8 Techniques to Improve Your Driving Skills
Driving is a blast, but it can also be incredibly dangerous if you’re not a polished, experienced driver. Even if you’ve been on the road for years, suddenly becoming too lax about your driving technique can put you and everyone else on the road in danger. Due to this, it’s important to constantly strive to perfect your technique, and implement new skills to boost your safety as a driver. If you’re looking to make some changes, here are eight amazing techniques you can start with, and which will help you to improve your driving skills significantly:
Table of Contents
1. Always Check and Adjusts Your Mirrors
Every time you’re ready to hit the road, you should be checking your mirrors to make sure they are effectively positioned. If you’re already on the road when you find out that you cannot see around you, you’re already stuck in a dangerous, anxiety-inducing driving situation. To keep yourself and everyone else on the road safe and sound, this becomes the first technique on this list that you need to perfect. With well-adjusted mirrors, you can also appreciate the natural beauty around you when you go for a drive as well.
2. The S-Turn Maneuver
When you’re turning left while driving, many drivers find themselves slowly going more and more left, and end up blocking the intersection. By doing an “s-turn” maneuver instead, you will ensure you’re giving yourself a smoother turn, and avoiding an incident where you’re blocking traffic or placing yourself directly in the path of a less aware driver (which can lead to terrible accidents in some cases).
3. Stay Focused
More than any other technique and practice on this list, making sure you optimize your ability to focus (and stay focused) while on the road is critical. Without the right amount of attention given to every moment you’re on the road, your chance of finding yourself in a dangerous, or even deadly situation greatly increases. Additionally, this hyper-focus can help you avoid even minor accidents, and will end up saving you tons on car insurance.
4. Educate Yourself About Your Vehicle’s Safety Features
Especially if you’ve just started driving a new vehicle, understanding all the safety features packed into it is highly recommended. Even sitting down and taking an hour to read over the safety and owner’s manuals can greatly boost your ability to drive the vehicle in a safe, effective manner. Additionally, this will give you extra information that will help you determine when you might need to get the vehicle looked at (which will in turn boost the longevity of your investment).
5. Learn About Turnabouts
While turnabouts are still rare in many areas, they are becoming more and more common with each passing year. To get ahead of the curve, educate yourself about the traffic laws and hazards associated with turnabouts, and go and practice driving on a nearby turnabout if at all possible. If there are no turnabouts around you, simply watching a few videos online can provide a good-enough alternative.
6. Turn Slowly
The “s-turn” maneuver is not the only technique that can ensure your turns are being done in a safe, proper manner. The sad fact is that most drivers speed up while turning, instead of slowing down. Not only does this put you in a situation where it’s harder for other drivers to predict your next move, but it makes it much less likely that you’ll maintain control of your vehicle if a sudden hazard pops up.
7. Do Regular Maintenance and Check-ups
Many accidents are caused by mechanical issues with one (or more) of the vehicles involved in the said accident. Not only will maintenance and check up-s help you avoid this scenario, but it will save you tons of money in the long run. After all, if you wait till your vehicle breaks down before looking into a potential issue, that problem is going to become harder and harder to fix for a reasonable cost.
8. Implement a “4-second Gap”
Every driver knows how frustrating it can be when another vehicle is driving way too close to you (especially if they are directly behind you). This puts you in a situation where you become extra anxious and cautious about how you go about stopping and turning, after all. If every driver begins implementing an effective “4-second gap” in this regard, the road will become a much safer place overnight.
Here’s to a Safe Year on the Road
With these eight techniques and practices, you’ll have a safe, comfortable year on the road. After all, if every driver begins paying more attention to how they drive, and the state of their driving technique, many, many accidents and other inconveniences in drivers’ lives could be significantly reduced.