Accidents - Tips on how to avoid them (traps for young players)

[Doogstar]

When I was a young driver I had many accidents that were avoidable, due to my bad driving habits and inexperience. Over the years I have learnt (sometimes the hard way) to avoid getting myself in unsafe situations. I think the majority of minor collisons could be avoided if some common sense driving tips were common knowledge. Please give us the benefit of your experience and post your tips.

Keep your eyes on the road:
It is easy to get distracted by your surroundings and forget that you are actually driving. If looking at something on the side on the road (like a nice pair of legs, for instance) or for something in your car, take your foot off the accelerator and hover it over your brake. That way, when you look forward and see the rear of the car in front of you coming towards you rapidly, your braking reaction time is increased and you have a better chance to stop in time. Better yet, pull over to the side of the road and have a proper look.

Don't tailgate:
Give yourself enough space so you can stop if the car in front does.Why is this so hard for some people.

When the lights turn amber:
Don't assume the car in front has the same idea as you, that Red means stop, Green means go and Amber means go faster.
If they decide to brake when the lights turn amber and you are up their ar$e, you will be exchanging details in no time. Saw one of these accidents yesterday.

When looking to make a turn:
There is a car in fornt of you as you are coming to a roundabout or you are going to turn into a major road. Watch the car in front of you not the traffic. Just because you can see a gap in traffic big enough for you both to turn, doesn't mean the car in front thinks he can make it, if he brakes and you are looking at the traffic, BANG.

When the roads are wet:
Roads are the slippiest when there has been a light shower and it hasn't rained in a while, because of all the oil and grease on the road. Slow down in the wet. You can't corner safely in the wet at the same speed that you would normally.

Indicate BEFORE you change lanes, not AS you change lanes:
Take a couple of seconds to check in your rear mirror and your side mirror. Then take a extra couple of seconds to indicate you are changing lanes, take another couple of seconds to check your rear mirror and your side mirror. That way if a car is sitting in your blind spot, you give them plenty of notice of your intentions.

[T_Terror]

When making a left turn:

And you see a car approching thats indicating to turn into your street and even slowing down, DONT ASSUME THEY ARE GOING TO TURN.

Wait till they turn in before pulling out, ive had 2 friends get t-boned because of a situation like this.


When other drivers do stupid stuff

Yell and scream at them, whatever. But dont start driving aggressively or try to tailgate them. At worst it means you will be delayed by 2 or 3 car lengths. Most of us have nice cars and can just drive around small delays like that.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Always look ahead of the car infront if you can see past them, you may see someone hit the brakes up ahead the the guy infront not notice, then they hit the brakes and you run up their ***.

Oh motorways / highways where there are on ramps try and get in the right hand lane so the merging traffic have a clear run getting on, dont try and run them out etc.

[TZENU]

Originally Posted by T_Terror

When making a left turn:

And you see a car approching thats indicating to turn into your street and even slowing down, DONT ASSUME THEY ARE GOING TO TURN.

Wait till they turn in before pulling out, ive had 2 friends get t-boned because of a situation like this.

Happen to my girlfriend and she ended up having to fork out to repair the moron who put their indicator on and kept driving straight through the intersection ing_sm

[Professor Farnsworth]

Originally Posted by LSTerritoryGhia

Always look ahead of the car infront if you can see past them

that one is gold. i always watch the movement of the car in front of the car in front of me, you can make pre-emptive decisions that way, and predict what the car in front of you will do before they do it.

[mark180227]

Indicate BEFORE you change lanes, not AS you change lanes:
Take a couple of seconds to check in your rear mirror and your side mirror. Then take a extra couple of seconds to indicate you are changing lanes, take another couple of seconds to check your rear mirror and your side mirror. That way if a car is sitting in your blind spot, you give them plenty of notice of your intentions.

Also a shoulder check and check that blind spot...so many times I have gone to change lanes, checked the two mirrors but still havnt seen a vehicle in that blind spot...

