Gentlemen, Abandon the Roads

[arew264]

I now have a driver's license. w00t!
I made it through!

[t walgamuth]

HA!

Drive defensively. Keep the radio low and don't haul a bunch of friends around to distract you and just generally be very careful for about six months to build up your experience.

There is a whole lot more traffic out there now than when I learned to drive and it is a lot tougher to become experienced.

Safe driving is all about concentration on the job at hand....that is the only reason a person of fifty has less accidents (generally) than a youngster with excellent reflexes and eyesight.

Good luck.

Tom W

[charmalu]

I would hate to think of being a new driver today with all of distractions
of all the electronic gizmos people are trying to operate while aiming their
vehicles down the road.

AS you get experience, you will be able to anticipate what the other
driver is going to do, that comes from good and bad judgment which
becomes experience.

Don`t tailgate the guy in front of you, keep a lot of distance. don`t worry
if some one jumps in your buffer zone. remember they are all fighting for
position.
When I stop behind a vehicle, I try to keep the rear bumper in sight. don`t let the vehicle dissapear under your hood.
Always keep an eye on the rear mirror for the idiots behind you.

One out of three are on something, the other two wish they were.
Iam just high on Diesel fumes.

So with that congrats on passing your drivers exam. and we`ll be seeing
you on the Forum for a long time.

Charlie

Originally Posted by charmalu

I would hate to think of being a new driver today with all of distractions of all the electronic gizmos people are trying to operate while aiming their vehicles down the road.

Very true. I've been driving for about 750 years now and I found myself getting very distracted the other day while playing with a GPS that my wife gave me for xmass, it's pretty easy to forget what you are supposed to be paying attention to.

[Dee8go]

Just always expect the other guy to do stupid, dangerous things, and you should be okay. If they DO, you'll be ready. Even if they DON'T, you'll still be ready.

Better to be ready than deady . . . .

[arew264]

My dad is really big on defensive driving, so I've had many lessons on how I should always keep a large buffer space, assume the other guy will mess up, and give people lots and lots of reaction time.

In the state of Texas, it's illegal to have more than one "friend" (Person under 21 who isn't a family member) in the car with you until you reach 18, so that shouldn't be an issue. I do plan to keep my iPod very far away from my car though.

The insurance people are being idiots though, so who knows if/when I'll actually drive somewhere for the first time.

[Dee8go]

If your dad is anything like me, I'm sure you can hear his voice in the back of your mind all of the time. I've drummed that into my kids' heads all their lives. One has been driving for 14 years without an accident, another for 2 years without mishap, and the third is on deck, waiting to get her learners permit.

[JackG]

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

HA!

and don't haul a bunch of friends around to distract you

Very well said

But hey, You don't need to listen to a bunch of old foogies like us

just read the papers, When teens have die in accidents, its never 1 at a
time.......more like 3-4 at a time

Be Safe

[Skippy]

Defensive driving=the assumption that most or all of the other drivers on the road suffer from some combination of the following:

1. Blindness

2. Stupidity

3. Suicidal tendencies

I've found that these assumptions tend to explain the behavior of many, many drivers.

[Jeremy5848]

In my former life as a BMW motorcyclist, I used to say that the only people who could see me were the ones who were aiming for me. Regretfully, that also can apply to cars.

Jeremy

[JackG]

Originally Posted by Jeremy5848

In my former life as a BMW motorcyclist, I used to say that the only people who could see me were the ones who were aiming for me. Regretfully, that also can apply to cars.

Jeremy

I heard THAT

[JimmyL]

Originally Posted by arew264

I now have a driver's license. w00t!
I made it through!

Congrats! Now you know how to steer. It will be years before you know how to drive. Proceed accordingly.......
My two older kids are finally old enough to understand the above statement. And actually agree.
Assume EVERY car is going to pull out in front of you, turn in front of you, swerve over into you, stop in front of you, etc...... That will help save you, and your car when one finally does. And they will.
Be careful, and enjoy klackin whenever possible......
{I'm not usually this smart, but I am this time}

[vstech]

with around 2 million miles under my belt, the most important lesson I have learned is NEVER trust the other guy's turn signal... appreciate it if it happens to work out, but don't count on it really being what the driver wants to do... watch their tires, pay attention to their speed and watch their position on the road. that and try not to pass on the right, or force speeders to pass on your right. hmm, respect large vehicles and give them room to maneuver. look as far ahead as you can while driving not at the bumper of the car in front of you, use your peripheral vision to view the mirrors, not your main attention on them, they are to alert you of rear drivers needing your attention, or to back up/clear you when you are changing lanes. and when changing lanes, use the mirrors, and turn you head and actually look where you want to go before you start to go there.
ok enough preaching, drive safe and have fun.

[barry123400]

Hi, hope you have a lifelong enjoyable use of vehicles. As you are probably aware head on collisions are especially the ones to be avoided if possible. They tend to be one of the more serious events if they occur.
One way not particularily taught to avoid them is never start to turn your wheels to make a left turn until you start moving into the turn. Never even a little bit while waiting to make the turn.
Otherwise if someone rear ends you he pushes your car in front of the approaching traffic stream. Conversly if you had instead left the wheels straight ahead the worse usually is you will just be pushed straight ahead.
Unfortunatly having an accident tends to also increase your insurance rates substantually so being sensibly cautious is probably money in your pocket. The old expression excess speed kills is probably true as well.
Also tickets are reported to your insurance company again increasing your rates. So try to stay around the speed limits where possible. Use of the roads is considered free or one of the essential freedoms still allowed. You can basically go anywhere you want to. The risk is yours.
Also remember in bad conditions any car coming towards you is a possible liability. So even if I tend to trust my own driving to some extent a major accident is not always avoidable in my eyes.
I have been so lucky or suffered from good coincidence so long that I really no longer push the envolope. Fifty years of heavy driving experience with never one involvement. Again more good coincidence than anything else I believe.
When I was negotiating insurance rates reciently the insurance company quoted I was just an accident waiting to happen. The insurance companies seem to have an answer for everything now.
Best of luck and congratiulations I can still remember when I got my drivers permit many long years ago and the resultant feelings quite easily.
I could not have passed todays test back then. Basically if you could start the car by crank or starter. Drive around the block and park that was it. Unfortunaly it will never be the old days again for new drivers. A good used serviceable car was 100.00. Liability insurance about 100.00 or less per year. Gas in the states was five us gallons for a dollar for years and years. Three imperial gallons for a dollar in Canada during that time. Motor oil about 20c a quart for the stuff I brought. Quite a few members on site can remember as well if they think about it. Seems so long ago as well as just yesterday in some ways.

[lupin..the..3rd]

A car full of high-school girls was killed recently in my area.

It happened in an area called "the mixing bowl" where several interstates all come together. The lanes are kind of tricky, plus they're doing construction there.

They just completed the accident investigation and here's why they died: The driver changed lanes without looking, hit another car, over-corrected, and ended up underneath an 18-wheeler. It all happened in a split-second, and they were killed instantly. The cause of all this carnage? The driver was sending text messages on her phone, while driving.

Be careful out there and don't play with electronic gizmos while driving.