You don't know how to drive: as important as car seats

beeman · Jan 3, 2008

skaterbabscpst said:
fwiw, IMO it's a terrifically BAD idea to increase the driving age to 18. Yeah, let's give LEGAL "adults" a 2 ton murder weapon and no parental oversight.:thumbsdown:

Just 2 ton? You are legally allowed to operate a vehicle with a curb weight of anything less than 10,000lbs up here with a basic class 5. Increasing driving age to drinking age seems to me like a really stupid idea. Giving people alcohol and a drivers license at the same time is a recipe for disaster. Oh thats right too, thats the age where you can buy tobacco, so now you get to smoke when you're filling your vehicle up with gas :thumbsdown: .
BTW, I'm from a rural area so public transportation is less than non existent, and riding a bike on our highway would be suicide.

skaterbabs · Jan 3, 2008

Precisely my point.

jen_nah · Jan 3, 2008

southpawboston said:
the rule of thumb in massachusetts regarding rotaries is "never make eye contact!". if you do, you forfeit the right of way

LOL! We don't have rotaries and it sounds like it might be a good thing. But, All us Texans would probably get p*ssed about having to keep going around and just drive right over the center of the rotary in our big trucks. LOL!! j/k! Well for me anyways I am sure a lot around here would drive right through it.

joolsplus3 · Jan 3, 2008

beeman said:
Giving people alcohol and a drivers license at the same time is a recipe for disaster

Drinking age in the US is 21 (that didn't stop a drunk 16 yo from killing someone last year in our city...she just drove right into him

)

Annnyway... Roundabouts do save lives...they probably need to start with single lane ones in the US to get us used to them, though, lol.

And yeah, we should probably all sign up for advanced driving courses. In the meantime, everyone (no one HERE, right?

)needs to put down their cell phones and drive carefully (My DH is always like, Oh, let's call so-and-so, they are driving home from work now and it's a good time to talk...

)

mommy4girls · Jan 3, 2008

joolsplus3 said:
In the meantime, everyone (no one HERE, right? )needs to put down their cell phones and drive carefully (My DH is always like, Oh, let's call so-and-so, they are driving home from work now and it's a good time to talk... )

My MIL is always trying to get me to call extended family, but I don't have time. So, MIL tells me how my SIL calls people while she's driving and it's perfect for her

Misty-Bug · Jan 7, 2008

I myself would love to learn. My husband has taken me out to teach me how to control a skid in a snow storm.

southpawboston said:
dimsumdaddy,

i've been preaching here for a while on the importance of understanding how to control your car in an emergency. driver's ed doesn't teach squat about this. you need to go to a professional driving school like skip barber for that. you have to learn by taking your car into an emergency situation and applying certain principles... basically you learn "by the seat of your pants".

if i can afford it, i'll be sending my daughters to professional driving school when it's time for them to learn how to drive. i never took a course, but i've been making my cars do "doughnuts" and other tricks since before i had my driver's license . i once parallel parked my car in a tight spot in front of a restaurant in the densest part of boston (the north end) during a snow storm by sliding into it sideways. i got out of the car to a standing ovation . i also auto-X'd a bit, which really taught me a lot about how to control a car at its limits.

RADDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!111

singingpond · Jan 8, 2008

This sounds like a very good idea (i.e. learning better how to react to emergency driving situations). I am pretty sure my own instincts are NOT correct for some emergencies.

In case any of the more knowledgeable posters are still reading this thread, do you know if the training is done in your own vehicle? I'm wondering, since our cars are all old enough not to have ABS, and I'm assuming the proper braking behavior would be different than in a more modern vehicle with ABS.

Katrin

southpawboston · Jan 8, 2008

singingpond said:
In case any of the more knowledgeable posters are still reading this thread, do you know if the training is done in your own vehicle? I'm wondering, since our cars are all old enough not to have ABS, and I'm assuming the proper braking behavior would be different than in a more modern vehicle with ABS.

you're right that proper emergency braking techniques differ depending whether or not you have ABS.

most professional driving schools use their own cars. they are usually sports cars which are very easy to teach on, since they can be driven hard while retaining the feeling of predictability, and they are also excellent cars for teaching how to regain lost control. skip barber school uses BMWs. i'm not sure what other cars are used at other schools.

sirrahn · Jan 8, 2008

jen_nah said:
LOL! We don't have rotaries and it sounds like it might be a good thing. But, All us Texans would probably get p*ssed about having to keep going around and just drive right over the center of the rotary in our big trucks. LOL!! j/k! Well for me anyways I am sure a lot around here would drive right through it.

