People who have been driving for years already may not be as aware of what they’re doing as those who have just started to drive. It’s a lot like muscle memory and practising how to throw a cricket ball. When you’re a newbie, you still think about the step-by-step process. But after playing several times, you no longer do that. It’s already ingrained in your muscle memory that when you throw the ball, it comes out instinctively.
During that process of learning, however, you may have picked up a few bad habits. Since you weren’t planning to build a career in cricket, perhaps you didn’t bother to correct those habits. It’s the same thing with driving.
Many motorists develop bad habits and since most of them didn’t plan to become a professional race car driver, they didn’t bother to correct those habits, too. Here are the most common bad driving habits that you need to stop doing immediately.
Tailgating
Maybe you’re running late for a doctor’s appointment or you’re simply checking out the car in front of you because you know it’s a Chevy but it’s sporting a mustang exhaust. Sydney can be strict about tailgating, however, so it’s best that you back off a bit. Just try to remember that if you’re driving too close to another vehicle, there’s a high possibility that you’ll smack into it if it brakes abruptly.
Not using turn signals
Many drivers are guilty of this bad habit because they’re just too lazy. But, it can be annoying and sometimes, even dangerous. Not using your turn signal won’t alert the motorists behind you and those who are approaching from the front that you’re about to turn into a corner.
If the motorist behind you doesn’t know that you’re about to turn and he’s driving at a relatively fast speed, he might hit your rear end when you decelerate upon turning. The motorist in front of you might also hit you, and this could even be more dangerous. Head-on collisions result in more fatalities compared to other kinds of car accidents.
Cutting cars
This bad habit shouldn’t exist. Imagine trying to walk through a crowded hallway. You want to get to the nearest exit, but the hallway is filled with people walking quickly towards the same direction. So, you decide to cut into the front of a line of people.
But since you started from standing right there to walking in front of the other people, you haven’t gathered enough speed to match the others’ speed. What happens next is the other people will collide with you and you end up getting hurt or injuring some of the people behind you.
Now, imagine that with cars going over 120 kph that can crush a whole person if it hits someone. That doesn’t look good, right? So, don’t ever cut other vehicles on the road.
Speeding through yellow lights
This one should die, too. The yellow light doesn’t mean that you should drive faster so that you won’t get stuck behind a red light. It means that you should slow down now because the red light is coming and cars from other sides of the road are about to move. If you speed up on a yellow light and it suddenly turns red, you run the risk of hitting an incoming car, which could lead to injuries and fatalities.
These are some of the bad habits that motorists should stop doing. Not only will these bad driving habits earn you a ticket from a police officer, but they could also lead to fatal accidents on the road.
