Top Five Driving Etiquette

Driving is a part of everybody’s life. If you want to be good at it, you need to cultivate a few traits so that you can go home safely to your family, every single day. In this episode, we’ve decided to cover a few points that help develop the right attitude towards driving, while also sharing road-space with other users. Be sure to wear your seat-belts at all times!

Mirrors

I’m sure you come across a few motorists on the road who drive their cars with both mirrors folded, and are seemingly oblivious to the fact that they have no clue what’s overtaking them or even if there’s someone driving beside them. As funny as it sounds, it is a hazard for others who share this road since these drivers tend to slither across lanes, especially when others may be overtaking them. It makes perfect sense to keep an extra safe distance from them. But this also goes on to say how crucial all three mirrors are to driving safely. Visibility for the driver is of utmost importance to know what’s happening around you. We’d like to highlight that despite having these mirrors, other cars and especially bikers tend to fall in the blind-spot of your mirrors. It is imperative to avoid sudden movements to prevent a hit with such motorists. A good measure of keeping this in check is to navigate a turn three seconds after the indicator is actuated, and to use a wide-angle rear-view mirror attached to the external mirrors.

Phone usage

Thanks to our reliance on smartphones of late, there’s been a hike in road accidents across the globe that’s linked to device usage during driving. Despite having pairing options with the car’s infotainment system, you will continue to catch motorists holding the phone to their ears, engrossed in a conversation, and visibly paying very little attention to the road. In addition to putting their lives on stake, they endanger others on the road. What’s alarming is that you will also come across drivers who text while driving and that is the height of irresponsibility. With such a lapse in attention, we’re also looking at road users who are unable to keep a safe distance from others and at late reaction times too. We’ve also come across some ‘self-police-ing’ individuals trying to correct these drivers by honking hard at them or cutting them off, and it doesn’t really help as motorists all around get confused, and it could all end in a pile-up.

High beam usage

Most of us have come across situations where oncoming vehicles have their high beams on, and its almost blinding which makes it extremely difficult to know where you’re going, especially on a winding stretch of road. Most Indian roads are dimly lit and there’s no doubt that with your high beams on, you can see farther and thus avoid mishaps. However, when you approach another vehicle, it is imperative to toggle to the lower beam so that it becomes easy for both to see the road and whatever is on it. Another important note is that at night-fall, people still break the law by drinking and continuing to drive. It makes sense to drop speeds substantially while keeping to the edge of road when you see an oncoming vehicle that’s swerving too much, is almost in your lane, and has their high beams on. Under no circumstances should one pull over to reason or confront with these drivers, even when provoked, as you’re putting yourself and your passengers to risk.

Parking

Yes, I’m sure this heading rang a few bells in your head. We’ve always come across motorists who turn an ignorant eye to parking properly. In fact parking appropriately is as important as driving itself. It requires you to patiently find a parking slot which doesn’t end up blocking anything. And it requires you to leave enough space, as a courtesy for others parked next to you to open their doors and drive out too. On a personal note, after performing a parallel park, one needs to take a swift peek both ways before swinging open the door and exiting the car just to avoid hitting bikers or pedestrians.

Adherence to speed limits

As simple as it sounds, this is one of the biggest challenges our country is faced with, due to the lack of enforcement by the related law enforcement authorities. However, another deterrent is that the majority of our population is always in a hurry to reach their destination. But, the irony here is that they don’t believe in leaving early, and in the process, put others to inconvenience too. Another persuading factor, when you think harder, is the lack of patience to be able to stick to the speed limits that have been prescribed. In fact, you’d be surprised how relaxing a drive would be if you left early for the intended destination and abided by the speed limits. Moreover, if you ever have a problem, use your hazard light when you’ve pulled over. These hazard lights weren’t incorporated for one to use while driving through a tunnel!