They put one in at the "new" Firewheel mall in Garland. It's kind of funny...people just sit there at the yield signs like they can't figure out how to get around it. I haven't yet seen signs of anyone going over the big flower bed though!

Gena · Jan 9, 2008

Personally, I don't like roundabouts. They always make me nervous.

However, I am a huge fan of the Michigan left turn. If you are not familiar see here:

http://www.michiganhighways.org/indepth/michigan_left.html

My only problem is that now that I don't live in Michigan anymore, I keep trying to make Michigan lefts in places that don't usually have them.

dimsumdaddy · Jan 10, 2008

southpawboston said:
i once parallel parked my car in a tight spot in front of a restaurant in the densest part of boston (the north end) during a snow storm by sliding into it sideways. i got out of the car to a standing ovation . i also auto-X'd a bit, which really taught me a lot about how to control a car at its limits.

How did you get back OUT of that parking space?

BudgieStew · Jan 10, 2008

I've been meaning to call our local driving school to see if I can get some sort of course to brush up on my driving skills and defensive driving.
I started trying to get my permit when I was 16, finally got it when I was newly 18 (after three attempts) . The day before I moved to another province for college where I did not drive for the next 11 years.

We are now in rural area(no public transportation), with two young children and DH is away for work for extended periods of time. He leaves Monday for three weeks..so he bought me a van over the summer.
Honestly I drive it max 5 minutes a day to drop my son off at Daycare and the P.O. Once a week I make the 10 minute drive to do the food shopping but any further then that nope.
One day I would like to make it on main street to you know open up my options

I need some extra confidence and skills to feel better about driving. Driving without a 3 year screaming at you from the backseat and a 2 year old taking a fit might be kinda nice too.

Or a DH who you are driving home because he imbibed too much yelling at you to go faster on a dark country road that you are unfamiliar with in the pouring rain. Sorry I am already going 80km I don't think I really need to drive that extra 10 km/h to reach the speed limit for no reason whatsoever.

Ahh that was last summer and I am still rather annoyed.

MandiRN · Jan 13, 2008

southpawboston said:
the rule of thumb in massachusetts regarding rotaries is "never make eye contact!". if you do, you forfeit the right of way

OMG this is so true!! I learned how to navigate Drum Hill rotary before it's current crazy situation. The motto there used to be go and pray! Now, I won't touch it with a ten foot pole.

southpawboston · Jan 14, 2008

dimsumdaddy said:
How did you get back OUT of that parking space?

i originally slid in to the right-side parking spot by backing in the rear of the car at a 50-60 degree angle, with the right rear tire against the curb, then locking the steering wheel to the left and "donut-ing" the front of the car into the spot by spinning the wheels in reverse.

by the time we left, the spot in front of us had opened and we just drove out, but if the spot hadn't opened up, i'd have done the same thing, but mirror image

. to get out, i'd put a wheel chuck or rock or brick behind the right rear wheel, then lock the steering wheel to the right and "donut" my front end out again by spinning the wheels in reverse. :thumbsup:

smurf · Jan 14, 2008

southpawboston said:
i once parallel parked my car in a tight spot in front of a restaurant in the densest part of boston (the north end) during a snow storm by sliding into it sideways. i got out of the car to a standing ovation

he he he, I can do that too, didn't get a standing ovation but my fellow passengers were really impressed. Not the kind of thing that's expected from a girl...

sfeitler · Jan 14, 2008

BudgieStew said:
I've been meaning to call our local driving school to see if I can get some sort of course to brush up on my driving skills and defensive driving.
I started trying to get my permit when I was 16, finally got it when I was newly 18 (after three attempts) . The day before I moved to another province for college where I did not drive for the next 11 years.

