Driving Tips
Jalopnik has an article on, Ten basic driving concepts people constantly get wrong. It would have been a better article if they wrote the concepts more clearly. Here are same concepts reworded for normal people.
- Learn to use your brakes properly. Sometimes slower braking means more control and works better, for example on an icy road.
- When someone wants to pass you move over when it’s safe, even if you’re in the “fast” lane. (The explanation goes on to say the left lane is not the fast lane…the left lane is for passing. Local idiosyncrasies make this less straightfoward. For example, in L.A. there’s just too much traffic to reserve one lane for passing.)
- You can use rear view mirrors, they really do work. (That’s my rephrase, but I don’t know that this one belongs on the list. Rather I think it’s better to say, “Remember to glance in your car’s blindspots before merging/turning–your rear view mirrors don’t show everything.”)
- Slow before a turn, accelerate out of it. Don’t brake through a turn.
- It’s possible to merge at speed.
- All season tires don’t always perform in “all” seasons (i.e., winter).
- “Traction control won’t make up for RWD in the snow.” (One of the two clear tips.)
- Use your turn signals before merging/turning. (Word.)
- Don’t ride your brakes downhill, and remember to use lower gears.
- “AWD will not make your car into Superman.” (This is the other clear one of the bunch.)
(Lifehacker, November 2011)
