Monsterliner
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Post your safe driving tips.

Discussion in 'General Automotive Talk' started by Flexin, Apr 23, 2013.

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  1. mauricioq

    mauricioq Member

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    This is actually a great advice, and it's a situation that's already happened to me, hopefully I stayed calm too.
     
  2. Andrew B.

    Andrew B. Member

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    In routine life, when I really need to concentrate on something critical where time is limited and I need to make sure I do it right, I'm not chit-chatting with someone while I do it. That means on the phone or off the phone. It distracts me and I can't think as quickly.

    Even if you have your eyes glued to the road, if you are engaged in a lot of chat with the passenger, you are not fully attending to driving. The research I saw was that people driving an obstacle course did better while drunk then they did sober while yakking with someone next to them.

    I was not able to find the documentary so I could post it here, but I did find this: http://www.businessinsider.com/talking-on-a-hands-free-cellphone-is-as-bad-as-driving-drunk-2013-8
     
  3. Peninha

    Peninha Member

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    I don't know if I buy that Andrew, hands free cell phone is as bad as driving drunk? I wouldn't go that far...
     
  4. Radium

    Radium New Member

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    I think the best tip overall is to always keep a good distance between you and the car in front, at least 2 seconds in good conditions increasing considerably in worse conditions. I find that not only do you not have to constantly brake as often everytime the guy in front hits his brakes but apperently if everyone did this traffic jams would be massively reduced.
     
  5. Peninha

    Peninha Member

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    I agree with the driving distance, just a couple of weeks ago I was driving with a friend and man he made me nervous, he was almost on top of the car ahead of him, it was raining, he can easily get into an accident, pretty insane to drive like that!!
     
  6. Andrew B.

    Andrew B. Member

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    Here is a link about hand-free cell phone versus alcohol. It looks like I didn't have it right, but they did find that alcohol was no worse than hands-free talking, at least at the level of intoxication they tested. http://unews.utah.edu/old/p/062206-1.html. If you like, you can search for other tests.

    BTW, the tip I learned about following was to keep one car's distance for every ten mile per hour of speed. So, for example, if I'm going 40 mph, I should be at least four cars lengths away. Thing is, though, cars were longer on average when I was taught this.
     
  7. brookie

    brookie New Member

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    When travelling long distances...it's advised to rest. Resting every 200km or after every 2 hours. It helps to keep the driver focused.
     
  8. Andrew B.

    Andrew B. Member

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    If you are waiting at an intersection and the light turns green, don't immediately take off. Wait two seconds while you look to see if a car on the cross street comes barreling through because the driver was trying to make it on the yellow light. Also look for pedestrians who run out into the street trying to do the same thing. Two seconds is not long enough for the driver behind you to get mad.

    I must confess that I was not able to follow this rule until my late twenties. Before that, I would sit at the light, watching for the cross street light to turn yellow so I could know when my light was about to turn green. Then I would take off as quickly as I could, speed shifting through the gears. Lots of fun, but one day I did that and wondered "where am I in such a hurry to get to?" I had no answer. I stopped doing this.

    Here's another one. Always keep your eyes on the road. If you have to look at a map, pull over. I'll tell you a true story. I was driving on a surface street and a kid came rolling out from behind a parked car. He was riding a tricycle. I hit my breaks and my car stopped just short him. I think four more inches and I would have hit him. If I had been glancing at a map, I would have hit him.
     
  9. Sandman

    Sandman Member

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    Feb 15, 2014
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    One thing I can add to this discussion that I haven't seen here yet is: Keep Calm, especially in traffic, some people drive recklessly and disregard the safety of other road users and their passengers simply because they are angry at something that another motorist did, some people get out of their cars and cause conflict, either way, when your mind is clouded with anger you can't concentrate properly anyway and you judgement is impaired. Other than keeping calm, don't ever drive drunk, even if you think 'It was just 2 beers can't do anything' rather don't take a chance, drink some coffee or water, maybe chow a bag of crisps and wait for a while, you blood-alcohol level will go down, otherwise, let someone sober drive or call a taxi.
     
