I am in need of new driving habbits after I bought a sports coupe

Dear all:

I had a real scare this evening. I was driving with my wife in
the car in my Accord 91. It is a pretty strong car. I was on the
surface streets in D.C. the lights were close together.

I was in the right hand land and had to merge. In the old days, I
would slow down and go behind. However, ever since I got my 95
Prelude and have been driving race car style, I now speed up on merges
instead of slowing down.

Granted, I was in my accord, but I still had plenty power to pass
the vehicle on my left. Power was not the problem. However, I had
failed to see a red light (the traffic lights are close together in
D.C.). I blew right through the red light as I sped up to merge.

In the old days, when I merged by slowing down and follow behind,
I didn't have to worry about lights up ahead. However, because now I
lead instead of follow, I totally failed to see the red light. As I
was passing through the red light, my wife said "isn't that a red
light?" And I was like "oh. FUKKK!"

I feel real fortunate that I didn't get into an accident. It
could have been real ugly. Luckily all that happened was a bruised
ego and some embarrassment. I feel real stupid and I want to learn
from this incident. If I am going to drive more in a leader style, I
need to pay much more attention to the roads ahead. This is because I
am no longer having other people's eyes being my eyes. Do you know
what I mean?

I was embarrassed and felt stupid. At the following red light, a
car pulled next to me and laughed at me (and rightfully so). I just
feel so fortunate that it was all just some embarrassment rather than
getting hurt or hurting someone because of my negligence.

I just had to come here to get this off my chest. I feel that the
best way to learn from my mistakes is to talk about it and see what I
can do better next time.

This is a warning sign for me to slow down and think about what I
am doing. Maybe I don't have the skills to drive as aggressively as a
race-car driver. I need to take some time to develop some better
driving habbits before I should even think about getting a 200 hp car.
(the sports car I have is a 160 hp car). It is a wake up call!

thank you for listening.

signed: a very fortunate driver tonight, in an accord (the accord is
not the 160 hp sports car. I was driving the family sedan tonight.
But I usually drive a 95 prelude).

sincerely,

 

What you can do if you're really interested is attend a defensive
driving course and learn about all the little gotchas to watch out for
and all the tricks you need to learn to avoid them. A skidpad school
is a good idea too. Then if you're really into sports car driving (as
opposed to sporty car posing) try a rally driving course.

Just as a for instance, how are your side mirrors set up?
If you can see any part of your car in either mirror, they're set
wrong.

 

I don't want to give you grief, but is this really a style that's encouraged by
civilian driving school experts, the law, etc.?

And in DC? Isn't this also one of the "Road Rage" capitals of the U.S.? (I know
someone's going to chime in with "Precisely. Thus the offensive driving
approach... " Hey!)

Doesn't this sort of style tend to take ordinary drivers by surprise? And since
I think they're still the majority, such a practice is inherently unsafe unless
one is in some kind of otherwise risky bind while merging?

Anyway, it took guts to post this. I'm sure it will help keep you and others
more careful.

Breathe in, breathe out, anticipate, drive *defensively* (so I try to remind
myself when I screw up and hopefully every time I get in the car). Avoid an
accident, especially since I hate the possibility of an accident where I'd have
to go to the ER and see doctors. Ugh! Not to mention the cost of health care.
Not to mention the likely subsequent explosion in my insurance rates. ;-)

 

You got me. I do have my mirror set where I can see part of my
car. I have them this way because I like to see behind me. I
obviously have a lot to learn. How do I go about finding one of these
skidpad classes? How much will it cost?

I definitely would liek to learn some real driving.

thx in advance.

thx for being patient. I am a newbie but I want to learn. I am not a
know-it-all. In fact, I know very little.

sincerely.

 

Go to race school man im sure you will love it! im saving as we speak....!

you might be able to book a track day with the 'lude - see what its capable
of, or sell it for a profit and get a 190-200 break model.

 

(LovingPerson) spake unto the masses in

You already have one mirror inside the car that you use to see behind you.
Why do you need two more?

