the mind.
How four-way stops work and being able to recognize who has right of way. It’s not a complex system, but there’s a little more to it than “he who dares wins” when four people arrive at the same time. Just yield to the vehicle on the right so we don’t get four people doing this...
My turn. Ope, no. Sorry! Gotta wait. My turn. Fuck, sorry. Now? K Thx!
But if everyone yields to the vehicle on their right, no one will ever move! You’ve trapped us all forever, at every intersection!
Dual turn lanes!
It’s not that hard: Lane 1 turns into lane 1, lane 2 turns into lane 2 (or 3 if it’s available).
I used to have to use one daily on my commute, and would be in lane 2 (because I needed lane 2, what a concept!) and easily 90% of the time, the car in lane 1 would just automatically cross over to lane 2 or 3.
The worst I had was when I had to lock the brakes on my motorcycle because the police car in lane 1 turned into lane 2, and the ambulance in lane 3 (through lane, not allowed to turn) also turned into lane 2. The only reason they didn’t sideswipe each other was that I laid on my horn, at which point I was pulled over because apparently honking the horn is considered road rage. I explained the entire situation and pointed out that of the 2 vehicles, I was the only one cornering legally and got a guff, “Not sure I agree, but I’ll let you off with a warning.”
This one’s for you, Hylan Drive in Henrietta, NY, where it meets up with Jefferson Road. There are two left-turn lanes, which turn left into two separate lanes of travel. Why is the middle of that turn a free-for-all? What’s the issue there?
Americans need to be taught that the key to winter driving safety is NOT a four wheel drive, top heavy tank.
The answer is winter tires.
The difference with winter tires isn’t just the tread, it’s a softer rubber compound. I have never met another non-enthusiast who knows this.
Overly nice driving is dangerous driving.
The nicest thing you can do as a driver is to be predictable and do exactly what you’re supposed to do. Don’t let someone go out of turn at a stop sign, if it’s your turn just go, they’ll have their turn in a second. Don’t slow way down on the highway to let someone go in front of you. Being overly nice is just as dangerous as the person weaving in and out of traffic, because they’re both the same thing, unpredictable.
We covered “not letting people turn left ahead of you” earlier, but this applies as a broad rule. Predictable driving is safe driving.
Submitted by: dolor
- On highways or any 4+-lane roads, please keep to the right lane except when overtaking.
- Please use turning signals whenever you turn or change lane. And please, please check all your mirrors before turning or changing lane, spatial awareness when driving is paramount.
- When overtaking, make sure your differential speed to the car you are overtaking is at least 5 mph, regardless of whether that will take you over the speed limit by 2-3 mph (no cop will give you a ticket for that), and if you are being overtaken, don’t accelerate to match the speed of the car overtaking you, that’s dangerous and idiotic. Just wait to be overtaken and then overtake back if need be.
- When turning left or right don’t first drift 3-5 ft to the right or left, respectively, so you can purportedly see better the turn you’re making. You’ll scare the hell of the person following you or in the other lane behind you, assuming you don’t actually hit them.
- Stop messaging on your phone while driving. If it’s urgent, stop at the nearest gas station, parking lot, service area. etc. You can be certain SMS fun is ruined for life when your distraction injures/kills your or someone else’s loved ones.
- If you have to emergency-stop on the highway, do not stay inside the car, leave and either go to the other side of the safety barriers or keep a safe distance from the car away from traffic. Make sure to turn on the hazard lights. There is an amazingly high chance that a distracted driver will hit a stopped car on US highways, and part of it is explained by human instinct:
- If you get in your car after dark, spare 2 seconds to check if your lights are on in the dashboard. The amount of people that drive at night with just the front driving lights on is staggering. Also, if your dashboard has a blue headlight your high beams are on, and you better not have any cars in front of you (for all lanes) if that’s the case, as you will be blinding everyone. Finally, if you drive some nice European car they will have a rear fog light represented by an orange light indicator in the dashboard. If that indicator is on and there is no thick fog, you are being a major asshole to everyone behind you!
- Learning to zipper merge would be nice...
Having been stuck on the side of the road before, as the sun set, I probably should’ve learned the whole “don’t stay in your car” thing. I did in fact stay in my car, flat tire and all.
Plenty of people have already pointed out rampant misuse of the left lane as a cruising lane. I think we need to start training slower drivers (even if the reason is legit - your car has problems, you’re carrying an open load, you have perception issues) that the interstate is not for you. 99% of the time, secondary roads work just fine if you’re not in a hurry. Getting on the interstate if you’re not in a hurry/can’t physically stay at speed is dangerous. If 45 mph works for you, there is always a road next to the interstate. Take it instead.
Few people know this, but the idea of a “road” did not originate with Dwight Eisenhower. There are ways to get around that do not involve the interstate highway system.