[iCat]

When stopped behind traffic (say at lights) leave enough room to see the bottom of the rear tyres of the car in front - that way if they, or someone in front, breaks down, or the lane next to you becomes free, you have enough room to swing out of your lane if needed.

[superpursuit83]

Learning to read the traffic well ahead and being aware of every vehicle around you is the key to a safe driving record. And never ever asume you know what the other driver is doing.

Another good habit is to put your side mirrors all the way out. i have to put my head out of the window to see the side of my car. This mirror position almosts eliminates any blind spot.

[SVT8]

Just some tip that i have pick up. Be a bit more defensive in your driving. What i mean by this is to observe other peoples actions. If you get someone next to you driving all over the road simply slow down and let them pass (they could be on the phone, drunk, influenced by other people in the car, so its good to recognise this so they dont do any harm to you).

Roundabouts are dangerous especially when theres trafic, because everyone rushes out to get to where there going. People often dont signal when turning around a round about so even when you now there not turning, stop anyway.

Alot of accidents happen when the roads are wet but there is no rain. People often missjudge the speeds at which they can take corners and as a result loose control. So even if its slightly wet dont go into the corner to fast.

Hope these hints help.

[normxb]

When YOU are turning Left into a side street
Be aware of traffic in the street you are turning into , there just maybe a car stopped a few metres up the side road , parking. Don't "floor it" just because you're off the main road.

PS. Great Thread Doogstar

[robbo_23]

Im a pretty young driver myself (im 18) but also a good tip someone told me was that you should ALWAYS look to where you are turning. This tip is also handy if you lose control in the wet, if you look at an on comming tree, you will hit the tree, but if you look at the road to the right of the tree, then you will have a better chance of regaining control.

[FORDNUTS90]

hey fellas thanks 4 this thread it helps a lot i just got my Learners last week and everything helps

[4Vman]

Look ahead and anticipate other drivers, allways be aware of the potential for other drivers to pull out, brake late, change lanes etc, allways plan in your mind a "safety out" strategy in case of the above: (brake, acellerate, swerve left, right, up the nature strip etc), avoid where ever possible putting yourself in a situation on the road where if you had to take evasive action you had no secondary option (ie a truck closely in front behind and on the right of you)... dont put your car in another cars blind spot, dont drive beside another car, either pass them or pull in behind at a safe distance, never overtake a line of slower moving traffic with excessive speed as a car may pull out in front, be highly aware looking left and right going through intersections for "red light runners", there's hundreds more....

[normxb]

(I know this maybe a bit O/T)
If you're a passenger in a car and don't feel safe (and the driver won't listen to reason)

Tell the driver you're going to "spew-up" . No-one wants someone being sick in their car , when they stop , get out and stay out . Better than being a statistic. It may save YOUR life.

[Falcon_Phill]

Originally Posted by T_Terror

When making a left turn:

And you see a car approching thats indicating to turn into your street and even slowing down, DONT ASSUME THEY ARE GOING TO TURN.

This happened to me the other day. I was driving a mini, the road rule is put your blinker on 30 metres before a turn, so i did, and this idiot who was about 10 metres ahead of me decides im going into the driveway next to him and pulls out. ****ing moron. Anyway nothing happened luckily.

[Hawk]

Some good advice guys, well worth people reading.

Watching not only the car in front of you, as well as the cars in front of it is particularly important when in heavy traffic (ie. peak hour, return-from-holidays traffic) because that is when someone is more likely to slam on the brakes because they weren't looking far enough ahead. Don't forget the car directly in front though!

I'm not the most perfect driver, quite opposite in fact...

Do a defensive driver course first off...

If need to comment on a friends driving, the spew trick works alright. But what really gets them would be "don't lose your licence showing off". They'll realise what their doing is bad and pull their head in. Sadly for a lot of people saying "Don't kill yourself showing off" could have less effect because they'll mention or at least think "itll never happen to me", whereas most of them would have been stopped by police on previous occasions (RBTs etc) and perhaps already fined...

