I had a lot of responses to last week’s column about maintaining an attitude of decency on the road. It’s reassuring to know that most who responded share that sentiment. But another important part of driving safely is not forgetting the basics — those things which allowed you to pass your driving test.
Many new drivers still recognize they are still learning and good on them. Keep that attitude.
What I’m focusing on today is reaching that time when we feel we have enough notches in our driving belt and, consciously or unconsciously, stopped bothering with some of the basics. Here’s a few examples I see each week.
A stop sign means stop. While most people get this most basic driving concept, there are some who see a stop sign as some kind of alternate signal, telling them to just slow down a bit but then ensure they pull away quickly enough to get in front of that car approaching from their right or left. Had you done that on your driving test way back when it would have most likely ended in a fail.
A stop sign actually imposes two duties on an approaching driver. Stop completely — a complete cessation of movement according to the motor vehicle act — and then having stopped, yield to approaching traffic until it’s safe to proceed. No one would expect absolute perfection at every stop sign every time, but treating a stop sign as a temporary inconvenience blocking you from zipping out in front of an approaching car is not on — and dangerous.
Now, the big day has arrived. Time to take the driving test. You jump in next to the examiner, fasten the seatbelt, grab that double-double coffee in the right hand, then palm the steering wheel with your left hand, back up using mirrors only, zig-zagging through the parking lot to hit the street and begin your test. If the examiner hasn’t bailed out of the car already, because they probably should have, they would be writing up a “fail” on your scoresheet.
Of course that would never fly during a road test — so why is it standard operating procedure for so many experienced drivers?
One of the most common forgotten basics of driving is to keep two hands on the steering wheel. One handed driving creates an illusion that you have full control of your vehicle. In an emergency one of a driver’s best defences is steering control. If 50% of that control is given over to cradling a chai latte, then what happens if the other hand is wrenched off the steering wheel in a critical moment? It means that your vehicle is actually driving itself when that full control is needed the most.
Again, no one expects total perfection. An experienced driver can have occasional sips during the right road, traffic and weather conditions. After all, cupholders are standard features in every vehicle. But 99% of the time, it’s both hands on the wheel.
You might have only received a demerit tick on your driving test for it, but I’m pretty sure everyone was told while learning to drive that you never block an intersection. In many cases, road engineers have given us the extra courtesy of putting up signs telling us not to forget about this common annoyance. Yet every week, I’ll come across a busy intersection with one, and sometimes two, cars stuck smack dab in the middle of a busy cross street. Gridlock.
This is a basic failure to read the road ahead. It’s not just about always sticking to the car directly in front; it’s about looking up to the top of the queue and seeing how all of the traffic is moving in front of you. It’s about taking that extra half second to see that there is, or isn’t, space for you on the far side of the intersection. A green light is not an automatic pass to move into an intersection no matter what. Pause and look at the whole picture — just like you did on your road test.
Finally, one I’ve mentioned before: parallel parking. Sometimes, I feel it’s a lost art and I’ll admit I still blow it occasionally. But it’s a requirement for anyone passing their driving test and I’m amazed how many “fails” I witness each week. There’s nothing wrong with some extra practice even if you’re an experienced driver. You can’t circle the block forever waiting for the “go straight in” opportunity.
All of us need to take a few moments occasionally and reflect on what we once learned but might have forgotten as our own experience grew. Take some to reintegrate the basics back into your driving.
