Driving instructor in Dublin, Ireland with Anewdriver? Fall is here and winter is quickly approaching. Before you know it, ice and snow will be falling from the skies once again. Now is as good a time as ever to refresh your memory on how to navigate slippery roads and poor driving conditions. Consider these four tips next time you’re behind the wheel on a rainy, icy, or snowy day.
This applies whenever and wherever you are driving. Are you on the highway preparing to exit? Be courteous to other drivers and signal your intentions. Sharing your plans with other cars allows them to plan around you – getting out of your way if you are merging, slowing down if they’re behind you and see that you’re about to turn, and so on. Of course, you also need to be watching for bicycles and other smaller or slower forms of transportation. In many places, bicycles don’t have a lane to themselves and aren’t allowed on the sidewalk, so they have to share the road with the cars. Allow them the space and time they need, and always keep your eyes out for them, particularly in your mirrors. You might not see a bicycle behind you, but if they’re going straight and you’re making a right turn, you could cut them off, causing a really dangerous accident!
Never drive too closely behind another vehicle. You need to make sure that there is going to be plenty of room between your vehicle and the vehicle ahead of you, just in case you need to come to a fast stop. Watch the video to learn how to handle following distances correctly: If there is not enough room, chances are that you are going to end up rear-ending that vehicle, and even if the accident is the other driver’s fault, your insurance company may still raise your rates, and consider the accident to be your fault. Try to make sure that there are at least two car lengths between your vehicle and the one ahead of you. This way, you will have room if you need to stop quickly. If you are driving on snow-covered or icy roads, you should make sure there is even more room between yours and the vehicle ahead, because it will take longer to stop. Find even more info at driving school Dublin.
Don’t use your horn in anger. Some people don’t seem to realize this, but the car horn is not designed to express your anger toward other drivers, it is meant for alerting other drivers to your presence – for example when approaching a blind corner. Yes, nowadays sounding the horn long and loud is the road version of delivering a mouthful of fruity invective, but you should avoid using it for this purpose. At best, it means you have lost your cool – at worst, it can cause road rage and even violent confrontations.
If a car in the neighboring lane is slowing down, follow suit. If you see a car in the neighboring lane slowing down, you should do the same. It’s likely that the driver wants to let a pedestrian or an animal pass. Don’t let the illusion of low speed deceive you. On a straight road, the speed seems to be 2 times lower than it really is. If you don’t slow down before making a turn, the car may begin to skid. Find additional info at https://www.anewdriver.ie/.