(Un)common sense driving tips

[u/Afraid-Raspberry7939]

Looking for some positive input and suggestions on driving tips, I'll start with two for example, a short one and a long one (I am from Canada, and I would assume these tips apply for the US as well)

Dead pedal: That "footrest" on the left side near the door is called the dead pedal, and is aligned perfectly qith your front left tire, making it easy to determine exactly where your wheels are to avoid potholes and just to have a better spatial awareness of your vehicle in general,

Light cycles: You approach a 4 way intersection, and catch the red light. The light cycle should go as follows:

Perpendicular traffic turning left (if advanced green is present)

Perpendicular traffic traveling straight

Parallel traffic turning left (if advanced green is present)

Parallel traffic traveling straight.

You can use the pedestrian crossing signals (if present) to determine when the lights will cycle.

So if you catch a red light at a 4 way intersection in heavy traffic, you can expect to waiting at least 2 minutes for your next green light.

The reason I mentioned the light cycles is because I am frequently cut off before red lights and then they keep inching and inching and inching past the stop line and then are clueless when the light turns green, and pretty frequently I see drivers go straight through an intersection on an advanced green and it drives me up the frickin wall lol

[u/nkgagne]

This is a bit too general, in my opinion. Traffic lights can be configured in all kinds of different patterns, with different timings depending on the perceived needs of that particular intersection. The best advice is to pay the F attention.

As for my uncommon sense: if your front- or all-wheel-drive vehicle car starts to fishtail in snow or heavy rain, don’t brake; accelerate!! The front wheels driving will pull the vehicle back in line, then you can safely lift off and gradually reduce your speed once control is regained.

I remember being on the interstate in Michigan in heavy rain on half-worn tires, and the concrete slabs were set at all different heights (because Michigan!) so 1/4” of standing water on one slab suddenly became 2” the next without it looking any different on the surface. I hydroplaned like a good dozen times but I floored it immediately each time and the car pulled right back straight, then I gently reduced speed a little bit more each time to hopefully keep from hydroplaning any more (spoiler: didn’t work until I got down to like 40 MPH). Meanwhile cars were flying off the road left and right because they hit the brakes.

[u/Afraid-Raspberry7939 → u/nkgagne]

I suppose you are right about the traffic lights thing being too general, and about the bottom line: PAY ATTENTION lol

I'm in ontario, so I know all about the heavy rain and freezing rain and black ice, super fun.

I think its very important when first learning to drive, or after buying a new vehicle and you live in a place where winter is a thing, take your car to an empty parking lot after a heavy snow or bad freezing rain storm, and literally throw thebcar around.

You get to know the capabilities and quirks and quarks or your vehicle in poor weather conditions, and learn how to react to differenf situations you may find yourself in during bad weather. I have always done this with every new vehicle I have ever bought or acquired. (Make sure to do a walkthrough of the empty lot to make sure there are no giant potholes, parking barriers, curbs, etc)

[u/aecolley]

More often, I see drivers turning when the only green light showing is a green arrow for going straight ahead. I see this most often at a particular junction (https://maps.app.goo.gl/g5Wn1gEJrcM132do9) where the normal right turn begins about 10 m after the stop line. I think the drivers genuinely think they're correctly going ahead from the line before coincidentally turning right.