When you’re taught how to drive, your instructor will run through all kinds of important lessons to follow. You follow them religiously as you go around with them in your car, but that’s mainly because you don’t want to fail your driving exam. As soon as you get a license, a lot of these rules/lessons go out the window. The moment you’re in a car alone, you neglect a few fairly important things.
Don’t worry, you’re not alone here! Every driver is guilty of it. We could make a whole list of lessons all drivers forget, but here are three that tend to be fairly obvious and extremely common:
NOT CHECKING YOUR CAR BEFORE YOU DRIVE
It’s literally the first thing a driving instructor will talk to you about. Before you get in the car, you need to look at it from the outside. Check for any signs of issues that could be dangerous. For example, your tires might be punctured, or there’s an issue with the exhaust system hanging too low.
Nobody bothers with this when they get their license; you just hop in the car and drive. Why do you need to check your car? To avoid ending up in the office of a car accident lawyer with a brace around your neck! Imagine you set off on a journey with punctured tired – it’s so easy to cause an accident that injures people and damages property. All it takes is a minute to check things before getting inside; don’t forget it!
NEGLECTING YOUR BLING SPOTS
Whenever you pull off, you’re supposed to do various checks to survey your surroundings. The final check is to look over your shoulder at your blind spot. Realistically, very few drivers do this after getting a license. Why? Because it feels inconvenient; it’s an extra step you don’t need to take.
You look in your mirrors, and then you’re off. Again, this can result in accidents. Just because there’s no instructor in the car, it doesn’t mean you should be lazy. Check your blind spots as it could potentially save a life.
DRIVING TOO CLOSE TO THE CAR IN FRONT
As a learner driver, you naturally drive at a slower speed than the other cars around you. This means you tend to keep your distance from the car in front. When you get a license, you completely forget the rules for maintaining a safe distance. There should be a two-second gap in dry conditions, doubling that when it’s wet, and multiplying it by ten when it’s icy.
Too many drivers tailgate and drive too close to the car in front. This means you have a higher chance of getting involved in…you guessed it…accidents! If you’re too close, you have less time to react to what the drive in front of you does. If they brake, you need to react within a split second to avoid ramming into them. Remember to keep your distance; instructors don’t teach it to you because you’re learning and they’re afraid of damaging their car, it’s to keep people safe.
How long have you been driving? Okay, answer truthfully…how many of these lessons are you guilty of forgetting? It’s easy to forget, particularly when the lesson seems boring or adds time to our journeys. Nevertheless, you should follow them at all times to avoid causing incidents that get people hurt.
Photo Credit: Toyota