This is also useful if their in another car...

Besides that drive defensively as if everyone on the road is psycho, (but don't be paranoid, you'll end up being attracted to the Camrys styling and driving dynamics) and always have a backup exit route if something happens ie child chasing a ball, cars with no brakelights working, overtaking etc.

I hope no one here is stupid enough to drink drive... If you hear about anyone drink/drug driving have a real stern talk with them. Even if their your partner I'd threaten to call the police and tell their parents about it if they did it. On a lesser degree, using a mobile phone as well...

[samftr]

MIB Mirror, indicate(if neccesary) Brake.
and scanning scanning scanning.
two things i remember being taught first up when i learned to drive.

Another good thing to remember is, if you dont feel comfortable, dont go - such as in peak hour traffic crossing from one side of the intersection to another etc. usually make your decision and stick to it. dont fruck around and um and ah about what you are doing.

safe driving people, good to see us looking out for each other.
sam

[Jet-Star]

Originally Posted by normxb

(I know this maybe a bit O/T)
If you're a passenger in a car and don't feel safe (and the driver won't listen to reason)

Tell the driver you're going to "spew-up" . No-one wants someone being sick in their car , when they stop , get out and stay out . Better than being a statistic. It may save YOUR life.

That reminds me of what happend the other week,a mate and I were in his VL(stuffed front shock,bold tyres etc) heading up a gravel road on the out skirts of town and I look over and notice hes doing almost 120 on this gravel goat track of a road... I pulled out the old "So your going to knock on my mothers door and let her know I'm coming home in a pine box are you?" Sure fixed his lil red wagon.

[JC]

Originally Posted by Hawk

Watching not only the car in front of you, as well as the cars in front of it is particularly important when in heavy traffic (ie. peak hour, return-from-holidays traffic) because that is when someone is more likely to slam on the brakes because they weren't looking far enough ahead. Don't forget the car directly in front though!

This is THE most omprotant bit of advice you can take. ALWAYS know what is in front of you, behind you and next to you. And in front - I mean up to 10 cars in front. Anticipation is the key to good driving and smooth traffic. Those people you see at on ramps or merging lanes who are trying to merge while stopped when the trafdfic they are trying to merge into is still flowing, even if only slowly are the ones who have no idea about looking in front and anticipating.

My merging advice is to make sure you are going faster than the traffic you are trying to merge into. Not too fast though, just a couple of kays faster. That way, any break in traffic will be big enough to merge into - then just make sure you look ahead and around you in case another driver hits the skids etc.

[T_Terror]

Lol told you the "dont assume people are gonna turn" gets alot of people.

Blind spots I drive a van for work and half the time its fully loaded and has ZERO rear vision and rear qtr vision. When i first got it i kept nearly sideswiping people because i couldnt check my blindspot without sticking my head out the window.

My tip is to go out and stick some of those "blind spot eliminator" circles on ur mirrors.
Then go for a ride and purposely feed a car into your blindspot. Its a revelation seeing a car that isnt in your normal side mirrors. They look a bid gay but they work well.

[Agent86]

Merging on freeways.

ffs DONT merge at 60 kph please!! at least try to get to 80-90.
Driving a heavy vehicle in traffic all day, one of the most annoyingly stupid things is these ******* who try to merge at 50-60. and if somone slows down to let you in, accelerate into the gap they create. not slow down and try to merge into the traffic behind them.

[LTDHO]

This thread is fantastic, good to see some good posative information.

This thread should be 'sticky'..

I could post up Tips but I'd fill an entire page.

[pauljh74]

Originally Posted by Doogstar

Indicate BEFORE you change lanes, not AS you change lanes:
Take a couple of seconds to check in your rear mirror and your side mirror. Then take a extra couple of seconds to indicate you are changing lanes, take another couple of seconds to check your rear mirror and your side mirror. That way if a car is sitting in your blind spot, you give them plenty of notice of your intentions.