We are now in rural area(no public transportation), with two young children and DH is away for work for extended periods of time. He leaves Monday for three weeks..so he bought me a van over the summer.
Honestly I drive it max 5 minutes a day to drop my son off at Daycare and the P.O. Once a week I make the 10 minute drive to do the food shopping but any further then that nope.
One day I would like to make it on main street to you know open up my options
I need some extra confidence and skills to feel better about driving. Driving without a 3 year screaming at you from the backseat and a 2 year old taking a fit might be kinda nice too.

Or a DH who you are driving home because he imbibed too much yelling at you to go faster on a dark country road that you are unfamiliar with in the pouring rain. Sorry I am already going 80km I don't think I really need to drive that extra 10 km/h to reach the speed limit for no reason whatsoever.

Ahh that was last summer and I am still rather annoyed.

Even without the annoying DH issue, I think you should find some way to brush up on your driving skills. Formal school, or just find a sympathetic friend to go driving with you. Driving, when you live in an area where most people have/use cars, is a life skill and more importantly, a personal safety skill. Maybe not in NYC, but anywhere else, you never know when you might have to be the driver (because of injury, or alcohol, or illness, or...).

Just my :twocents:.

-Sarah

dimsumdaddy · Jan 14, 2008

BudgieStew said:
I've been meaning to call our local driving school to see if I can get some sort of course to brush up on my driving skills and defensive driving.
I started trying to get my permit when I was 16, finally got it when I was newly 18 (after three attempts) . The day before I moved to another province for college where I did not drive for the next 11 years.

We are now in rural area(no public transportation), with two young children and DH is away for work for extended periods of time. He leaves Monday for three weeks..so he bought me a van over the summer.
Honestly I drive it max 5 minutes a day to drop my son off at Daycare and the P.O. Once a week I make the 10 minute drive to do the food shopping but any further then that nope.
One day I would like to make it on main street to you know open up my options
I need some extra confidence and skills to feel better about driving. Driving without a 3 year screaming at you from the backseat and a 2 year old taking a fit might be kinda nice too.

Or a DH who you are driving home because he imbibed too much yelling at you to go faster on a dark country road that you are unfamiliar with in the pouring rain. Sorry I am already going 80km I don't think I really need to drive that extra 10 km/h to reach the speed limit for no reason whatsoever.

Ahh that was last summer and I am still rather annoyed.

Were you holding up traffic? If so, make sure to pull off to the side periodically to let it pass. If you guys were alone on the road, and DH was telling you to go faster, then you should switch drivers.

It sounds like you need "more seat time". Since your daily activities don't give you much of that, you'd either need to take a driving course or make it a point to do something that would take you on the road more.

I live in the San Francisco bay area which is very international. We have a lot of people from all over the world who have either immigrated, or are here temporarily. The result is there are many people who are clearly new to driving, and this adds to the problems.

Just because you drive slow, doesn't mean you are safe. A big problem with these inexperienced drivers is that they don't drive predictably. In many cases, they are so timid and overwhelmed that they are like an erratic random child is behind the wheel and this increases traffic as everyone around them is having to compensate for their behavior by avoiding, driving around them, pulling weird lane change maneuvers because the inexperienced driving is not going with flow or blocking, etc.

There is of course the problem with over aggressive, wreckless or just plain a$$hole driving, but most people already have those in mind.

skaterbabs · Jan 14, 2008

dimsumdaddy said:
Were you holding up traffic? If so, make sure to pull off to the side periodically to let it pass. If you guys were alone on the road, and DH was telling you to go faster, then you should switch drivers.

That would have been a very bad idea since she said her DH had been drinking. Better an inexperienced driver than a drunk one.

dimsumdaddy · Jan 14, 2008

skaterbabscpst said:
That would have been a very bad idea since she said her DH had been drinking. Better an inexperienced driver than a drunk one.

Oopss.. missed that detail.

dimsumdaddy · Jan 21, 2008

Here's a youtube vid (I think from Isreal?) where this guy talks about avoiding a head on collision. It's about passing in a 2 way road. I don't understand what he's saying, but I think he's talking about:

- hard straight brake first, then maneuver out of the way

- or move over and allow the other driver to shift over. The point of this is to move over enough to avoid collision, but not over compensate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGi1MiBLHLs

And just to add to paranoia... 30 mph crash test with loose items in the car:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwO5ZASY994&feature=related

You don't know how to drive: as important as car seats

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