  10. Peninha

    Peninha Member

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    Keeping calm is a great advice Sandman, sometimes easier said than done. But sometimes we feel someone is being aggressive and in fact it's just an unexperienced driver. Either cases losing our mind will never bring good results.
     
    Sandman likes this.
  11. wander_n_wonder

    wander_n_wonder New Member

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    I was always told that if you feel sleepy, park at the side and sleep for a bit or grab a cup of coffee. Never risk to keep on driving. People can fall asleep involuntarily, especially when they are driving along highways where the roads are boring and just one straight line. Find ways to wake yourself up and continue to drive once you feel better. This has always worked for me so far and I have never been in any accident.
     
  12. Flexin

    Flexin Admin Staff Member Founding Member Top Event

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    They did a test on it for Mythbusters. I think they were saying it was worse. Or close to it. But I didn't like the way they did it. I think they had questions they had to answer and so on. And I think they had to keep talking. From what I remember it was unnatural. When driving, most would drive and talk. They almost had them talking first. When I drive, I pay attention to the road but still have a conversation. There is times I might have to ask someone to hold on or just not respond and ask them to repeat them self. I think they should have called a friend and just had a normal conversion. A normal one will have small breaks and so on. You would have to see it to understand what I mean. But I don't think it was a fair test.

    James
     
  13. Flexin

    Flexin Admin Staff Member Founding Member Top Event

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    Here is the episode.







    They said do say almost as bad. And they did worse on the course. But Adam feels that drunk driving is worse. I think it should have been done with a hands free head set because that wasn't like most roads IMO. And Kari said she was a bad driver so I feel she started to improve over time because of practice (even though she failed). Another issue I have is that the were fasting so they were hungry on that day and that is going to hurt when they are doing word problems on the phone.

    And my last issue with all of that is not really with the test but with "legal limits". As you can see, they were under the limit and were making very costly mistakes. But they are still legally allowed to drive. I have a huge issue with this. A lot of people wouldn't pass a state driving test if they were just under the limit so why let them on the road at all in that condition? I'm sure there are many that go out that are a little over as well.

    If you want to drink, leave the car at home please. The cost of a cab or a hotel is much cheaper then what an accident or loss of life can cost. If you live to far from the bar, bunk with a friend that lives closer if you can't afford the hotel. Or how about drinking non alcoholic drinks?

    James (Designated Driver DD anytime we go out)
     
  14. Peninha

    Peninha Member

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    I am pretty sure it wasn't because even when I am hands free on my car, my full attention is on the road, if something critical is happening I am not distracted by the conversation, I think! What to say from the people that use their phone in their hands while driving? Dead driving?
     
  15. levi leans

    levi leans Member

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    if you are feeling sleepy roll down your window. That way it will be much harder for you to doze off. Of course the way to avoid feeling sleepy is to get plenty of sleep the night before.
     
  16. Peninha

    Peninha Member

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    That's a good tip opening the window when sleepy. Other good advice might be stopping and sleeping because driving with sleep can cost our life.
     
  17. Windsor62

    Windsor62 New Member

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    I live in Michigan so I can give some snow tips. The biggest thing when it comes to winter driving is speed. I prefer RWD because oversteer is easier for me to correct than understeer, but FWD/RWD/AWD doesn't matter when you are trying slow down on ice. All of my winter accidents have been caused by ice rather than snow.
     
  18. Gelsemium

    Gelsemium Member

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    Good tips on the RWD/FWD/AWD, even so I would not buy a car considering the ice/snow only I guess, unless I was living in Michigan maybe? :)
    Ice is far more dangerous than snow though, I agree with that, I've had an accident on ice before.
     
  19. Strykstar

    Strykstar Member

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    I usually break a bit faster than I need to on stoplights, then coast to where I actually needed to stop, this makes the cars behind me brake a little sooner too, as well as allow me to speed up to avoid them if they aren't paying attention.
     
  20. Peninha

    Peninha Member

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    You mean, brake faster or earlier? Braking earlier is good because we never know when the car ahead of us might make a sudden stop, so keeping a good safety distance is always wise.
     
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