So many people do this - they don't use indicators as a signal of their intentions to change lanes when there is a safe gap, they use them to let you know they are changing lanes NOW, whether you're ready or not, despite there being a gap of 2 car lengths they're trying to slot inbetween at 80km/h. So many people think "I want to go there - even though there is no safe gap, I'm going to cut 2 lanes of traffic off because I want to make a turn here". Instead they should concede there's no safe way to make it across from the left lane to that right hand turn and do a u-turn further up the road.

[pauljh74]

Originally Posted by AceofSpades

Merging on freeways.

ffs DONT merge at 60 kph please!! at least try to get to 80-90.
Driving a heavy vehicle in traffic all day, one of the most annoyingly stupid things is these ******* who try to merge at 50-60. and if somone slows down to let you in, accelerate into the gap they create. not slow down and try to merge into the traffic behind them.

In the instance where a vehicle struggles to make the speed (like a heavy vehicle going uphill) - fair enough. But most slow freeway mergers hit around 60-70km/h half way up the on ramp, then level out, hit the freeway causing people to hit the brakes hard, then they speed up close to 100km/h - it's so frustrating. The on ramp is there to enable cars to smoothly merge with freeway traffic and so many of the slow mergers are driving 6 cylinder family cars easily capable of doing so without having to rev them past 3000 rpm. I've managed to do it with 20 year old small 4 cylinder cars with power sapping auto trannys with time to spare.
I usually hit 100km/h half way up the on-ramp in most cases.

[merlin]

Look ahead, anticipate others actions but NEVER assume anything.

e.g. if someone has there indicator on, do NOT assume they are turning.

Most accos happen in wet weather - be aware of this and adjust your driving to compensate.

[HLC]

Originally Posted by Doogstar

Indicate BEFORE you change lanes, not AS you change lanes:
Take a couple of seconds to check in your rear mirror and your side mirror. Then take a extra couple of seconds to indicate you are changing lanes, take another couple of seconds to check your rear mirror and your side mirror. That way if a car is sitting in your blind spot, you give them plenty of notice of your intentions.

Better yet, LOOK OVER YOUR SHOULDER TO SEE IF A CAR IS SITTING IN YOUR BLIND SPOT.

Ive seen to many people check all their mirrors then move over on a car in their blind spot because they didnt see it.

ALWAYS CHECK OVER YOUR SHOULDER.

[whiskieboy]

I also think that TIME is Most important ! Take time to realise it may take longer to get there than you think, ALWAYS give yourself plenty of TIME to get there, Leave 5 / 10mins earlier (if possible), IF your late Live with it! Dont rush! you probably wont make up the time any way, and you will only frustrate yourself yelling at people in YOUR way. Relax take your time and just get there, its better to get there Late than NOT get there at all. Trust me, i'm old, nothing is That important. Take the Time to Enjoy life.

[SB076]

Originally Posted by Doogstar

When looking to make a turn:
There is a car in fornt of you as you are coming to a roundabout or you are going to turn into a major road. Watch the car in front of you not the traffic. Just because you can see a gap in traffic big enough for you both to turn, doesn't mean the car in front thinks he can make it, if he brakes and you are looking at the traffic, BANG.

Very good advice (where were you when I started driving)

I had that happen to me just after I got off my P's was turning left behind a car, actaully watched the car start to move then looked to the right to see if I could go, I could so went only to see her stopped halfway through the interesection (she stopped cause she couldn't see)

When I spoke to insurance that said thats the most common accident.

Before driving off, always look forward and ensure that rpevious car has gotten completely out of your way.

[DOC]

[QUOTE]

Originally Posted by Doogstar

When the lights turn amber:
Don't assume the car in front has the same idea as you, that Red means stop, Green means go and Amber means go faster.
If they decide to brake when the lights turn amber and you are up their ar$e, you will be exchanging details in no time. Saw one of these accidents yesterday.
[B]

A green light will always turn Amber, riveting stuff you say, but like looking ahead at the traffic and reading it, the same applies to the lights.