You DO have blind spots though, which is what those outside mirrors are
for:
http://cartalk.cars.com/features/mirrors/

 

You use your rear-view mirror to see behind you. The side mirrors are
used to check for cars beside you. They should be adjusted until the
bodywork of the car has just disappeared from view at the inner edge
of the mirror. You can still use the left mirror to look behind you by
leaning to the left a bit if you feel you must. Also, ALWAYS take a
quick look over your shoulder before changing lanes, even though you
checked the mirror.

Depends where you are. Near big cities check the yellow pages under
driving schools. Ask a cop at a donut shop. Check with a local sports
car club.

 

Well, how you react to a close call is very important. If it makes
you feel invincible, you are in real trouble. If it makes you want to
educate yourself so that it never happens again, you are on the right
track.

Emergency avoidance is high performance driving which is basically
racing. Don't confuse high performance driving with driving in
traffic. When I want to go a bit fast, I find empty roads to do it
on. I immediately slow down when other traffic is around (unless I'm
passing reasonably). You have to share the road with others. The
only polite thing to do is not endanger their health. That is why we
have commonly agreed upon laws. Don't be a jerk in traffic. Drive
with the flow.

The four most basic factors when driving in traffic are:
Distance
Relative Velocity
Situational Awareness
Anticipation

Distance. Keep 2 to 3 seconds from the traffic in front of you. When
the distance between you and another object goes to zero, you have
just had an accident. Lower Distance = Higher Risk

Relative Velocity. If you are going 35 mph past a parked car with the
door opening, don't think of the parked car as having 0 speed. It is
going by you at 35 mph. If you swerve to avoid a drunk, a lamp post
can come at you at 35 mph. If you are following another car at a
fixed distance your relative velocity is zero. Higher Relative
Velocity = Higher Risk.

Situational Awareness. If you know what is going on around you, you
won't be surprised and can do the best that can be done in a given
situation. It's like a football quarterback. If he's good he expects
all 22 players to be somewhere on each play. He only needs to look at
the discrepancies. He won't get blind sided by the defender coming
from the rear. You should know where every car around you is and
their relative velocity. Better Situational Awareness = Lower Risk

Anticipation. You should be learning or re-learning every day. What
do you watch out for at intersections? Gas Stations? Schools?
Grocery Stores? You should know the common problems for each one of
these.

Just as a teaser the four most important road considerations in racing
are:
Radius
Camber
Elevation
Traction

Go Forth and Sin No More,
Roadie Roger

 

Great story because even though I'm from Columbus, Ohio, I ran right
through a red light in DC when my 03 Accord was brand new. It
happened not because of my aggressive driving style but because I was
paying more attention to my new Honda Navigation system than I was to
the traffic.
That was a wakeup call, too!! I've not made that mistake since then!
Ron

 

Your mirrors should be set to give you the best constant view of the
area behind you and on the sides of you. In other words, your side
view mirrors should be set so that when a car is overtaking you, you
will simultaneously see the car disappear from the rearview mirror and
come into view into the side view mirror. As the car continues to
overtake you at some point it will leave the view of the sideview
mirror and immediately become visible with your peripherial vision.
So yes, you shouldn't be looking at the sides of your car in the
sideview mirrors.

This kind of mirror positioning will take a little time to get used
too but it works, at least it does for me. And it should minimize
your head movement and blind spots.

Always be aware of what is around you even if it requires you to turn
your head.

 

This kind of mirror positioning will take a little time to get used

My mirrors were always that way since my driving lessons teacher showed me
how to place them.
However, only when I bought a CR-V, my wife started positioning her mirrors
correctly. With the CR-V, there is simply no choice, you can have a car
beside you and you will not see it by turning your head because it is too
low.

 

A very large man from the DMV is going to show up at your door any day now, physically remove your driver's license from your wallet and light it on fire.
Then he'll mutter something like, "When you applied for that license you didn't tell us you were the biggest DORK that ever LIVED! DORKS can't have licenses. They have to use public transportation!"
Oh, and he'll more than likely keep your wallet too.

 

A very large man from the DMV is going to show up at your door any day now, physically remove your driver's license from your wallet and light it on fire.
Then he'll mutter something like, "When you applied for that license you didn't tell us you were the biggest DORK that ever LIVED! DORKS can't have licenses. They have to use public transportation!"
Oh, and he'll more than likely keep your wallet too.