Driving Tips

[Bonded]

I need to start driving for work and need to sharpen up. Help me help avoiding gear grinders!

[3 Justin 3]

Avoid gear grinders in this weather?

That is LITERALLY impossible.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

- Always signal.
- Don't speed up to pass someone, then slow down when you finally get in front of them.
- Don't use your cell phone while driving.
- Drive through mountain passes in the winter. It'll toughen you up.

[Superfraggle]

Patience. The vast majority of annoying/stupid things people do on the road happen simply because they are in a hurry to get somewhere despite the fact that a minute or two saved will make no difference. There is definitely a line where one can be overcautious and too slow but, in my experience, the vast majority of bad driving seems to result from people trying to get somewhere a little faster.

[Timbo]

Drive it like you stole it.

Leave plenty of space between you and the vehicle in front of you,
Be prepared for winter... tires, snow brush, warm clothes. Clean/brush/scrape all your windows ,lights and hood.

Go easy on the brake and gas and try to anticipate hazards.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Always, always, always make certain your piss jug is big enough!

[bluck]

- If you're going to cut infront of someone use your damn signal
- Don't tailgate because i'm the ####### who will tap my brakes if you do it just to piss you off even more
- If the speed limit is 50.. fricken go 50.. or more.. weather depending of course. The amount of times I see people go 5 below the speed limit is ridiculous. No wonder people get annoyed and want to pass.
- Just because you have an SUV doesn't mean you're king of the road. I've seen so many over confident SUV drivers spin out or get stuck in the snow and I'm the guy chugging along in my little civic giving you a nice smirk as I pass you.
- Learn how to merge. Probably the main reason why traffic gets bottle-necked in this city.
- /rant

[DownInFlames]

I've thought about starting a thread like this, but with more specific driving tips. Here's one:

This is the intersection of Kensington Cr and Kensington Rd. Kensington Cr is a one-way street but I see so many people turning left in the red area, when they should be in the green. It really annoys me when I'm trying to turn right and have to wait for them.



There are other intersections in the city like this (18th Ave and 11th St SE) where I see the same thing, so you can't blame it on the latte sippers of Kensington alone.

[Ace]

You absolutely must know what this sign means:



It does NOT mean yield, it clearly does not mean stop. Yes I'm talking to all you west bound glenmore to north bound McLeod drivers.

[Fluffy Bunnies]

I dont think the CP servers have enough memory for this thread...


Dont be a ######. I know its hard for Calgary drivers, but thats pretty much it. The amount of people I saw in the ditches, and in collisions over the last 3 days is a sad statement of our society.

Im a snowplow driver, so when I see morons stuck in ditches and whatnought begging me to help pull them out, I laugh.

Then I zoom by and let the wave of snow bury them.

[Red Potato Standing By]

So how do you know those in the ditch are morons? Maybe a moron ran them off the road? I would say someone in a snow plow who would purposely try to bury another person in snow as you put it, probably does not fall in the good driver category.

[Fluffy Bunnies]

I was exaggerating for comedic effect, I dont actually laugh and zoom by, burying people in a giant wave of snow. But since the effect is lost, here goes...


The biggest reason people get in collisions (notice I didnt say accidents. Accidents implies an absence of fault) is poor driving skills. Actual knowledge of how to drive in winter conditions, along with how to handle your vehicle in the event of a something catastrophic are critical.

How many of you know what ABS is? Do you know how it behaves? Do you know what to do if they lock up/go out on you? What is ESP/ETC, etc.. when it comes to skidding control programs? Do you know what they mean? Do you know how it handles and what it does to your vehicle? Do you have 2WD, 4WD or AWD? What is the difference and how do they behave on slippery roads?

The majority of people out there dont have a clue about the essentials to winter driving, yet they hop in their Honda Civic and go cruising like its no big deal.

Want some winter tips? Here you go:

-Brush your #####ing car off. Not just the windshield. Not just the windows. EVERYTHING. When you get a decent amount of speed up, that snow blows off and creates a whitout for the guy behind you. Same goes for your lights. Especially brake lights. I need to know when you hit your brakes. That would be swell.

-TURN YOUR GODDAMNED LIGHTS ON. Do I really need to explain this?

-Maintain your vehicle properly. Have good wiper blades, plenty of washer fluid and make sure they work. Have a new/dependable battery in your car. This is essential to starting and running it. My buddy works for AMA and the vast majority of calls he goes to are battery related. He opens the hood and sees a 10 year old battery that is encrusted with acid, and has been boosted countless times. People wonder why they break down in -30 weather on Deerfoot. Inflate your tires. Change the oil regularly. Make sure belts in the engine arent cracked. All these things are so preventable. If you have enough money to buy a car, put gas in it and insure it, then you have enough to maintain it. If you dont, take the bus.

But most of all, you need to know your vehicle. Like I mentioned before, you need to know how it behaves and how to handle it. Drive defensively. If Deerfoot is down to 60 km/h then so be it. Dont go whipping by because you havent skidded out, YET.


And before any of you ask what my credentials are or my expertise, here they are:

15 Years of driving professionally. Started driving for a job since I left HS, and have driven tons of vehicles. Civics up to 18 wheelers.

Not once getting into an at fault collision on the job. Ive put over 1,000,000 kms in vehicles (not exaggerating). No tickets either.

Driving 12 hours a day at least 4 days a week. Seen it all.

My safety record speaks for itself. This is a topic I have considerable knowledge on.

Dont be afraid to ask anything.

[Red Potato Standing By]

Hence the problem with written text, hard to tell ignorance from comedic intentions, I withdraw my last point.

[Vox]

Originally Posted by Fluffy Bunnies

Dont be afraid to ask anything.

Do you understand how arrogant and condescending your post comes across?

[stampsx2]

Stay out of the left lane on the deerfoot unless you are at least going the speed limit.

When you get an arrow to turn, don't wait, step on it, it's not going to blink any faster.

[Mass_nerder]

Merge and yield signs require different responses...know them!

[Fluffy Bunnies]

Originally Posted by Vox

Do you understand how arrogant and condescending your post comes across?

I dont really care how arrogant it sounds. It doesnt change the the facts of what Im talking about. I only posted to be of help because I have considerable knowledge on the subject. I thought that was the point of this thread.

[DownInFlames]

The point of the thread is to help people be better drivers, not to brag about your experience. Nobody cares about that.

[You Need a Thneed]

You signal to let other drivers know what you intend to do, not to let them know what you are doing. They can already see what you are doing.

[You Need a Thneed]

Keep your eyes on where you want to go.